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NEW JERSEY CONNECTIONS
NJ TheatersNJ Theatre Alliance Discount Tix Information |
There are 22 professional not-for-profit theatres in New Jersey. They are all members of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a valuable and supportive organization founded in 1981 to help promote and develop professional theater in the Garden State. In addition to these, there are also 9 up-and-coming developing theatre companies, known as Associate Member Theaters, all looking to upgrade as the Alliance's requirements and standards are met.
As my duties and assignments as a theater reviewer include all Broadway, most Off-Broadway and many Off-Off Broadway shows, my coverage of New Jersey theatres is limited to those that have been a regular part of my beat. I will, nevertheless, post information about up-coming shows worth checking out and mini-reviews of some I manage to catch but don't have time to review in more detail. Once a show we've reviewed closes, it will migrate to our Master Index of All Shows Reviewed at CurtainUp (Master Index) so that the review will still be available for reference. The little box headlined NEW JERSEY CONNECTIONS, includes besides a link to my own annotated list of area theaters, links to the NJTheatre Alliance website and its information regarding special programs and services, as well as several other websites you may find helpful.
Current Reviews & Features
Evie's WaltzThe Little Foxes
New and Noteworthy in New Jersey
New & Noteworthy in June and July 2009
Social Security (July 22 – August 29) Most of the critics agreed in 1986 that Andrew Bergman’s comedy was filled with funny jokes. The comedy that entertained audiences for a year on Broadway is back to make summer-time audiences laugh at what happens when art-dealers David and Barbara Kahn are visited by her sister, brother-in-law, and Barbara’s crotchety, critical septuagenarian mother. It remains to be seen if the Cape May Stage cast can top or equal the fun created originally by Marlo Thomas, Ron Silver and Olympia Dukakis under the direction of Mike Nichols. Cape May Stage, 31 Perry Street, Cape May, NJ 08204 (609) 884 - 1341
Alice on the Edge (June 17 – July 25) Dedicated to presenting American Theatre classics from its early history as far back as the Federal era, The East Lynne Theatre Company in historic Cape May is the perfect place to discover or perhaps re-acquaint yourself with playwright Alice Gerstenberg. Her play Overtones was considered quite provocative when it played at the Bandbox Theatre on Broadway in 1915 as part of the repertory season of the Washington Square Players. The play will be included in a comic evening under the umbrella title Alice on the Edge. One of the most talked about plays of the 1915 Broadway season, Overtones featured, for the first time on stage, two characters talking to their alter egos. The cast included East Lynne Theatre Company favorites SuzAnne Dawson, Edward Lang, Shelley McPherson, Alison J. Murphy, and Gayle Stahlhuth, directed by Karen Case Cook. The East Lynne Theatre Company, in residence at The First Presbyterian Church of Cape May, 500 Hughes Street, Cape May, NJ 08024. (609) 884 – 5898.
