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Monday, May 2, 2016
HUDSON THEATRE WORKS PRESENTS NJ PREMIERE & NEW PLAY READINGS IN MAY
CENTENARY STAGE COMPANY OPENS REGISTRATION FOR SUMMER EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
Centenary Stage Company opens registration for summer programs. Summer programs include the critically acclaimed
Young Performers Workshop Summer Intensive
WHEN: July 11 through August 14, Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 4:30pm. The Summer Intensive culminates with a Summer Festival of Shows with performances August 8 through 14.
WHERE: Lackland Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ
REGISTRATION: $995 per student. Registration deadline is June 27, 2016. A $75 Non-refundable registration fee is due upon registering and will be applied towards tuition. Tuition must be paid by July 1. A $30 late fee will be applied to all registrations received after JUNE 30. No student will be allowed to participate in orientation without a paid registration. There are NO payment plans. Students may withdraw after the third class day with a 75% refund. There are NO refunds for any reason after the first week.
To register interested applicants must contact the CSC box office directly and all new applicants are required to complete an interview process with program director, Michael Blevins. Interviews are scheduled for Saturday, June 4 at 9:30am and Sunday, June 5 at 11:30am. To register and schedule an interview please contact the CSC box office at (908) 979 – 0900. The initial interview will cover in detail commitment level, previous training experience, applicant goals and expectations. Parent questions and concerns will also be addressed. All students are accepted into the program. Auditions are held the first day to determine vocal and dance skill level. Students will be placed in the appropriate class level based upon audition status and will perform in the Summer Festival of Shows.
The YPW Summer Intensive is a 5-week program designed to meet the needs of beginning, intermediate and advanced performers interested in working in the theatre. The hands-on program utilizes both the classroom and the “production process” to train young people in the theatre arts. The program includes the production of musicals and one-act plays. The workshop director is Broadway, film and TV veteran Michael Blevins. Once registered, students are guaranteed a part in at least one production and, depending on ability, experience, desire and commitment level, could feasibly appear in more than one production. Classes are broken up by age and ability. Students participate in a wide variety of subjects including radio and television production. No experience is necessary.
Led by CSC Education Director Maria Brodeur, the program provides an introduction to theatre skills and performance for children, as part of the Centenary Stage Company’s mission to introduce and develop arts in education within the community.
WHEN: Monday through FridayJuly 11 – 22. TYRO I is designed for ages 6—8 years old and will meet 9:30am - 12:00pm and TYRO II is developed for ages 9—11 years old and will meet 1:00pm - 3:30pm.
TUITION: $200 per student. Registration deadline is June 27, 2016.
The program is designed specifically for young thespians ages 6—11 years of age. Using structured theatre activities which focus on expression, confidence building and fun, young thespians will learn acting games and demonstrate improvisations inspired by fairy tales and folk tales.
Summer Dance Intensive
WHEN: The four day intensive will run from 10:00am to 3:00pm, July 5 though 8
WHERE: the Dance Studio of the Lackland Center.
TUITION:$200.00 per student and is open to dancers of various skill level ages 14 and up. Registration deadline is June 21, 2016. CSC is also offering at 10% early bird discount for Summer Dance registrations before June 1.
For more information regarding summer programs offered at Centenary Stage Company visit www.centenarystage.com or call the CSC box office directly at (908) 979 – 0900. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 – 5pm. The box office is located in the Lackland Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ
The 2015-16 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, and CSC corporate sponsors, including Premier Season Sponsor Heath Village Retirement Community, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), The Holiday Inn in Budd Lake, and Fulton Bank of New Jersey, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.
PREMIERE STAGES @ KEAN UNIV. ANNOUNCES 2016 SEASON
Premiere Stages will celebrate its 12th year as the professional theatre in residence at Kean University with an intriguing season of plays, all presented professionally for the first time in the Garden State, featuring innovative new alliances and exciting community-based partnerships.
“The power of unlikely friendships in impacting social change is a key component in a line-up that promises to inspire as well as resonate with audiences this season,” stated John J. Wooten, producing artistic director of Premiere Stages. “The shielding of secrets and the search for redemption are the prevailing themes in these topical and thought-provoking plays we’ll be sharing with New Jersey audiences for the very first time.”
Premiere’s 2016 season kicks off with a free staged reading of Jeff Talbott’s Three Rules for the Dragon (June 17-19; Murphy Dunn Theatre, Vaughn Eames Hall), directed by Wes Grantom, artistic director of New York’s Crowded Outlet. In this provocative and unabashedly theatrical new play, Douglas Barnes is having difficulty balancing his top secret job and his crumbling home life. As he struggles to extract information from a suspected terrorist, he must also try to salvage a marriage that hangs in the balance. Recently named this year’s Runner-Up in the Premiere Stages Play Festival, Three Rules for the Dragon was one of four finalists featured in Premiere’s popular Spring Reading Series in March, and returns for expanded development.
