This CTG production was co-directed by Jeffrey Fiorello and Mark Happel, with musical direction by Clifford Parish. Ericka Traugh was the stage manager.

Our Cast

• Edith Bouvier Beale: Barbi McGuire
• “Little Edie” Edie Beale/Edith Bouvier Beale: Barb Haag
• Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr/ Jerry: Tom Cioppettini
• Young “Little Edie” Edie Beale: Sandy Taylor
• Lee Bouvier: Julianne Grillo
• Brooks Jr./ Brooks Sr.: Alistar Williams
• J.V. “Major” Bouvier/ Norman Vincent Peale: Rich Maloy
• Jacqueline “Jackie” Bouvier: Hannah Curtis
• George Could Strong: Bob Jacobson

About The Show

GREY GARDENS is based (in part) on the Albert & David Maysels documentary concerning the relationship between Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ eccentric aunt and cousin. The touching and heart felt musical explores the unconventional mother-daughter relationship between former socialite Edith Bouvier Beal and her adult daughter Little Edie “body beautiful” Beal.

GREY GARDENS tells an entertaining and poignant story of two unconquerable women, once known as two of the brightest stars in the social register, who later become East Hampton’s most infamous “reclusive inhabitants”, sharing a rundown 28 room mansion with 52 stray cats and rabid racoons. From the glittering high society of 1940′s New York to the tabloid headlines that rocked the Kennedy clan in the 1970′s, GREY GARDENS hurls you into American royalty and leaves you to ponder the questions: “when do private lives become public fascinations?; How much is too much?; and Where does it stop?”

Friday and Saturdays at 8pm: Feb 25 – Mar 19, Sundays at 2pm: Mar 13 & 20, 2011.

“Don’t let the title scare you off, If you love musical theater and off-beat humor, this show will make you laugh until you … er, laugh your head off!”

It is about a town facing a water shortage where the government has banned private toiletries and the citizens must use pay-to-pee toilets regulated by a monopolistic company, the Urine Good Company, which charges exorbitant prices.Do the citizens rebel? You betcha! It not only pokes fun at local government, but, also the Broadway musical itself as a form.

The show played on Broadway for 2 and a half years (965 performances)  and won two Tony’s (Best Musical Score and Best Book).

The production staff includes:

• Director: Clifford Parrish
• Choreographer: Megan Ferentinos
• Stage Manager: Ellen Fraker-Glasscock
• Set Design: Steve Catron

Making up the cast are:

• Officer Lockstock: Scott Hart
• Penelope Pennywise: Melissa Loderstedt
• Bobby Strong: Brian Hall
• Little Sally: Elaine White
• Cladwell B. Cladwell: Michael Foley
• Hope Cladwell: Jill Cappucino
• Ma Strong: Martha Riley
• Soupy Sue: Christina Pirog
• Becky Two Shoes: Ericka Traugh
• Mrs. Millenium: Roxanna Wagner
• Barrell: Brian Vetter
• Hot Blades: Billy Brisley
• McQueen: Tom Schopper
• Mr. Fipp: Bob Longstreet
• Tiny Tom: Tariq Aly
• Robby: Chris Mortensen

Tickets are $24. Seniors (over 65) & Students (under 18): $22.  Reservations are encouraged and can be made by calling the box office at 908-879-7304.

SPECIAL PROJECT: Since Urinetown is a musical comedy satirizing a country in which the shortage of water requires everyone to “pay to pee” – the cast and crew of Urinetown have developed a special humanitarian project dubbed Pennies for Potties. Named by cast member Roxanna Wagner, who is heading up the effort, P4P is collecting money to to the international non-profit organization, Foundation for Peace, based in Ironia, NJ.

The Foundation for Peace has provided much needed emergency care to many materially impoverished countries. They are currently working tirelessly in Haiti by building schools, providing medical care and most importantly, building water filter and purification systems and latrines to stem the outbreak of cholera. Coin drops will be placed at the public rest rooms in the theatre through the run of the show. It takes $400 to build a latrine and the Urinetown folks are hoping to collect enough money to build two latrines.

For more information about Foundation for Peace, go to http://www.foundationforpeace.org/

SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS is a touching and human comedy about what happens when an antagonistic relationship blossoms into an intimate friendship as two characters from very different backgrounds reveal their secrets, fears, and joys while dancing the Swing, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, and Contemporary Dance.  A comedy with music and dance, the play also addresses the serious issues of ageism and intolerance.

