| If critical acclaim and box office success are any measure, Luna Stage's first play, The Old Settler, and its new home in the Valley Arts District are both big hits. According to founder and artistic director Jane Mandel, as of yesterday it was impossible to get a ticket to The Old Settler, so an extra performance has been added on Saturday, November 13, at 2 PM. Tickets for the added performance can be purchased online now at lunastage.org.
"Given the extraordinary response to our new theater and the overwhelming demand for this beautiful play, I wish we could have added even more performances," said Ms. Mandel, "but a producing theater company like ours almost always has another play just about ready to open, so we must move ahead with our season." As soon as The Old Settler closes next weekend, Luna will completely re-configure its highly flexible new mainstage theatre to accommodate the world premiere of a one-man musical whirlwind, ...And Then I Wrote a Song About It, November 24-December 19. After a one-year hiatus from full-scale production made necessary by Luna's move to the Valley Arts District and the time needed to construct its new purpose-built theater, the stakes for the inaugural play were particularly high. Said Peter Filichia of The Star Ledger, Luna Stage made "an astonishing first impression... Susan Kerner has directed a production that is so close to perfection that she deserves the benefit of the doubt -- let's just call it perfect... If all the productions at Luna Stage Company turn out remotely as well as this one, West Orange will have a treasure to make other townships in Jersey perpetually green with envy." >> Read the entire review |
