Press release follows regarding Steve Fredericks elected to a 10th term as chairman of the NJ Theatre Alliance.
A lot of regular theatergoers, particularly those without children, have never been to Steve's charming Palace Theatre (yet another one of NJ's wonderful old vaudeville theaters, on the shore of Lake Musconetcong), but Steve's a good guy, his company does great work and they are one of the state's success stories.
As the state's only professional theater dedicated to children's programming, they stick mostly to the Sleeping Beauties, Cinderellas and Junie Jones type of fare. But every once in a while, they cross over to more dramatic works (last year's "A Midnight Cry," about slavery and the underground railroad, was a gem). Fredericks and another director, Perry Arthur Kroeger, also stage delightfully original adaptations of familiar fairy tales, full of surprises and updated humor. Kroeger's are often seriously cracked, containing some seriously warped humor and stuff the parents will get, but still won't warp the children.
They also have a strong company of Equity pros (Lea Antolini Lid and David Spellman are the most consistent of several regulars) who work well with the local kids (and some talented amateur adults) who fill out the casts. The kids, by the way, often will surprise you with their ability to carry a show.
More importantly, they pack 'em in, fulfilling their mission of luring a theater-ignoring generation into the theater. A lot of other theaters repeatedly fail at this task, despite their best efforts. So it's good to have Fredericks in a position of leadership as the theater world struggles to adapt to a world overloaded with competition for our attention and disposable income.
So hats off to Steve. I hope he's getting some rest while the summer is dark and his director of Education, Lori B. Lawrence, heads the summer camps and classes.
Read on, folks.
Fredericks elected to 10th term as Chairman of NJ Theatre Alliance
Netcong, NJ -- Stephen L. Fredericks, founder and Executive Director of The Growing Stage, The Children’s Theatre of New Jersey, Netcong, NJ, has been elected to his tenth consecutive term as Chairman of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Founded in 1981, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance is the only statewide service organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States and is viewed by New Jersey's arts community and its colleagues nationwide as a leader in developing model programs which foster collaboration, cooperation and audience development.
The New Jersey Theatre Alliance exists to promote and develop professional theatre in the Garden State by providing programming that fosters a collaborative environment amongst the state's not-for-profit, professional theatre companies. NTA supports and encourages professional theatre arts activity, arts education, artistic presentations and other programs designed to increase public access and exposure to, interest in, and understanding of the art of theatre.
According to NJTA Executive Director John McEwen, during Fredericks’ leadership over the past ten years NJTA membership has increased and they launched a number of new programs including NJArtsTix.com., the nation’s first state-wide discount ticketing program for the performing arts.
"All of us at NJTA value the time Steve has devoted to our organization and the guidance he has provided to our membership," McEwen said.
Fredericks founded The Growing Stage, located in the Historic Palace Theatre in Netcong, NJ, 26 years ago to nurture the development of the performing arts through education, and to create, produce, and perform works that engage the entire family. Seeking to be a model of excellence in theatre for young audiences The Growing Stage strives to develop new initiatives through the arts, on both the stage and in the classroom, which will enhance and benefit the lives of young people across the state.
Founded in 1981, The Growing Stage is a not-for-profit thriving center for the performing arts that engages a community of professional equity actors and artists, community players, students, teachers and families who share in the wonder and enriching environment of theatre. As the only theatre solely dedicated to young audiences in New Jersey that owns its own facility, The Growing Stage offers children throughout the state performances on their Main Stage as well as an extensive educational program.
The Growing Stage 26th annual Main Stage season opens Sept. 28 with The Dinosaur Musical. For tickets and information, call 973-347-4946 or go on-line to www.growingstage.com.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Catching up with the Theater Project
Press release follows for the next production at the Theater Project at Union County College in Cranford. I've read so many good things about this company and keep trying to get there, but no luck so far. I'll try harder now that they are putting on a Paul Rudnick show, a New Jersey premiere for a Central Jersey writer (a Piscataway boy) of well-deserved renown. He's a hoot. Take a good look at his resume down below.
And, at $20 a seat (discounts down to $12 or $10 for students), the Theater Project is bargain compared to many professional theaters in these parts.
And they spell it theat-e-r, even in their name. Brings a tear to an old copy editor's eye.
Yes, there is a place for AP style, even in art. Communication--that's what sets us apart from the lower species.
That and Jerry Springer.
And before I go, it pleased me to hear that Paris was liberated today.
Viva la ... say what?
Sorry. My bad. Poor communication on my part.
Press release for "Valhalla" follows:
PAUL RUDNICK'S SIDE -SPLITTING COMEDY VALHALLA
TO BE PRESENTED BY THE THEATER PROJECT,
UNION COUNTY COLLEGE'S PROFESSIONAL THEATER COMPANY,
JULY 5 THROUGH JULY 29
The Theater Project, Union County College's professional theater company, (1033 Springfield Ave. , Cranford), will present Paul Rudnick's highly-entertaining madcap comedy Valhalla, July 5 through July 29. Artistic Director Mark Spina directs this comic epic, by the author of Jeffrey and In & Out, which is sure to deliver great belly laughs!
About the play, Mr. Spina said, "The audience (when not gasping for breath between laughs) is asked by Paul Rudnick to reflect on why it is that some people pursue beauty above all else, and then asks us to imagine what the world would be like without such folk."
Rudnick's fanciful Valhalla intertwines two stories: the life of Ludwig of Bavaria, the 1880's Mad King responsible for building a series of storybook castles inspired by Wagnerian operas, and the fictional adventures of James Avery, a wild Texas teenager of the 1940s. The play explores questions of beauty and madness, as both Ludwig and James pursue lives of operatic passion, bringing them in contact with such diverse figures as the small town inhabitants of Dainsville, Texas, most of the characters of Lohengrin and Princess Sophie, the loneliest humpback in Europe. Valhalla is outrageous fun confronting the price to be paid for pursuing and, seemingly, attaining everything you could dream of.
Piscataway-born playwright Paul Rudnick is the comic mastermind behind the stage plays Jeffery, I Hate Hamlet, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, and most recently Regrets Only. His screenwriting credits include In and Out, Addams Family Values, The Stepford Wives, and uncredited contributions to Sister Act, The Addams Family, and The First Wives Club.
Valhalla opened in the spring of 2004 at the New York Theater Workshop. Of that production, the New York Daily News described it as "...full of funny moments." Time Out said "...a dizzy, brisk diptych that connects 19th-century Bavaria to 1940s Texas in a unified field theory of gayness." And the Village Voice said "...a juggling act skillful enough to revive vaudeville."
The Theater Project's production will showcase the comedic talents of Dennis DaPrile, Rick Delaney, Gail Lou, Stephen Medvidick, Kevin Sebastian and Jenelle Sosa. Production designers include Rohit K. Kapoor (set), Jerad Schomer (lights) and Maggie Baker Atkins (costumes), Joel Stigliano (sound) and Chris Wood (stage manager).
Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm , Sundays at 3:00pm. Discussions will be held each Sunday immediately following the performance. Tickets are $20; students $10. Thursdays: all tickets $12. Sunday, July 8 has been designated as "Senior Sunday" – all senior citizen tickets are $12. An Audio Described performance will take place on Thursday, July 12. For ticket reservations, call (908) 659-5189 . The Theater Project is wheelchair accessible. For more information, please visit www.TheTheaterProject.com .
The Theater Project is Union County College's Professional Theater Company, bringing artists from all over the state and New York City together in its productions. Well-known for its intimate "Studio on Stage" where the audience sits within arm's reach of the performers, the company is celebrating its twelfth season of producing new works and contemporary classics. The Theater Project has been recognized by grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey State Arts Council, and The Union County College Foundation.
# # #
And, at $20 a seat (discounts down to $12 or $10 for students), the Theater Project is bargain compared to many professional theaters in these parts.
And they spell it theat-e-r, even in their name. Brings a tear to an old copy editor's eye.
Yes, there is a place for AP style, even in art. Communication--that's what sets us apart from the lower species.
That and Jerry Springer.
And before I go, it pleased me to hear that Paris was liberated today.
Viva la ... say what?
Sorry. My bad. Poor communication on my part.
Press release for "Valhalla" follows:
PAUL RUDNICK'S SIDE -SPLITTING COMEDY VALHALLA
TO BE PRESENTED BY THE THEATER PROJECT,
UNION COUNTY COLLEGE'S PROFESSIONAL THEATER COMPANY,
JULY 5 THROUGH JULY 29
The Theater Project, Union County College's professional theater company, (1033 Springfield Ave. , Cranford), will present Paul Rudnick's highly-entertaining madcap comedy Valhalla, July 5 through July 29. Artistic Director Mark Spina directs this comic epic, by the author of Jeffrey and In & Out, which is sure to deliver great belly laughs!
About the play, Mr. Spina said, "The audience (when not gasping for breath between laughs) is asked by Paul Rudnick to reflect on why it is that some people pursue beauty above all else, and then asks us to imagine what the world would be like without such folk."
Rudnick's fanciful Valhalla intertwines two stories: the life of Ludwig of Bavaria, the 1880's Mad King responsible for building a series of storybook castles inspired by Wagnerian operas, and the fictional adventures of James Avery, a wild Texas teenager of the 1940s. The play explores questions of beauty and madness, as both Ludwig and James pursue lives of operatic passion, bringing them in contact with such diverse figures as the small town inhabitants of Dainsville, Texas, most of the characters of Lohengrin and Princess Sophie, the loneliest humpback in Europe. Valhalla is outrageous fun confronting the price to be paid for pursuing and, seemingly, attaining everything you could dream of.
