After 2 cancellations, John Cusack sets Patchogue date again

John Cusack is once again scheduled to appear at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The star of the 1989 rom-com "Say Anything ..." is set to host a screening of the film at the theater on Aug. 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50-$100, and meet-and-greet packages are available, according to the venue’s website.

It’s the actor’s third booking at the Patchogue Theatre, following two events that never materialized. Cusack, 58, was scheduled to appear there with a screening of the comedy "High Fidelity" in October 2024, but the date was moved to January. That show, too, was postponed. Scheduling conflicts were to blame, according to Michele Rizzo-Berg, the venue’s executive director.

“We had to cancel it, but we’re presenting the show again,” she says. "We're excited, and we’re thrilled.”

Cusack rose to fame in the mid-1980s alongside the young actors dubbed the Brat Pack — including Ally Sheedy and Rob Lowe — but the slightly younger star maintained a separate identity. Among his best-known early roles were Walter "Gib" Gibson, a college kid in search of easy sex in Rob Reiner’s 1985 comedy "The Sure Thing," and Lloyd Dobler, a high school underachiever who courts a valedictorian (Ione Skye) in Cameron Crowe’s “Say Anything ... ." He also led Woody Allen’s "Bullets Over Broadway" (1994) and the black comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank" (1997) before starring as a record store owner stuck in perpetual adolescence in Stephen Frears’ Gen X classic "High Fidelity" (2000).

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com