(WEST HUDSON, NJ) -- The West Hudson Arts & Theater Company (WHATCo) is celebrating their Main Stage 2023 season with the debut of the comedy farse Drop Dead! by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore, and with a much-anticipated move to a new performance space in Harrison, NJ.  Productions of this potboiler murder mystery continue Friday and Saturday, March 3rd and 4th at 7:00pm.  Photographer John Posada was on hand to take photos.

A nonstop physical comedy, Drop Dead! Is sponsored in part by Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home.  The play takes the idea of “the show must go on” to a deadly new level. A cast of has- been actors plan to revive their careers but when the murders and mysteries exceed those in the script - these thespians must save the show and their careers as well as their lives!

“This is show is a perfect vehicle to help us kick off our season in our fantastic new theater space,” said WHATCo president Brandi-Leigh Miller.  “This dark comedy  filled with larger than life characters has our audiences howling with laughter and excited to be back enjoying live theater here in West Hudson!”

Directed by WHATCo alumni  Matt Masiello, the cast includes Dylan Myers, Nicole Gallin, Arthur Carlson, John Fraissinet, Donna Frassinet, Jessica Jones, John Branwell, Richard Dwyer, Jonathan Rueda, and K. Dixon. Miller notes that the themes and situations presented are best suited for mature audiences.

General admission tickets are $20;  $15 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased online at www.whatconj.org. The WHATCo Box Office at 15 Frank E. Rogers Blvd South will also be open for advance ticket sales; check WHATCo Instagram and Facebook pages for Box Office hours. Some tickets may also be available at the door the evenings of the performances. 

With their new location at 15 Frank E. Rodgers Blvd South in Harrison (the former Holy Cross School.) WHATCo is now conveniently located less than a 10 minute walk from the Harrison PATH station and along the #30 and #40 NJTransit bus routes. 

Free parking is available in the fenced lot at the corner of Frank E. Rodgers Blvd. South and Jersey Street. 

Here are more photos from the production.

“Drop Dead!” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.

John Posada is a New Jersey based photographer specializing in photographing live theatre and music performances. For more than 15 years, John has photographed live events where he mastered the techniques of timing and capturing fast moving action under challenging lighting conditions. Currently, John has spent the last 3 years concentrating on photographing almost 200 theatre productions for over 70 different theatres. Click here for John's website.