One of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s least-known— yet most delightful— musicals is this hilarious, English farce based on the beloved Jeeves stories by P.G. Wodehouse. By Jeeves follows the misadventures of clueless society fop Bertie Wooster and his equally dimwitted friends, as his manservant, Jeeves, quietly rescues them from their endless scrapes with disaster. With Webber’s infectious melodies and Alan Ayckbourn’s razor wit, two giants of the theater have joined forces to create what the press called, “an enchantingly batty evening.”

Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm, Sunday performances are at 2pm. Note: the March 4th matinee is sold-out (Lioness Benefit).

The Black River Playhouse is located at the corner of Grove and Maple Streets in Chester NJ .

By Jeeves will be directed by Jeff Jackson with Roseann Ruggiero..  Music Director: Thomas Rodgers. Choreographer: Bernadatte Baron. The cast includes: Bob Longstreet as Jeeves, Jeff Jackson as Bertie Wooster with Bob Mackasek, Rich McNanna, Jeffrey Fiorello, Eric Harper, Juliet Brines, Kathleen Campbell Jackson,Tina Kaye and Mike Patierno. The ensemble: Diane Butler, Barb Haag, Steven Nitka, Bob Sackstein 

Tickets are $24 ($22 for Seniors/Students). For reservations call 908-879-7304.

“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

The Chester Theatre Group presented the comedy The Cocktail Hour by A. R. Gurney on Friday and Saturday at 8 pm November 5 to the 19 and Sunday at 2 pm, November 13 and 20, 2011, at the Black River Playhouse, located at the corner of Grove Street and Maple Avenue in Chester, NJ.  READ THE PRESS REVIEW

Winner of the Lucille Lortel Award as Best Off-Broadway Play. A long-run New York success, this witty, perceptive play blends mordant humor with moments of affecting poignancy. “THE COCKTAIL HOUR is as funny and moving as The Dining Room…it could be the best play he has done so far.” —The New Yorker.

“It makes for a deliciously funny and also occasionally touching evening, as Gurney’s family sit around raking over old coals and settling old scores with a quite new and beguiling freshness.” —NY Post. “The lines in the play crackle and pop with an electricity all their own.” — Drama-Logue.…”when I watch Gurney at his best, as he is here, I laugh through the tears.” —NY Daily News.

The Cocktail Hour was directed by Cindy Alexander (Annandale). The cast included: Michael Foley (Andover) , Penny Hoadley (Brookside), AnnDonne Pepito (Somerset), and Steve Catron (Mendham).

The time is the mid ’70s, the place a city in upstate New York. John, a playwright, returns to his family’s house, bringing with him a new play which he has written about them. His purpose is to obtain their permission to proceed with production, but his wealthy, very proper parents are cautious from the outset. For them the theatre is personified by the gracious, comforting era of the Lunts and Ina Claire, and they are disturbed by the bluntness of modern plays. And there is also John’s sister, Nina, to contend with, although her reservations have to do with the fact that John has given her character such a minor role. Their confrontation takes place during the ritual of the cocktail hour, and as the martinis flow so do the recriminations and revelations, both funny and poignant. In the end it is evident that what John has written is closer to the truth than his family has heretofore been willing to admit, and that beneath their WASP reserve his parents and siblings are as beset with uncertainties and frustrations as their presumed “inferiors.” But while they seem shackled by the past, and tantalized disappointments and, with unfailing warmth and humor, converting pained resignation into cautious but hopeful anticipation.

Tickets  $18 ($16 for Seniors/Students). Reservations call 908-879-7304.       VIEW SCENES FROM THE COCKTAIL HOUR BELOW

Here’s a gallery of shots from the show over at Flickr:

It doesn’t exactly sound like a toe-tapper, but Jeffrey Fiorello, who’s co-directing the show, said “Grey Gardens” actually has a good bit of levity to it. That’s especially true of Act 1, which recreates the lives of the two Ediths during their salad days when they were happy and living well.

“Act 1 is treated very much like a traditional musical, there are happy songs, serious songs and some ballads,” Fiorello said. “It plays very much like an old-fashioned musical. Whereas act 2 is quite different and delves into the two women’s psyche and quite a bit more.”

You can read more of the article here: ’Grey Gardens’ Grows into a Complex Musical

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

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

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?”

The evening will feature the comedic stylings and wry observation of Katherine Brower, Dan Hoffman, Fred Holzapfel, Julie McCormick,Karen Muha, Peggy Robinson, and Phil Sweet.

The suggested donation is $15.

Call the theatre at 908.879.7304 for reservations.

Can a play about stamp collecting be called a comedic drama? Yes, especially when the taut script is MAURITIUS by Theresa Rebeck. Mix Ms. Rebeck’s gripping tale with the talents of veteran director, Jay Mills and a cast of five stellar performers and what you get is an evening of intrigue, drama and a few laughs. Stamp collecting may be thought of as the quiet pursuit of dedicated older and younger enthusiasts but when the stamps in question wield the power to create epic sibling rivalry and can drive grown men to the brink of moral bankruptcy, well it isn’t as genteel as one might imagine. Stir in some questionable characters on the con and the plot thickens.

Bringing this film-noir like story to life are returning CTG stage veterans, Jill Bormann of Morristown (previously seen in PROOF) as Jackie, Carol Holland of Long Valley (most recently seen in FICTION) as Mary and Steven Nitka of Long Valley (hysterical in CTGs April 16th special event THE 10 COMMANDMENTS) as Phillip. Rounding out the cast and making their debut performances with CTG are David Romankow of Gillette as Dennis and George LaVigne of Hackettstown as Sterling.

Tickets are $18.00 with a Senior (65+)/Student (with School ID) discount ticket of $16.00 at all performances. Reservations can be made by calling the box office at 908-879-7304.

There are only 7 performances so make your reservations now for this show which the press called “well-made”, “engrossing” and “emotionally fraught”.

CTG is proud to present (again), for one night only (again), a reading of The Ten Commandments, a comedy by Gary Hill and Perry Kroeger, based loosely (again) on the Cecil B. DeMille movie of the same name.

In the cast (again playing over 40 parts among them) are Barbara Haag, Steve Graham, Maggie Graham, Lori Lawrence, Stephen L. Fredericks, Danny Campos, Mark Happel, Steve Nitka, Perry Kroeger and Bob Jacobson as Moses.

The fun starts at 8:00 on April 16, 2011, and reservations are recommended by calling 908.879.7304.

The play was originally done in New York at LaMama in 1995.