Exclusive: Bickford Theatre unveils 2007-08 season
The Bickford Theatre leaked its plans for next season to Jersey Stages, and we're only too happy to spread the leak. Artistic director Eric Hafen has unveiled an ambitious and interesting course for his professional Equity theater, which is connected to the Morris Museum in Morris Township.
The Bickford doesn't get a lot of press outside of Morris County, but Hafen has built a loyal following and draws a larger crowd than most of professional theaters in the Garden State. Next season, Hafen hopes to expand his base with a humor-heavy season, which will expand from four to five productions and feature a new series of Saturday matinees.
The theater’s A La Carte Series will be replaced with a new Special Concert Series, which will again include its popular Holiday Spectacular.
The season in capsule:
Sept. 20 to Oct. 14: “The Owl and the Pussycat.” The 1964 Broadway hit better known as 1970 movie with Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand as an uptight, would-be author who complains about the lady of the evening (Babs) woorking out of the apartment below him. When she is evicted, she winds up at his doorstep, leading to yet another onstage odd-coupling.
Nov. 15 to Dec. 9: “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” John Bishop’s 1987 Broadway comic-thriller. The creative team responsible for a recent Broadway flop reassembles for a backer’s audition of their new show at a private estate. Then with the storms, the murders, the mystery, the bumbling police inspector, the swiveling bookcase - no cliche is safe in this sendup of 1940s-era murder-mystery movies.
Jan. 24 to Feb. 17: “Almost Maine.” Former George Street Playhouse associate artistic director Wendy Liscow directs the New Jersey premiere of John Carini’s recent Off-Broadway comedy hit. On a Friday night in the middle of winter, the residents of a small, mythical town in far northern Maine, played by four actors, are falling in and out of love at an alarming rate. It is described as a “charming midwinter night’s dream.”
March 27 to April 20: “Rounding Third.” Richard Dresser’s two-character comedy about Little League coaches with opposing philosophies, and unmatched sets of emotional baggage, has been making the rounds in New Jersey for a few years now. Now, frequent leading man Duncan M. Rogers takes a turn at directing at the Bickford.
May 22 to June 15: “With and Without.” Hafen is set to direct Jeffrey Sweet’s comedy about sex and friendship. Mark and Shelly plan a relaxing weekend with their married friends, Jill and Russ, at a lakeside cabin. But when Jill arrives without her husband, Shelly and Mark try to save the weekend, while Jill meets another man. The situation is complicated by the fact that Jill and Mark were once a couple, and Shelly introduced her to Russ. What compromises are we willing to make with the truth to keep even the strongest relationships from coming apart?
Five shows, five comedies? Hafen points out that humor is onl a part of "Musical Comedy Murders" and "Almost Maine," but there is some strategic planning in his choices.
"We took a poll and got back about 400 responses, which is astonishing," Hafen said. "I gave them six choices, classic comedy, contemporary comedy, musical, musical-comedy, classic drama and contemporary drama. The first two choices were overwhelmingly contemporary comedy and classic comedy. I think right now, with the state of things, people just want to be entertained."
Hafen also brings in strongactors, ranging from familiar regional vetrans such as Rogers, Clark Carmichael, Liz Zazzi, Harriet Tangucci and JC Hoyt, to New York actors such as Julian Brightman, to rising local artists such as Gerard Lebeda of Bound Brook.
Meanwhile, construction continues on the expansion of the theater lobby, part of a multi-million-dollar expansion of the Morris Museum, at 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township. Subscription packages are now available and range from $110 to $130. Individual tickets go on sale Aug. 15. For more information, call the box office at (973) 971-3706.
Follow-up questions for the class
"Rounding Third" has had two recent professional productions in Northern NJ (and a few more on the amateur circuit), partly because it's a good play, partly because with two actors and one set, it's a budget-saver. Is Hafen making a mistake trodding down a well-worn path or is this the kind of crowd-pleaser that's a sure bet to put fannies in the seats? (At least Hafen had the sense to stage it at the beginning of baseball season). A good question for the artistic directors in the audience.
And did anyone besides me see "Rounding Third" at both Centenary College and Tri-State Actor's Theatre in Sussex? Which one did you like better?
Non Sequiter
Does anyone know where I can get a good deal on size 14 golf shoes? I should also point out that I'm left-handed.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
And away we go
Would you like to have your head severed and impaled on a metal spike? This is the blog that can tell you how.
