CHAMPAIGN – Parkland College theater students will present the classic American comedy "Harvey" by Mary Chase. The show will open Wednesday.

"Harvey" is the Pulitzer Prize-winning story of Elwood P. Dowd, a good-natured, mild-mannered eccentric (famously portrayed by James Stewart in the 1950 film adaptation) who is known in all of the cafeterias and saloons in his small town.

"Elwood is polite, cheerful and always friendly toward any strangers he might encounter, and he has just one problematic character trait: His best friend is an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit, Harvey," says a news release from the Parkland Theatre.

"His sister and her daughter try to have Elwood committed to the local sanitarium, where the behavior of the prominent psychologist and his staff raise the age-old question of who is more dangerous to society: the easygoing dreamer with a vivid imagination or the people who want him to conform to the accepted version of reality."

Directed by Christiana Forsberg, "Harvey" is the 17th annual student production at Parkland. Theater students there direct the show and design the sets, lights and costumes. They also perform.

The cast of "Harvey" includes Tim Adams, Kelly Barbour-Conerty, Tania Coambs, Mary Rose Cottingham, David Dillman, David Heckman, Holly Humphrey, Katherine Lamb, Casey Long, Zach Lutz, Dawn Schulz and Noah Ward.

The performances will be at 8 p.m. May 7, 8, 9 and 10 and 3 p.m. May 11. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, senior citizens and youths On opening night, Wednesday, all tickets are two for one. No half-price or group discounts will be available for the show.

All proceeds from the production show will support the Randall Millas Theatre Scholarship program, which pays tuition and fees for an exceptional second-year theater scholarship student.

Limited seating for "Harvey" will consist of chairs on platforms on stage with the performers, so reservations are encouraged.

For reservations, call 351-2528, or visit online www.parkland.edu/theatre.