The season continues with the New Jersey Premiere of Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes (July 14-31; Zella Fry Theatre, Vaughn Eames Hall), directed by Kel Haney. In this stirring portrait of redemption and forgiveness, Elliot, an Iraqi War vet, and his cousin Yazmin, a recent divorcee, search for a way out from the shadows. Odessa, Elliott's estranged mother, has found her escape: a new online family of fellow addicts who she can keep stable and sober each and every day. As the fractured family negotiates the limitations of loyalty, friendship, and community, they also discover acceptance and grace. Water by the Spoonful was the recipient of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Next up is the winner of the 2016 Premiere Stages Play Festival, Las Cruces by Vincent Delaney (September 1-18; Zella Fry Theatre, Vaughn Eames Hall), directed by producing artistic director John J. Wooten. Set in the New Mexico desert, not far from the casinos and the spaceport, Las Cruces tells the story of Sheridan, camped out and hiding in a gutted trailer, and Soledad, the colorful teenage card player he befriends who – like Sheridan – seems to be hiding something. Selected from over 400 submissions to the Festival, the play provides a moving and fascinating exploration of the power of friendship in the face of unspeakable tragedy.
Premiere’s 2016 season concludes with the highly-anticipated full production of the 2015/2016 Liberty Live Commission, Deborah Brevoort’s My Lord, What a Night (October 13-16; 1882 Carriage House, Liberty Hall Museum), directed by Kel Haney. Based on actual events, My Lord, What a Night provides a thought-provoking account of the night legendary singer Marian Anderson spent at the home of Albert Einstein. What begins as an event that threatens to divide the Princeton community ends with a lifetime bond between two of New Jersey's most fascinating people of the 20th century. A unique partnership between Premiere Stages and the Liberty Hall Museum, Liberty Live celebrates New Jersey history with professional theatrical productions, museum tours, interactive displays, workshops for children, and talk-backs with local historians.
TICKETS: $15 - $30, with deep discounts available for season packages, groups, seniors, and students; admission to Three Rules for the Dragon is free.
Premiere Stages also offers a series of free interactive post-show discussions, known as “talk-backs,” after select matinee performances. To purchase tickets or inquire about season packages, please call the box office at 908-737-SHOW (7469) or visit www.kean.edu/premierestages. If you’d like more information on Premiere’s season programming or talk-back schedule and speakers, please call Premiere’s administrative offices at 908-737-4092 or email premiere@kean.edu.
In addition to its mainstage season, Premiere Stages will again collaborate with other professional theatres in the area to present dynamic theatre programming exclusively for children, with performances open to the public as well as school and camp groups. This season’s Play Factory Performance Series for young audiences will include Yates Musical Theatre's Sleeping Beauty (July 13 at 10:30 am; Wilkins Theatre), Pushcart Players’ Peter and the Wolf (July 27 at 10:30 am; Wilkins Theatre), and Yates Musical Theatre's Pinocchio (August 3 at 10:30 am; Wilkins Theatre). The recommended age for all three productions is 3 – 10. For group sales or more information, please contact Heather Kelley, director of audience services, at 908-737-4077 or hkelley@kean.edu.
REVIEW: DREAMCATCHER REP TACKLES DIFFICULT SUBJECT WITH PATHOS AND POLISH
By Ruth Ross
Alzheimer disease appears to be a trending topic, what with two plays about the topic opening, one locally (Old Love New Love at Luna Stage) and the other on Broadway (The Father with Frank Langella), along with a special section about the subject in the May 1, 2016, edition of The New York Times. While many articles and theatrical productions focus on the syndrome's devastating effect on family and friends, the Times article and the current production at Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre in Summit focus on the patient, especially one who is—even intermittently—aware of what is happening to him or her.
Dreamcatcher Rep's New Jersey Premiere of Bruce Graham's The Outgoing Tide actually examines both points-of-view in a well-acted, very affecting production that is as uplifting as it is poignant. Originally performed Off-Broadway in 2012, the play focuses on the Concannon family—the patriarch Gunner, his wife Peg and their son Jack—as they face Gunnar's increasing loss of mental acuity one autumn weekend in their Chesapeake Bay cottage. Aware of what is happening to him, Gunner has concocted a plan to secure his family's financial future, but his wife and son have plans that involve the couple's moving into an assisted living complex with the possibility of hospitalization should Gunner need care that Peg can no longer provide. Faced with his intransigence to this scheme, the three must reach a common decision before the tide goes out—literally and figuratively. With dark humor and powerful emotion, the family takes stock of its options before reaching a moving conclusion.
