BROOKFIELD — “Wally’s Cafe” is the diner that never seems to close.
The Trumbull New Theatre, Niles, Ohio, production has been invited to a state competition over the Labor Day weekend in Cincinnati.
The production was one of two presented in the Northeast Regional OCTAfest June 20 to be invited to the state conference.
The only actors in “Wally’s Cafe,” David and Lois Schneider and Maria Wright, all of Brookfield, won Excellence in Acting awards and the trio was named Outstanding Ensemble in the regional competition put on by the Ohio Community Theatre Association.
Deborah Nuhfer also was honored for Excellence in Direction.
“Nice to be recognized for all of the time and effort we put into ‘Wally’s Cafe,’ ” Ms. Schneider said.
She called the show the second-most demanding production she and her husband had ever done.
“That makes it especially rewarding since it really meant hours and hours of study and memorization,” she said.
“Wally’s Cafe, ” a comedy written by Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick, was staged for three weekends in May. In the play the character played by Schneider buys a hamburger-shaped diner in the middle of the Mojave Desert, and uproots his wife — played by Ms. Schneider — from New Jersey for a life of big dreams, few customers and marital turmoil.
Ms. Wright plays a young woman from Illinois who happens into the diner on her way to Hollywood, where she hopes to find stardom.
The state conference will be held Sept. 4-7 at the Eastgate Holiday Inn.