Souvenir (now through June 20) Florence Foster Jenkins was an eccentric, real-life New York socialite who considered herself the greatest opera diva of her age and she performed a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Unfortunately, she couldn’t sing two consecutive notes in tune. While the play is mostly funny, it is also quite touching. Barrymore award winner Deborah Jean Templin plays the “first lady of the sliding scale," alongside Broadway veteran Larry Daggett as the faithful accompanist in this affectionate valentine to the tin-eared opera diva who stunned concert audiences with her unassailable self-confidence and unique interpretations of the opera repertoire. Read CU review based on a previous production at the George Street Playhouse in 2007 http://curtainup.com/souvenirnj.html Cape May Stage, 31 Perry Street, Cape May, NJ 08204, (609) 884 – 1341
The Brother/Sister Plays (now through June 21) Considered one of the most celebrated young writers in the American theater, Tarell Alvin McCraney has completed a trilogy that will be presented over two evenings. They are modern-day urban stories of kinship, love, heartache and coming of age. Steeped in southern rhythms and cadences, inspired by Yoruvan culture and traditions, the plays are enhanced by urban music and dance. Part 1: In the Red and Brown Water (April 24 – June 21); Part 2: The Brothers Size/Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (May 14 – June 21) The Brothers Size was produced as a single play by the Public Theatre in 2007. The trilogy will travel from McCarter to New York for an Off Broadway run as a co-production with the Public Theatre. Read CU review based on earlier Public Theatre production of The Brothers Size http://curtainup.com/brotherssize.html McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton 08540. (609) 258 – ARTS
Evie’s Waltz (June 18 – July 26) Playwright Carter W. Lewis had a hit last year at this theater with Women Who Steal. So there are high hopes for Evie’s Waltz, a dark comedy about a serious subject: young people who feel alienated within society and their own family. The New Jersey premiere will be under the direction of NJ Rep artistic director SuzAnne Barabas. Read CU review shortly after opening. New Jersey Repertory Company, at the Lumia Theatre, 179 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ 07740 (732) 229 – 3166
The Full Monty (June 10 – July 12) The incomparable Elaine Stritch will be among the cast under Paper Mill’s artistic director Mark S. Hoebee in this grin-and-bare-it-all musical comedy about a dispirited group of unemployed steelworkers in Buffalo, New York, who are desperate to make some quick cash. Ms Stritch made her first appearance at this theater in 1982 in Noel Coward’s A Suite in Three Keys. Read CU review shortly after opening. Paper Mill Playhouse, Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ 07041 (973) 379 -3636.
Duck Crossing (July 16 – August 2) In this world premiere play by John Wooten, George Washington has just set across the Delaware for a surprise attack on the Hessians that can turn the tid of the war. It is a brilliant play. The Hessians are sound asleep after an evening of merry-making and the air is ripe for victory. There’s just one problem: the river freezes when they are halfway across. In this new comedy, set in real time (1776), the colonists contemplate their escape from the icy river, knowing that the future of the country hangs in the balance. Premiere Stages, Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083. (908) 737 – 4092
The Little Foxes (June 3 – June 28) American playwright Lillian Hellman wrote a compelling cautionary tale of an ambitious, turn-of-the-century, Southern family torn apart by bitter disappointment, greed and deception. Tony Award nominee Kathryn Meisle plays the iconic Regina Giddens, under the direction of Matthew Arbour. Read CU review shortly after opening. The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940 (973) 408 – 3278.
School for Wives (July 8 – July 26) Laughs are guaranteed in Moliere’s celebrated comedy of a pompous, middle-aged bachelor’s attempts to mold his ward into the perfect bride, only to see his plans to hilariously awry. Brian B. Crowe directs the marvelous Richard Wilburn translation. The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940 (973) 408 – 3278.
The Tempest (June 24 – August 2) will be performed on the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ’s out-door stage. Let’s hope that mosquitoes, flies and other flying objects, including planes, will be magically controlled during performances of Shakespeare’s mystical romance in which the magus Prospero prepares to wreak havoc on those who have wronged him, only to learn the greater value of compassion and forgiveness: a perfect opportunity for families and people of all ages to experience Shakespeare under-the-stars. It will be performed, under the direction of Joe Discher, at the Greek Theatre, an outdoor amphitheatre on the pastoral campus of The College of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station, NJ.
Ragtime (June 16 – July 3) This stirring award-winning musical by collaborators Terrence McNally (book), Lynn Aherns and Stephen Flaherty (score) paints a nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the centgury America. Three remarkable families intertwine to poignantly illustrate history’s timeless contradiction of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, love and hate. Surflight Theatre, Engleside and Beach Avenues Beach Haven, NJ 08008 (609) 492 – 9477
Try onlineseats.com for great seats to
Wicked
Jersey Boys
The Little Mermaid
Lion King
Shrek The Musical
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill 2007-08 Yearbook
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide
Wicked
Jersey Boys
The Little Mermaid
Lion King
Shrek The Musical
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill 2007-08 Yearbook
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide