UW Summer Theatre Season Continues with Quirky Comedy

June 20, 2007 -- The University of Wyoming's Snowy Range Summer Theatre and Dance Festival continues June 26-30, with a high-altitude comedy-of-errors exploring the true story of daredevil Larry Walters.

"Man in the Flying Lawn Chair" performances are in the Fine Arts Center studio theatre at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for students, $8 for senior citizens (60 and older), and $10 for others. For tickets call the Fine Arts Center box office at (307) 766-6666 or go online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts.

The comedy is directed by Leigh Selting, UW Department of Theatre and Dance professor and artistic director. The production features UW alumni Kimmy Gamble and Dodie Montgomery, and special guests David Borror and Mindi Logan ("One Life to Live," "Another World").

"Man in the Flying Lawn Chair" is an ensemble-based comedy developed by the members of the 78th Street Theatre Lab in New York City. It centers on the life of Larry Walters, a truck driver from California whose lifelong ambition was to make aviation history.

In 1982, with the help of nearly 50 surplus weather balloons, Walters fulfilled his dream by launching himself nearly three miles into the air in an aluminum lawn chair.

Walters survived the stunt, to the astonishment of nearly everyone, including commercial pilots and air traffic controllers who had tracked the movement of the "man in a flying lawn chair."

The stunt earned Walters his 15 minutes of fame, which he managed to stretch into several years on the lecture and motivational speech circuit.

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University of Wyoming alumni Kimmy Gamble, a native of Riverton, will be among performers in the UW production of "Man in the Flying Lawn Chair."

Posted on Wednesday, June 20, 2007