Photo by Bronwyn Woolman The cast of the Alpena Civic Theatre's Finding Gladys poses for a photo. The play is slated to begin on March 12.

ALPENA — It doesn’t matter if you call it a retirement community, a senior residence, or an assisted living facility, the residents of the Seaview community are anything but retiring.

The latest offering from Alpena Civic Theatre is Finding Gladys, a light-hearted comedy romp where everyone, regardless of their age, follows their dreams.

The small group of feisty senior residents is led and inspired by Gladys, played by Linda Suneson. Gladys longs for a world that rejects numbers as a way of determining a person’s value and dreams of writing a play that will capture her feelings and show them to the world, maybe even on Broadway.

Seasoned comedic actor Donna Roussin plays Mildred, another resident. She dreams of the family ties that she lost, and she expresses her longing through her crafts and needlepoint. Morton, played by Matt Southwell, the senior male resident, dreams of a triumphant return to the stage in the play that Gladys is writing. Maybe, this time his duties won’t include unplugging the toilets.

Carol Rundell returns as Connie, a survivor and a drifter with history and old connections to Seaview. She longs for the comforts of home, but she does what she has to do.

Zachary Clement, as Devlin, and Doug Haines, as Miles, play two rather inept, but shockingly well-dressed, confident men who seek to convince the residents of Seaview to part with their pensions to finance the as-yet unfinished play.

Other cast members include Bryan Ghekiere as Cubby, an energetic senior fitness instructor who dreams of directing the play that Gladys is writing. His visions of footlights and sequinned gowns drive the others to dream big as well.

Bill Powell rounds out the cast as Marvin, a senior resident and a retired police officer who just can’t let it go.

Diane Lozen is the director of Finding Gladys, and she is ably assisted by Doreen Kriniak. Sara Kwiatek performs the job of stage manager, Mike Dougal is her assistant, while Krissy Lockwood and Leif Davenport handle lights and sound in the tech booth.

MaryAnn Crawford, assisted by Virginia Hulsey and Jackie Herbert, designed and created costumes. Jay Kettler is the lighting designer.

Finding Gladys opens on March 12 and runs two weeks, Thursday through Sunday and closes on March 22.