But perhaps I’m getting a head of myself.
Allow me to introduce you to what I believe to be the only blog written by a professional writer that is devoted entirely to New Jersey theater (if I’m wrong, let me know and I’ll share with the rest of the class). As I regularly write on theater, music and the performing arts for the Courier News, some of the postings here will merely expand on the previews, reviews and features you can read in the paper. But the cool part of Jersey Stages is that there’s no deadlines, no space limits and no having to wait for the next assignment slot. I can write about it all and share it with you as soon as it’s written.
So can you. Got an opinion about a show you saw? Post a comment. Got an opinion about something I wrote? Go right ahead — and indulge the inner critic that’s in all of us.
Even better, if you’re involved with a show, and you want to share it with our Central Jersey audience, you now have a place to do it. And you know what? We’re open 24/7.
When you think about it, the possibilities boggle the mind.
For example, let’s return to the lead and elaborate on the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s annual “Brush Up your Shakespeare” benefit, which happens Saturday at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park. In addition to fine dining and celebrity entertainment, a silent auction will offer some unique prizes. One of them is the opportunity to have a company artist recreate your noggin, which then will be impaled on a spike and incorporated into the set design of the company’s upcoming production of “Blood and Roses.”
For information, call (973) 408-3761.
Ground rules
As a critic who has reviewed hundreds of shows, I’ve learned that the best service I can provide for the readers is focus on why someone will, or at least might, want to see a show. My goal is to help you spend your hard-earned money and limited leisure time wisely, so my first task is to answer your question, “What’s in it for me?” So, first and foremost, I look for the good in a show, share it with the readers and let them make their own decisions.
If there are problems with a play, the production, the cast or a particular cast member, I have no qualms about saying so and offering my opinion about where it all went horribly wrong. But I’m not fond of the “Cheap Shot,” a device some critics employ to spice up their reviews, often at the expense of an actor or director who just spent several weeks busting behind, often for what amounts to minimum wage or less. Just because John or Jane Doe was lousy in a particular role is no excuse to make fun of them, and I’ll frown on any Jersey Stage participants who indulge in that sort of thing.
That goes double (make that triple) for community theater, scholastic theater or other forms of amateur theater (as a rule, I write about all forms of theater, but only review professional theaters, because anyone working on their own time, and their own dime, gets a standing “O” here).
That being said. Let me add that my opinions, and reviews, also are fair game for criticism here. I’ve already been labeled a “stupid idiot” in published editorial-page letters, which is sort of a badge of honor in this business, but that’s a story for another day. The point is, let’s get a dialogue going, but let’s play nice.
Coming up
A death in the family forced me to miss the opening night of “Radio Golf” at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre, but I hope to catch up with it this weekend. How very exciting that Broadway’s premiere production of August Wilson’s final play will spend a few weeks in the Garden State before hopping the Hudson. Look for a full review in the Courier next week, and some initial impressions here before the weekend passes.
In the meantime, a few more items of interest.
McCarter announces 2007-08 season
The world premiere of a new play by three-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Edward Albee will highlight the 2007-08 season at Princeton University’s McCarter Theatre Center.
The next main stage season also will include the world premiere of McCarter Artistic Director Emily Mann’s latest work, “A Seagull in the Hamptons,” adapted from “The Seagull” by Anton Chekov.
Rounding out the season will be a showcase for one of America’s emerging playwrights, Lydia Diamond (“Stick Fly”) and two new interpretations of old classics, Moliere’s “Tartuffe” and “Argonauts,” Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of the classic Greek tale, “Jason and the Argonauts.”
Albee’s “Me, Myself and I,” commissioned and directed by Mann, will run from Jan. 11 through Feb.17 in the Berlind Theatre. It is described as a dark, funny and moving play that takes sibling rivalry to existential heights.
Widely considered to be America’s foremost living playwright, Albee has received Pulitzer Prizes for drama for “A Delicate Balance,” “Seascape” and “Three Tall Women,” as well as a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
For information, visit www.mccarter.org
Centenary stages Women Playwright readings
As Major League Baseball’s spring training gives way to the regular season, spring training of a sort begins at Centenary College in Hackettstown. The school’s professional Centenary Stage company begins its 15th annual Women Playwrights series this month with staged readings of two new plays.
