The Spring Lake Theatre is exceptionally excited to present First Aide, written by 2022 Spring Lake Citizen of the Year, Frank Kineavy. First Aide will be performed on Saturday, September 7. Ticket price is $30 and includes a cocktail reception and Q and A with Frank Kineavy after the performance.
Lenny, a nonverbal wheelchair user, moves to the big city to start his career in journalism. Lenny's mother only has one condition - hire an aide to help out or come back home. He finds one in the unlikeliest of people - his high school bully Trayson, who desperately needs a job to pay his rent. Lenny and Trayson must learn to navigate the world together before they both end up out of work and on the street.
“The first thing my writing mentor, Steve McWilliams, told me is ‘write what you know’,” Frank Kineavy, a long time Sea Girt citizen, explains. “As a kid rolling through life with cerebral palsy, my life has had enough plot twists to fill a library; from being the only kid in school who looks like I came straight out of Spaceballs, to trying to convince potential employers that I deserve a role in their company. With my co-writer and producer, Charlie Hall, I created First Aide, a story that shines a light on how people with disabilities have the same dreams as anyone else, but who, oftentimes, are victim to the limitations the outside world places on them.”
Frankie continues: “Charlie and I created Lenny, an ambitious, but sheltered college grad who is desperate to redefine himself, as he plops himself in the center of New York City, a world not built for him. Lenny is a multifaceted character. He can be good-hearted, idealistic, but also a jerk at times.”
In many ways, Frank created Lenny to fill in the gaps of my own life. He has had incredible opportunities, such as being on ESPN GameDay, being featured for his documentary in The New York Times, working with Villanova men’s basketball coach, Jay Wright, and having their picture together on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as being named Spring Lake Citizen of the Year, there have also been as many life experiences that are essential to growing and maturing that he has missed. For this reason, he explains: “It was essential that Lenny wasn’t a person with a disability capable of superhuman acts. Because people like me are not superheroes. People like me just want the same opportunities to create a good life like everyone else. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve loved the experiences I have had. However, I would trade it all to have the corner office, grab drinks after work with coworkers, or experience butterflies in my stomach as I go out on a first date.”
He likes to think of First Aide as a mashup of Rain Man and The Newsroom, meets Friends and The Office, while also shedding light on a mostly overlooked population. First Aide seeks to change the image that America sees when they hear the word “disability”.
This event, at the historic Spring Lake Community Theatre, takes Frank Kineavy’s original concept and adapts it for the stage. Pat Barry and Nick D’Ambrosia, along with a fabulous cast and crew, have been instrumental in bringing Frank’s vision to the stage. The cast features Sean Astrom, Tyler Cicardo, Sean McLaughlin, Claudia Noto, Mary Jodry, Chrissy Reinhard, Stephen Doucette, Justine Bouton, Leslie Barlow, Jade Gordon, Nick D’Ambrosia, and Steve Bartlow. The night’s proceeds will be used to film a twelve-minute proof of concept for First Aide, this fall or early 2025.
Tickets can be purchased at the box office, 300 Madison Avenue, Spring Lake, phone 732.449.4530, Monday - Saturday, 11 AM - 5 PM or by visiting springlaketheatre.com
Contact Person: Ella Fischer
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