(SOMERS POINT, NJ) -- Gateway Playhouse will produce the award-winning, one-woman show "Crying on the Camino," written by and starring Celeste Mancinelli for two performances only - Saturday, July 13 at 7:00pm and Sunday, July 14 at 3:00pm.

This marks the return of Mancinelli’s real-life tale of risk and adventure to the Gateway stage. Since performing in Somers Point in 2021, the play has won two Broadway World Awards for Best New Play and Best Performer, while Mancinelli has been traveling across the country to relay her exciting journey along the Camino de Santiago en route to the Cathedral Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

“The most interesting things occur without a plan,” said Mancinelli, who, following her retirement, was looking to try something different, but wasn’t sure what exactly. A former principal at a school where she had worked often shared stories about her trips on the Camino. Mancinelli decided she would go on the pilgrimage, too, so she purchased all the required equipment and began a vigorous training routine in order to prepare for the 11-day, 200-mile journey.

“It was grueling. There is so much fatigue that there is a release in you that brings you to inner consciousness … inner reflection,” said Mancinelli, who endured a knee infection, bed bugs, and a terrible cold on her pilgrimage.

“Well, it’s said that one should suffer along the Camino,” she laughed. “But I really recognized what I did. I was carrying my life on my back. The Camino brings you to another place.”

“Crying on the Camino,” which will be performed Saturday, July 13 at 7:00pm, and Sunday, July 14 at 3:00pm, runs 90 minutes with no intermission. Snacks and beverages are available for purchase in the lobby. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased at GatewayByTheBay.org or by calling the box office at 609-653-0553. Gateway Playhouse is located at 738 Bay Avenue in Somers Point, New Jersey.

“Celeste’s story is incredibly inspiring and oftentimes funny, and we are very excited to have her perform this show at the Gateway again,” said Keith Cooper, executive director of the Gateway, who was the first to bring Mancinelli’s story to the stage. “Audiences will laugh and cry and leave the theater feeling better than they did when they arrived.”

Additional performances in Gateway’s 2024 mainstage season “Little Shop of Horrors,” September 27-29 and October 4-6.

Since its reopening in 2017, Gateway Playhouse, a 501-(c)3 nonprofit, has provided quality and affordable year-round entertainment to residents and visitors alike, as well as offered educational opportunities to grammar and high school students, in the hopes of creating future generations of actors, directors and audiences. Aside from an annual mainstage season, the Gateway also produces a variety of comedy and cabaret shows throughout the year. As the saying goes, “see you at the Gateway!”