First up is “Luna Park,” a lyrical play by award-winning playwright Caridad Svich. The reading will take place 7:30 p.m. April 4 at Centenary Theatre, 400 Jefferson St.
Svich’s plays explore the Latina sensibility and its position within the “American Dream.” In “Luna Park, Svich follows the lives of seven twenty-somethings as they spend an enchanted day in an old amusement park, where their lives are forever changed by a dramatic event.
Svich talked about her literary style in a recent interview: “Born in the U.S. of Cuban-Argentine-Spanish-Croatian parents, I have felt in a strange kind of exile even while growing up as an American,” she said. “The nomadic strain was instilled in me and has become an inevitable part of my writing vision.”
Inspired by an actual event, “Luna Park” looks at the intense relationships which can bind young people together and shape their futures.
Svich is the recipient of a Harvard University Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Bunting fellowship, a TCG/Pew National Theatre Artist Grant and twice has been short-listed for the PEN USA-West Award in Drama. Her work has been staged at the Royal Court, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Women’s Project and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, among many others. She is founder of NoPassport, sits on the editorial board of Contemporary Theatre Review (Routledge/UK) and is contributing editor to TheatreForum. She also is editor of several books on theater and performance and has been selected for inclusion in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latino History.
More about the author can be found at www.caridadsvich.com
The Women Playwrights Series is a developmental program dedicated to providing a working forum for the unique and underserved voice of women writing for the theatre today. One play from each workshop series is selected for full production in a subsequent CSC Mainstage Season. Past productions include “The Poetry of Pizza” by Deborah Brevoort and “The Dew Point,” by Neena Beber.
Admission is by donation and reservations are requested. Refreshments and “lively discussion” with the playwright and artists follow the presentation. For more reservations and information call (908) 979-0900, or visit www.centenarystageco.org.
Auditions
Pax Amicus Castle Theatre, 23 Lake Shore Road, Budd Lake section of Mount Olive, will conduct an open cast call 7 p.m. April 5 and 6 for “Prescription Murder,” a play based upon the pilot episode for the TV series “Columbo.”
Director Richard Boyer is looking for three men and four women to complete the cast of this mystery-thriller. Beginners and experienced actors are welcome to audition. For more information, call (973) 691-2100.
But perhaps I’m getting a head of myself.
Allow me to introduce you to what I believe to be the only blog written by a professional writer that is devoted entirely to New Jersey theater (if I’m wrong, let me know and I’ll share with the rest of the class). As I regularly write on theater, music and the performing arts for the Courier News, some of the postings here will merely expand on the previews, reviews and features you can read in the paper. But the cool part of Jersey Stages is that there’s no deadlines, no space limits and no having to wait for the next assignment slot. I can write about it all and share it with you as soon as it’s written.
So can you. Got an opinion about a show you saw? Post a comment. Got an opinion about something I wrote? Go right ahead — and indulge the inner critic that’s in all of us.
Even better, if you’re involved with a show, and you want to share it with our Central Jersey audience, you now have a place to do it. And you know what? We’re open 24/7.
When you think about it, the possibilities boggle the mind.
For example, let’s return to the lead and elaborate on the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s annual “Brush Up your Shakespeare” benefit, which happens Saturday at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park. In addition to fine dining and celebrity entertainment, a silent auction will offer some unique prizes. One of them is the opportunity to have a company artist recreate your noggin, which then will be impaled on a spike and incorporated into the set design of the company’s upcoming production of “Blood and Roses.”
For information, call (973) 408-3761.
Ground rules
As a critic who has reviewed hundreds of shows, I’ve learned that the best service I can provide for the readers is focus on why someone will, or at least might, want to see a show. My goal is to help you spend your hard-earned money and limited leisure time wisely, so my first task is to answer your question, “What’s in it for me?” So, first and foremost, I look for the good in a show, share it with the readers and let them make their own decisions.
If there are problems with a play, the production, the cast or a particular cast member, I have no qualms about saying so and offering my opinion about where it all went horribly wrong. But I’m not fond of the “Cheap Shot,” a device some critics employ to spice up their reviews, often at the expense of an actor or director who just spent several weeks busting behind, often for what amounts to minimum wage or less. Just because John or Jane Doe was lousy in a particular role is no excuse to make fun of them, and I’ll frown on any Jersey Stage participants who indulge in that sort of thing.
