A look at shows coming to stages around the state. Make sure to add your shows to the New Jersey Stage event calendar. Listings are always free and seen by thousands!
IAGO
New Jersey Repertory Company - 179 Broadway, Long Branch
The backstage intrigue, romance, and scandal that take place during and after rehearsals of “Othello” are the backdrop for this period comic-drama. Three extraordinary actors at the top of their game along with a well-known director try to piece together a production of “Othello” as they whittle away at each other in this passionate, highly theatrical play by James McLure, the author of “Lone Star,” “Pvt. Wars”, “Wild Oats”, and “Laundry and Bourbon”.
The production is directed by SuzAnne Barabas and stars Ezra Barnes, John FitzGibbon, Todd Gearhart, and Liza Vann. New Jersey Repertory Company presents Iago August 25 to September 25.
Red Velvet
Shakespeare Theatre of NJ - 3 Vreeland Road, Florham Park
This marks the New Jersey premiere of award-winning British playwright, Lolita Chakrabarti’s true-life story of Ira Aldridge, an African-American actor and the first black man to appear as Othello on the London stage. This compelling tale of a pioneer artist from the 1800’s is fascinating, heartbreaking, and immensely relevant for our day and age.
The production is directed by Bonnie J. Monte. The cast includes Savannah DesOrmeaux, David Foubert, Sofia Jean Gomez, Shannon Harris, Garrett Lawson, John Little, David Andrew Macdonald, Victoria Mack, and Lindsay Smiling.
Performances take place September 7 to September 25.
My Son The Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy
George Street Playhouse- 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick
Brad Zimmerman, who grew up in Oradell, NJ, tells the story of his journey, along with a chronicle about his childhood, family, and misbegotten love life with warmth, wit, self-deprecating humor, and wicked charm– combining his years of training as an actor with his innate comedic talent. He also reviews the trials and tribulations of waiting on tables, particularly for someone not exactly invested in that career, and with little tolerance for finicky diners.
My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy is a guest event at George Street Playhouse. The show runs from September 8 through October 2.
What We’re Up Against
The Company Theatre Group - 39 Broadway, Hackensack
A ferocious and juicy comedy by one of today’s most acclaimed playwrights about sexism in the workplace and one woman’s struggle to break through the glass ceiling.
What We’re Up Against by Theresa Rebeck is set in a dysfunctional but competitive architectural firm and takes an explosive yet insightful look at what it means to be a talented woman in a male-domininated career and what happens when she tires of banging her head against the glass ceiling.
Performances run September 17 through October 2 at the Hackensack Cultural Arts Center.
Evita
Skyline Theatre Company - 10-10 20th Street, Fair Lawn
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s compelling musical told through a dazzling score that fuses haunting chorales with exuberant Latin, pop and jazz influences, Evita creates an arresting theatrical portrait as complex as the woman herself. Eva Peron was driven by ambition and blessed with charisma. She was a starlet at 22, the president’s mistress at 24, First Lady of Argentina at 27, and dead at 33. Eva Peron ‘saint to the working-class, was destined to leave a fascinating political legacy in the 20th century.
Directed by Sam Scalamoni, the Skyline Theatre Company presents Evita on Friday September 30th @ 7:30pm Saturday October 1st @ 7:30 Sunday October 2nd @ 2pm
Bathing In Moonlight
McCarter Theatre - 91 University Place, Princeton
Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz tells the powerful story of a young priest’s struggle to align mission and passion, and the Cuban-American family who embraces him.
When Father Monroe discovers that Marcela and her family are struggling, he offers a warmth and kindness unlike anything she has ever experienced. Small acts of generosity blossom into love as the lines between vocation and passion begin to blur. Artistic Director Emily Mann and playwright Nilo Cruz reunite for the first time since the Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics with this lyrical new play.
The production runs at McCarter Theatre from September 9 to October 9.
The King of East Jabip
Eagle Theatre - 208 Vine Street, Hammonton
Every house tells a story. Every room, a chapter. Cracks in the plaster, peeling wallpaper, a foundation that’s settled, uneven. Meet Jack and Nora Doyle, an Irish American couple in their twilight trying to discover together how to deal with life’s twists and turns. Set in Philadelphia, The King of East Jabip touches on the trials and tribulations of growing in age, losing state of mind and dealing with loss. The play is witty, humorous, and heartwarming.
This World Premiere by Kelly McCarthy is directed by Ed Corsi and stars Tom McCarthy, April Woodall, and Melissa Connell.
Eagle Theatre presents The King of East Jabip from September 9 to October 9.
The How & The Why
Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre - 120 Morris Avenue, Summit
Evolution and emotion collide in Sarah Treem’s thought-provoking and sharp play about science, family, and survival of the fittest. On the eve of a prestigious conference, an up-and-coming evolutionary biologist wrestles for the truth with an established leader in the field. This intimate and keenly perceptive play explores the difficult choices faced by women of every generation.
Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre’s production is directed by Laura Ekstrand and features Jessica O’Hara-Baker and Harriett Trangucci.
Performances run September 22 through October 9 at Oakes Center.
Damn Yankees
Algonquin Arts Theatre - 173 Main Street, Manasquan
Middle-aged baseball fanatic Joe Boyd trades his soul to the Devil, also known as Mr. Applegate, for a chance to lead his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the New York Yankees. As young baseball sensation Joe Hardy, he transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, only to realize the true worth of the life he’s left behind. Joe ultimately outsmarts Applegate, returns to his former self, and shepherds the Senators to the World Series.
