Sweets and stories at 16th Street Theater

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Arlene Malinowski, (from left), Elizabeth Berg and Rohin Malik at the 16th Street Theater's 2010 "Soiree."

‘Summer Sweets Soiree in the Garden’

16th Street Theater fundraiser, Dunham Home, 3131 Wisconsin Ave., Berwyn

2- 5 p.m. June 26

Advance tickets $40 for individuals, $75 per couple; at the door $45 for individuals, $80 per couple

Buy at www.16thstreettheater.org, at the North Berwyn Park District, 1619 Wesley Ave., Berwyn, or by calling (708) 795-6704 x104

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Updated: November 24, 2011 2:59AM

It’s time to party again with Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater.

The second “Summer Sweets Soiree in the Garden” benefit is set for 2-5 p.m. Saturday, June 26 at the Arthur J. Dunham Home, 3131 Wisconsin Ave., Berwyn.

It’s as much a relaxed gathering of the clan as it is fundraiser for the company.

“It’s kind of informal,” says Ann Filmer, artistic director and founder of 16th Street Theater. “It’s a fun afternoon.”

Everyone’s hoping the weather cooperates as it did last year, offering a fine summer afternoon for guests to enjoy the gardens, as well as the interior of the elegant, Prairie-style mansion.

Friendly gathering

The party, said Arlene Malinowski, company member and performer for the Soiree, “brings together the community and the artists,” and gives the 16th Street performers, staffers and board members a chance to get to know their patrons.

“I have friendships forged there I could never have forged anywhere else,” she says.

The afternoon includes socializing, a benefit raffle company, and delectable refreshments.

The food, all dessert buffet, including donated treats from local bakeries and ice cream made at a company headed by a 16th Street board member, should be scrumptious, says Filmer. “It’s totally a sweet table.”

In addition to Malinowski, company members, Rohina Malik, Tony Fitzpatrick, Robert Koon and Elizabeth Berg will provide entertainment that day. All of them have written short pieces on the themes of fathers, because the event comes on the heels of Father’s Day, and on change, that they’ll read at the party.

Filmer notes that Malik, who’s currently working in London, won’t be there to read. “But we will hear her story,” she said.

Jersey girl

Malinowski, who grew up in New Jersey, will present a piece she calls “Field of Deaf Dreams.”

She was the hearing child of parents who were both deaf, and the story tells of her father’s life at the Trenton School for the Deaf, a nurturing place, unusual in a time when special needs were often ignored.

“It was a place where he would not be the only deaf one,” she said, a place he needed.

Yet leaving his parents was difficult — “He was loved mightily” — but it was the decision that shaped his life, and ultimately her own, said Malinowski. That school was where he met her mother, and where the family returned, year after year, for summer reunions.

Those visits, which Malinowski recounts in the tale, “were a homecoming, a real homecoming.”

Koon will also talk about the homecomings in his family while he was growing up in central California. His dad was in the service, and was often away for long periods of time. “So the things I did with him were very important,” says Koon. “They were often the first, real man things.”

Games of catch, getting that first real baseball glove — not the miniature kid’s model — were among the high points of his childhood.

Judging by the tales told at last year’s soiree, Malinowski expects the program to include plenty of humor, moving moments, and insights into different kinds of childhoods. “Where else can you hear something of what it’s like to grow up in a Muslim household,” she said, referring to Malik’s tales.

Tony Fitzpatrick, Malinowski says, is always entertaining. “He’s this big, burly outsize Chicagoan and a wonderful storyteller. He has a totally different take on summer than mine.”

The Soiree is also a way to celebrate Ann Filmer and the artistic mecca the theater has become. “She’s created this little piece of playwriting heaven. She’s an artist who really respects artistic vision,” says Malinowski. “And she makes sure that the theater culturally mirrors the population of Berwyn.”