“Tucked away in a quieter corner of town at the crossroads of Maple and Grove Streets in Chester Borough, the Chester Theatre Group has been offering an array of musical and non-musical plays since 1958.

When pressed to categorize the theater group’s slate, board member Jeffrey Jackson described it as “off the beaten path.”

“While we don’t want to be completely fringe and obscure, we do like to lure people away from the completely tried and true,” Jackson said.

“Our goal is to entertain, but our ultimate goal is to enlighten and challenge our audiences and to broaden the experience of the talented local performers and artists who volunteer at our theatre both onstage and off,” said Roseann Ruggiero, board secretary, who has been involved with the organization for 40 years.”   READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE

ALL THE CAST  NOW SET FOR “BY JEEVES”    Thank you to everyone who participated in the auditions.

Chester Theatre Group of the Black River Playhouse, Chester, NJ (Corner of Maple and Grove)

Directors: Jeffrey Jackson (also playing “Wooster”) with Roseann Ruggiero

Performances (9): March 2–18, 2012, Fri. & Sat. eves., Sun. matinees

Auditions were held: Sunday, Jan 8th (afternoon) and Tuesday, Jan. 10th (evening), 2012

Orchestra: 6 (piano, woodwinds, keyboard, bass, drums, guitar)

Cast: 10 leads, 3 ensemble

JEEVES:     Bob Longstreet

BERTIE:     Jeff Jackson (Director)

BASSETT:   Bob Mackasek

BINGO:        Rich McNanna

GUSSIE:      Jeffrey Fiorello

HAROLD:    Eric Harper

HONORIA:   Juliet Brines

STIFFY:         Kathleen Campbell Jackson

MADDY:       Tina Kaye

BUDGE:         Mike Patierno

ENSEMBLE:   Diane Butler, Barb Haag, Steven Nitka, Bob Sackstein

For more information: http://www.curioproductions.com/byjeeves/

“If he killed the fatted calf, you would complain about the cholesterol,” says Ann Stevens to her son, John, about his relationship with his father. The uncomfortable relationship between father and son is only part of the dysfunctional family dynamic that is at the heart of A.R. Gurney’s witty comedy of manners, “The Cocktail Hour,” running through Nov. 20 at the Black River Playhouse in Chester.

The play, a production of the Chester Theatre Group, has been adroitly directed by Annandale resident Cindy Alexander.

“The Cocktail Hour” is also the name of a play within the play that sets things in motion. John, a playwright who has already had some commercial success, has come home to Buffalo, N.Y., to ask his parents’ permission to produce his new opus. It is, he explains, about them.

His parents are, of course, understandably aghast. Are their foibles and family secrets, such as they may be, to be paraded in front of just anyone who buys a ticket? While offstage, dinner seems to be indefinitely delayed, the alcohol flows, along with both revelations and recriminations.

Ann and Bradley are predictably upset with the turn society has taken as they perceive it. They see their culture, their values, their very way of life being judged and found wanting. In the theater, people shout at each other and take their clothes off!

When daughter Nina arrives, further sibling conflict emerges, some of which is confusing and seems to make little sense. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of family interactions in real life are confusing and make little sense. Gurney, who seems to have based the play on his own family, really delivers a slice of life.

This slice of life, however, is some improvement on the real thing. The Stevens family is funny, intentionally or not. The dialogue is witty and clever. A passage where Ann and Bradley show how their 50-year relationship has rendered them able to finish one another’s sentences is delicious, when performed by two of the brightest stars in the CTG firmament: the wonderful Michael Foley and the eternally gorgeous Penny Hoadley. It’s as if Gurney created the roles with them in mind.

Standing in for Gurney himself, Stephen Catron gives John just the right touch of irony. He is a successful playwright. One of his earlier plays starred Swoosie Kurtz, an actress with whom Bradley is somewhat smitten. Nevertheless, his parents seem to take his playwriting as some sort of hobby. Not a real career. Bradley demands to know how much John stands to earn from “The Cocktail Hour,” and offers him a check for $20,000 not to produce it.

As Nina, Donne Petito is operating for the most part in an emotionally over-the-top mode. The oldest of the Stevens children and the only girl, she carries with her a lot of grievances, not the least of which is the sense of obligation to her parents. Her life’s passion, dogs, and particularly Seeing Eye dogs, seems appropriate for someone with her emotional affect. By the way, being a Morris County resident, I am astonished that nobodyever told Gurney that “Seeing Eye dog” is not a generic term for “trained service dog.” He has Nina wanting to go to Cleveland to work with Seeing Eye dogs, rather a long commute to Morristown, where she would actually have to go. Just a little Garden State nitpicking, but we should get credit where it’s due.

We also ought to mention the extremely handsome set which Stephen Catron designed. It’s always impressive to see how CTG’s scenic artists use
their limited space. In this case, three of the four corners of the performing space are used to superb purpose, one of them especially forming an entry way to the house. The Stevens’ classy living room (drawing room?) is spot on.

This is a stimulating evening. Gurney set the play in 1975, but Ann and Bradley, or the people they represent, are still with us. If they were unhappy about the people yelling at each other and taking their clothes off, what would they say about the Kardashians and “Jersey Shore”?

