(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- Black Box PAC's 2022 Save Our Stages season continues with the NJ Premiere of Ode to Joy by Craig Lucas. Courtesy of the renowned author of Prelude to a Kiss and Reckless, Ode to Joy is the hysterically funny and shockingly poignant story of Adele, a painter, looking back on the two tumultuous loves of her life. In this, she discovers both the limits of her powers and the true depths of her gifts. The production runs from February 10-27 with shows Thursday through Saturday at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 7:00pm.

This new production of Ode to Joy features the talents of Danielle MacMath, Sean Mannix (Winner of 2021 BroadwayWorldNJ Award - Best Supporting Actor in a Play), and Ilana Schimmel. Matt Okin serves as Director, with Michael Gardiner as Assistant Director.

Hailed as "hilarious and enlightening" by Entertainment Weekly, "Craig Lucas has a gift of gab."

Tickets are available for purchase at www.BlackBoxPAC.com.  Masks are required at ALL TIMES, in addition to proof of vaccination required for all patrons. Proof of vaccination accepted: physical card, picture of card on phone (make sure your name is visible/readable), Docket app. BBPAC reserves the right to adjust safety protocols as needed. Cash only at the door. Sorry, no late seating.

Craig Lucas’ plays include Missing Persons, Reckless, Blue Window, Prelude to a Kiss, God’s Heart, This Thing of Darkness (co-authored with David Schulner), The Dying Gaul, Stranger, Small Tragedy, Prayer for My Enemy, The Singing Forest, Ode to Joy, The Lying Lesson, I Was Most Alive with You and Change Agent. Screenplays include Longtime Companion (Sundance Audience Award), The Secret Lives of Dentists (NY Film Critics Best Screenplay Award), Reckless, Blue Window, The Dying Gaul. Libretti include The Light in the Piazza (music and lyrics by Adam Guettel), Two Boys (composer Nico Muhly, world premiere at the English National Opera, American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera), Orpheus in Love (with composer Gerald Busby), 3 Postcards (with composer/lyricist Craig Carnelia), An American in Paris (music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin), Amélie (music by Dan Messe, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Dan Messe), Sousatzka (music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby), Prelude to a Kiss (music by Dan Messe, lyrics by Sean Hartley and Dan Messe), Days of Wine and Roses (music and lyrics by Adam Guettel), and Marry Me A Little, Songs by Stephen by Sondheim (co-conceived with Norman René and Suzanne Henry). His new English-language adaptations include Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya, Galileo and Miss Julie. He directed the world premiere of The Light in the Piazza, Harry Kondoleon’s plays Saved Or Destroyed & Play Yourself, and the films The Dying Gaul & Birds of America. Lucas has worked with a host of remarkable directors including Mark Wing-Davey, Norman René, Pam MacKinnon, Lisa Petersen, Daniel Sullivan, Tyne Rafaeli, Christopher Wheeldon, Alan Rudolph, Mark Brokaw, Bartlett Sher and Joe Mantello. He received the Excellence in Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Laura Pels/PEN Mid-career Award, the Hermitage Greenfield Prize, LAMBDA Literary Award, Hull-Warriner Award, Flora Roberts Award, Steinberg/ACTA Best Play Award among many others. He has 3 Tony nominations, 3 Obie Awards and has been a Pulitzer finalist.

Ode to Joy follows Black Box PAC's encore presentation of Eric Bogosian's 1+1, Neil Labute's Ten x  Ten, and short works by John Guare and Caridad Svich. Also slated for this season is a play by legendary filmmaker Paul Schrader.  

Black Box Performing Arts Center (BBPAC),  a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in Teaneck 2015 and relocated to 49 East Palisade Avenue in Englewood in 2019, and Black Box Studios (BBS), which has operated in Bergen County since 2007, together form Northern NJ’s premiere theater and performing arts school combo. BBPAC is a working professional theater run by The Black Box Rep Company, a group of collaborative artists engaging in collaborative, cutting-edge theater. The tight-knit community self-generates full seasons of cutting edge theater, reviving classics both old and newer, while also developing original works for the intimate stage. Many of these professionals double as teaching artists for Black Box Studios, running classes and workshops at the theater and at various schools and organizations in the area, for students currently ranging in age from 9 to 81. Our team is also focused on presenting other art forms within the space, such as comedy and music, as we host the emergence of a new and unique artistic community.