Chester Theatre Group

The Chester Theatre Group will be presenting TRIUMPH OF LOVE based on the play by Marivaux with book by James Magruder, music by Jeffrey Stock and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead.  The show will be directed by Jeffrey Fiorello of Montclair with musical direction by Tom Rodgers of Bernardsville.

Performances of the show are scheduled at 8pm on Friday and Saturday evenings 4/30, 5/1, 5/7, 5/8, 5/14, 5/15, 5/21, 5/22 with matinees on Sundays, 5/16 and 5/23 at 2:00p.m.  Tickets are $24.00 with a Student (under 18) and Senior (65+) discount of $2.00 at all performances.

About the Show:

Love can make a woman do strange things.  Like lie about her past.  Or give up her career for the man she loves.  Or throw off her princessly raiment and disguise herself as a young man in order to infiltrate the guarded “men-only” palace compound of an exiled prince she’s admired from afar, who is secretly plotting to murder her and usurp her throne.  Such is the state of things in this hilarious, bawdy, risque, tongue-in-cheek, double-entendre filled, anachronistic adaptation of the classic Marivaux comedy, “Triumph of Love.”

Cast:

• Agis – Eric Harper of Edison
• Hesione – Julie Waldman-Stiel of West Orange
• Harlequin – Chris Mortenson of Oldwick
• Dimas – Billy Brisley of Whippany
• Hermocrates – Michael J. Foley of Hopatcong
• Princess Leonide – Kathleen Campbell Jackson of Far Hills
• Corine – Tina Kaye of Brick

The theater is located at the corners of Grove Street and Maple Avenue in Chester, New Jersey.   For reservations please call the box office at 908-879-7304.  For directions or additional information about the theatre, please visit our website at www.chestertheatregroup.org

It’s the dancing calendar! :-)

One last time, we had to shuffle the Shirley Valentine performance schedule a little bit, so may be a little off from what you’ve seen previously.

The show will open with a sold-out performance to benefit the Long Valley Women’s Club on March 5.  Public performances open up after that, with shows on March 6, 12, 13, 14*, 19, 20, and 21*. the shows on the 14th and the 21st are matinees.  Friday and Saturday shows start at 8 pm, Sunday matinees start at 2 pm.  Due to the nature of the piece and the layout of the theatre, latecomers may not be able to be seated.

The piece, directed by Cindy Alexander, features Gloria Lamoureux as Shirley Valentine.

About the show:

Inside Mrs. Joe Bradshaw is the former Shirley Valentine longing to get out. Her self- confidence badly shattered by school, marriage and life, she is reduced to talking to the kitchen wall whilst preparing her husband’s evening meal – to be on the table as he opens the front door every night.  As she sips a glass of wine, she dreams of drinking in a country where the grape is grown.  Her feminist friend offers her a holiday in Greece and, with great trepidation and a lot of forward planning; Shirley seizes the opportunity.  In Greece she encounters a totally different lifestyle, breaking out of the mold cast for her by society.

Someone will be right with you…

Adam Bock’s office comedy, The Receptionist opens at the Black River Playhouse on Friday, November 20, 2009.

To let Samuel French summarize: “At the start of a typical day in the Northeast Office, Beverly deals effortlessly with ringing phones and her colleague’s romantic troubles. But the appearance of a charming rep from the Central Office disrupts the friendly routine. And as the true nature of the company’s business becomes apparent, The Receptionist raises disquieting, provocative questions about the consequences of complicity with evil.”

The show is directed by Jeff Knapp and features Carla Kendall as Beverly, The Receptionist; Rachel Dunwoody as Lorraine; Stephen Catron as Mr. Raymond and Don Pflaster as Mr. Dart.

The show runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm through December 5th with a Sunday matinee performance on November 29 at 2pm. Opening night, November 20, is sold out. Tickets are available for all other performances. The show runs approx 80 minutes and is presented without intermission.

Tickets are $18 at the door (cash or check only) and may be reserved by calling the box office at 908.879.7304.

About the play:

“A deceptively complex work that intends to reinvent the concept of the office comedy, The Receptionist plays with the idea of who knows how much and how good a thing that ultimately is.” – Tom Avila, Metro Weekly

“The genially mundane goings-on in this blandly average workplace are throw into macabre relief when … a single, jarring line of dialogue sets the calm surface of the play rippling with creepy currents.” – Charles Isherwood, New York Times

Read more »

Chester Theatre Group is gearing up for their production of “Nine” which opens on June 26.  Telling the story of Guido, an Italian film director, and the women in his life, Nine is set to a score by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit.  At CTG, the production is guided by the sure hand of Cliff Parrish who is handling both directing and musical direction with assistance from Jeff Fiorello.  Mark Happell is serving as producer and designer.

The show will be performed weekends from Friday, June 26 through Sunday, July 19, 2009 with no performance on July 4.

Making up the cast are:

• Jeff Jackson (Guido Contini)
• Nathan Kohn, Will Roper (Young Guido)
• Andrea Brooks (Luisa Contini)
• Tina Kaye (Carla)
• Kathleen Campbell Jackson (Claudia)
• Barbara Haag (Guido’s mother)
• Karen Cantor (Lilianne LaFleur)
• Ellen Fraker Glasscock (Lina Darling)
• Roxanna Wagner (Stephanie Necrophorus)
• Marguerie Durant (Our Lady of the Spa)
• Roseann Ruggiero (Mama Maddelena)
• Beth Gleason (Sarraghina)
• Christina Cafaro (Maria)
• Zita Geoffroy-Heinz (Diana)
• Maria Hladczuk (Francesca)
• Brenda Kull (Renata)
• Ericka Traugh (Giulietta)
• Pat Wry (Annabella)
• Annie Groves (Heidi)
• Gayle Hendrix (Ilsa)
• Jodi Maloy (Gretchen)
• Michele Yampolsky (Olga)
• Zachary Catron, Albert Garrido, Terry Peters (Young Guido’s schoolmates)

See you there!