(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Broadway’s Andréa Burns (On Your Feet; In the Heights) and television and film’s Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock; Weeds; Phineas and Ferb) will headline the start of George Street Playhouse’s newly announced 2021 season, starring in two hilarious full-length comedies audiences can stream at home.
“I am happy to announce that George Street Playhouse will produce a season of four plays this season,” said Artistic Director David Saint. “During the last 10 months, we have reinvented how we go back into rehearsal, and how we get back to creating art and presenting it in a safe way. The arts are vital to our soul, and we are thrilled to bring these four streaming productions to the virtual stage until we can all be in the room together again.”
The 2021 Season begins streaming with the comedy Bad Dates, written by award-winning playwright Theresa Rebeck (Seared, The Scene, Bernhardt/Hamlet) and starring Drama Desk Award Winner Andréa Burns. Television and film star Maulik Pancholy will then play Sam in Becky Mode’s Fully Committed this March.
Andréa Burns received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for her portrayal of Gloria Fajardo in Broadway’s On Your Feet. She also received a Drama Desk Award for her creation of the role of the hairdresser Daniela in In the Heights. She starred opposite Nathan Lane on Broadway in the Lincoln Center production of The Nance, which was then broadcast on PBS Great Performances. Burns will also appear in Steven Spielberg's upcoming film West Side Story.
A one-woman comedy about a single mom in search of cute shoes, the perfect dress, and a romantic table for two at a great restaurant, Bad Dates is a charming, funny and hopeful tale of dates gone wrong and looking for Mr. Right. The Wall Street Journal said it was "miraculously contrived to turn Ms. Rebeck’s show into a poignant slice of urban life that also happens to be drop-dead funny.”
Bad Dates is available to stream February 23 thru March 14. George Street’s production will be helmed by acclaimed director Peter Flynn, husband of Ms. Burns. Flynn’s credits include Curvy Widow at George Street Playhouse and off-Broadway; On the 20th Century with Douglass Sills and Marin Mazzie; and Funny Girl with Bebe Neuwirth, Whoopi Goldberg and Andrea Martin.
The design team includes Costume Designer Lisa Zinni, Lighting Designer Alan C. Edwards, Sound Designer Ryan Rummery, and Production Manager Christopher J. Bailey. Hudson Flynn is the cinematographer. Dorothy Petersen provides Hair & Makeup Design. The Production Stage Manager is Samantha Flint.
Bad Dates is sponsored by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.
The George Street Playhouse season continues with the hit comedy Fully Committed by Becky Mode starring Maulik Pancholy. The New York Times called Fully Committed “immensely entertaining, a richly comic affirmation of everything I've ever heard, or suspected, about the bad behavior that good food can inspire.” Featuring one actor playing more than 40 characters, Fully Committed takes place in a famed restaurant where patrons will stop at nothing to secure a reservation— including coercion and bribes.
Pancholy played Jonathan, Alec Baldwin’s assistant, in the Emmy-award winning 30 Rock, and Sanjay in the hit series Weeds. He starred on Broadway’s in It’s Only A Play as well as several off-Broadway productions. Other roles include the upcoming Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, The Good Fight, The Good Wife, Phineas and Ferb, and Web Therapy.
Playhouse Artistic Director David Saint will direct Fully Committed, which will be available for streaming March 23 through April 11. The show is sponsored by Philip Kirstein and Melinda Raso Kirstein.
George Street Playhouse’s inaugural virtual season then continues with Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the best selling novel of the same name by Cheryl Strayed and directed by GSP Artistic Director David Saint. Former NY Times critic Ben Brantley said "Tiny Beautiful Things turns out to provide an ideal catharsis for those suffering from the various deep-dyed blues that are so contagious right now. I mean post-election blues, holiday blues, end-of-the-year blues, all those afflictions that make us feel cranky, thin-skinned and intolerant."
Tiny Beautiful Things is based on the Dear Sugar advice column, and was adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding).
Sharon Karmazin is Executive Producer for Bad Dates, Fully Committed, and Tiny Beautiful Things.
Closing the 2021 Season is the hilarious Broadway comedy about Broadway -- It’s Only A Play -- by famed playwright and Tony Award winner Terrence McNally. It is opening night and the cast of characters is waiting eagerly for what could only be rave reviews. The New York Times said “this show is without a doubt hilariously, side splittingly funny...these are among the funniest lines to roll off a stage in years. It’s Only A Play deserves only a rave.”
“We are thrilled to work with such outstanding performers, creative teams and professional filmmakers during this time, and we look forward to sharing this extraordinary season with you,” said David Saint.
The George Street Playhouse 2021 Season of four streaming plays is now on sale for $132 per household. Single tickets can be purchased for $33 per household beginning January 27.
Each subscriber household will receive a unique link to view each of their performances. Patrons may watch the performance on demand at any time during the run of the show, but patrons must finish their viewing within 24 hours.
Patrons may also purchase individual household ticket (s) for the performances of their choice.
George Street Playhouse thanks the Jon Ben Snow Memorial Trust for their support of their streaming platform.
Tickets will be available online beginning January 27 at GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org and subscription packages are available by calling 732-659-0377.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint since 1997, and Kelly Ryman -- Managing Director since 2013, the Playhouse produces groundbreaking new works, inspiring productions of the classics, and hit Broadway plays and musicals that speak to the heart and mind, with an unwavering commitment to producing new work. As New Brunswick’s first producing theatre, George Street Playhouse became the cornerstone of the revitalization of the City’s arts and cultural landscape. With its 45-year history of producing nationally renowned theatre, the Playhouse continues to fill a unique theatre and arts education role in the city, state and greater metropolitan region.
Beginning with the 2019-20 Season, George Street Playhouse moved to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in downtown New Brunswick. Featuring two state-of-the-art theatres -- The Arthur Laurents Theater with 253 seats and The Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater which seats 465-- and myriad amenities, the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center marks a new era in the esteemed history of George Street Playhouse.
Founded by Eric Krebs, George Street Playhouse, originally located in an abandoned supermarket on the corner of George and Albany Streets, was the first professional theatre in New Brunswick. In 1984, the Playhouse moved to a renovated YMCA on Livingston Avenue, and in 2017 took temporary residence in the former Agricultural Museum at Rutgers University during construction of its new home.
The Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway. In 2018, George Street Playhouse was represented on Broadway with Gettin’ the Band Back Together which premiered on the Playhouse mainstage in 2013. American Son, produced by George Street Playhouse in 2017, opened on Broadway in 2018 starring Kerry Washington and Stephen Pasqual, and will appear on Netflix. Other productions include the Outer Critics’ Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger. In 2015, It Shoulda Been You opened on Broadway and Joe DiPietro’s Clever Little Lies opened off-Broadway. Both shows received their premieres at the Playhouse. Others include 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 the Playhouse during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays.
In addition to the mainstage season, the Playhouse’s education department provides extensive programming for children, youth and adults. Partnering with administrators and educators throughout New Jersey, the Playhouse provides unique education experiences that both reinforce classroom curriculum and investigate issues such as bullying, diversity, immigration, health and wellness, and the rising epidemic of opioid addiction.
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.
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