Chester Theatre Group

The Chester Theatre Group and director Jeff Knapp will hold auditions for a fall production of the play FICTION by Steven Dietz on Sunday, August 8th at 7pm and Tuesday, August 10th at 7pm at the Black River Playhouse, on the corner of Grove Street and Maple Avenue in Chester, New Jersey.

The show runs Fridays and Saturdays, October 8-23, 2010 with a Sunday matinee performance on October 17.

All roles are open:

Linda Waterman: mid 40s-50s – her first book was a non-fiction best-seller; now a professor dying of brain cancer.  (Not not like Wit dying of brain cancer, she lives with it the best she can.)

Michael Waterman: mid 40s-50s – an author of pop-lit who had grander aspirations.

Abby Drake,  late 20s-mid-30s – curator of “The Drake Colony”, a writer’s colony where Linda and Michael both wrote, at different times.  Abby knows both of them, separately.

“The power to change one’s life comes from a paragraph, a lone remark.” – James Salter, Light Years

A bit about the play:  Linda, a successful author turned professor, is dying of cancer, and she asks her husband, Michael, to dispose of her diaries after she’s gone; but she invites him to read them first.  Since she showed him hers, she asks to see his journals before she shuffles off the mortal coil.  He hesitates and then relents — what can he say?  What she reads is at times known to her, and at other times, a revelation.  When she reaches the volume about Michael’s time at The Drake Colony, a writer’s retreat, she recognizes a familiar face from her own time at The Drake Colony.   The play dances around in time and place, so Linda is not always dying, Michael is not always 40ish, etc. But the one thing that endures is their love for one another, even through the dark times, their love binds them together.

For additional information, call the producer, Ellen Glasscock at 908-698-3678.

We’re very excited to announce our 2010-2011 season.

Mainstage Productions

Fiction

by Steven Dietz, Directed by Jeff Knapp

Auditions: Aug 8 and 10, 2010
Performances: Oct 8-23, 2010

Linda and Michael are successful writers, a happily married couple who thrive on the give and take of their unusually honest and candid relationship. But when they decide to share their diaries with one another, the boundaries between past, present, fact, fiction, trust and betrayal begin to break down.  No life, as it turns out, is an open book.

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

by Richard Alfieri, Directed by Roseann Ruggiero

Auditions: September 26 & 28, 2010
Performances: Nov 19 – Dec 5, 2010

When a formidable retiree hires an acerbic dance instructor, antagonism and mistrust give way to civility, compatability, compassion and loyalty as they swing, tango, foxtrot and cha-cha together.

Urinetown

Music by Mark Hollmann, Lyrcs by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis, Book by Greg Kotis; Directed by Clifford Parrish

Auditions: December 5 & 8, 2010
Performances: Feb 25-Mar 20, 2011

Don’t let the title keep you away from this hilatious musical comedy that satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement and municipal politics (just to name a few!) The unconventional plotline may surprise you, but the singing, dancing,  jokes and pokes will have you laughing in the aisles and humming the whole ride home!

Mauritius

by Theresa Rebek, Directed by JayMills

Auditions: March 6 & 8, 2011
Performances: May 6-21, 2011

After their mother’s death, two estranged helf-sisters discover a book of rare stamps that may include the holy grail of stamp collecting.  Philately proves to be more intriguing and far riskier than one might thing, as high-stakes collectors enter their world intent on making the rare find their own.

Grey Gardens

Music by Scott Frankel, Lyrics by Michael Korie, Book by Doug Wright; Directed by Mark Happel & Jeffrey Fiorello

Auditions: February 2011
Performances: July 1-24, 2011

The cult-classic turned smash Broadway musical recounts the story of the Bouvier Beales, the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis — oncebrght names on the social register who became East Hampton’s most notorious recluses.

Special Events

Comedy Workshop

Saturday mornings TBA, 9:30 AM – Noon

Kate Lyn Reiter brings back her Comedy Workshoip for Adults and the Comically Curious for a series of Saturdays.

The Actor’s Nightmare

Performances: September 24-25, 2010

Steve Catron heads up Christopher Durang’s sly take on the nightmare that faces all thespians — what happens if you’re thrust onto a stage without knowing any of the lines?

Ruth Ross over at NJ Arts Maven has written a very flattering review of our annual (except when its not) “Songs of a Summer Night”.  A brief excerpt:

 What do you get when you “marry” 25 glorious voices—each of them soloist quality—and terrific musical arrangements and accompaniment? Well, you get Songs of a Summer Night at the Chester Theatre Group’s Black River Playhouse. But don’t wait to get tickets; this blockbuster of a musical evening runs only through Sunday, July 25, and you’ll be sorry if you miss it.

[...]

All in all, Songs of a Summer Night is a show to lift your spirits, spirits that might be drooping under the summer heat and humidity outside. This refreshing show (performed in an air-conditioned theater, to boot) is not-to-be-missed!

Thanks, Ruth!

Songs of a Summer Night runs one more weekend, closing this coming Sunday.  Tickets are $20 and reservations (strongly recommended!) can be made by calling 908.879.7304.

See you there!

CORRECTION: The opening night date is July 16, not July 17.

It’s back by popular demand!

Our popular  musical evening, Songs for a Summer Night, will include choral arrangements and group performances from such shows as Les Miserables, Porgy & Bess, Fiddler on The Roof, A New Brain and Songs of a New World and songs by George & Ira Gershwin, David Shire and Frank Loesser, all under the skilled direction of Perry Award winning musical director, Clifford Parrish.

The talented group of 26 performers includes: Karen Cantor, D’ani Dopson, Jeff Dopson, Jeffrey Fiorello, Michael Foley, Ellen Fraker-Glasscock, Barbara Haag, Mark Happel, Eric Harper, Lamont Hill, Robert Jacobson, Julie Jacoby, Scott Jacoby, Tina Kaye, Jodi Maloy, Rich Maloy, Claudia Metz, Alice Regan-Moynahan, Roseann Ruggiero, Christina Ryan, Stuart Scheer, Robert Stone, Ericka Traugh, Roxanna Wagner, Julie Waldman-Stiel, and Dave Villepique.

Performances are scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays, July 16, 17, 23, 24 at 8pm and on Sundays July 18 and 25 at 2pm.  Tickets are $20.00.

For reservations please call 908-879-7304.

Kate Lyn Reiter’s Comedy Workshops comes to CTG for a one-night only comedy event!

Join CTG veteran Julie McCormick and her “Late Shift” colleagues, Fred Holzapfel and Phil Sweet  on June 12th at 8 PM as they’re joined by Dan Hoffman, Kris Swanson and Penny Rowe for an evening of laughs that can’t be beat.

Tickets are $15 and proceeds benefit CTG’s Capital Improvement Fund.

Reservations are recommended.  Call the box office at 908.8789.7304 to save your seat.