Lily Guerin's evocative set transports us to a cabin on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, complete with dock, reeds and a small kitchen table. Zach Pizza's lighting effectively and smoothly directs our attention to the various flashbacks with a minimum of fuss, and the sound design by Jeff Knapp further reinforces the seaside impression, especially the sound of the geese flying south in formation to their winter abode. Costumes by Laura Ekstrand further telegraph to us just who these people are.
The subject of Alzheimer disease is an uncomfortable one that most of us would rather not deal with. Bruce Graham has written a play that manages to be both heartening and heartrending as it focuses not only on the debilitating aspects of the syndrome but also on the dignity of the person affected, especially when he comprehends what is happening to him. Beautifully produced and acted, this sensitive, well-written drama is a welcome addition to the health care discussion, one that many theater-goers may find familiar.
The Outgoing Tide will be performed through May 8 at the Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit. For information and tickets, call 800.838.3006 or visit www.DreamcatcherRep.org online.
Photos by Joey Sbarro
Sunday, May 1, 2016
THE SUN IS SHINING @ THE SUMMIT PLAYHOUSE WITH “GODSPELL”
By Stephen Schwartz
Directed and Choreographed by Carol Cornicelli
Musical Direction by Marsha Schreir
WHEN: May 6, 7, 13, 14, 15*, 20, 21, 22* (denotes *2:00 pm matinee performance).
WHERE: The Summit Playhouse, 10 New England Ave., Summit
TICKETS: $25; $20 students/seniors
To purchase tickets, click here. You will be redirected to Brown Paper Tickets to purchase yours!
If you want to purchase tickets for a group, email us at thesummitplayhouse@gmail.com to make arrangements.
The ensemble cast brings to the Summit stage the joy and enthusiasm of this classic, which is sure to be a hit with everyone.
GODSPELL is a musical retelling of the Gospel of Matthew in a modern-day setting. Using song and dance, the followers of Jesus learn his message of love and tolerance even as the time moves ever closer to his betrayal at the hands of Judas and ultimately, his crucifixion. GODSPELL opened Off-Broadway in 1971, moved to Broadway in 1976, and has been produced as a movie and in other venues to the present, garnering numerous awards, cast recordings and rave reviews along the way.
NY TIMES & MORE LOVE “PERICLES” @ TWO RIVER THEATER IN RED BANK — FINAL WEEK
Two River Theater | 21 Bridge Avenue | Red Bank, NJ 07701 | 732.345.1400 | tworivertheater.org | info@trtc.org
CONNECTION BETWEEN ART AND LITERATURE ON DISPLAY @ THE MONTCLAIR PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Montclair Public Library’s popular art exhibits continues with
The Poets
by Leona Mahler-Sussman
WHERE: Montclair Public Library Gallery, 50 South Fullerton Avenue, Montclair
WHEN: during library hours from May 1 through May 28, 2016.
Cedar Grove resident Leona Mahler-Sussman’s “The Poets” are a combination of monotypes and mixed media. Images of Robert Frost, Phillip Roth, James Joyce and Bertoit Brecht will be included in this exhibit. She has exhibited her creations at numerous venues including the Monmouth Museum, Montclair State University, Watchung Arts Center and with the Mountain Arts Council of Essex.
In choosing poets and writers as her subject matter Leona intends to emphasize the relationship between two disciplines – art and literature – both expressions of the desire to create and by doing so include others in the experience.
As an artist Leona is free to perceive reality in the various realms of shadows, distortion, exaggerations and suggested truths. “Like a child in a playroom, I can have fun” states Leona “mixing and merging my toys any old way until eye and brain give the go-ahead.”
In the portraits there is a play between the past and the present. Faces, expressions tell a story frequently departing from the usual biographical date. Every generation has its own perspective and in this way a portrait is living person interacting with the viewer.
In working with monotypes, Leona finds the flexibility and out of control surprise element that sparks. Her style is basically expressionistic allowing for symbols, language and even history.
The Library welcomes inquiries from local artists and arts organizations regarding use of the exhibit space. For further information, please contact the Montclair Public Library (973) 744-0500 ext. 2221.
FREE FIRST THURSDAY @ MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM THIS WEEK
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WHEN: May 5, 5–9 p.m.