Piscataway-born playwright Paul Rudnick is the comic mastermind behind the stage plays Jeffery, I Hate Hamlet, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, and most recently Regrets Only. His screenwriting credits include In and Out, Addams Family Values, The Stepford Wives, and uncredited contributions to Sister Act, The Addams Family, and The First Wives Club.
Valhalla opened in the spring of 2004 at the New York Theater Workshop. Of that production, the New York Daily News described it as "...full of funny moments." Time Out said "...a dizzy, brisk diptych that connects 19th-century Bavaria to 1940s Texas in a unified field theory of gayness." And the Village Voice said "...a juggling act skillful enough to revive vaudeville."
The Theater Project's production will showcase the comedic talents of Dennis DaPrile, Rick Delaney, Gail Lou, Stephen Medvidick, Kevin Sebastian and Jenelle Sosa. Production designers include Rohit K. Kapoor (set), Jerad Schomer (lights) and Maggie Baker Atkins (costumes), Joel Stigliano (sound) and Chris Wood (stage manager).
Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm , Sundays at 3:00pm. Discussions will be held each Sunday immediately following the performance. Tickets are $20; students $10. Thursdays: all tickets $12. Sunday, July 8 has been designated as "Senior Sunday" – all senior citizen tickets are $12. An Audio Described performance will take place on Thursday, July 12. For ticket reservations, call (908) 659-5189 . The Theater Project is wheelchair accessible. For more information, please visit www.TheTheaterProject.com .
The Theater Project is Union County College's Professional Theater Company, bringing artists from all over the state and New York City together in its productions. Well-known for its intimate "Studio on Stage" where the audience sits within arm's reach of the performers, the company is celebrating its twelfth season of producing new works and contemporary classics. The Theater Project has been recognized by grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey State Arts Council, and The Union County College Foundation.
# # #
Monday, June 25, 2007
I went down to the Crossroads
A quick note, followed by a cut and paste release, as I try to catch up on old business.
Following is release of particular interest to Central Jersey patrons of the arts. And a while back, I promised some people at Crossroads that I would work harder to spread their message.
It's the least I can do, given their cofounder, Ricardo Khan, was my first acting teacher at Rutgers back in the 1970s (I'm sure he made more of an impression on me than I on him!). And when I first began writing about theater back in the early 1990s, I was fortunate to see Crossroads functioning at its Tony-winning peak. I also learned quite a lot through my dealings with them, some of which came through a fascinating phone call I received from Lynda Gravatt, the fine actress who I believe was speaking as a dramaturg at the time ... and had a thing or two to tell me about one of my reviews.
Remind me to blog about that encounter sometime. I know, I'm teasing, but as I told you up front, I'm very busy and I'm trying to catch up.
And I just love to tease.
Anyway, their subsequent struggles (mainly financial) were well-documented, but they seem to be making steady progress, at least artistically. Perhaps with some help, we can help them spread the word.
The following also notes the work of Plainfield artist Alonzo Adams, and his longtime connection to Crossroads, which I was unaware of. It's an interesting story, and a good one. So give it a read and give them a look-see. I for one promise to review all their mainstage shows next year.
Crossroads Theatre Company is presenting an exhibit of art works by internationally renowned Plainfield artist Alonzo Adams on Sunday July 1 from 3:00-6:00 PM at Crossroads Theatre. The event includes a complimentary reception, jazz, and a preview of the 2007-2008 Theatre Season. Attendees can purchase Season Subscriptions at a discount. The highlight of the afternoon will be the auction of an original painting by Alonzo Adams to benefit Crossroads Theatre Company.
The Crossroads event is being hosted by Board Vice Chair Monica Weeks and Allen McGriff, owner of Onyx Hair Salon in New Brunswick. Alonzo Adams and his wife Cydnie have a long history with Crossroads Theatre Company. Cydnie worked at the old Crossroads building from 1980 through the start of the 1984-85 season. She returned in the early 1990's to help out with the computer systems. Alonzo and Cydnie had their first date at Crossroads in 1993. As Cydnie reminisces, "This arts event holds a bit of nostalgia for us. Alonzo and I are looking forward to it and being back at Crossroads." This may be one of the last opportunities to attend an Alonzo Adams art exhibit in the area as the family will be relocating to North Carolina.
Born in Harlem, Alonzo Adams attended the Ducret School of the Arts in Plainfield and received a B.F.A. from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts in 1981. His evocative genre paintings of urban Black life hang in the collections of Bill Cosby, Andrew Young, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Earl Graves, Maya Angelou, Patti Labelle, Jasmine Guy, Eddie Murphy and Senator Bill Bradley among others. An early admirer and supporter of Alonzo's artistic career was Bill Cosby who offered him a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in 1991. Alonzo's works could be seen on the walls of the Huxtable home in The Cosby Show.
Alonzo Adams has become increasingly popular with collectors in the professional sports world, especially the National Basketball Association. He credits Alonzo Mourning for opening up the athletic world to his art work when Mourning attended a show at Howard University hosted by Dr. Maya Angelou. His ever increasing list of notables includes current and former stars like Stephon Marbury, Jayson Williams, Charles Oakley, Ray Allen, Kenny Anderson, Tim Hardaway, Zeke Mowatt, Patrick Ewing and Juwan Howard.
Alonzo Adams’ work has been featured in solo exhibitions at major public and private venues in the East, including Howard University and the Russell Senate Building in Washington , D.C. , Rutgers University , Dow Jones and Uptown Records in New York . He has received commissions from Merrill Lynch, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Motown, Ortho Pharmaceutical, Absolut Vodka and Black Enterprise, among others.
SUMMARY:
Event: Exhibit of Alonzo Adams artwork , Sun. July 1, 3:00-6:00 PM
Admission: Free, Jazz and Reception, Auction of original painting to benefit Crossroads Theatre Company, Season Subscriptions for purchase
Location: Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Thank you for your interest in and support of Crossroads Theatre Company.
Please visit the website at www.CrossroadsNB.com
Following is release of particular interest to Central Jersey patrons of the arts. And a while back, I promised some people at Crossroads that I would work harder to spread their message.
It's the least I can do, given their cofounder, Ricardo Khan, was my first acting teacher at Rutgers back in the 1970s (I'm sure he made more of an impression on me than I on him!). And when I first began writing about theater back in the early 1990s, I was fortunate to see Crossroads functioning at its Tony-winning peak. I also learned quite a lot through my dealings with them, some of which came through a fascinating phone call I received from Lynda Gravatt, the fine actress who I believe was speaking as a dramaturg at the time ... and had a thing or two to tell me about one of my reviews.
Remind me to blog about that encounter sometime. I know, I'm teasing, but as I told you up front, I'm very busy and I'm trying to catch up.
And I just love to tease.
Anyway, their subsequent struggles (mainly financial) were well-documented, but they seem to be making steady progress, at least artistically. Perhaps with some help, we can help them spread the word.
The following also notes the work of Plainfield artist Alonzo Adams, and his longtime connection to Crossroads, which I was unaware of. It's an interesting story, and a good one. So give it a read and give them a look-see. I for one promise to review all their mainstage shows next year.
Crossroads Theatre Company is presenting an exhibit of art works by internationally renowned Plainfield artist Alonzo Adams on Sunday July 1 from 3:00-6:00 PM at Crossroads Theatre. The event includes a complimentary reception, jazz, and a preview of the 2007-2008 Theatre Season. Attendees can purchase Season Subscriptions at a discount. The highlight of the afternoon will be the auction of an original painting by Alonzo Adams to benefit Crossroads Theatre Company.
The Crossroads event is being hosted by Board Vice Chair Monica Weeks and Allen McGriff, owner of Onyx Hair Salon in New Brunswick. Alonzo Adams and his wife Cydnie have a long history with Crossroads Theatre Company. Cydnie worked at the old Crossroads building from 1980 through the start of the 1984-85 season. She returned in the early 1990's to help out with the computer systems. Alonzo and Cydnie had their first date at Crossroads in 1993. As Cydnie reminisces, "This arts event holds a bit of nostalgia for us. Alonzo and I are looking forward to it and being back at Crossroads." This may be one of the last opportunities to attend an Alonzo Adams art exhibit in the area as the family will be relocating to North Carolina.
Born in Harlem, Alonzo Adams attended the Ducret School of the Arts in Plainfield and received a B.F.A. from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts in 1981. His evocative genre paintings of urban Black life hang in the collections of Bill Cosby, Andrew Young, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Earl Graves, Maya Angelou, Patti Labelle, Jasmine Guy, Eddie Murphy and Senator Bill Bradley among others. An early admirer and supporter of Alonzo's artistic career was Bill Cosby who offered him a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in 1991. Alonzo's works could be seen on the walls of the Huxtable home in The Cosby Show.
Alonzo Adams has become increasingly popular with collectors in the professional sports world, especially the National Basketball Association. He credits Alonzo Mourning for opening up the athletic world to his art work when Mourning attended a show at Howard University hosted by Dr. Maya Angelou. His ever increasing list of notables includes current and former stars like Stephon Marbury, Jayson Williams, Charles Oakley, Ray Allen, Kenny Anderson, Tim Hardaway, Zeke Mowatt, Patrick Ewing and Juwan Howard.
Alonzo Adams’ work has been featured in solo exhibitions at major public and private venues in the East, including Howard University and the Russell Senate Building in Washington , D.C. , Rutgers University , Dow Jones and Uptown Records in New York . He has received commissions from Merrill Lynch, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Motown, Ortho Pharmaceutical, Absolut Vodka and Black Enterprise, among others.
