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Theatre Preview: August 4-7

originally published: 08/04/2022

Here are previews of plays taking place this week. Click on the title to go to the full preview. Be sure to send press releases for your plays to info@newjerseystage.com to be included. New Jersey Stage covers Equity, community, college, and high school theatre.

Plays Opening This Week

Thursday, August 4, 2022 - NJ Rep presents the U.S. Premiere of "The Hummingbirds" (LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep) presents the U.S. premiere of The Hummingbirds: A Comedy of Menace by Garret Jon Groenveld.  It is a comic-drama set in the future, which may be closer than you think.  Performances run from August 4-28, Thursdays through Sundays. Click here to see photos from the play.

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Thursday, August 4, 2022 - Two River Theater Company presents Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) (RED BANK, NJ) -- Two River Theater Company presents Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) from August 4-7, 2022. This is an annual celebration of new plays by Latinx theater artists. Back in person for the first time in three years, this year’s festival is curated by José Zayas and features four new plays to be read in the Rechnitz Theater. Plays include Trilogy by Matt Barbot, A Skeptic and a Bruja by Rosa Fernandez, December by Marisela Treviño Orta, and The Play You Want by Bernardo Cubría.

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Thursday, August 4, 2022 - Voorhees Theatre Company presents "Rent: School Edition" (VOORHEES, NJ) -- Get ready to be emotionally touched in Voorhees Theatre Company’s rendition of this heart-rending and unforgettable production of Rent: School Edition.  This is a show all about falling in love, finding your voice, being true to yourself, and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, it has become a pop culture phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages.

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Friday, August 5, 2022 - Centenary Stage Company’s Young Performers Workshop’s 2022 Summer Festival of Shows (HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company’s Young Performers Workshop’s 2022 Summer Festival of Shows has just been announced and will feature performances of I Do! I Do! I Do! I Do!, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, and Two for Four. Performances will run August 5-14 in the Little Theatre located at 400 Jefferson St, Hackettstown, NJ.  

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Plays Continuing This Week

Cape May Stage presents "America's Sexiest Couple" (CAPE MAY, NJ) -- America’s Sexiest Couple the second play of Cape May Stage’s 2022 season, runs Tuesday to Sunday evenings from July 14 until August 14. The laugh-out-loud comedy is the work of Ken Levine, the three-time Emmy Award–winning writer who has been honored for his work on classic comedies such as “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Simpsons,” “Cheers,” and more. Levine brings his surefire one-liners and eye for comedic plotting to America’s Sexiest Couple, a raucous new play which Cape May Stage is honored to premiere.

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TaNisha Fordham's New Musical to Have World Premiere In Newark (NEWARK, NJ) -- TaNisha Fordham Productions in association with the City of Newark, announces the World Premiere of the new musical TaNisha Fordham’s Snatch Yo' Free, written, directed, musical production, produced by and starring this year’s American Express Directing Fellow, Broadway Theatre Coalition’s Directing Fellow, and the current Associate Director of the 5 Time Tony Award Winning Broadway Musical Company, TaNisha Fordham. As the city of Newark NJ’s 2nd annual Theater in the Park event this year’s musical production is free, open to the public, and continues to create access and a bridge to Broadway level productions right in the heart of Newark.  Performances take place July 22 & 29, August 5 & 12, 2022 at Mulberry Commons Park in front of the Prudential Center.

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ELTC Celebrates Kurt Vonnegut with "Who Am I This Time (& Other Conundrums of Love)" (CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Since Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007), the author of "Slaughterhouse-Five," would have been 100 this year, the Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company is celebrating the occasion by offering three of his charming stories in "Who Am I This Time? (& Other Conundrums of Love.)"  Adapted by Aaron Posner, these humorous tales filled with heart take place in the small town of North Crawford, Connecticut in 1962.

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Mothers Shine Bright at Glimmerglass Festival This Summer (COOPERSTOWN, NY) -- Librettist Lila Palmer and Director Chloe Treat join forces this summer on the World Premiere production of HOLY GROUND at the 2022 Glimmerglass Festival. This ‘what-if’ reimagination of a biblical story reflects on Mary’s choice to become a mother. The opera by Damien Geter and Palmer will be performed as part of a “Double Bill” along with Kamala Sankaram and Jerry Dye’s TAKING UP SERPENTS, also directed by Treat. These talented women, both mothers of young children, present the opera in a limited engagement at the Alice Busch Opera Theater, (7300 NY-80, Cooperstown, NY 13326). Performances begin Friday, July 29 and continue on a varied schedule through Saturday, August 20.

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Music Mountain Theatre presents "Crazy For You" (LAMBERTVILLE, NJ) -- Music Mountain Theatre’s 2022 season continues with Crazy For You, which opens at Music Mountain Theatre on Friday, July 29th and runs through August 21. Winner of the 1992 Tony Award for Best Musical, this laugh-a-minute musical romp is scripted by Ken Ludwig and features the memorable hits of George and Ira Gershwin such as “I Got Rhythm,” “Naughty Baby,” “They Can't Take That Away from Me,” “Embraceable You,” “But Not for Me,” “Nice Work if You Can Get It” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Click here to see photos from the play.

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Plays Ending This Week

"The Last Supper" to have World Premiere at SOPAC (SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- The Last Supper debuts at South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) from July 27 to August 7. This world premiere new musical comedy is about five liberal grad students sharing a house in a conservative college town who, in their efforts to save the world, invite some neighbors to dinner for a political discussion. Things do not go well. Click here to see photos from the play.

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Centenary Stage Company and the NEXTStage Repertory present "The Marvelous Wonderettes" (HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company and the NEXTStage Repertory present The Marvelous Wonderettes July 28 through August 7. This show will run July 28 through August 7 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the Centenary University campus in Hackettstown. This Off-Broadway hit takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom, where we meet Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy, and Suzy: four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts!

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Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info

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Old Library Theatre presents "It Shoulda Been You" (FAIR LAWN, NJ) -- Old Library Theatre (OLT), Fair Lawn Recreation Department’s resident theatre company presents the Broadway musical, It Shoulda Been You, at the Fair Lawn Community Center. The show will be presented over two weekends, starting Friday July 29, and run through August 7th, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm.  Click here to see photos from the play.

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Trilogy Repertory Presents Shakespeare’s "Much Ado About Nothing" (BERNARDS TOWNSHIP, NJ) -- As the second production in the Bernards Township “Plays in the Park” series,  Trilogy Repertory presents Much Ado About Nothing at Pleasant Valley Park on July 29, 30, and August 4, 5, and 6 at 8:00pm.  Free to the public, audiences are encouraged to bring a flashlight, lawn chair, or blanket to enjoy free live theater under the stars.