(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- George Street Playhouse will open its inaugural 2019-20 season in its new home, the state-of-the-art New Brunswick Performing Center, this October, marking a new era in the theater’s esteemed history of bringing world-class productions to New Jersey audiences. The five-play season features a heartwarming new musical, a hilarious one-woman show starring a beloved television personality, a gripping suspense thriller based on a bestselling novel, a world premiere historical drama by George Street Playhouse favorite Joe DiPietro (Toxic Avenger; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; Clever Little Lies), and a new musical adaptation of a popular film.
Featuring two state-of-the-art performance spaces, a donor lounge, expanded restroom facilities, an expansive two-story lobby, and elevator access to the lobbies and theaters, the NPBAC boasts modern and comfortable new seats, contemporary heating and cooling systems, and all the amenities for patron comfort, convenience, and accessibility. It will also offer expanded theater technology, such as a fly loft that will allow for scenery to raise and lower, an expansive orchestra pit, and more.
George Street Playhouse will open and close its 2019-20 season with musicals in The Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater, which seats 463, and also produce three plays in The Arthur Laurents Theater, featuring 259 seats.
"Arriving on the advent of my 23rd season at George Street Playhouse, the completion of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center represents a dream fulfilled and a momentous point in our history," said GSP Artistic Director David Saint. "We have built our national reputation upon developing and premiering new works, and we are thrilled to continue that commitment in our new home.”
The 2019-20 season will begin in October with Last Days of Summer, the wonderful, heartwarming new musical based on the popular novel by Steve Kluger. When Joe Margolis is asked by his son to open an old box of letters, he is transported to the summer of 1942, and the time a young Joey and his best friend Craig wrote fan letters to the star third baseman of the New York Giants asking his help to impress and suppress the neighborhood bullies. When they receive a surprising response, an unlikely friendship is formed that will affect both boys for the rest of their lives. With music by Grammy winner Jason Howland (Broadway’s Little Women), directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun (Newsies on Broadway), and a book by the novel’s author, this new musical is a poignant tale of baseball, friendship, and the enduring bond between fathers and sons. Performances of Last Days of Summer will begin on October 15 and continue through November 11, 2019 in The Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater. Last Days of Summer is produced by special arrangement with Daryl Roth.
Next in the intimate Arthur Laurents Theater is My Life on a Diet. Called “fascinating. lighthearted & spicy” by the New York Times, this hilarious autobiographical comedy stars Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Renée Taylor, known for her recurring role on television’s The Nanny. In her side-splitting comedy, written by Taylor and her husband Joseph Bologna, she looks back on a life full of memorable roles in Hollywood and on Broadway, and just as many fad diets. Featuring juicy anecdotes about screen legends such as Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Barbra Streisand, My Life on a Diet, originally directed by Joseph Bologna, will begin performances on November 19 and will run through December 15, 2019. My Life on a Diet is produced in association with Julian Schlossberg.
Kicking off 2020 is Midwives, a world premiere thriller based on the book-turned-film of the same name by Chris Bohjalian. Adapted for the stage by the author from his own bestselling novel, an early selection of Oprah’s Book Club, this tale of suspense and courtroom drama explores the fallout of an impossible decision made by midwife Sibyl Danforth during a routine at-home birth. This new play, directed by Sheryl Kaller (Mothers and Sons on Broadway; Tony Award nominee for Next Fall on Broadway), will keep audiences on the edge of their seat. Midwives runs January 21 through February, 16, 2020.
Also taking the stage in the Arthur Laurents Theater is Playhouse mainstay Joe DiPietro’s Conscience, a world premiere historical drama set during the American Red Scare. Acting out boldly against party lines, real-world Senator Margaret Chase Smith becomes one of the first to stand up against Senator Joseph McCarthy in this gripping historical tale inspired by real events. Taking the stage under the direction of Artistic Director David Saint, performances begin March 3 and will run through March 29, 2020.
Closing the 2019-20 season in The Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater is A Walk on the Moon, a new musical with a book by Pamela Gray and music & lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman, based on the critically acclaimed motion picture of the same title by Pamela Gray. Longing for more than her life as a mother and housewife, and sensing that change and human possibilities are in the air, Pearl Kantrowitz begins an affair with a somewhat lost, free-spirited traveling salesman while summering with her family in the Catskills. As the Woodstock music festival comes to life nearby, their whirlwind romance, set in the summer of 1969—when mankind first stepped on the moon—brings audiences on a musical journey set against the backdrop of an iconic moment in American history. Sheryl Kaller directs A Walk On the Moon, with choreography by Josh Prince, April 21 through May 17, 2020. A Walk on the Moon is produced by special arrangement with Stephen and Ruth Hendel.
Full creative teams will be announced at a later date.
Full-season subscriptions are on sale. A subscription to George Street Playhouse is the only way to secure the best seats to all five shows and to guarantee priority access to seats in the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, which is conveniently located in downtown New Brunswick with access to an array of parking and dining options.
Subscribers enjoy a discount of 20% off regular ticket prices -- with their savings, subscribers are seeing one play free! Individual tickets and partial-season ticket plans will go on sale at a later date. For more information about the 2019-20 George Street Playhouse season, call the box office at 732-246-7717 or visit www.GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org. Season dates and titles are subject to change.
PHOTOS (TOP) Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Renée Taylor, known for her recurring role on television’s The Nanny in side-splitting comedy My Life on a Diet, written by Taylor and her husband Joseph Bologna. (BOTTOM) George Street Playhouse Artistic Director David Saint, directing Joe DiPietro's Conscience in the 2019-20 season.