SUMMARY:
Event: Exhibit of Alonzo Adams artwork , Sun. July 1, 3:00-6:00 PM
Admission: Free, Jazz and Reception, Auction of original painting to benefit Crossroads Theatre Company, Season Subscriptions for purchase
Location: Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Thank you for your interest in and support of Crossroads Theatre Company.
Please visit the website at www.CrossroadsNB.com
Review Preview: "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Computer problems delayed this posting a bit, but here's the Review Preview of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's annual outdoor show.
Special thanks to Maris Smith of the NJ Theatre Alliance fo her help on my previous post, and thanks to Rick Engler at the Shakespeare Theatre for letting me review a preview. I still got nothing done around the house, but it was a pretty good weekend.
Since it was cold Friday night, I'll remind people to dress accordingly outside, a wrap for cold nights, light for warm, well, you know the drill, but give the weather report a look. And if storms are predicted, give the theater a call. They are well-staffed and very good at taking care of their customers.
Nothing to review this coming weekend so I'm spending it at Sandy Hook and on the golf course. But I'll be checking in during the week as news pops up. As always, no rest for Willie. And no vacation until the end of the month.
If you want to go:
What: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
When: through July 22
Where: Greek Theatre, College of St. Elizabeth, 2 Convent Road, Convent Station section of Morris Townhsip
How much: $30, $15 children age 12 or younger, free for children age 5 and under
Info: (973) 408-5600; www.shkespearenj.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Staff Writer
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is consistently among the most frequently produced plays every year. So when a professional company pus it on, they usually have to come up with a new twist to put some sizzle in the box office.
Last year, the musical “Midsummer” coproduced by McCarter Theatre and Paper Mill Playhouse took a contemporary route to make it unique. This summer, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has taken a more grass-roots route—literally, as it takes “Midsummer” outside to the old-school Greek Theatre on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth.
This magnificent setting provides spacious lawns for preshow picnics and authentic Greek amphitheatre seating on semicircles of stone and grass “bleachers.” The Shakespeare Theatre brings in a full set to stage a show that shifts in mood as the twilight gives way to darkness and dramatic artificial lighting, which illuminates both the stage and the tall trees in back.
Brian B. Crowe, known for active productions and innovative use of theater space, is the perfect director for this address. He not only sends the magical fairies into the audience to play with the audience, he marches the lovers through as well, at least when they’re not executing slapstick gymnastics onstage.
The young lovers are at first vexed by the laws of Athens, where parental rule is absolute. Hermia (Ka-Ling Cheung) loves Lysander (Richard Dreher) but her father (Darren Matthias) wants her to marry Demitrius (Benjamin Eakley). The Duke (Alvin Keith) sides with dad—Hermia must wed Demetrius or die, so Hermia and Lysander plot a route through the magical forest to freedom. Demetrius pursues them, followed by Helena (Kaytie Morris), Hermia’s plane Jane friend who loves Demetrius in vain.
In the forest, they encounter the invisible fairies, who toy with them even as they bicker amongst themselves. King Oberon (Keith again, elevated by spring stilts) enlists his mischievous aide, Puck (Vayu O’Donnell), to cast a love spell on Demetrius that will make him fall in love with the first person he sees. But Puck confuses the lovers and, soon, both Lysander and Demetrius are drunk with love for the confused Helena, while Hermia seethes with rejection.
Puck also casts the love spell on Titania (lovely Maureen Sebastian), Oberon’s misbehaving queen. She falls hard for Bottom (Michael Daly), a blowhard actor rehearsing a play with a group of equally talent-challenged thespians, who hope to perform for the court.
As is custom in the outdoor space, the text is trimmed to a fast-paced 90 minutes to make it more kid-friendly. Crowe skillfully deletes some of the more dramatic conflicts in favor of the silly fun of Shakespeare’s most original fantasy.
He also puts his cast through lightning-quick costume changes as they transform from lovers and actors into fairies, and back, accomplished in seconds following sprinting exits up the long theater staircases.
They get no rest onstage, as the men toss the petite Cheung around like a drum major’s baton. She fights back, in part by executing the first wedgie I’ve ever witnessed on a professional stage.
The “rude mechanicals” acting troupe also got the crowd roaring with its climactic (and disastrous) performance of the “Pyramus and Thisbe” tragedy. Daly leads the way as Bottom, one of the great comedic parts in the theater world. He’s a barrel-bodied barrel of fun, ably supported by nervous and nearsighted Salvatore Cacciato as Starveling and Patrick Toon as Francis Flute, who suffers the indignity of playing the femme fatale, Thisbe. Nathan Kaufman also broke up the crowd as Snug, whose stage fright compromises his role as a man-eating lion.
As the play’s famous line goes, “Lord, what fools these mortals be.” How foolish it would be to pass on this blockbuster summer comedy, served with style under the stars.
Special thanks to Maris Smith of the NJ Theatre Alliance fo her help on my previous post, and thanks to Rick Engler at the Shakespeare Theatre for letting me review a preview. I still got nothing done around the house, but it was a pretty good weekend.
Since it was cold Friday night, I'll remind people to dress accordingly outside, a wrap for cold nights, light for warm, well, you know the drill, but give the weather report a look. And if storms are predicted, give the theater a call. They are well-staffed and very good at taking care of their customers.
Nothing to review this coming weekend so I'm spending it at Sandy Hook and on the golf course. But I'll be checking in during the week as news pops up. As always, no rest for Willie. And no vacation until the end of the month.
If you want to go:
What: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
When: through July 22
Where: Greek Theatre, College of St. Elizabeth, 2 Convent Road, Convent Station section of Morris Townhsip
How much: $30, $15 children age 12 or younger, free for children age 5 and under
Info: (973) 408-5600; www.shkespearenj.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Staff Writer
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is consistently among the most frequently produced plays every year. So when a professional company pus it on, they usually have to come up with a new twist to put some sizzle in the box office.
Last year, the musical “Midsummer” coproduced by McCarter Theatre and Paper Mill Playhouse took a contemporary route to make it unique. This summer, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has taken a more grass-roots route—literally, as it takes “Midsummer” outside to the old-school Greek Theatre on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth.
This magnificent setting provides spacious lawns for preshow picnics and authentic Greek amphitheatre seating on semicircles of stone and grass “bleachers.” The Shakespeare Theatre brings in a full set to stage a show that shifts in mood as the twilight gives way to darkness and dramatic artificial lighting, which illuminates both the stage and the tall trees in back.
Brian B. Crowe, known for active productions and innovative use of theater space, is the perfect director for this address. He not only sends the magical fairies into the audience to play with the audience, he marches the lovers through as well, at least when they’re not executing slapstick gymnastics onstage.
The young lovers are at first vexed by the laws of Athens, where parental rule is absolute. Hermia (Ka-Ling Cheung) loves Lysander (Richard Dreher) but her father (Darren Matthias) wants her to marry Demitrius (Benjamin Eakley). The Duke (Alvin Keith) sides with dad—Hermia must wed Demetrius or die, so Hermia and Lysander plot a route through the magical forest to freedom. Demetrius pursues them, followed by Helena (Kaytie Morris), Hermia’s plane Jane friend who loves Demetrius in vain.
In the forest, they encounter the invisible fairies, who toy with them even as they bicker amongst themselves. King Oberon (Keith again, elevated by spring stilts) enlists his mischievous aide, Puck (Vayu O’Donnell), to cast a love spell on Demetrius that will make him fall in love with the first person he sees. But Puck confuses the lovers and, soon, both Lysander and Demetrius are drunk with love for the confused Helena, while Hermia seethes with rejection.
Puck also casts the love spell on Titania (lovely Maureen Sebastian), Oberon’s misbehaving queen. She falls hard for Bottom (Michael Daly), a blowhard actor rehearsing a play with a group of equally talent-challenged thespians, who hope to perform for the court.
As is custom in the outdoor space, the text is trimmed to a fast-paced 90 minutes to make it more kid-friendly. Crowe skillfully deletes some of the more dramatic conflicts in favor of the silly fun of Shakespeare’s most original fantasy.
He also puts his cast through lightning-quick costume changes as they transform from lovers and actors into fairies, and back, accomplished in seconds following sprinting exits up the long theater staircases.
They get no rest onstage, as the men toss the petite Cheung around like a drum major’s baton. She fights back, in part by executing the first wedgie I’ve ever witnessed on a professional stage.
The “rude mechanicals” acting troupe also got the crowd roaring with its climactic (and disastrous) performance of the “Pyramus and Thisbe” tragedy. Daly leads the way as Bottom, one of the great comedic parts in the theater world. He’s a barrel-bodied barrel of fun, ably supported by nervous and nearsighted Salvatore Cacciato as Starveling and Patrick Toon as Francis Flute, who suffers the indignity of playing the femme fatale, Thisbe. Nathan Kaufman also broke up the crowd as Snug, whose stage fright compromises his role as a man-eating lion.
As the play’s famous line goes, “Lord, what fools these mortals be.” How foolish it would be to pass on this blockbuster summer comedy, served with style under the stars.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Theater Rocks at College of St. Elizabeth
Friday night, I attended the final preview of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's annual outdoor production at the Greek Theatre on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth in the Convent Station section of Morris Township.
Always one of my favorite theater nights of the year, although for the first time, my wife and I did not engage in our preshow picnic ritual, which is part of the fun here.
