Uncle Chick was a great guy. Lover of a good joke, he could put a smile on everyone's face.

Uncle Chick is gone now, but he did leave behind one last request; that his ashes be sprinkled on a nude beach.

"Uncle Chick's Last Wish" is the latest dilemma to grace the stage of the Rainbow Dinner Theatre, a two-act comedic romp to fulfill a man's parting wish.

Written by Linda Oatman High of Narvon, the comedy — making its world premier — is based on a real story.

  VIDEO: Behind the scenes: 'Uncle Chick's Last Wish'

"It was told to me by a friend whose husband had an Uncle Chick and who wanted his ashes scattered on a nude beach," Oatman High says during a phone interview. "The concept of his widow struggling with what to do about the last wish really hooked me."

She decided the story might make "a fun comedy for Rainbow."

"I'm really excited about seeing it hit the stage," Oatman High says. "It will be a weird, surreal kind of experience because usually the characters just live in my head. I can't even imagine seeing them in the flesh on the stage."

David DiSavino, the Rainbow's executive director, says the play was good, but needed fleshing out. Its plot created a very humorous dilemma, he says, "but we needed to expand it to make it a play."

"It really caught us because it had good structure, good one-liners, and a nice sense of character," DiSavino says.

The Rainbow teamed the author with their own artistic director, Cindy DiSavino, and actor/stage manager Scott Russell. Each wrote a scene that, together, would create the first act and serve as the show's back story.

Thus act one begins in 1953 with newlyweds Chick and Rose who check into the Mermaid Hotel, a beachside place in Florida.

"Rose is very shy and withdrawn," DiSavino says. "She doesn't have a lot of self-confidence, and it's about her coming through life, with Chick's help, and growing as a person."

On the other hand, DiSavino says, "Chick is one of those guys who is always playing a practical joke or gag of some kind. His jokes are never mean. They're always meant to make a point."

Scenes two and three take place in 1973 and 1989, respectively, when Rose and Chick revisit the same hotel. During this time, the beach adjacent to the Mermaid Hotel has become clothing optional, which Chick seems to enjoy.

But by the second act, Uncle Chick has died, so Rose makes one last pilgrimage to the hotel, in accordance to her husband's wishes, to spread his ashes on the nude breach.

Rose decides the best time to do this is at night. Unfortunately, the beach is about to change once again, reverting back to clothing required. To enforce the new rule, the beach has closed at night and is guarded by police, leaving Rose in a pickle.

But, of course, it all neatly comes together.

"I think you'll see that the result of it all is a fine comic piece with a heart," DiSavino says.

There is one dilemma to solve, however.

"The question is, how do you stage this without running around on the stage naked, but we do it," DiSavino says.

"Uncle Chick's Last Wish"

Opens Tues. Cont. through Oct. 31

Tues.-Thurs. lunch, 11:30 a.m.

show, 1 p.m.

Fri. and Sat. meal, 6:30 p.m.

show, 8 p.m.; some Thurs. evenings,

Sat. matinees and Sun. twilights

Call for details. $43-$52

Rainbow Dinner Theatre

3065 Lincoln Highway East

Paradise, (800) 292-4301 or 687-4300
www.rainbowdinnertheatre.com