![George Street Playhouse Concludes Season With "It’s Only A Play"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2021/OnlyAPlay.jpg "George Street Playhouse Concludes Season With "It’s Only A Play"")
(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- George Street Playhouse (GSP) concludes its virtual season with “It’s Only A Play”, directed by Kevin Cahoon. This hilarious work by Award-Winning playwright Terrence McNally. Filled with sharp wit, ridiculous sight gags and a dash of Broadway magic, this is one play that is sure to keep you laughing until the end. Streaming will begin June 15 and will run through July 4, 2021.
“We’d like to honor old friend Terrence McNally, whom we lost this past year by presenting his comic valentine to the theatre. It’s Only A Play reminds us all of the glorious world of a Broadway Opening! There’s nothing like it, and we all look forward to returning for the celebration,” said George Street Playhouse Artistic Director, David Saint.
Professionally filmed onstage at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Tony Award winner Terrence McNally’s hit comedy comes to life for this new streaming production! It is opening night on Broadway, and an unforgettable cast of characters, from the self-possessed leading lady to the starry-eyed coat check boy, is eagerly awaiting “rave” reviews. Equal parts uproarious and heartfelt — It’s Only a Play will remind you why there’s no business like show business.
![George Street Playhouse Concludes Season With "It’s Only A Play"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2021/OnlyAPlay2.jpg "George Street Playhouse Concludes Season With "It’s Only A Play"")
The cast includes Greg Cuellar, Andy Grotelueschen, Julie Halston, Doug Harris, Christine Toy Johnson, Triney Sandoval, and Zach Shaffer.
Tickets are available for $33 per household at GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org. Virtual Household Tickets will be available to purchase until 8:00pm EST on Saturday, July 3, 2021
The design and production team includes: David Arsenault (Scenic Design), Mike Boylan (Cinematographer), Alan Edwards (Lighting Design), Samantha Flint (Production Stage Manager), Charles G. LaPoint (Wig Design), Dorothy Peterson (Makeup Design), Ryan Rumery (Sound Design, Music and Sound Editor) and Alejo Vietti (Costume Design). Casting by Pat McCorkle, McCorkle Casting, Ltd..
About The Cast
Greg Cuellar (Frank Finger) - Greg is an LA-based actor, grateful to be making his George Street debut with this incredible team. Select NYC credits: Comedy of Errors (Classic Stage); Play On! Shakespeare Festival (CSC/OSF); Jeremy O. Harris’ the feels...KMS (American AF Festival); development workshops for Apple TV, Playwrights Realm, The Lark, Trans Theatre Lab, The Civilians, and more; former residency at The International WOW Company. Upcoming: I Wanna F*ck Like Romeo and Juliet (New Light Theatre Project). Education: Columbia University. This one's for Barb. Mní Wičóni.
Andy Grotelueschen (Peter Austin) - Broadway: Tootsie (Tony Nomination), Cyrano de Bergerac. Fiasco Theater's Into the Woods, Cymbeline, Imaginary Invalid, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, and Twelfth Night. NY/Regional: Public/Delacorte, TFANA, Clubbed Thumb, 13P, Ars Nova, The Glass Contraption, New Vic, McCarter, Guthrie, Old Globe, Trinity Rep, Yale Rep, the Acting Company. Film: Here Today, Coin Heist, Ordinary World, Still on the Road, Tumorhead. TV: "Lincoln Rhyme," “Elementary," "The Good Wife," "The Good Cop," "The Knick." MFA Brown/Trinity, Fiasco Theater core company.
Julie Halston (Virginia Noyes) - Julie was last seen on Broadway in her acclaimed performance as Rita Marshall in “Tootsie”. Other Broadway performances include “You Can’t Take it With You “ ( Richard Seff Award) , “Hairspray”, “The Twentieth Century”( Outer Critics Nom) and “Gypsy”. She is a founding member of Charles Busch’s legendary theatre company and has co -starred with Mr. Busch in numerous productions inc “The Lady in Question “ , “Red Scare on Sunset” and “The Divine Sister”. Miss Halston has received 4 Drama Desk Nominations, 2 Outer Critics Nominations , 2 Drama League Nominations and Lifetime Achievement Award from the Off Broadway Alliance . Television audiences know her as Bitsy Von Muffling on Sex and The City and Tina Carmello from The Class. Other TV credits: Divorce , Almost Family , Difficult People and Law and Order SVU .She and Charles Busch star in the soon to be released film , “ The Sixth Reel “ .Miss Halston has also received numerous awards for her SRO comedy performances at BIRDLAND and hosts a popular YouTube show , VIRTUAL HALSTON going into its third season .