I'll file a Review Preview of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" probably tomorrow, but one of the reasons I went to the preview was to attend the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Theatre Rocks event. Finally met Alliance marketing associate Maris Smith, one of those people I talk to all the time on the phone but never meet in person (that happens a lot in my business). She explained that Theatre Rocks is designed to encourage young professionals to attend the theater, which, demographically, this group does not do often. The enticement, beyond a good show at a reasonable price, was a wine-and-cheese reception after the show, where folks could network and meet the cast.
I was introduced to a man from Lincoln Park who seemed to be the perfect target audience--a thirtysomething member of another young professional group that turned him on to this event. He told Maris he's mainly a sports fan and had never been to a play in his life.
Arranged to speak with him after the show, and both he and his companion (leaving the names and details out as requested; Jersey Stages is a user-friendly blog, and I was just hunting for opinion, not attribution) loved the show.
Both of them were enamored with the fairy costumes, which were colorful, Cirque du Soliel-style eclectic. The lady commented that she wasn't expecting something quite so elaborate, but I was more surprised by the man's unique perspective.
"Puck reminded me of the pro wrestler the Ultimate Warrior, which is what I would be home watching if I was not here," he said.
Huh?
"You gotta watch your WWE," he told me.
I wonder what the director and the costume designer would make of that! I checked and he's got a point, although some steroids might be needed to pump Puck up to Warrior level.
Anyway, I'll tell you this much. It was a big crowd that also included lots of kids, most of whom stayed with the show till the very end. After, I overheard some interesting conversations between the young professional theater rookies, many of whom were surprised to learn this was a professional show. So, obviously, Theatre Rocks makes a lot of sense, and this one may well have recruited some essential young blood to the pleasures of New Jersey regional theater. certainly went home both entertained and educated.
More Theatre Rocks events willbe scheduled throughout the year, although you may have to be patient since so many theaters are dark this time of year. In the meantime, the Alliance Web site is a good place to see what's happening, and learn more about how to distinguish the community theaters in your area from the professionals, along with what the respective professional companies specialize in.
Give them a click at http://njtheatrealliance.org/
Off to a tiki party--we'll talk more tomorrow. I'll give away one more thing about the show before I go: it includes the first onstage wedgie I've ever witness on a professional stage.
Always leave 'em wanting more, that's the Jersey Stages motto.
Always one of my favorite theater nights of the year, although for the first time, my wife and I did not engage in our preshow picnic ritual, which is part of the fun here.
I'll file a Review Preview of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" probably tomorrow, but one of the reasons I went to the preview was to attend the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Theatre Rocks event. Finally met Alliance marketing associate Maris Smith, one of those people I talk to all the time on the phone but never meet in person (that happens a lot in my business). She explained that Theatre Rocks is designed to encourage young professionals to attend the theater, which, demographically, this group does not do often. The enticement, beyond a good show at a reasonable price, was a wine-and-cheese reception after the show, where folks could network and meet the cast.
I was introduced to a man from Lincoln Park who seemed to be the perfect target audience--a thirtysomething member of another young professional group that turned him on to this event. He told Maris he's mainly a sports fan and had never been to a play in his life.
Arranged to speak with him after the show, and both he and his companion (leaving the names and details out as requested; Jersey Stages is a user-friendly blog, and I was just hunting for opinion, not attribution) loved the show.
Both of them were enamored with the fairy costumes, which were colorful, Cirque du Soliel-style eclectic. The lady commented that she wasn't expecting something quite so elaborate, but I was more surprised by the man's unique perspective.
"Puck reminded me of the pro wrestler the Ultimate Warrior, which is what I would be home watching if I was not here," he said.
Huh?
"You gotta watch your WWE," he told me.
I wonder what the director and the costume designer would make of that! I checked and he's got a point, although some steroids might be needed to pump Puck up to Warrior level.
Anyway, I'll tell you this much. It was a big crowd that also included lots of kids, most of whom stayed with the show till the very end. After, I overheard some interesting conversations between the young professional theater rookies, many of whom were surprised to learn this was a professional show. So, obviously, Theatre Rocks makes a lot of sense, and this one may well have recruited some essential young blood to the pleasures of New Jersey regional theater. certainly went home both entertained and educated.
More Theatre Rocks events willbe scheduled throughout the year, although you may have to be patient since so many theaters are dark this time of year. In the meantime, the Alliance Web site is a good place to see what's happening, and learn more about how to distinguish the community theaters in your area from the professionals, along with what the respective professional companies specialize in.
Give them a click at http://njtheatrealliance.org/
Off to a tiki party--we'll talk more tomorrow. I'll give away one more thing about the show before I go: it includes the first onstage wedgie I've ever witness on a professional stage.
Always leave 'em wanting more, that's the Jersey Stages motto.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Morristown Council: Hold the Mayo
Interesting little controversy brewing in Morristown over the recently announced name change of the Community Theatre to the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts.
A Star Ledger story this morning reports that the Morristown council has voted to "oppose" the name change, although I can't imagine what form their opposition will be.
It also quotes some of the former hundreds of volunteers who participated in the original two-steps forward, one step back effort to revive the theater, which lasted many years. This is where I come in, because I'm quite familiar with some of these people, including some of the principals, who not only feel slighted and betrayed by the current management, but have been all but ostracized.
This sort of thing always happens in the arts when something good happens. Once something becomes a popular and successful movement, the people who didn't want to bother in the first place (especially politicians) want to attach their name and take credit.
Bud Mayo, a good and generous man, says he doesn't care if his name goes up or not, so he's caught in the crossfire, which is unfair. Of course, he could solve the problem by declining the honor.
There is precedent for that sort of gesture. I recall being angry when the Meadowlands Arena was dubbed the Brendan Byrne Arena in the 1980s, only after some more notable and deserving people (Sonny Werblin, for one) declined. Of course, once they got to the politician, there was no resistance.
Now its the Continental Airlines Arena, and it's lost its tenants, and the next sign that goes up will say, "for rent." A cautionary tale for all, courtesy of Jersey Stages.
A Star Ledger story this morning reports that the Morristown council has voted to "oppose" the name change, although I can't imagine what form their opposition will be.
It also quotes some of the former hundreds of volunteers who participated in the original two-steps forward, one step back effort to revive the theater, which lasted many years. This is where I come in, because I'm quite familiar with some of these people, including some of the principals, who not only feel slighted and betrayed by the current management, but have been all but ostracized.
This sort of thing always happens in the arts when something good happens. Once something becomes a popular and successful movement, the people who didn't want to bother in the first place (especially politicians) want to attach their name and take credit.
Bud Mayo, a good and generous man, says he doesn't care if his name goes up or not, so he's caught in the crossfire, which is unfair. Of course, he could solve the problem by declining the honor.
There is precedent for that sort of gesture. I recall being angry when the Meadowlands Arena was dubbed the Brendan Byrne Arena in the 1980s, only after some more notable and deserving people (Sonny Werblin, for one) declined. Of course, once they got to the politician, there was no resistance.
Now its the Continental Airlines Arena, and it's lost its tenants, and the next sign that goes up will say, "for rent." A cautionary tale for all, courtesy of Jersey Stages.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Review Preview: Pirates!
Theaters like to heard us critics to an "Official Press Opening," often mixing us with a "ringer" audience of family, friends, trustees and other vocally enthusiastic patrons.
It doesn't work nearly as well as some theaters think. Most critics will eat the reception buffet and kill the show without a second thought.
But its always helpful to see a show after the press opening, when the friends have gone home and the crowd thins out to an average fill.
Paper Mill moved its press opening this week from Sunday to Wednesday to avoid conflictng with the Tonys. But Wednesdays are a crusher for me (I edit the At Home section that day in addition to my other stuff) so instead I went Friday night.
To my surprise, Paper Mill had a very nice crowd (probably close to 90 percent) and they roared at the curtain call. Even a cynical critic could not deny this show is a crowd pleaser.
And this critic through it was pretty good, too. A draft of my review follows.
Theater review
If you want to go:
What: “Pirates”
When: through July 8
Where: Paper Mill Playhouse, Brookside Drive, Millburn
How much: $19 to $68
Info: (973) 376-4343; www.papermill.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Staff Writer
Gilbert and Sullivan may be rolling in their graves, but more shows like “Pirates!” could keep Paper Mill Playhouse from joining them.
It’s hard to imagine anyone else objecting to the liberties taken by this vibrant staged concert version of “The Pirates of Penzance.” It brought a large Friday night crowd to its feet last week.
The idea came to director Gordon Greenberg came in 2005 while he was at Paper Mill directing “The Baker’s Wife.” The first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie was a hot ticket at the time, and Greenberg imagined giving the beloved Gilbert and Sullivan operetta the same frisky, tropical treatment.
Lyricist Nell Benjamin (“Legally Blonde”) and John McDaniel were recruited by Greenberg for the revision. Two years later, as the cinema “Pirates” franchise sails into the sunset, Greenberg’s “Pirates!” have traveled from a premiere at coproducing Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut and harbored in Millburn.
The staged-concert format dispenses with traditional sets and staging. Just the same, there’s plenty of action and plenty to look at. The first treat you’ll notice is the 14-piece orchestra onstage, in two corrals separated by a wide staircase to an elevated back stage. The corrals are bricked in, creating the illusion of a pier, which later becomes the home of blustery Major-General Stanley (Ed Dixon).
He is, of course, “A Modern Major General,” as the fabled song goes. Dixon nails it with comedy to spare, hyperventilating and wagging his double chin the whole way.
The major-general has more trouble corralling his flighty, but beautiful daughters, who barely put up token resistance when pursued by the Pirate King (Andrew Vaerla, grinning and strutting like Johnny Depp on payday) and his scurvy crew.
