It all begins with an idea.

In a remote estate in the countryside of Connecticut, Jack Brooks, one of the most accomplished and eccentric painters of his generation, awaits the imminent arrival of his art dealer. But the visit is not a standard one, for Jack feels wronged, and he is intending to kill the man. As Jack lays out his intentions for the evening, his wife, Annie, calmly paints. She is reluctant to go along with the plan, until Jack’s threat of violence convinces her otherwise. Harried and annoyed, Vincent, Jack’s flamboyant art dealer, arrives. Will Jack carry out his plan? Will Annie help him? Or is something else going on? 2000 Edgar Award Winner for Best Mystery Play.

Nick is a single, Italian-American guy from New Jersey. His parents retired and moved to Florida. That doesn’t mean his family isn’t still in Jersey. In fact, he sees both sets of his grandparents every Sunday for dinner. This is routine until he has to tell them that he’s been offered a dream job. The job he’s been waiting for—marketing executive—would take him away from his beloved, but annoying, grandparents. He tells them. The news doesn’t sit so well. Thus begins a series of schemes to keep Nick around. How could he betray his family’s love to move to Seattle, for a job, wonder his grandparents? Well, Frank, Aida, Nunzio and Emma do their level best, and that includes bringing to dinner the lovely—and single—Caitlin O’Hare as bait…we won’t give the ending away here.

This celebration of the mating game takes on the truths and myths behind that contemporary conundrum know as “the relationship.” Through sketches and songs, Act I explores the journey from dating and waiting to love and marriage, while Act II reveals the agonies and triumphs of in-laws and newborns, trips in the family car and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set. This hilarious revue pays tribute to those who have loved and lost, to those who have fallen on their face at the portal of romance, to those who have dared to ask, “Say, what are you doing Saturday night?”