That goes double (make that triple) for community theater, scholastic theater or other forms of amateur theater (as a rule, I write about all forms of theater, but only review professional theaters, because anyone working on their own time, and their own dime, gets a standing “O” here).
That being said. Let me add that my opinions, and reviews, also are fair game for criticism here. I’ve already been labeled a “stupid idiot” in published editorial-page letters, which is sort of a badge of honor in this business, but that’s a story for another day. The point is, let’s get a dialogue going, but let’s play nice.
Coming up
A death in the family forced me to miss the opening night of “Radio Golf” at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre, but I hope to catch up with it this weekend. How very exciting that Broadway’s premiere production of August Wilson’s final play will spend a few weeks in the Garden State before hopping the Hudson. Look for a full review in the Courier next week, and some initial impressions here before the weekend passes.
In the meantime, a few more items of interest.
McCarter announces 2007-08 season
The world premiere of a new play by three-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Edward Albee will highlight the 2007-08 season at Princeton University’s McCarter Theatre Center.
The next main stage season also will include the world premiere of McCarter Artistic Director Emily Mann’s latest work, “A Seagull in the Hamptons,” adapted from “The Seagull” by Anton Chekov.
Rounding out the season will be a showcase for one of America’s emerging playwrights, Lydia Diamond (“Stick Fly”) and two new interpretations of old classics, Moliere’s “Tartuffe” and “Argonauts,” Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of the classic Greek tale, “Jason and the Argonauts.”
Albee’s “Me, Myself and I,” commissioned and directed by Mann, will run from Jan. 11 through Feb.17 in the Berlind Theatre. It is described as a dark, funny and moving play that takes sibling rivalry to existential heights.
Widely considered to be America’s foremost living playwright, Albee has received Pulitzer Prizes for drama for “A Delicate Balance,” “Seascape” and “Three Tall Women,” as well as a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
For information, visit www.mccarter.org
Centenary stages Women Playwright readings
As Major League Baseball’s spring training gives way to the regular season, spring training of a sort begins at Centenary College in Hackettstown. The school’s professional Centenary Stage company begins its 15th annual Women Playwrights series this month with staged readings of two new plays.
First up is “Luna Park,” a lyrical play by award-winning playwright Caridad Svich. The reading will take place 7:30 p.m. April 4 at Centenary Theatre, 400 Jefferson St.
Svich’s plays explore the Latina sensibility and its position within the “American Dream.” In “Luna Park, Svich follows the lives of seven twenty-somethings as they spend an enchanted day in an old amusement park, where their lives are forever changed by a dramatic event.
Svich talked about her literary style in a recent interview: “Born in the U.S. of Cuban-Argentine-Spanish-Croatian parents, I have felt in a strange kind of exile even while growing up as an American,” she said. “The nomadic strain was instilled in me and has become an inevitable part of my writing vision.”
Inspired by an actual event, “Luna Park” looks at the intense relationships which can bind young people together and shape their futures.
Svich is the recipient of a Harvard University Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Bunting fellowship, a TCG/Pew National Theatre Artist Grant and twice has been short-listed for the PEN USA-West Award in Drama. Her work has been staged at the Royal Court, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Women’s Project and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, among many others. She is founder of NoPassport, sits on the editorial board of Contemporary Theatre Review (Routledge/UK) and is contributing editor to TheatreForum. She also is editor of several books on theater and performance and has been selected for inclusion in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latino History.
More about the author can be found at www.caridadsvich.com
The Women Playwrights Series is a developmental program dedicated to providing a working forum for the unique and underserved voice of women writing for the theatre today. One play from each workshop series is selected for full production in a subsequent CSC Mainstage Season. Past productions include “The Poetry of Pizza” by Deborah Brevoort and “The Dew Point,” by Neena Beber.
Admission is by donation and reservations are requested. Refreshments and “lively discussion” with the playwright and artists follow the presentation. For more reservations and information call (908) 979-0900, or visit www.centenarystageco.org.
Auditions
Pax Amicus Castle Theatre, 23 Lake Shore Road, Budd Lake section of Mount Olive, will conduct an open cast call 7 p.m. April 5 and 6 for “Prescription Murder,” a play based upon the pilot episode for the TV series “Columbo.”
Director Richard Boyer is looking for three men and four women to complete the cast of this mystery-thriller. Beginners and experienced actors are welcome to audition. For more information, call (973) 691-2100.
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