Mabel (Farah Alvin has the strongest and most operatic voice in the cast), the more studious daughter, is wooed by handsome Frederick (Barrett Foa), who was hoping to be released from his obligation to the pirates on his 21st birthday, only to learn that his leap year birth date has bound him till Social Security. A cruel fate for a boy whose father wanted him to apprentice as a “pilot,” but his hearing-challenged nurse Ruth (Liz McCartney) didn’t get her orders right.
This familiar Gilbert and Sullivan ground is roto-tilled with a fresh Caribbean setting, a time warp from the 19th to the 18th century (at the height of British Imperial rule) and a few zingers in the book, with shots at politicians, male chauvinists and spicy references to, um, romantic relations. Most of it is very funny, as the comedy and action combine to raise “Pirates! nearly to the level of farce.
Fortunately, most of the operetta’s irresistible melodies and witty lyrical play is left intact and marvelously performed. The leads are more Broadway-trained then opera-trained, but their personalities bring the songs to life and find subtleties that lesser actors often do not.
Foa’s blonde hair and radiant smile will make the ladies swoon, while McCartney’s plump, bawdy Ruth is everything a pirate should want in a woman. Varela plays the Pirate King for laughs and succeeds—he’s dashing enough to give a girl the vapors, but about as threatening as Popeye during a spinach recall.
Gerry McIntyre is another “Pirates!” treasure, as the reluctant sergeant of the local militia hired to battle the pirates. He’ll remind some of Geoffrey Holder (remember him from the 7-Up “uncola” commercials?) as he leads the militia through reggae and calypso arrangements of “Tarantara” and “A Policeman’s Lot.”
Warren Carlye’s choreography is simple but lively, Greenberg and fight captain Michael Rossmy keeps things moving as well.
There are sillier shows than this one, but silly has never sounded as good as it does here. And, after a difficult couple of months, it’s nice to see Paper Mill end its season with a theater full of happy campers.
It doesn't work nearly as well as some theaters think. Most critics will eat the reception buffet and kill the show without a second thought.
But its always helpful to see a show after the press opening, when the friends have gone home and the crowd thins out to an average fill.
Paper Mill moved its press opening this week from Sunday to Wednesday to avoid conflictng with the Tonys. But Wednesdays are a crusher for me (I edit the At Home section that day in addition to my other stuff) so instead I went Friday night.
To my surprise, Paper Mill had a very nice crowd (probably close to 90 percent) and they roared at the curtain call. Even a cynical critic could not deny this show is a crowd pleaser.
And this critic through it was pretty good, too. A draft of my review follows.
Theater review
If you want to go:
What: “Pirates”
When: through July 8
Where: Paper Mill Playhouse, Brookside Drive, Millburn
How much: $19 to $68
Info: (973) 376-4343; www.papermill.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Staff Writer
Gilbert and Sullivan may be rolling in their graves, but more shows like “Pirates!” could keep Paper Mill Playhouse from joining them.
It’s hard to imagine anyone else objecting to the liberties taken by this vibrant staged concert version of “The Pirates of Penzance.” It brought a large Friday night crowd to its feet last week.
The idea came to director Gordon Greenberg came in 2005 while he was at Paper Mill directing “The Baker’s Wife.” The first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie was a hot ticket at the time, and Greenberg imagined giving the beloved Gilbert and Sullivan operetta the same frisky, tropical treatment.
Lyricist Nell Benjamin (“Legally Blonde”) and John McDaniel were recruited by Greenberg for the revision. Two years later, as the cinema “Pirates” franchise sails into the sunset, Greenberg’s “Pirates!” have traveled from a premiere at coproducing Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut and harbored in Millburn.
The staged-concert format dispenses with traditional sets and staging. Just the same, there’s plenty of action and plenty to look at. The first treat you’ll notice is the 14-piece orchestra onstage, in two corrals separated by a wide staircase to an elevated back stage. The corrals are bricked in, creating the illusion of a pier, which later becomes the home of blustery Major-General Stanley (Ed Dixon).
He is, of course, “A Modern Major General,” as the fabled song goes. Dixon nails it with comedy to spare, hyperventilating and wagging his double chin the whole way.
The major-general has more trouble corralling his flighty, but beautiful daughters, who barely put up token resistance when pursued by the Pirate King (Andrew Vaerla, grinning and strutting like Johnny Depp on payday) and his scurvy crew.
Mabel (Farah Alvin has the strongest and most operatic voice in the cast), the more studious daughter, is wooed by handsome Frederick (Barrett Foa), who was hoping to be released from his obligation to the pirates on his 21st birthday, only to learn that his leap year birth date has bound him till Social Security. A cruel fate for a boy whose father wanted him to apprentice as a “pilot,” but his hearing-challenged nurse Ruth (Liz McCartney) didn’t get her orders right.
This familiar Gilbert and Sullivan ground is roto-tilled with a fresh Caribbean setting, a time warp from the 19th to the 18th century (at the height of British Imperial rule) and a few zingers in the book, with shots at politicians, male chauvinists and spicy references to, um, romantic relations. Most of it is very funny, as the comedy and action combine to raise “Pirates! nearly to the level of farce.
Fortunately, most of the operetta’s irresistible melodies and witty lyrical play is left intact and marvelously performed. The leads are more Broadway-trained then opera-trained, but their personalities bring the songs to life and find subtleties that lesser actors often do not.
Foa’s blonde hair and radiant smile will make the ladies swoon, while McCartney’s plump, bawdy Ruth is everything a pirate should want in a woman. Varela plays the Pirate King for laughs and succeeds—he’s dashing enough to give a girl the vapors, but about as threatening as Popeye during a spinach recall.
Gerry McIntyre is another “Pirates!” treasure, as the reluctant sergeant of the local militia hired to battle the pirates. He’ll remind some of Geoffrey Holder (remember him from the 7-Up “uncola” commercials?) as he leads the militia through reggae and calypso arrangements of “Tarantara” and “A Policeman’s Lot.”
Warren Carlye’s choreography is simple but lively, Greenberg and fight captain Michael Rossmy keeps things moving as well.
There are sillier shows than this one, but silly has never sounded as good as it does here. And, after a difficult couple of months, it’s nice to see Paper Mill end its season with a theater full of happy campers.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Schedule updates: Paper Mill, George St.
Two scheduling announcements from two of the bigger Jersey stages.
Paper Mill Playhouse last week officially released the lineup for its 2007-08 season.
The lineup is predictably heavy with popular favorites, but begins with an unusual choice —“Happy Days: the Musical,” based on the long-running TV show (Sept. 26 to Oct. 28).
Following are “Meet Me in St. Louis” (Nov. 7 to Dec. 16), “The Miracle Worker” (Jan. 23 to Feb. 24), “Steel Magnolias” (March 5 to April 6), “Kiss Me, Kate” (April 16 to May 18) and “Little Shop of Horrors” (June 4 to July 6).
The 2006-07 continues with “Pirates!” through July 8. The theater is on Brookside Drive in Millburn. For more information, call (973) 376-4343 or visit www.papermill.org.
George Street Playhouse has filled the open slot in its schedule with John Patrick Shanley's Tony and Pulitzer winner, "Doubt," which will run Nov. 27 to Dec. 23. For information, isit www.gsponline.org.
Paper Mill Playhouse last week officially released the lineup for its 2007-08 season.
The lineup is predictably heavy with popular favorites, but begins with an unusual choice —“Happy Days: the Musical,” based on the long-running TV show (Sept. 26 to Oct. 28).
Following are “Meet Me in St. Louis” (Nov. 7 to Dec. 16), “The Miracle Worker” (Jan. 23 to Feb. 24), “Steel Magnolias” (March 5 to April 6), “Kiss Me, Kate” (April 16 to May 18) and “Little Shop of Horrors” (June 4 to July 6).
The 2006-07 continues with “Pirates!” through July 8. The theater is on Brookside Drive in Millburn. For more information, call (973) 376-4343 or visit www.papermill.org.
George Street Playhouse has filled the open slot in its schedule with John Patrick Shanley's Tony and Pulitzer winner, "Doubt," which will run Nov. 27 to Dec. 23. For information, isit www.gsponline.org.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Review Preview: The Play's The Thing
Draft of my review of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's production of The Play's the Thing follows.
Very clever and very, very funny. Amazing the level of quality you get there, even as they add pressure on themselves by adding more shows. Tricky part of reviewing this one was outlining the stupid plot, then explaining how it works without giving too much away.
I was also struck by a comment made by one of my colleagues, Bob Daniels, who writes for variety and is at most o the major NJ openings. Very nice man who likes to research the shows and give all us scribes a list of notable productions of that night's show. Given his age and reach, I suspect he saw most of them!
Anyway, he said he's only seen this show once, 25 years ago. Now having seen it myself, I'm surprised it's not done more, especially given it requires only seven actors.
Artistic directors who have not considered this one before may want to give it a look. I sure wouldn't mind seeing it again.
So here's the Review Preview. I'll be back soon with a Review Preview of "Pirates! " at paper Mill.
WW
Theater review
If you want to go:
What: “The Play’s the Thing”
When: through July 1
Where: F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave. (Route 124), Madison
How much: $28 to $52
Info: (973) 408-5600; www.shkespearenj.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Staff Writer
The headlines are full of show-business types who find trouble when they confuse real life with the scripts that make them stars. Why worry about consequences if you can just fix it in rewrite?
Playwright Ferenc Molnar identified this contemporary attitude in “The Play’s the Thing,” which opened Saturday at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, but was written in 1926. His thoughtful observations on the nature of theater are fuel for lively discussion, but mostly, Molnar’s “Thing” is played for fun.
