Our 2007-2008 Season
Trifles
by Susan Glaspell
September 2006 Workshop
A special event directed by Gloria Lamoureaux
A one-act murder mystery: A man is murdered. His wife is the prime suspect but it's the neighbor women who notice clues that the male police inspectors never see -- showing us that little things mean a lot.
Performances: September 28-29
The Clean House
by Sarah Ruhl
Opens November 9, 2007
directed by KateLyn Reiter
The Lincoln Center Hit by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Sarah Ruhl: A warm-hearted comedy that reminds us that our houses (and our lives) can never be as clean as we want them to be.
Performances: November 9 - December 1, 2007
Performances are Sunday, November 11th at 2 pm, November 16,17, 23,24, 30 and December 1 all at 8 pm. The November 9 opening is SOLD OUT. Tickets are $18 general admission with senior and student discounts ($15) on Friday and Sunday. For reservations please call (908) 879-7304.
In November and December we present A Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, an extraordinary new play fresh from its success at Lincoln Center last season. Directed by Kate Lyn Reiter, A Clean House takes place in what the author describes as "metaphysical Connecticut", mostly in the home of a married couple who are both doctors. They have hired a housekeeper named Matilde, an aspiring comedian from Brazil who's more interested in coming up with the perfect joke than in house-cleaning.
Into the tidy, logical, and spotless life of Lane comes the unlikely housekeeper, Matilde, a Brazilian and an aspiring comedienne. Matilde's attitude towards dirt is: "If the floor is dirty, look at the ceiling." Lane's orderly universe begins immediately to unravel, "You sound like a very interesting woman. And I don't want an interesting person to clean my house. I just want my house cleaned."
Matilde soon becomes depressed at the idea of house cleaning, the difficulty of writing the perfect joke, and still grieving over the death of her parents (the funniest people in Brazil). Enter Lane's sister Virginia, a woman obsessed with cleanliness, and a friendship is made along with a deal to secretly do the cleaning for Matilde. Lane discovers the women's deception and then her universe unravels even more with the revelation that her husband Charles has left her for a patient, an older, life-embracing woman named Ana, upon whom he has performed a mastectomy. Charles introduces Ana to Lane and wants them all to get along. Lane doesn't know whether to laugh or cry; Virginia tries to clean up; and Matilde despairs at the thought that the perfect joke could cause a person to literally laugh to death
Featuring performances by Gloria Lamoureux of Succasunna; Virginia Mesones of Union City; Lou Savarese of Randolph; Lois Sharrott of Ledgewood and Roxanna Wagner of Mendham, this theatrical and wildly funny play brings new meaning to the phrase, "I almost died laughing."
The Sisters Rosensweig
by Wendy Wasserstein
Opens February 29, 2008
directed by Roseann Ruggiero
The Chester Theatre Group at the Black River Playhouse will present THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG by Wendy Wasserstein. Performances are weekends Feb. 29 to March 15th. (Dates: 2/29 (Sold Out) and runs 3/1, 3/7, 3/8, 3/14 and 3/15 at 8pm and a matinee on 3/9 at 2pm).
The New York Times said the play "is a not only a comedy but also a play of character and shared reflection as the author confronts the question of why the sisters behave as they do. The immediate answer is that they are Rosensweigs and are only doing what is expected of them. The play offers sharp truths about what can divide relatives and what can draw them together." The Washington Post: "It's a sort of Jewish "Steel Magnolias,"
In the cast are Sally O'Neill of Brookside, Carla Kendall of Wayne and Claudia Metz of Boonton as the sisters and Aryanna Sedarati of Wayne, Bob Sackstein of Chester, Patrick Horan of Boonton, Peter Kendall of Wayne and Michael Foley of Hopatcong.
Tickets are $18 general admission with senior and student discounts Friday and Sunday (March 9). For reservations call (908) 879-7304. The Black River Playhouse is located at the corner of Maple and Grove Streets in Chester, NJ.
Performances: February 29 - March 15, 2008
Molly Sweeney: A Reading
by Brian Friel
April 4-5, 2008
Directed by Jay Mills
The Chester Theatre Group of the Black River Playhouse will present a reading of Brian Friel's touching drama, MOLLY SWEENEY on Friday and Saturday evening, April 4th and 5th at 8pm.
Directed by Jay Mills, the cast consists of Alice Regan-Moynahan, Rich Malloy and Tom Morrissey.
