(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- George Street Playhouse's 2018-19 mainstage season will feature a Tony Award-nominated play, a Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award winner set during the early days of the Civil Rights movement, a suspenseful courtroom drama, a heartwarming story of arriving in a strange land for the first time, and the world premiere of a new musical.
The Playhouse’s current theater at College Farm Road has received rave reviews from audiences for its intimacy, accessibility and free, on-site parking. At the close of the 2018-19 season, George Street Playhouse moves back to Livingston Avenue as a resident company of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.
“I am thrilled to be announcing our 2018-19 season,” said GSP Artistic Director David Saint. “George Street’s national profile has been built upon developing and premiering new works, and next season is no exception. Our 2018-19 season is filled with critically acclaimed revivals and new works that will take us on incredible and important journeys. I am also honored to launch a new musical about Nina Simone conceived and written by the extraordinary actress Laiona Michelle, who starred in this season’s production of American Hero.”
The 2018-19 season will begin in October with the premiere of The Trial of Donna Caine, a gripping, based-on-true-events courtroom drama by Walter Anderson, the longtime editor of Parade magazine and, later, chairman and CEO of Parade Publications. After confessing to a crime, Staff Sergeant Donna Caine turns to a high-powered civilian attorney to seek justice. Performances of The Trial Of Donna Caine will begin on October 16 and continue through November 11, 2018.
Next on stage is A Doll’s House, Part 2 — Lucas Hnath’s Tony Award-nominated sequel to Ibsen’s groundbreaking masterpiece, which The New York Times called “smart, funny and utterly engrossing.” When we last saw Nora Helmer, she was slamming the door on life as she knew it. Fifteen years later, she has returned to that same door, with a high-stakes game of unfinished business on her mind. A Doll’s House, Part 2 will begin performances on November 27 and will run through December 23, 2018.
Premiering in January is Little Girl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical. Following a critically acclaimed performance in this season’s American Hero, Laiona Michelle returns to the Playhouse to play the legendary jazz singer, songwriter and civil rights activist Nina Simone. This new musical, which runs January 29 through February, 24, 2019, is filled with personal stories and songs performed in Michelle’s exuberant and crowd-pleasing style.
Mark Harelik’s The Immigrant, based on the experiences of his Russian-Jewish grandfather’s immigration to Galveston, Texas, is the fourth play of the season. After arriving in Texas in 1909, Haskel Herelik finds compassion and friendship from an unlikely couple, falls in love, and creates a pastoral life for his family. The Immigrant will perform from March 12 to April 7, 2019.
Closing the season is Too Heavy for Your Pocket by Jiréh Breon Holder, an award-winning play set in Nashville at the height of the U.S. civil rights movement. When 20-year-old Bowzie Brandon gives up a life-changing college scholarship to join the movement, he’ll have to convince his loved ones — and himself — that shaping his country’s future is worth jeopardizing his own. This inspiring play will run April 23 through May 19, 2019.
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 guarantee priority access to seats in the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. The subscriber discount of 20% off regular ticket prices means full-season subscribers will see one play for free! Individual tickets and partial-season ticket plans will go on sale at a later date. Call the box office or visit www.GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org for more information. Season dates and titles are subject to change.
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 will return downtown to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center for its 2019-20 season.
Located right off Route 1 amidst a vast bucolic setting on the Cook Campus of Rutgers University, George Street Playhouse’s College Farm Road 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.
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.
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.