The end result is a farce that will make intellects and theater insiders snicker, while the rest of us can just laugh ourselves silly.
Molnar doesn’t get a lot of face time on modern stages, but “The Play’s the Thing” is just one of 18 of his plays that made it to Broadway. Fortunately, the Shakespeare Theatre’s expanded 2007 season allows a few extra detours from the usual rotation of classics to explore this fertile ground.
Director Joe Discher’s program notes provide some useful information: “Molnar was keenly interested in exploring the thin and often disappearing line between reality and illusion, between life and strange.” So it’s no surprise when three characters begin discussing alternate writings of the scene they inhabit.
Writing, rewriting and orchestrating the movements of characters comes naturally to Sandor (Mark Jacoby), a prominent playwright recently arrived as a guest to an elegant castle on the Italian Riviera. Sandor is there with his collaborator, Mansky (Colin McPhillamy), and his young composer, Albert (Jared Zeus), to sell their new operetta.
Sandor arranged for their suite (Jesse Dreikosen’s set is convincingly opulent) to share doors with the lovely and talented prima donna, Ilona (Caralyn Kozlowski), also recently betrothed to Albert. Sandor hopes the close quarters will bring them all together on the operetta, but Albert is shattered when they overhear Ilona succumb to the advances of her former lover and stage mentor, Almady (Robert Gomes).
Thankfully, Molnar’s clever farce treats the unfortunately aforementioned plot with the dignity it deserves—he rewrites it, in a manner of speaking, to illustrate its absurdity and orchestrate the happy ending this sort of thing demands. Even then, “The Play’s the Thing” veers from convention, telegraphing the inevitability of the happy ending, then dragging it out with some playfully sadistic comedy, humiliating the pompous actor, Almady, in a way only a playwright can.
Molnar also skewers critics with his sharp pen. When Mansky, suggests adding violence to a play, Sandor says, “Critics dislike bloodshed. If there’s to be any blood, they prefer to draw it themselves.”
Jacoby revels in Sandor’s shiny shoes, standing in for Molnar as he thinks faster than everyone else. Looking elegant in a tuxedo and a purple silk dinner jacket, he brims with confidence knowing that with strong direction, any end can be achieved.
The only thing he cannot do is remember the name of the ubiquitous butler, Dwornitscheck, who’s always available because he only sleeps during the offseason. John Little is a giant in a comparatively small role, instilling this gentlemen’s gentleman with dry humor and some impressively vertical posture. At the short end of the castle staff is Greg Jackson as Mr. Mell, a bespeckled, nervous little man who goes a-twitter at the slightest surprise.
Little and Jackson rival the leads for laughs in every scene they’re in. But this cast of seven has nothing resembling a weak link. Kozlowski, a company veteran, looks every bit the blond diva and is a skilled physical comedian as well. She got two of the biggest laughs of the night simply by sitting down. As Mansky, British actor McPhillamy is the perfect, blustery Ed McMahon to Jacoby’s smooth Johnny. Gomes squirms delightfully as a failed lothario enduring professional indignity to cover his shame.
Another treat for Shakespeare Theatre regulars is to see Zeus, another company veteran, rise to a more featured role. He makes the most of it, investing Albert with some convincing, youthful naiveté, then making fun of it in a way that would no doubt make Molnar proud.
Very clever and very, very funny. Amazing the level of quality you get there, even as they add pressure on themselves by adding more shows. Tricky part of reviewing this one was outlining the stupid plot, then explaining how it works without giving too much away.
I was also struck by a comment made by one of my colleagues, Bob Daniels, who writes for variety and is at most o the major NJ openings. Very nice man who likes to research the shows and give all us scribes a list of notable productions of that night's show. Given his age and reach, I suspect he saw most of them!
Anyway, he said he's only seen this show once, 25 years ago. Now having seen it myself, I'm surprised it's not done more, especially given it requires only seven actors.
Artistic directors who have not considered this one before may want to give it a look. I sure wouldn't mind seeing it again.
So here's the Review Preview. I'll be back soon with a Review Preview of "Pirates! " at paper Mill.
WW
Theater review
If you want to go:
What: “The Play’s the Thing”
When: through July 1
Where: F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave. (Route 124), Madison
How much: $28 to $52
Info: (973) 408-5600; www.shkespearenj.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Staff Writer
The headlines are full of show-business types who find trouble when they confuse real life with the scripts that make them stars. Why worry about consequences if you can just fix it in rewrite?
Playwright Ferenc Molnar identified this contemporary attitude in “The Play’s the Thing,” which opened Saturday at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, but was written in 1926. His thoughtful observations on the nature of theater are fuel for lively discussion, but mostly, Molnar’s “Thing” is played for fun.
The end result is a farce that will make intellects and theater insiders snicker, while the rest of us can just laugh ourselves silly.
Molnar doesn’t get a lot of face time on modern stages, but “The Play’s the Thing” is just one of 18 of his plays that made it to Broadway. Fortunately, the Shakespeare Theatre’s expanded 2007 season allows a few extra detours from the usual rotation of classics to explore this fertile ground.
Director Joe Discher’s program notes provide some useful information: “Molnar was keenly interested in exploring the thin and often disappearing line between reality and illusion, between life and strange.” So it’s no surprise when three characters begin discussing alternate writings of the scene they inhabit.
Writing, rewriting and orchestrating the movements of characters comes naturally to Sandor (Mark Jacoby), a prominent playwright recently arrived as a guest to an elegant castle on the Italian Riviera. Sandor is there with his collaborator, Mansky (Colin McPhillamy), and his young composer, Albert (Jared Zeus), to sell their new operetta.
Sandor arranged for their suite (Jesse Dreikosen’s set is convincingly opulent) to share doors with the lovely and talented prima donna, Ilona (Caralyn Kozlowski), also recently betrothed to Albert. Sandor hopes the close quarters will bring them all together on the operetta, but Albert is shattered when they overhear Ilona succumb to the advances of her former lover and stage mentor, Almady (Robert Gomes).
Thankfully, Molnar’s clever farce treats the unfortunately aforementioned plot with the dignity it deserves—he rewrites it, in a manner of speaking, to illustrate its absurdity and orchestrate the happy ending this sort of thing demands. Even then, “The Play’s the Thing” veers from convention, telegraphing the inevitability of the happy ending, then dragging it out with some playfully sadistic comedy, humiliating the pompous actor, Almady, in a way only a playwright can.
Molnar also skewers critics with his sharp pen. When Mansky, suggests adding violence to a play, Sandor says, “Critics dislike bloodshed. If there’s to be any blood, they prefer to draw it themselves.”
Jacoby revels in Sandor’s shiny shoes, standing in for Molnar as he thinks faster than everyone else. Looking elegant in a tuxedo and a purple silk dinner jacket, he brims with confidence knowing that with strong direction, any end can be achieved.
The only thing he cannot do is remember the name of the ubiquitous butler, Dwornitscheck, who’s always available because he only sleeps during the offseason. John Little is a giant in a comparatively small role, instilling this gentlemen’s gentleman with dry humor and some impressively vertical posture. At the short end of the castle staff is Greg Jackson as Mr. Mell, a bespeckled, nervous little man who goes a-twitter at the slightest surprise.
Little and Jackson rival the leads for laughs in every scene they’re in. But this cast of seven has nothing resembling a weak link. Kozlowski, a company veteran, looks every bit the blond diva and is a skilled physical comedian as well. She got two of the biggest laughs of the night simply by sitting down. As Mansky, British actor McPhillamy is the perfect, blustery Ed McMahon to Jacoby’s smooth Johnny. Gomes squirms delightfully as a failed lothario enduring professional indignity to cover his shame.
Another treat for Shakespeare Theatre regulars is to see Zeus, another company veteran, rise to a more featured role. He makes the most of it, investing Albert with some convincing, youthful naiveté, then making fun of it in a way that would no doubt make Molnar proud.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Free your minds, and your *&#@ will follow; Genesis Fest
If I may indulge, check out the Courier today and read my stories about George Clinton and P-Funk, the Rock Hall of Famers and funk pioneers who trace their roots to Plainfield and Saturday will be playing what any of them can recall as their first official concert in Plainfield.
If you think P-Funk ain't about theater, you don't know your P from your Funk. Quite a spectacle, take my word for it.
It didn't make the story, but it was fun to hear, when I spoke to Clinton on the Phone, he said, "Courier News? When they said Courier News was on the phone, I knew that!" That's because when Clinton was a Plainfield barber in the 1960s, the Courier was still in Plainfield.
Anyway, read the story, go to the show. It's free. I wish I could go, but it's opening night for "The Play's the Thing" at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and if I don't go then, my whole weekend is nuked.
Other weekend recommendations:
Genesis Festival at Crossroads: Spoke last week to Crossroads Barbara Martalus, who was looking for a plug for Crossroads annual festival of new works. The company is still struggling to regain the recognition and momentum they enjoyed in the late 1990s, but they have completed two mainstage seasons in a row and its good to have the Genesis Fest back. But the media has been slow to jump on the bandwagon. I feel bad myself, given my fondness for the company and its founder, Ricardo Khan, who was my first acting teacher at Rutgers.
How great would it be for the NJ theater scene if Crossroads could climb back to the level it once achieved, winning a Tony for best regional theater and recognized as one of, if not the best, black theater company in the U.S.
A funny story from the old days: A press conference in the early 1990s, with Bill Cosby, who was doing a big benefit for Crossroads, which had just moved into its new theater on George Street. As the press waited in the gallery, Cosby and others came out to a table for questions. An aide brought refreshments to the table .. in Pepsi cups.