Each performance will be followed by a question and answer session with the director and cast.
General Admission for this CTG Special Event is $10. per person, which includes refreshments after the performance.
The Baker's Wife
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (GODSPELL, PIPPIN)
Book by Joseph Stein (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF)
Based on the film LA FEMME DE BOULANGER by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono
Opens April 25, 2008
Directed by Scott Hart; Musical Direction by Clifford Parrish
The Bakers Wife is set in the 1935 in a rural village in Provence, France, whose inhabitants, though endearing are quite contentious with one another. Having been without a baker for some time, the residents are thrilled when the baker, Aimable Castignent arrives with his beautiful young bride, Genevieve. The bread is hot and delicious and all is well - until Genevieve is seduced away from her older husband, by a young and handsome villager. Aimable crumbles - and so does his bread making abilities. Driven to distraction by “breadlessness,” the villagers rally to lure Genevieve back, setting long-standing arguments aside for the greater good: fresh bread!
The cast includes: Greg Moran, Marguerite Durant, Rich Malloy, Lynn Hart, Robert Longstreet, Jeffery Fiorello, Lou Savarese, Roxanna Wagner, Michael Moran, Brett Petersen, Lamont Hill, Billy Brisley, Claudia Metz, Dave Villepique, Susan Hagen, Lindsey Brown, and Ericka Traugh.
Directed by Scott Hart, who also directed CTG’s award winning production of BLOOD BROTHERS, THE BAKER’S WIFE will be performed with a nine-piece, professional orchestra, under the musical director and conductor, Clifford Parrish.
Rouding out the production team are Producer Ellen Fraker Glasscock, Stage Managers Peg Hill & Geraldine Baillod, and Choreographers Roxanna Wagner & Bill Brisley.
The show runs Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm, April 25 – May 17 with a Sunday matinee at 2pm on May 4th. Opening night performance (April 25) will be followed by a wine and cheese reception.
$22 per person for Friday evening & Sunday matinees
$24 per person for Saturday evening performances
Please note that we have extended our Seniors/Students discount to all attendees of Friday & Sunday performances, no additional discounts will be offered.
Performances: April 25 - May 17, 2008
Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief
by Paula Vogel
Spring 2008 Workshop
A special event directed by Chris Mortenson
"A bawdy, thunderingly ironic take on Shakespeare's Othello, this bride of the Moor is everything Iago pretended she was" (Ben Brantley - New York Times)
What if Othello was right? Playwright Paula Vogel takes a look at this possibility, investing her play about the distaff characters from Shakespeare's Othello with wit, humor and ribaldry. Director Chris Mortenson works with a cast of veteran community theater performers for his directorial debut at The Black River Playhouse. The show features, Kym Frank in the title role of Desdemona, Othello's virtuous (or is she?) bride; Donne Petito as Emilia, Desdemona's long-time handmaiden and Iago's long-suffering wife and D'Angelique Dopson as Bianca, Desdemona's worldly and bawdy friend.
Performances: June 13-14, 2008 at 8 pm
Songs for a Summer Night 2008
by Your Favorite Composers!
July 18-20, 2008
A special event directed by Clifford Parrish
Back by audience demand, SONGS OF A SUMMER NIGHT 2008 will be presented at the Black River Playhouse on Maple Street in Chester for 3 performances over one weekend only - Friday and Saturday, July 18th and 19th at 8pm with a Sunday matinee performance on July 20th at 2pm. Accompanied by a simple combo and under the musical direction of Clifford Parrish, a rich chorus of 25 singers will perform both standard and contemporary show tunes chorally and individually in a concert format. The program includes the works of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz, among others.
The Black River Singers are: Geraldine Baillod, Kathryn Cordellia Davis, D'Angelique Dopson, Jeff Dopson, Marguerite Durant, Michael Foley, Beth Gleason, Mark Happel, Lamont Hill, Peg Hill, Robert Jacobson, Julie Madison Jacoby, Gloria Lamoureux, Phil Lamoureux, Jodi Maloy, Rich Maloy, Claudia Metz, Chris Mortenson, Kelly Myer, Alice Regan Moynahan, Roseann Ruggiero, Stuart Scheer, David Villepique, and Roxanna Wagner.
Joining Clifford on piano are Tim Metz on bass and Dan Halpern on percussion.
Tickets are $15.00 and reservations are highly suggested. To make a reservation phone 908-879-7304. Reservations will NOT be taken via our website.