"Eureka Day" - by Jonathan Spector - Worcester Count Light Opera Company (Worcester, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Chuck Grigaitis as “Don” with Emily Holmes as “Suzanne” in a scene from Jonathan Spector's "EUREKA DAY" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 22, 2026. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“We can sometimes be forceful advocates for our perspectives...”
- ("Suzanne") / Jonathan Spector
Worcester Count Light Opera Company
Presents Jonathan Spector's
"EUREKA DAY"
Written by Jonathan Spector
Directed by Eric Butler
Cast Includes: Chuck Grigaitis as “Don,” Emily Holmes as “Suzanne,” Elizabeth Hylton as “Carina,” Luke Savage as “Eli,” Miranda Cashman as “Meiko,” Robin Shropshire as “Summer.”
Additional Creative Team:
Assistant Director - Ally Kinch; Set Design/Building/Painting - Mike Nosel; Lighting/Projection Design - Matt Wasser; Sound Design - Vic Kruczynski; Costume Design - Janice McClean; Set Construction - Mike Nosel, Peter Russo, Ed Savage; Production Assistant - Donna Church; Producers - Liza Goodman, Lenny McGuire, Kevin Moylan.
Performances:
February 13, 2026 through February 22, 2026
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY (WCLOC), Grandview Ave. Playhouse, 21 Grandview Avenue, Worcester, MA.
TICKETS:
For tickets or more information call WCLOC at # 508-753-4383 or visit www.wcloc.org
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
If recent repeated inclement weather events in the area have culminated in your suffering from the “winter doldrums,” then Worcester County Light Opera Company (WCLOC) has the cure in the form of a vaccine known as "EUREKA DAY" - a hilarious play from Jonathan Spector.
The WCLOC production is an absolute gem, combining fine acting by its cast with some clever and amusing projected imagery, all seamlessly staged by director Eric Butler.
When I first began writing as a reporter, I had to attend multiple school committee meetings which, no offense to those schools, were among the worst, most tedious assignments to cover.
I have always said I would rather review a really horrible show than report on a really good meeting.
However, if meetings had been one quarter as entertaining as those depicted in "EUREKA DAY" I would have happily volunteered to cover them all.
(Photo: The CAST of Jonathan Spector's "EUREKA DAY" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 22, 2026. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
The extended one-act "EUREKA DAY" premiered in California in 2018 before making its Off-Off-Broadway debut in 2019.
In 2025, the play won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, along with the Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play.
Taking place in 2018 in a classroom at the "EUREKA DAY" School in Berkeley, California, the one hour, 40-minute WCLOC play (reminder, no intermission) spans several meetings between parents and administrators at the school.
(Photo: Elizabeth Hylton as “Carina” with Emily Holmes as “Suzanne” in a scene from Jonathan Spector's "EUREKA DAY" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 22, 2026. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
Starting off as a mundane look at several equally mundane members of a parent/administrator “Executive Committee” meeting at the school, the humor soon becomes infectious as the committee must contend with a sudden outbreak of mumps.
These characters celebrate openly their forward-thinking, sensitive and enlightened views but, due to the worsening epidemic, soon these folks discover themselves to be not as "enlightened" as they perceived.
Don (Chuck Grigaitis), the head of the "EUREKA DAY" School and the committee, zealously tries to navigate the situation.
However, as wonderfully portrayed by Grigaitis, while trying to keep everything on an “even keel” Don soon navigates right into harsh waters as the outbreak soon quarantines the school and debates rage over concerns over when to reopen.
The district requires students be vaccinated before they are allowed to return to the school, which inflames some “anti-vax” parents, including some on the committee.
(Photo: Luke Savage as “Eli” with Miranda Cashman as “Meiko” in a scene from Jonathan Spector's "EUREKA DAY" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 22, 2026. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
While "EUREKA DAY" satirizes progressive (aka “woke”) culture, Spector’s text civilly manages the vaccination debate from the conflicting perspectives of parents, school administrative procedures, and directives by various public health organizations.
The story of "EUREKA DAY" quickly becomes personal for one Executive Committee member, Eli (Luke Savage), when his child contracts the disease through contact from the child of his girlfriend and fellow committee member, Meiko (Miranda Cashman).
Savage and Cashman have pleasing chemistry at the outset but soon hits a snag as the relationship of the couple (or “throuple?”) reaches an impasse due to the outbreak.
(Photo: Elizabeth Hylton as “Carina” in a moment from Jonathan Spector's "EUREKA DAY" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 22, 2026. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
Everyone on the "EUREKA DAY" committee attempts to find common ground when facts become “subjective,” especially between mothers, veteran member Suzanne (Emily Holmes) who sees vaccinations as a threat and newcomer Carina (Elizabeth Hylton) who sees them as necessary.
The exchanges between Holmes and Hylton are among the most riveting moments in the show as their conflict is representative of the overwhelming conflict between parents – but soon it becomes more personal than either imagined.
The struggles of those at "EUREKA DAY" reaches its apex in one of the most sidesplitting scenes in the entire play set on a “Livestream” conference call between the Executive Committee and the impacted families of the school.
(Photo: Chuck Grigaitis as “Don” with Emily Holmes as “Suzanne” in a scene from Jonathan Spector's "EUREKA DAY" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 22, 2026. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
"EUREKA DAY" continues at WCLOC until February 22nd, 2026 and the consensus is that this is one school committee meeting well worth attending.
Next up at Worcester County Light Opera Company, the fabulous iconic musical “LA CAGE AUX FOLLES” from Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein, beginning April 24th and running through May 3rd, 2026.
For tickets or more information call WCLOC at # 508-753-4383 or visit www.wcloc.org
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Approximately one hours, 40 minutes with no intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE STORY
Hot from celebrated productions on Broadway and in London, "EUREKA DAY" is a new, wildly funny, on-the-pulse satire which asks if parents at a progressive, welcoming private school can uphold their harmonious shared values when "EUREKA DAY" faces an outbreak of the mumps.
Jonathan Spector’s sharp comedy explores in surprising turns what happens when facts become subjective, when inclusivity turns performative, and a “community activated conversation” turns into an all-out brawl - with uproarious, fresh, thought-provoking results.
For tickets or more information call WCLOC at # 508-753-4383 or visit www.wcloc.org
BUY TICKETS
ABOUT WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY (WCLOC)
Founded in 1937, WCLOC is Worcester’s oldest active theater company. As a local, non-profit community theater, we depend on the generosity of our members, patrons, subscribers, and donors to help forward the mission of our organization to entertain, inform, and nurture local artists and audiences through the production of high quality, affordable musicals, plays, and children’s educational workshops. A donation to WCLOC allows us to continue to keep tickets affordable for local audiences, helps us maintain and make necessary improvements to our Clubhouse, and supports a full season of memorable theater and educational opportunities.
WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY
P.O. Box # 51
Worcester, MA. 01613
# 508-753-4383