Cosby, then the chief spokesman for Coca Cola, looked at the cups, did a double take, looked at us, and smiled. It was priceless. Have a Coke and a smile, indeed.
Highlights of the press release follow since we didn't have the room to feature them in the paper.
Crossroads Theatre Company concludes the 2006-2007 season with The Genesis Festival on June 7, 8, and 9.
On Thursday June 7, doo-wop comes to the Crossroads stage with the new musical Great Googley Moo. Written by Michael Thomas Murray, this is a story about friendship, love, and harmony couched in one of the most exciting eras of American popular music--1950's Rhythm & Blues. The inspiration for this musical play comes from Murray's friendship with Jimmy Guilford who was an original member of the 1940's swing group the Inkspots and who subsequently had a long career as a doo-wop and soul singer. Great Googley Moo is the fictionalized story of those R & B artists who opened the doors for every rock star to follow but who, at the time, did not receive the recognition, credit, or compensation they deserved. The fictional, racially integrated vocal group of this musical may not have made it to the top but had a good time anyway, and the audience will experience the unity and spirit of these great songs along with the cast. In addition to being entertaining, Great Googley Moo carries a powerful message using street-corner harmony as a metaphor for creating peaceable relations in the world at large.
The Festival moves to the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum on the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick on Friday and Saturday June 8th and 9th. On those evenings Genesis will highlight women in the arts and literature.
On Friday Linda Nieves-Powell returns to the Genesis Festival with excerpts from her up-coming novel Free Style which will be out in 2008 along with an introduction to her most recent play-in-progress Hector’s American Cuchifrito Joint. Free Style is a funny and inspiring novel about two thirty-something married moms--one separated and the other whose marriage is hanging on by a thread--who decide to do a “Thelma and Louise-like” caper and escape their everyday lives to revisit their past at a nightclub they had frequented in the early nineties.
Hector’s American Cuchifrito Joint opens in a restaurant with two young women arguing over their food choices--the menu is in Spanish and English. The scene gradually shifts into an exploration of what it means to be truly authentic as one of the characters has recently returned from college and feels she has lost her "urban side." Ms. Nieves-Powell, in reflecting on writing this play, cites inspiration from her own Grandmother and the importance of keeping her memory alive along with the cultural traditions that she brought to this country. Ms. Nieves-Powell's YO SOY LATINA! was originally part of the 2005 Genesis Festival work shop at Crossroads and was an overwhelming success which resulted in a full production directed by Ricardo Khan the following season. Ms. Nieves-Powell's decision to return to Genesis is the essence of the Festival's spirit of artistic growth with the support of the Crossroads audience.
On Saturday June 9, the writing team of Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant will read selections from their novels. Their first novel Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made was published in 1997and was a critical success, an Essence Bestseller and winner of the Merit Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, as well as the 1998 Book of the Year Award from the Blackboard Bestseller List/African American Booksellers Conference-Book Expo America. Their next novel Far From the Tree became a New York Times Bestseller, and Better Than I Know Myself received two Open Book Awards and was included on the Best African-American Fiction of 2004 lists of both Borders and Walden Books. In January 2008 the long awaited sequel to Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made titled GOTTA KEEP ON TRYIN' will be published. Recently the two writers joined forces with two young Hollywood producers to form 4 Colored Girls Productions. Their first project is producing Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made as an independent feature film.
The annual Genesis Festival of New Voices began in 1990 as the brainchild of Crossroads’ Co-Founder Ricardo Khan and then New Play Development Director Sydne Mahone. The Festival is a means of giving voice to exciting young writers and new, cutting-edge forms of theatre in a nurturing, creative environment with the support and feedback of the Crossroads audience. Among the plays that have found their way from GENESIS to the world’s stages are Sheila’s Day, George C. Wolfe’s Spunk, Anna Deveare Smith’s Dream, The Darker Face of the Earth, Oak and Ivy and several original works by Ntozoke Shange, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.
Performances: Thurs. June 7 at 8:00 PM at Crossroads Theatre: Great Googley Moo
Fri. June 8 at 8:00 PM at the Zimmerli Art Museum: Linda Nieves-Powell: Free Style and Hector’s American Cuchifrito Joint
Sat. June 9 at 8:00 PM at the Zimmerli Art Museum: The Works of Novelists Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant: In Perspective-What's Next?
Tickets: Crossroads Subscribers: no charge as part of subscription series; all others a suggested donation of $15, students $10. To secure your seat, call the Crossroads customer service line at 732-545-8100 and leave your name, telephone number, and the number of seats requested.
Location: Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University campus, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
If you think P-Funk ain't about theater, you don't know your P from your Funk. Quite a spectacle, take my word for it.
It didn't make the story, but it was fun to hear, when I spoke to Clinton on the Phone, he said, "Courier News? When they said Courier News was on the phone, I knew that!" That's because when Clinton was a Plainfield barber in the 1960s, the Courier was still in Plainfield.
Anyway, read the story, go to the show. It's free. I wish I could go, but it's opening night for "The Play's the Thing" at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and if I don't go then, my whole weekend is nuked.
Other weekend recommendations:
Genesis Festival at Crossroads: Spoke last week to Crossroads Barbara Martalus, who was looking for a plug for Crossroads annual festival of new works. The company is still struggling to regain the recognition and momentum they enjoyed in the late 1990s, but they have completed two mainstage seasons in a row and its good to have the Genesis Fest back. But the media has been slow to jump on the bandwagon. I feel bad myself, given my fondness for the company and its founder, Ricardo Khan, who was my first acting teacher at Rutgers.
How great would it be for the NJ theater scene if Crossroads could climb back to the level it once achieved, winning a Tony for best regional theater and recognized as one of, if not the best, black theater company in the U.S.
A funny story from the old days: A press conference in the early 1990s, with Bill Cosby, who was doing a big benefit for Crossroads, which had just moved into its new theater on George Street. As the press waited in the gallery, Cosby and others came out to a table for questions. An aide brought refreshments to the table .. in Pepsi cups.
Cosby, then the chief spokesman for Coca Cola, looked at the cups, did a double take, looked at us, and smiled. It was priceless. Have a Coke and a smile, indeed.
Highlights of the press release follow since we didn't have the room to feature them in the paper.
Crossroads Theatre Company concludes the 2006-2007 season with The Genesis Festival on June 7, 8, and 9.
On Thursday June 7, doo-wop comes to the Crossroads stage with the new musical Great Googley Moo. Written by Michael Thomas Murray, this is a story about friendship, love, and harmony couched in one of the most exciting eras of American popular music--1950's Rhythm & Blues. The inspiration for this musical play comes from Murray's friendship with Jimmy Guilford who was an original member of the 1940's swing group the Inkspots and who subsequently had a long career as a doo-wop and soul singer. Great Googley Moo is the fictionalized story of those R & B artists who opened the doors for every rock star to follow but who, at the time, did not receive the recognition, credit, or compensation they deserved. The fictional, racially integrated vocal group of this musical may not have made it to the top but had a good time anyway, and the audience will experience the unity and spirit of these great songs along with the cast. In addition to being entertaining, Great Googley Moo carries a powerful message using street-corner harmony as a metaphor for creating peaceable relations in the world at large.
The Festival moves to the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum on the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick on Friday and Saturday June 8th and 9th. On those evenings Genesis will highlight women in the arts and literature.
On Friday Linda Nieves-Powell returns to the Genesis Festival with excerpts from her up-coming novel Free Style which will be out in 2008 along with an introduction to her most recent play-in-progress Hector’s American Cuchifrito Joint. Free Style is a funny and inspiring novel about two thirty-something married moms--one separated and the other whose marriage is hanging on by a thread--who decide to do a “Thelma and Louise-like” caper and escape their everyday lives to revisit their past at a nightclub they had frequented in the early nineties.
Hector’s American Cuchifrito Joint opens in a restaurant with two young women arguing over their food choices--the menu is in Spanish and English. The scene gradually shifts into an exploration of what it means to be truly authentic as one of the characters has recently returned from college and feels she has lost her "urban side." Ms. Nieves-Powell, in reflecting on writing this play, cites inspiration from her own Grandmother and the importance of keeping her memory alive along with the cultural traditions that she brought to this country. Ms. Nieves-Powell's YO SOY LATINA! was originally part of the 2005 Genesis Festival work shop at Crossroads and was an overwhelming success which resulted in a full production directed by Ricardo Khan the following season. Ms. Nieves-Powell's decision to return to Genesis is the essence of the Festival's spirit of artistic growth with the support of the Crossroads audience.
On Saturday June 9, the writing team of Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant will read selections from their novels. Their first novel Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made was published in 1997and was a critical success, an Essence Bestseller and winner of the Merit Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, as well as the 1998 Book of the Year Award from the Blackboard Bestseller List/African American Booksellers Conference-Book Expo America. Their next novel Far From the Tree became a New York Times Bestseller, and Better Than I Know Myself received two Open Book Awards and was included on the Best African-American Fiction of 2004 lists of both Borders and Walden Books. In January 2008 the long awaited sequel to Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made titled GOTTA KEEP ON TRYIN' will be published. Recently the two writers joined forces with two young Hollywood producers to form 4 Colored Girls Productions. Their first project is producing Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made as an independent feature film.
