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Art House Productions presents "Tracy Jones"

originally published: 08/28/2023 

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Art House Productions presents the New Jersey premiere of Stephen Kaplan’s play Tracy Jones, directed by Alex Tobey, with Performances across three weekends from October 19 through November 5, 2023.  The play is a touching comedy of individual connection in an increasingly busy world.

The main character, Tracy Jones, rents out the back "party room" of Jones Street Bar and Grill: The Place for Wings and Things to throw a party to which she's invited every woman in the area who is also named Tracy Jones. Tracy sits for over an hour alone, nursing her Diet Coke, waiting for any other Tracy Joneses to show up, and help alleviate her epic loneliness. Through her encounters with the limited guests that attend, this hilarious play challenges the audience to question loneliness, connection, and why we do the things we do.

"We have been looking forward to producing Stephen Kaplan's fantastic new play, Tracy Jones, since we first started developing it in Art House's INKubator program five years ago. A pandemic and a whole brand new theater later, and we're ready! If you love seeing theater, appreciate the work of NJ-based playwrights, and enjoy 90-minute plays that will make you laugh and warm your heart, do not miss Tracy Jones at Art House Productions this fall," said Meredith Burns (Art House Executive Artistic Director).

The show runs October 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, and 29. November 2, 3, 4, and 5, 2023, at Art House, 345 Marin Boulevard (between Morgan and Bay Streets) in Jersey City, New Jersey. Performances take place Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase online. Reserved Seating: $45.00, Students/Seniors: $35.00.

The cast will be announced shortly.

 

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Stephen Kaplan (Playwright)  is a New Jersey Based award-winning playwright with productions off-broadway and in regional theaters nationally. Selected awards and productions: National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere: Tracy Jones (Finalist: ScreenCraft Stage Play Contest, B Street New Comedies Festival, Trustus Playwrights Festival); Un Hombre: A Golem Story (Winner: Barbour Award; Finalist: Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival, Jewish Plays Project, Chameleon Theatre Circle’s New Play Contest, Wild Imaginings Epiphanies; Semi-Finalist: Ashland New Play Festival; Development: NJ PlayLab); Branwell (and other Brontës) (Semi-Finalist: O’Neill); Community (Finalist: Seven Devils; Road Less Traveled National Residency, Semi-Finalist: Premiere Stages, March Forth Productions); A Real Boy (59E59 Theatre, Last Act Theater, This Is Water Theatre and Semi-Finalist: PlayPenn, Ashland New Play Festival, Dayton Playhouse FutureFest and MTWorks’ Newborn Festival); Exquisite Potential (Winner: NJ Playwrights Contest, Across the Generations New Jewish Play Festival, Finalist: Woodward/Newman Award, Semi-Finalist: Seven Devils);  una casa/a home (Finalist: Landing Theatre’s New American Voices Reading Series, Route 66 Theatre’s New Play Development Program, Rorschach's Magic in Rough Spaces). MFA: Point Park University. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and serves as Northeastern Regional Representative for the DG National Council and received a 2021 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Alex Tobey (Director) is a Brooklyn-based stage director and creative producer obsessed with music, magic, and mystery. His work primarily focuses on new play development, musical theatre, queer collaboration, and immersive, non-traditional audience experiences. As a director, favorite credits include the world premiere of Kev Berry’s Rough Trade (The Tank), the pandemic live-streamed Harsh Cacophonies I & II (The Tank / CyberTank Productions), Savannah Reich’s participatory Caveman Play (Exponential Festival), the 20th-anniversary all-star concert of Paul Scott Goodman’s Bright Lights, Big City (54 Below), the unauthorized Rihanna bio-concert Good Girl Gone Bad (HERE), and Ian Finley’s site-specific marathon adaptation of the Oedipus trilogy, The Greeks (Burning Coal Theatre Company). He has worked as an associate or assistant director to Saheem Ali, Lee Sunday Evans, Dustin Wills, Jonathan Silverstein, Shira Milikowsky, and others. Alex is the Associate Producer of Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College and has been the Resident Director of INKubator at Art House Productions since 2018, where Tracy Jones was first presented at the inaugural INKubator New Play Festival.  He has also developed new work with Access Theater, The Drama League, Abrons Arts Center, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Bushwick Starr, New Ohio Theatre, The Brick, JACK, and Dixon Place. Alex was raised in North Carolina and holds a BFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University.

​​​​​​​Art House Productions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to the development and presentation of the performing and visual arts in Jersey City, NJ. Art House Productions presents theater, festivals, events, visual art exhibitions, and adult and youth art classes.

Art House Productions is generously supported by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Public Funds from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund, The Princeton Area Community Foundation, SILVERMAN, The Albanese Group, Liberty Harbor, Starwood Capital Group, KRE, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and The Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs. A full list of funders can be found on their website.