For information and reservations, call CTG at (908) 879-7304 or visit www.chestertheatregroup.org.”

PHOTO: Penny Hoadley and Michael Foley by Lamont Hill

Please read njartsmaven.com  and  njfootlights.com

Once again, Chester Theatre Group has tackled a challenging play, pulled out all the stops and given us a Broadway-quality musical—all without one single Actors Equity performer in the cast! … That the actors are superb raises the performance and production level way above what one might expect from community theater, but it is in line with what the  Chester Theatre Group usually gives us. Although neither Bouvier Beale woman achieved a successful career as a singer/actress, Barbara Haag who gets to play both the matriarch Edith and her daughter Edie, is certainly a class act. In the first act, Haag is imperious and manipulative as Big Edith, planning her daughter’s party to the last detail while planning to hijack the festivities for her own ends. In the second act, she’s Little Edie, giving weird pronouncements about fashion, complaining about having to come home to care for her mother, and just being an all-around drama queen. She takes hold of the audience by the throats in both acts and knocks ‘em down with an absolutely marvelous performance as both women. If she doesn’t win an award from NJACT, I don’t know what will.

Tickets are still available, but going fast, so reservations are recommended and can be made by calling the box office at 908.879.7304

Named by cast member Roxanna Wagner who is heading up the effort, Pennies for Potties will raise money to be be donated 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/

The Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, follows the “near misses” of a relationship through a lifetime of letters between a man and a woman, will feature Pat Sheffield and Robert Sackstein, both CTG veterans. Their friendship unfolds from what is written — and what is left unwritten — in 50 years of letters, from summer camps and boarding schools through college, war, career and relationships.

The review of the Broadway production in TIME called the play “an exquisite jewel of a play….one of the four or five best American plays of the 80′s.”

“Love Letters” was first produced at the Long Wharf Theatre in 1988.  Over the years it has starred such luminaries as John Rubenstein, Stockard Channing, Kathleen Turner, Christopher Walken, Swoosie Kurtz, Richard Thomas, Elaine Stritch, Cliff Robertson, Colleen Dewhurst, Jason Robards, Robert Wagner and many others.

All seats are $10.00, Reservations recommended: 908-879-7304. The Black River Playhouse is located at the corner of Maple and Grove in Chester, New Jersey.

Here are some pictures from the production; or you can look at them over at Flickr.

Some choice paragraphs:

It is ironic that a play about writing fiction—that is, made-up, invented stories—should ring so true, but that’s what happens at the Chester Theatre Group’s Fiction by Stephen Dietz. Directed by Jeff Knapp and featuring just three actors, this production possesses an intimacy and a freshness so natural and convincing that it feels like we’re watching real life unfold before our very eyes.

[...]

The Chester Theatre Group was nominated for a rash of Perry Awards in 2010 (eleven, I believe), and it’s clear that this production should nail a few more this year. Fiction is a thought-provoking play about the lies we tell ourselves, the lies we tell each other and, in the case of professional authors, the lies that get turned into best-selling novels. It is also a play about marriage, trust and truthfulness, and just how much of the latter we are obligated to share with our spouse/partner. Perhaps some things are best left hidden.

Read the full review here.

The full list of nominees can be found at the NJACT site.

Our honors:

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN FOR A PLAY

Ellen Fraker-Glasscock, Hound of the Baskervilles

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN

Jeff Fiorello/Cliff Parish, NINE
Steve Gale,THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

OUTSTANDING PROPERTIES

Peg Hill, SHIRLEY VALENTINE

OUTSTANDING SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY

Jeff Jackson,  SHIRLEY VALENTINE

Nanette Ratti,  THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

OUTSTANDING SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

Mark Happel, NINE

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY

Cindy Alexander, SHIRLEY VALENTINE

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF  A PLAY

Ellen Fraker-Glasscock, Producer / Chris Mortenson Director,  THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Gloria Lamoureux, SHIRLEY VALENTINE

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Tina Kaye, NINE

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.

An Evening of One-Acts

Performances: September 24-26, 2010

The Chester Theatre Group is proud to present two one-act comedies on September 24, 25 and 26 at the Black River Playhouse. 

Christopher Durang’s THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE, directed by Stephen Catron, will be familar to anyone who’s involved in theatre — you know the dream:  you find yourself on-stage, ready to perform, only you don’t know what the play is – you’ve never rehearsed  - you don’t know the plot, let alone the lines!   George finds himself on stage, uncertain of where he is or how he got there – suddenly he’s thrust on stage, it’s Hamlet?!? – a glamorous actress appears to be doing Private Lives by Noel Coward?!?  Beckett’s Endgame? A Man For All Seasons?!? This hilarious spoof is a classic!

Next up is Jonathan Rand’s CHECK, PLEASE, directed by Jeff Jackson. Dating can be hard. Especially when your date happens to be a schizophrenic, a bigamist, or a mime. CHECK, PLEASE follows a series of blind dinner dates that couldn’t get any worse—until they do. Could there possibly be a light at the end of the tunnel?