The 16^th season of the New Jewish Theatre opens with Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers,” with performances Oct. 4 – 21 in the Wool Studio Theatre on the Jewish Community Center’s Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur.

While not exactly autobiographical, the play has some biographical parallels to Simon’s life. The coming-of-age tale is set in Yonkers in 1942 just after the Great Depression and during WWII. It tells the story of brothers Jay and Arty Kurnitz, two teenage boys whose father deposited them on the doorstep of their stern, rod-wielding German-born grandmother. There, the boys encounter their 35-year-old maiden aunt who still lives with her mother, as well as their uncle, a small-time hoodlum. 

The play presents a clash of generations, evoking laughter, tears and new emotional truths. “Lost in Yonkers” is comical, poignant and spellbinding.

Directed by Doug Finlayson, it features Gary Glasgow, Nancy Lewis, Robert Love, Leo B. Ramsey, Michael Scott Rash, Sigrid Sutter and Kelley Weber. 

Tickets are $35-$39. Season tickets still available. For tickets or for more information, call the NJT box office at 314-442-3283 or go to www.newjewishtheatre.org.