The annual Genesis Festival of New Voices began in 1990 as the brainchild of Crossroads’ Co-Founder Ricardo Khan and then New Play Development Director Sydne Mahone. The Festival is a means of giving voice to exciting young writers and new, cutting-edge forms of theatre in a nurturing, creative environment with the support and feedback of the Crossroads audience. Among the plays that have found their way from GENESIS to the world’s stages are Sheila’s Day, George C. Wolfe’s Spunk, Anna Deveare Smith’s Dream, The Darker Face of the Earth, Oak and Ivy and several original works by Ntozoke Shange, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.
Performances: Thurs. June 7 at 8:00 PM at Crossroads Theatre: Great Googley Moo
Fri. June 8 at 8:00 PM at the Zimmerli Art Museum: Linda Nieves-Powell: Free Style and Hector’s American Cuchifrito Joint
Sat. June 9 at 8:00 PM at the Zimmerli Art Museum: The Works of Novelists Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant: In Perspective-What's Next?
Tickets: Crossroads Subscribers: no charge as part of subscription series; all others a suggested donation of $15, students $10. To secure your seat, call the Crossroads customer service line at 732-545-8100 and leave your name, telephone number, and the number of seats requested.
Location: Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University campus, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Friday, June 1, 2007
Loan comes through for Paper Mill; ETC
Following is the latest release from Paper Mill Playhouse, which yesterday announced confirmation of the long-rumoured $3.5 million loan from a local banking institution.
Mixed feelings. We only know two things for sure:
1. The loan is enough to get them through the last show of their season.
2. They are now spending someone else's money.
They still need to shake up their board of trustees, which, by all reports (none of which I have read about being refuted) have engaged in a disturbing pattern of setting unrealistic budgets based on their own inadequate donation pledges (that's how you get on the board in the first place, folks), which they subsequently fail to honor. Not that anyone is ripping anyone off here--we know where the money is going, because we see the shows--but the bottom line is that this irresponsible behavior has done what might prove to be irreparable harm.
At the very least, the state ought to investigate this matter before coughing up any more grant money. There are a lot of smaller companies who could put that money to better use than staging a revival of a musical that loses thousands and thousands of $$?
Sidebar
Speaking of grant money, I hear the Dodge Foundation may be, in effect, getting out of the arts patronage business. That would be quite a blow to the New Jersey stages. Does anybody have more on this?
Fortunately, Jersey Stages is financially secure, although I did spend $500 on a new dryer last week (A delayed casualty of my flood, for those of you still following that mini saga).
Upcoming
Nada. No openings in North or Central Jersey (NJ Rep is out of my radius). Tomorrow is Garage Sale Day for me and the missus. First, the Daily Record's big county garage sale at Morris County College, a must for garage-sale freaks. One of the biggest you'll ever see. Then back home for my Lake Intervale neighborhood garage sale. Will miss my neighbor Maggie Rapp, a dedicated buyer, seller and fellow journalist who didn't make it through the winter. Maggie, if you're husband still has that Edison cylinder you used to tease me with, I can give it a good home.
Paper Mill press release follows below. Happy hunting, folks.
INVESTORS SAVINGS BANK ISSUES $3.5 MILLION DOLLAR LOAN TO REVITALIZE PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE
(Millburn, NJ)– In a joint announcement today, leaders from Investors Savings Bank and Paper Mill Playhouse reported the bank issued the theatre a significant loan to assist with their cash crisis. Chairman of the Paper Mill Playhouse Board of Trustees Ken Thorn stated, “This is the first step in a long range plan to revitalize the Playhouse and ensure the theatre’s financial stability.” Thorn says the loan will not only permit the theatre to continue with the current season’s last play, Pirates!, but also make preparations to launch the 2007-2008 season.
“All of us at Investors Savings Bank care deeply about Paper Mill Playhouse where we have taken our children, friends and colleagues to amazing performances over the years,” said Kevin Cummings, EVP & COO of Investors. “We have shared in the growth of Millburn and have enjoyed working with the many customers and businesses we have today. Our loan signifies the commitment Investors has to this community and to all of New Jersey, as the financial health of Paper Mill impacts us all on many levels.”
Paper Mill’s Board Vice Chair Steven Tasher commented, “The loan from Investors Savings Bank will provide much needed financial relief to the theatre. This loan is part of a much bigger plan that includes a partnership with the Township of Millburn, community business leaders and a planned administrative reorganization of the Playhouse that will incorporate a sound longer-term business and financing plan. Continued community support will be needed to ensure the success of Paper Mill.”
Scott Fergang, a member of the Board of Trustees remarks, “The Paper Mill Playhouse Board of Trustees and staff are poised to begin the process of revitalizing the theatre through a newly adopted mission that positions Paper Mill as ‘an artistic and educational center for intergenerational audiences’. By expanding our education and outreach programs Paper Mill will deepen its engagement with the community and reach a new generation of families throughout the State of New Jersey. Our upcoming production of Pirates! is a great example of Paper Mill’s commitment to our subscribers and families in New Jersey.”
Pirates!, a swashbuckling adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, a fully-staged theatrical concert with costumes, choreography and sword fighting was conceived by Gordon Greenberg (Jacques Brel…), Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde), and John McDaniel (The Rosie O’Donnell Show) and will run at the Millburn theatre from June 7, 2007 through July 8, 2007. The production stars Farah Alvin (Mabel), Ed Dixon (Modern Major General), Barrett Foa (Frederic), Liz McCartney (Ruth), Gerry McIntyre (Sergeant) and Andrew Varela (The Pirate King). Pirates! is produced with generous support from RBC Dain Rauscher. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973-376-4343, or at the Paper Mill Box Office on Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.papermill.org.
Mixed feelings. We only know two things for sure:
1. The loan is enough to get them through the last show of their season.
2. They are now spending someone else's money.
They still need to shake up their board of trustees, which, by all reports (none of which I have read about being refuted) have engaged in a disturbing pattern of setting unrealistic budgets based on their own inadequate donation pledges (that's how you get on the board in the first place, folks), which they subsequently fail to honor. Not that anyone is ripping anyone off here--we know where the money is going, because we see the shows--but the bottom line is that this irresponsible behavior has done what might prove to be irreparable harm.
At the very least, the state ought to investigate this matter before coughing up any more grant money. There are a lot of smaller companies who could put that money to better use than staging a revival of a musical that loses thousands and thousands of $$?
Sidebar
Speaking of grant money, I hear the Dodge Foundation may be, in effect, getting out of the arts patronage business. That would be quite a blow to the New Jersey stages. Does anybody have more on this?
Fortunately, Jersey Stages is financially secure, although I did spend $500 on a new dryer last week (A delayed casualty of my flood, for those of you still following that mini saga).
Upcoming
Nada. No openings in North or Central Jersey (NJ Rep is out of my radius). Tomorrow is Garage Sale Day for me and the missus. First, the Daily Record's big county garage sale at Morris County College, a must for garage-sale freaks. One of the biggest you'll ever see. Then back home for my Lake Intervale neighborhood garage sale. Will miss my neighbor Maggie Rapp, a dedicated buyer, seller and fellow journalist who didn't make it through the winter. Maggie, if you're husband still has that Edison cylinder you used to tease me with, I can give it a good home.
Paper Mill press release follows below. Happy hunting, folks.
INVESTORS SAVINGS BANK ISSUES $3.5 MILLION DOLLAR LOAN TO REVITALIZE PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE
(Millburn, NJ)– In a joint announcement today, leaders from Investors Savings Bank and Paper Mill Playhouse reported the bank issued the theatre a significant loan to assist with their cash crisis. Chairman of the Paper Mill Playhouse Board of Trustees Ken Thorn stated, “This is the first step in a long range plan to revitalize the Playhouse and ensure the theatre’s financial stability.” Thorn says the loan will not only permit the theatre to continue with the current season’s last play, Pirates!, but also make preparations to launch the 2007-2008 season.
“All of us at Investors Savings Bank care deeply about Paper Mill Playhouse where we have taken our children, friends and colleagues to amazing performances over the years,” said Kevin Cummings, EVP & COO of Investors. “We have shared in the growth of Millburn and have enjoyed working with the many customers and businesses we have today. Our loan signifies the commitment Investors has to this community and to all of New Jersey, as the financial health of Paper Mill impacts us all on many levels.”
Paper Mill’s Board Vice Chair Steven Tasher commented, “The loan from Investors Savings Bank will provide much needed financial relief to the theatre. This loan is part of a much bigger plan that includes a partnership with the Township of Millburn, community business leaders and a planned administrative reorganization of the Playhouse that will incorporate a sound longer-term business and financing plan. Continued community support will be needed to ensure the success of Paper Mill.”
Scott Fergang, a member of the Board of Trustees remarks, “The Paper Mill Playhouse Board of Trustees and staff are poised to begin the process of revitalizing the theatre through a newly adopted mission that positions Paper Mill as ‘an artistic and educational center for intergenerational audiences’. By expanding our education and outreach programs Paper Mill will deepen its engagement with the community and reach a new generation of families throughout the State of New Jersey. Our upcoming production of Pirates! is a great example of Paper Mill’s commitment to our subscribers and families in New Jersey.”
Pirates!, a swashbuckling adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, a fully-staged theatrical concert with costumes, choreography and sword fighting was conceived by Gordon Greenberg (Jacques Brel…), Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde), and John McDaniel (The Rosie O’Donnell Show) and will run at the Millburn theatre from June 7, 2007 through July 8, 2007. The production stars Farah Alvin (Mabel), Ed Dixon (Modern Major General), Barrett Foa (Frederic), Liz McCartney (Ruth), Gerry McIntyre (Sergeant) and Andrew Varela (The Pirate King). Pirates! is produced with generous support from RBC Dain Rauscher. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973-376-4343, or at the Paper Mill Box Office on Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.papermill.org.
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