Thu 5/14 @ 5:30PM
Once upon a time Shaker Heights’ Peter Lawson Jones was a Harvard-educated lawyer. Then he was a politician, a state legislator and county commissioner whose job as the latter was eliminated when Cuyahoga County passed its new charter in 2009. But it was OK. He was already eying pursuing a longtime dream: theater. And it’s really worked out for him. Since then, he’s snagged all kinds of acting jobs onstage and in film and TV. He’s also directed and even a couple of plays, one based on his time in politics.
Recently he starred in a new independent feature film, The Last Shop on Walnut, which will have its red-carpet world premiere at the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights this week, with a portion of the proceeds for the special event going to theCharles & Margaret Jones Endowed Scholarship Fund at College Now, in honor of his parents’ memory and their commitment to education..
The film revolves around a man named Marvin Statler, played by Jones, who owns a building that houses his lamp store and his apartment upstairs. The synopsis says that “As mounting debt, neighborhood decline and gentrification threaten the survival of his shop, a former love interest (Kym Whitley) and the arrival of a mysterious young man force Marvin to confront both long‑buried guilt about his relationship with his brother (Donald Webber, Jr.) and a terrifyingly uncertain future.”
The even starts with a VIP reception at 5:30pm at the Wine Spot up the street from the Cedar Lee at 5:30pm. Doors open at the theater at 6:30pm and the screening starts at7:30. After the film, there’ll be a talkback with Jones, Whitley and director Jason Richardson.
Go here for tickets.