The winning score by Adler and Ross and a devilish book by George Abbot have made this sporty musical comedy a true American classic. An Algonquin Arts Theatre production on stage September 30 to October 9.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Two River Theater - 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank
August Wilson’s powerful look at the 1920s music scene takes us into the world of legendary singer Ma Rainey (the real-life “Mother of the Blues”) as she lays down tracks with her band in a Chicago recording studio. Ruben Santiago-Hudson returns to Two River to direct a cast that includes Chanté Adams, Harvy Blanks, Brian D. Coats, Michael Cumpsty, Brandon J. Dirden, Bob Mackasek, Marcel Spears, Peter Van Wagner, Arnetia Walker, and James A. Williams.
Two River presents Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom from September 10 to October 9.
Disgraced
Cape May Stage - 405 Lafayette Street, Cape May
Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2013 and jolts an audience into cries of pained shock as this work is a bold exploration of grace, culture, and what it means to be Muslim in post 9-11 America. Associated Press says “Add a liberal flow of alcohol and a couple of major secrets suddenly revealed, and you’ve got yourself one dangerous dinner party.”
Quite funny dialogue that covers a lot of ground in 80 minutes.
Cape May Stage presents Disgraced from September 14 to October 14.
Biography
East Lynne Theater Company - 500 Hughes Street, Cape May
Richard Kurt asks internationally known portrait painter Marion Froude to write her autobiography for his magazine. At first she laughs off the idea, but it’s Manhattan in 1932, during the Depression, and she can use the money. The prospect dismays a former lover, Leander Nolan from Tennessee who is running for United States Senate and is engaged to the daughter of one of Knoxville’s wealthiest families. Nolan and his future father-in-law exercise their influence to try to kill the story.
The production runs from September 21 through October 15.
The Vandal
Alliance Repertory Theatre - 426 Springfield Avenue, Summit
Alliance Repertory Theatre presents the New Jersey Premiere of The Vandal by Hamish Linklater.
Directed by Betsy True, the play takes place on a cold night in upstate New York where three lonesome souls cross paths seeking warmth and solace. The Vandal is a play about how we live and the stories we tell ourselves when we’re haunted by the people we’ve loved and lost.
Performances run September 30 through October 15 at MONDO in Summit.
My Lord, What A Night
Premiere Stages - 1003 Morris Avenue, Union
Based on actual events, My Lord, What a Night by Deborah Brevoort provides a thought-provoking account of the night legendary singer Marian Anderson spent at the home of Albert Einstein. What begins as an event that threatens to divide the Princeton community ends with a lifetime bond between two of New Jersey’s most fascinating people of the 20th century.
Directed by Kel Haney, performances take place October 13-16 in the 1882 Carriage House at Liberty Hall Museum.
Peter And The Starcatcher
The Growing Stage - 7 Ledgewood Avenue, Netcong
This Tony-winning play upends the century-old story of how a miserable orphan comes to be The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up (a.k.a. Peter Pan).
A wildly theatrical adaptation of Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s best-selling novels, the play was conceived for the stage by directors Roger Rees and Alex Timbers and written by Rick Elice with music by Wayne Barker. From marauding pirates and jungle tyrants to unwilling comrades and unlikely heroes, Peter and the Starcatcher playfully explores the depths of greed and despair and the bonds of friendship, duty, and love.
The production runs from September 29 through October 23.
Crowns, a gospel musical
The Theater Project - 10 Durand Road, Maplewood
A moving and celebratory musical play in which hats become a springboard for an exploration of black history and identity as seen through the eyes of a young black woman who has come down South to stay with her aunt after her brother is killed in Brooklyn.
There is a hat for every occasion, from flirting to churchgoing to funerals to baptisms, and the tradition of hats is traced back to African rituals and slavery and forward to the New Testament and current fashion.
Written by Regina Taylor, this is a coming-of-age story set to music including gospel, jazz, blues and hip-hop.
The production runs from September 29 through October 23.
Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Jersey Lily
Centenary Stage Company - 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown
Written by Katie Forgette, this play brings the wit of Oscar Wilde together with the cunning of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this story rife with humor, Wilde brings his dear friend, Lillie Langtry, to Baker Street because someone has stolen the highly intimate letters Lillie exchanged with the future King of England. With blackmail looming and a viscous plot to dismantle the Crown, only Holmes has the cunning and dexterity to solve the case, while Watson falls head-over-heels for the Jersey Lily, and a wicked professor attempts to bring the Crown to its knees.
Directed by Carl Wallnau, the production runs October 7 through October 23 in the Sitnik Theater.
Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker
Mile Square Theatre - 1400 Clinton Street, Hoboken
Sent to Castle Dracula to deliver deeds to the infamous Count, Jonathan Harker has no idea what he’s getting himself into in this tour-de-force thrill ride. Once he arrives, Jonathan finds himself being held captive by the eerie and cryptic Count, discovering horrific sights behind some of the castle’s closed doors. Only after he escapes is his worst fear confirmed: Count Dracula is an undead creature of the night. With the help of Van Helsing and other friends, Jonathan sets off on a mission to find and destroy the Count before he becomes more powerful than ever, risking his life to save the lives of those he loves.
The production runs from October 12 through October 30.
Richard III
The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ - 3 Vreeland Road, Florham Park
Since the recent discovery of the remains of the real Richard III, both the real life monarch and Shakespeare’s monstrous version of him have been much talked about — his arch-villain of all villains — the intense, discontented, crippled, larger than life “protagonist,” Richard, Duke of Gloucester dominates this seething history from start to finish. Paul Mullins who played the title role ten years ago, directs.
This production will be running in conjunction with the First Folio exhibit in on Drew University in October.
Directed by Paul Mullins, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Presents Richard III from October 5 through November 6.
