(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- While George Street Playhouse awaits the new performing arts center in New Brunswick to be completed, it is calling the former New Jersey Museum of Agriculture on Rutgers University's Cook Campus its temporary home. The theatre's new season begins with a new, updated version of the off-Broadway hit I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, with book and lyrics by George Street favorite Joe DiPietro (Memphis, Nice Work If You Can Get It) and music by Jimmy Roberts (The Thing About Men, The Velveteen Rabbit). The production runs from October 10 through November 12, 2017.
The world of dating has evolved, and in this fresh, contemporary take on I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, the musical will tackle modern love in all its forms. From the first date, to marriage, children, and the twilight years, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, follows the arc of relationships in insightful and hilarious ways.
The cast includes Karen Burthwright (Broadway’s Jesus Christ Superstar), Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Broadway’s Lysistrata Jones, Legally Blonde and Hairspray), Mitchell Jarvis (Broadway’s Rock of Ages, GSP world premiere of Gettin’ the Band Back Together) and George Merrick (Broadway’s Honeymoon in Vegas, South Pacific and High Fidelity; Off-Broadway’s Clever Little Lies) .
Helming the production will be David Saint, who is entering his 21st season as George Street Playhouse’s Artistic Director. This marks the third time Saint will be directing a work written by DiPietro at George Street Playhouse, having previously helmed world premiere productions of Clever Little Lies (2013), which moved off-Broadway in 2015, and Creating Claire. I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change marks the sixth DiPietro-written show to be produced at George Street Playhouse, including world premieres of The Toxic Avenger, Creating Claire and Clever Little Lies starring Marlo Thomas, as well as New Jersey premieres of Ernest Shackleton Loves Me and The Second Mrs. Wilson.
With its longtime venue in downtown New Brunswick razed to make way for a new performing arts center that will serve as George Street Playhouse’s future home, the Playhouse has taken residence in the former New Jersey Museum of Agriculture at 103 College Farm Road on Rutgers University’s Cook Campus through its 2018-19 season. George Street Playhouse is expected to return downtown to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in time for its 2019-20 season. A former museum exhibit area is being transformed into an intimate, mainstage theatre space.
Located right off Route 1 amidst a vast bucolic setting on the Cook Campus of Rutgers University, George Street Playhouse’s new, interim venue features expansive lobby spaces, an outdoor patio and free nearby parking. The entrance into the building and to all areas of the theatre are barrier-free. For directions to George Street Playhouse, visit the Playhouse website and click Directions on the homepage.
New Brunswick’s favorite restaurants are less than two miles from College Farm Road. For a list of restaurants, visit the Plan Your Visit section of the website. And keep a lookout for unique dining options offered by George Street Playhouse.
Tickets range in price from just $15 for students (with valid ID) to $79, based on performance. Tickets are available at www.georgestreetplayhouse.org which allows patrons to select their own seating locations when ordering tickets online.
Joe DiPietro (Book & Lyrics) is a two-time Tony Award winner for Memphis, which also received the 2010 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. He received a Tony nomination & Drama Desk Award for Nice Work If You Can Get It. His comedy Clever Little Lies, starring Marlo Thomas, premiered at GSP in 2013 and ran off-Broadway in 2015 under the direction of GSP Artistic Director David Saint. He also wrote the long-running off-Broadway hit Over the River and Through the Woods.
Jimmy Roberts (Music) composed the music for the original I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, the second longest-running off-Broadway musical in New York theater history. It has since played all 50 states and over 25 countries around the world. Mr. Roberts also composed The Thing About Men (2003, New York Outer Critics Circle award for Best Musical).
David Saint (Director) kicks off his 21st season as George Street Playhouse’s Artistic Director by directing his 37th mainstage production at GSP after directing American Son and Mama’s Boy last season. Previously at George Street, he directed Buyer & Cellar, Outside Mullingar, Clever Little Lies (which moved to NYC’s Westside Theater in October 2015), Good People, Twelve Angry Men, God of Carnage, Creating Claire and Sylvia, among others.
Karen Burthwright’s (Woman 2) Broadway and off-Broadway credits include Jesus Christ Superstar (2012 Revival) and Disenchanted (Westside Theatre). She has also appeared on Chicago stages in Sweet Charity, Ragtime, Hot Mikado and Aida. Other credits include Sousatzka (The Elgin Theatre), Cabaret (Cape Playhouse), Legally Blonde (Drayton Ent.), Smokey Joe's Cafe (FST), Jesus Christ Superstar (La Jolla Playhouse/Stratford Festival), Dirty Dancing, Hairspray, Mamma Mia! and Rocky Horror (Canadian Stage/MTC).
Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Woman 1) was most recently seen as Miss Scarlet in Clue Onstage at Bucks County Playhouse. She can also be seen online in Submissions Only, Rachel Unraveled, and the upcoming season of ADULTish. Broadway and touring credits include Kinky Boots (Lauren), Lysistrata Jones (Robin), Legally Blonde and Hairspray. Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man (Robyn), Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking, Triassic Parq (Velociraptor of Science).
Mitchell Jarvis (Man 1) returns to George Street Playhouse after originating the role of Mitch in 2013’s Gettin’ the Band Back Together. Other stage credits include The Three Penny Opera (Macheath), Rock of Ages (Lonny), The Toxic Avenger (White Dude), The Rocky Horror Show (Frank), Sweeney Todd (Tobias), West Side Story (Tony), and The Spitfire Grill (Joe), among others.
George Merrick (Man 2), while making his George Street Playhouse debut, will be reunited with Joe DiPietro and David Saint, after appearing in the acclaimed off-Broadway transfer of Clever Little Lies with Marlo Thomas. He was seen on Broadway in Honeymoon in Vegas, South Pacific, and High Fidelity. Recent regional roles include Albert Peterson in Bye Bye, Birdie! at the Goodspeed Opera House, and John Adams in 1776 at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre.
The creative team includes scenic design by Jim Youmans, costume design by Michael McDonald, lighting design by Joe Saint, sound design by Shannon Slaton, arrangements and additional orchestration by Doug Katsaros, musical direction and conducting by Joshua Zecher-Ross, choreography by Charlie Williams, and stage management by Nicole Kuker. Casting is by McCorkle Casting, Ltd.
About George Street Playhouse
Founded in 1974, George Street Playhouse has become a nationally recognized theatre, presenting an acclaimed mainstage season while providing an artistic home for established and emerging theatre artists. The Playhouse will stage its 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons at 103 College Farm Road in New Brunswick, N.J., before taking residence in a new, downtown performing arts center for the 2019-20 season. Its leadership consists of Artistic Director David Saint and Managing Director Kelly Ryman. Through the years, the Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway, including the Outer Critics’ Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger; the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Drama League nominated production of The Spitfire Grill; and the Broadway hit and Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play Proof by David Auburn, which was developed at GSP during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays. Last season’s Curvy Widow is currently running off-Broadway. In 2015, George Street Playhouse was represented on Broadway by It Shoulda Been You, and off-Broadway by Joe DiPietro’s Clever Little Lies, both of which premiered at the Playhouse. In addition to its mainstage season, GSP’s Touring Educational Theatre features issue-oriented productions that are seen by more than 35,000 students annually. George Street Playhouse programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.
