(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company has announced its cast for the upcoming 2020 production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys opening February 14 and running through March 1 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ.
Directing the production is Keith Baker. Baker serves as the Artistic Director for Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA. In addition to directing more than 90 productions with BRT, including the 2018/19 BRT production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys, Baker served as the cultural ambassador of theatre for the U.S. State Department in Armenia.
Leading the cast is Centenary Stage Company’s own award-winning Artistic Director Carl Wallnau, as Willie Clark. Wallnau, also part of the 2018/2019 BRT production of The Sunshine Boys, has worked extensively at numerous regional theatres including Paper Mill Playhouse, Second Stage in NYC, People’s Light, The Lark Theatre, The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage, Bristol Riverside, Forum Theatre, Premiere Stages, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Foothills Playhouse and spent 14 months on the road with the First National Tour of Titanic. Wallnau has directed numerous productions at CSC, including world premieres of Inventing Montana, The Tillie Project and The Poetry of Pizza, as well as, several American and New Jersey premieres.
Returning to the Sitnik stage are CSC veterans David Edwards, as Al Lewis, and Emaline Williams, as the Burlesque Nurse. CSC audiences will remember Edwards from such productions as The Learned Ladies, Light Up the Sky, The Mousetrap, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and Bittersuite. Edwards’ extensive credits run the gamut of Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional Theatre and Film/Television. Williams was last seen on the CSC stage in productions of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the world premiere of Hitler’s Tasters. Williams’ other credits include work with the Dreamcatcher Repertory, Bickford Theatre, The Growing Stage, Alliance Repertory Theatre Company, Vampire Cowboys (NYC) and The Monomoy Theatre (Chatham, MA). Williams will also be returning to CSC for the world premiere production of Turning.
Making their Centenary Stage Company debuts are Jason Silverman, as Ben Silverman, and Reva Jamison, as the Registered Nurse. Silverman was also part of the BRT production of The Sunshine Boys and carries extensive Broadway and Off-Broadway credits, including his work with Roundabout Theatre and Playwrights Horizons. Regionally, in addition to his work with Bristol Riverside Theatre, Silverman has worked with Delaware Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center and Asbury Park Boardwalk. He carries a number of film credits, including his supporting work in The Wolf of Wall Street directed by Martin Scorsese. Jamison’s theatre work includes productions with Henry Street Settlement, St. Paul Players, Paul Robeson Theatre, Dillon’s Dinner Theatre, Linden Morningstar Players and local tours of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf and Guys and Dolls. She also carries a number of television, film and album credits.
Rounding out the cast is Centenary Stage Company intern Kevin Wehrhahn, as the Director’s Voice, and NEXTstage Repertory/Centenary University Theatre Students Gabriel Landes, as Eddie the TV Assistant, and Ryan Robert Washington, as the Man/Patient. Audiences will remember Wehrhahn as The Beast in CSC’s most recent holiday production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, as well as his recent work in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Jesus Christ Superstar. This is Landes’ second show this season, having been part of CSC’s season opener The Ghost Train. Finally, Washington returns to the CSC stage for the third time this season, having also been part of the season opener The Ghost Train and the holiday production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
As the story goes, Al and Willie as “Lewis and Clark” were top-billed vaudevillians for over forty years. Now they aren’t even speaking. When CBS requests them for a “History of Comedy” retrospective, a grudging reunion brings the two back together, along with a flood of memories, miseries and laughs.
Centenary Stage Company’s production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys runs February 14 through March 1 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ on the campus of Centenary University. Specific performance dates and times are: Friday, February 14 at 2:00 PM (preview) and 8:00 PM (opening); Fridays, February 21 and 28 at 8:00 PM; Saturdays, February 15, 22 and 29 at 8:00 PM; Sundays, February 16, 23 and March 1 at 2:00 PM; Wednesdays, February 19 and 26 at 2:00 PM and Thursdays, February 20 and 27 at 7:30 PM.
Tickets range from $28.50 to $32.00 for adults with discounts available for students, seniors and children under 12. Centenary Stage Company offers a variety of special ticket offers and discounts in conjunction with the production of The Sunshine Boys. Thursday evening performances offer patrons a buy one/get one rush ticket special. The BOGO offer is only valid for in-person sales at the CSC box office beginning at 5:30 PM on the night of the performance. The BOGO offer is not available for advance ticket sales on-line or over the phone. Centenary Stage Company also offers a Buffet Matinee for the Wednesday, Feb. 19 and 26 afternoon performances. Buffet Matinees are available to groups of 25 or more and must be reserved in advance. Tickets for Buffet Matinees are $45.00 per person and include a catered brunch prior to the 2:00 PM performance. Call the box office directly at (908) 979 – 0900 for more information or to reserve. Additionally, Hackettstown Residents can enjoy $10.00 Rush Tickets for the Friday, February 14 2:00 PM preview performance. Rush Tickets are only available in person at the CSC box office with a valid ID or proof of Hackettstown residency. Finally, Centenary Stage Company offers a special $5.00 Student Rush Ticket available to students from any school for any Friday evening performance with a valid student ID. $5.00 Student Rush Tickets are only available in person at the CSC box office on the day of the event and not available for advance ticket sales, on-line or by phone.
Centenary Stage Company’s production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys is sponsored in part by The House of the Good Shepherd, Heath Village Retirement Community and Fulton Bank.
For more information or to purchase tickets visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979 – 0900. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 – 5 PM and two hours prior to every performance. The Centenary Stage Company box office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ on the campus of Centenary University. Centenary Stage Company can also be found across social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Like and follow to receive the latest in CSC news and special offers.
The 2019-2020 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, Zonta Morristown Chapter and CSC corporate sponsors, including Season Sponsor The House of the Good Shepherd, Heath Village Retirement Community, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Medical Center with Atlantic Health System, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), and Fulton Bank, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.
