GOOD PEOPLE
By David Lindsay-Abaire
WHEN: March 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29, and 30; Friday and Saturday night shows begin at 8 PM. the one Sunday matinee on the 30th begins at 2 PM.
WHERE: Chester Theatre Group, 54 Grove Street in downtown Chester, NJ at the corner of Grove Street and Maple Avenue
TICKETS: $20 with a $2 discount available for seniors aged 65 and over and students under 18. Tickets can be reserved by calling the theater box office at 908-879-7304 or by visiting www.chestertheatregroup.com.
The last time Gloria Lamoureux took the stage at Chester Theatre Group, she brought Shirley Valentine unforgettably to life in a bravura, one-woman show that earned her the Perry Award—the “Tony” of New Jersey’s Community Theater world—for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. Gloria is sure to give Perry voters much to talk about once again when she leads the cast of Good People at CTG. (After all, Frances McDormand of Fargo fame won the Tony for the very same role in 2011.)
Lamoureux will portray Margie Walsh, a single mother who is one paycheck away from desperation in the Boston blue-collar neighborhood known as “Southie.” Her old boyfriend, Mike, is now a doctor, living the good life on the right side of the tracks. When Mike turns Margie down for a job, she hatches a plan to turn the tables on him—a plan that sets their two very different worlds on a collision course. The play evokes the full gamut of emotion, from laughter to tears, from edge-of-your-seat tension to heartbreaking pathos.
The show is directed by Cindy Alexander of Annandale (who also helmed the aforementioned production of Shirley Valentine.) Joining Lamoureux in the six-person cast are Matt Meier of Long Valley as Mike, and CTG veterans Ellen Fraker Glasscock (of Chester) and Claudia Metz (of Boonton) as Margie’s best friends Dottie and Jeannie. Mike’s African-American wife, Kate—whose race is another source of tension between the old lovers—will be portrayed by CTG newcomer Kellei Cosby, a resident of Lake Hiawatha. Completing the cast as Margie’s former boss, Stevie, is George Bierly of Morristown. Diane Butler of Bernardsville is the show’s producer.
Also of note: Good People is also the very first CTG show to offer online ticket purchasing via the group’s recently redesigned website.
