“Man in the Flying Lawn Chair,” by Caroline Cromelin, Eric Nightengale, Monica Read, Kimberly Reiss, Troy Taber, and Toby Wherry, and directed by Leigh Selting, will play June 26-30, 7:30 p.m., at the Fine Arts Studio Theatre on the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
Here’s a description from the UW web site:
This high-altitude comedy-of-errors, developed through improvisation by the 78th Street Theatre Lab, proves that the truth is stranger than fiction. Based on a news story, the play centers on Larry Walters, a truck driver from California obsessed with getting the best view in life. In 1982, with the help of 50 surplus weather balloons, Walters launched himself 16,000 feet into the air in an aluminum lawn chair. After being spotted by passing aircraft, he descended by shooting several balloons with a pellet gun, got entangled in power lines, and was arrested by the FAA for violating commercial airspace in an unauthorized vehicle. Walters dropped out of sight after enjoying his 15 minutes of fame (including an appearance on Letterman), but not before securing his place as a cult hero for outcasts and weird daredevils everywhere.The Guardian of London had this to say about the original production:
“This delightful, quirky little show takes Walter’s story and uses it as a metaphor for soaring dreams and earthbound lives, obsession, the fickleness of celebrity and the way that what goes up must come down. The production has a wacky edge that matches the craziness of Walters’s dream.”
Contact the UW box office for tickets.