Doug Harris (Gus P. Head) - Doug is an actor and playwright based out of NYC. He is thrilled to join the team at George Street Playhouse for this wonderful production. Select NYC Credits: Disco Pigs (Drama League), The Rape of The Sabine Women by Grace B. Matthias (Playwrights Realm), The Glass Menagerie (Masterworks Theater Company), Unity: 1918 (Project: Theater). Regional Theater: A Few Good Men (Pittsburgh Public Theater), We’re Gonna Be Okay (B Street Theater), 10x10: ’20 and ’21 (Barrington Stage Co.), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Oh, Gastronomy! (Humana Festival). Doug has developed new works with Playwrights Realm, NYTW, The Lark, Less Than Rent, Ensemble Studio Theater, CTG, Pipeline, and more. He is a founding member of We Are Animals. Films: Day One, December 1, 1969, The Wait, Viking Funeral. Upcoming: Spooky Action.
Christine Toy Johnson (Julia Budder) - Christine is an award-winning actor, writer, director and advocate for inclusion. As an actor, Christine has appeared on Broadway and National tours (THE MUSIC MAN, GREASE!, CHU CHEM, CATS, FLOWER DRUM SONG, BOMBAY DREAMS, COME FROM AWAY), Off-Broadway (MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, PACIFIC OVERTURES, CRANE STORY, FALSETTOLAND, BALANCING ACT and more), in regional theaters across the country (including the Guthrie, Williamstown and the Huntington) and nearly 100 television and film appearances (most notably recurring roles on Marvel’s “Iron Fist”, “The Americans”, “You”, “Law and Order: SVU”, ‘Bull” and more). She’s written tons of plays and musicals and serves as Treasurer of the Dramatists Guild and is host of the Guild’s podcast "Talkback" on Broadway Podcast Network. Co-founder of AAPAC (Asian American Performers Action Coalition), founder of The Asian American Musical Theater Writers Project. Rosetta LeNoire, JACL, Asian American Arts Alliance, Obie awards for advocacy in diversity and inclusion.
Triney Sandoval (Ira Drew) - BROADWAY: Bernhardt/Hamlet, Marvin’s Room, Macbeth, A Free Man of Color, A Man for All Seasons, Frost/Nixon. OTHER NEW YORK THEATRE: 72 Miles to Go... (Drama Desk nomination),The Thin Place, Timon of Athens, The Idiot, As You Like It. REGIONAL: La Jolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, American Players Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, Round House Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alliance Theatre, Virginia Stage, Center Stage, Yale Rep., Milwaukee Rep., Alabama Shakespeare, Idaho Shakespeare, California Shakespeare, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, among others and six seasons with The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. TV: Prodigal Son, The Black List, Elementary, The Sopranos, recurring roles on Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.
Zach Shaffer (Axel Hammond) - Broadway: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, A View From The Bridge, The Man Who Came to Dinner. NY credits include Taking Care of Baby (MTC), The Wii Plays, Playlist (Ars Nova) Mine, Brown, Love is Deaf (EST), Down the Drain, Til the Rapture Comes. Regional Theater includes shows at Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, George Street Playhouse, etc. Film & TV: Smash, Chicago Justice (NBC) Salt (Columbia Pictures), Black Box, Strangers With Candy, The Black Donnellys, Six Feet Under, XX/XY, Law & Order, Gayby. Zach also co-directed and produced the documentary Squeezebox!, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival before going on to tour film festivals around the world.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint since 1997, and Kelly Ryman -- Managing Director since 2013, George Street 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 Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.
It’s Only A Play is sponsored by Sharon Karmazin and the Karma Foundation. George Street Playhouse thanks the Snow Foundation for their support of their streaming platform
