4000 MILES First Audience Review

Catch 4000 MILES now through January 26 at the Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center in Phoenix. Get your tickets  at actorstheatrephx.org

4000 MILES is Closer than You Think

Join us for the Actors Theatre of Phoenix production of 4000 MILES, opening January 11 at The Black Theatre Troupe/Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center in Phoenix.

At the end of his cross-country bike trip, 21-year old Leo arrives unannounced at the Greenwich Village apartment of his 91-year old Jewish grandmother, Vera. As an overnight couch-surf turns into an extended stay, this compassionate and unsentimental play explores the funny, frustrating, and ultimately life-changing relationship between a grandson learning to face his life and a grandmother who is starting to forget hers.

Finalist 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Winner 2012 Obie Award, Best New Play

Winner 2012 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award

Winner Time Magazine's #1 Play or Musical of 2012

Behind the Scenes of 4000 Miles with Courtney Weir

Courtney Weir as Bec in 4000 MILES

Hello blog readers! My name is Courtney Weir, and I am playing Bec in 4000 MILES, here at Actors Theatre. We are currently in rehearsal. And

by currently I mean LITERALLY we are rehearsing right this minute. Seriously. It's happening now. How lucky are you to be experiencing it with me! Would you like a cupcake? There are cupcakes. But, no, don't have the cupcakes. I want the cupcakes. And I'm the one writing.

Currently I'm watching a scene being rehearsed that I'm not in. It's a scene between the lead guy, Leo, played by the amazing mister Devon Nickel, and Amanda, played by the incredibly talented (and young!) Keilani Akagi (pronounced "kay-lah-nee ah-kah-gee," but the "gee" has a hard "g" as in "got" or "green" or "gallbladder"). Keilani is the youngest in our cast, at the ripe ol' age of 19. Man, when I think of my 19 year old self, I was NOT at the level she is, performance wise. The girl sings, dances, acts, goes to school, often has adorable shoes and

sports a pink and white polka dot phone case. She's kind of the deal.

So in this scene, a lot happens. Most of which I'm not gonna go into here, because I'm not going to reveal spoilers, people! However I can say, there are many laughs created by these two actors. There's talk of sex, alcohol, communism, death, and teeth (weird but believe me it all

makes sense). And more stuff too, but hey, you will have to wait and see!

Side note, I just realized I forgot to put mascara on today and now I'm wondering what else I've forgotten... which doesn't totally pertain to rehearsal, except to say IN rehearsals, we all generally look pretty grubby (with the exception of Keilani's shoes). We wear sweats and old

t-shirts, that sort of thing. Because we gotta be comfortable to move around and figure out what human beings do with their bodies and that sort of thing. And more importantly, so that when we eat cupcakes, we can get crumbs on ourselves and not worry. Which reminds me, there's a

cupcake I'm gonna go eat. It has tiny Christmas tree sprinkles. Farewell until next time, people who read this!