Since its Los Angeles premiere and Broadway opening, SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS has been translated into 12 languages and has traversed the globe with productions in over 20 countries. With over 50 productions and two national tours in Germany alone, the play has established itself as an international hit and one of the most produced plays in the world.

SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS is a touching and human comedy about what happens when an antagonistic relationship blossoms into an intimate friendship as two characters from very different backgrounds reveal their secrets, fears, and joys while dancing the Swing, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, and Contemporary Dance.  A comedy with music and dance, the play also addresses the serious issues of ageism and intolerance.

Since its Los Angeles premiere and Broadway opening, SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS has been translated into 12 languages and has traversed the globe with productions in over 20 countries. With over 50 productions and two national tours in Germany alone, the play has established itself as an international hit and one of the most produced plays in the world.

… is living with one.

The Chester Theatre Group is presenting Steven Dietz’ 2002 play “Fiction” from October 8-23, 2010.  Directed by Jeff Knapp, the play features Tom Morrissey as Michael, Carol Holland as Linda and D’Angelique Dopson as Abby. The play runs Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm with a Sunday matinee at 2 pm on October 17. Ticket are $18, Students and seniors discounts on Friday and Sunday performances $16. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 908.879.7304

Fiction tells the story of Michael and Linda Waterman, a pair of writers who find themselves facing Linda’s mortality after the diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor which will run its course in a matter of weeks.  Linda suggests she read Michael’s diaries before she dies, as he will read hers after she’s gone.  In doing so, she runs the risk of exposing the lies and fictions they both have created around their “real” lives and their literary creations. The Watermans share a common muse in Abby, a docent at a writer’s colony they both (seperately) attended.  How Abby plays into each other’s fictions is revealed as the evening progresses. The script is filled with warmth, pathos, humor and topics for discussion on the ride home.

Steven Dietz is one of America’s most widely-produced and published contemporary playwrights. Since 1983, his twenty-plus plays have been seen at over one hundred regional theatres in the United States, as well as Off-Broadway. International productions have been seen in England, Japan, Germany, France, Australia, Sweden, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, Argentina, Peru, Singapore and South Africa. His work has been translated into seven languages.

Mr. Dietz is a two-time winner of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, for FICTION (produced Off-Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company), and STILL LIFE WITH IRIS. He received the PEN USA West Award in Drama for LONELY PLANET; the 2007 Edgar Award for Drama from the Mystery Writer’s of America for his widely-produced SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE FINAL ADVENTURE (adapted from William Gillette and Arthur Conan Doyle); and the 1995 Yomuiri Shimbun Award (the Japanese “Tony”) for his adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel SILENCE. Other widely produced plays include INVENTING VAN GOGH, GOD’S COUNTRY, PRIVATE EYES, THE NINA VARIATIONS, TRUST, ROCKET MAN, HALCYON DAYS, TEN NOVEMBER, FOOLIN’ AROUND WITH INFINITY and MORE FUN THAN BOWLING. Other award-winning stage adaptations include FORCE OF NATURE (from Goethe), OVER THE MOON (from P.G. Wodehouse), THE REMEMBERER (from Joyce Simmons Cheeka), PARAGON SPRINGS (from Ibsen), DRACULA (from Bram Stoker), and, with Allison Gregory, GO, DOG. GO! (from P.D. Eastman).

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

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

The game is afoot – and only Sherlock Holmes can stop the beast from striking again!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation comes to life at the Black River Playhouse. Chris Mortensen directs Tim Kelly’s adaptation of this classic tale.

• Eric Rolland as Sherlock Holmes
• Steve Nitka as Doctor Watson
• Peter Kendall as Sir Henry Baskerville
• Jean Habrukowich as Lady Agatha Mortimer
• Michael Burkett as Jack Stapleton
• Katie Kennedy as Kathy Stapleton
• Jill Borman as Laura Lyons
• Tom Murray as Barrymore
• Geraldine Baillod as Mrs. Barrymore
• Elizabeth Urcinoli as Perkins

FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS @ 8:00 PM OCTOBER 9* – 24
SUNDAY OCTOBER 18 @ 2:00 PM

General Admission $18.00
Students / Seniors $16.00

CALL FOR RESERVATIONS: 908 879 7304 (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
cash or check only

* Friday October 9 – SOLD OUT
call ASAP to get on the list for other performances!

The Hound of the Baskervilles

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 4

(left to right): Eric Rolland, Peter Kendall, Jean Habrukowich, Steven Nitka

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!