You won't be exaggerating if you call Circle Theatre's upcoming show a family reunion. The downtown Fort Worth playhouse's revival of Over the River and Through the Woods will feature three actors in the same roles they played in this comedy last fall at Theatre Three in Dallas.

Ada Lynn, Barbara Bierbrier and Hugh Feagin will portray Italian-American grandparents conspiring to talk their adored grandson out of moving from New Jersey to Washington state. Producer Rose Pearson tried to make it a clean grand-parental sweep. But Loring Stevenson, who played the other grandfather at T3, was already cast in Casa Mañana's The Wizard of Oz.

As often happens in life and show business, disappointment turned to jubilation when Pearson and guest director René Moreno got around to casting the role. Richard Zavaglia, a former New York actor with impressive stage and screen credits, had routinely mailed his photo and résumé around locally after he and his wife bought a house in Frisco, north of Dallas.

"We saw the photo and realized he was the right age," Moreno recalls. "Then we read the résumé and said, 'Bring this guy in!'

"And he's Italian on top of it."

Playwright Joe DiPietro (who co-authored I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) has the grandparents in Over the River playing matchmakers. They hope that if their grandson, Nick (Ric Leal), marries local girl Caitlin (Heather Child), he'll cancel his Seattle move. The scheme is carried out during an elaborate traditional Italian dinner.

Although Over the River and Through the Woods has an emotional appeal with no ethnic limitations, Moreno is stressing the Italian-ness of the characters. Zavaglia is a valuable ally here. During a recent photo session, the actor led his castmates in singing the bawdy Italian folk song heard during the wedding party scene in The Godfather, Part I.

"Richard will be using an Italian accent because his character, Frank, was born in Italy," Moreno explains. "But the other grandfather, Nunzio, was born in the U.S. So Hugh will use more of a New York accent in playing him.

"I'm familiar with that sort of distinction, because it exists in my own family. My mother was born in Monterey, Mexico, and she speaks with a Hispanic accent. My father's people have lived in South Texas for more than 100 years. So he has a Texas accent."

Previews of Over the River will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. The $30-a-ticket champagne opening will be at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 2. Regular performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 4 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays. There are matinee discounts for students and senior citizens. Student discount tickets for evening shows are available 30 minutes before curtain time.

Perry Stewart, (817) 390-7712

Over the River and Through the Woods

Wednesday through Sept. 7

Circle Theatre

230 W. Fourth St.

Fort Worth

$10-$25

(817) 877-3040