(SUMMIT, NJ) -- The Summit Playhouse presents Bright Star by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell from April 29th through May 15th. This buoyant musical tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the 1920s and 40s. With a fresh and lively score, this charming fable of lives torn apart and made whole again is sure to appeal to all ages.
Bright Star is directed by Joe DeVico with choreography by Megan Ferentinos and musical direction by Joe DeVico.
The cast includes: Sky Monroe (Alice Murphy); Sean Lynch-Littlejohn (Jimmy Ray); Billy Kasper (Billy Cane); Alan Van Antwerp (Daddy Cane); Alexa Rojek (Margo); Mary Elizabeth Gismonde (Lucy); Joe Piserchio (Daryl); Laura Fortgang (Mama Murphy); Steve Gabe (Daddy Murphy); David Romankow (Mayor); and Donald Pauselius (Stanford). The ensemble includes: Sarah Decker, Linda Katz, and Jeslyn Wheeless.
Tickets are available for purchase online. * Proof of vaccine is required at the door for all audience members ages 12 and older. Masks are required for all audience members.
The Summit Playhouse is located at 10 New England Avenue in Summit, New Jersey. The Summit Playhouse, a non-profit community theatre, was founded in 1918 as a World War I relief organization. Since then, they have mounted over 300 productions, and are one of the oldest continuously operating community theatres in the United States. They produce three Main Stage shows a year, with performances in November, February/March, and April/May. Kaleidoscope Youth Theatre presents a Junior production in December and July, a full-length musical every summer, and various workshops throughout the year.
Their community service includes a benefit performance of each of their regular plays, theater awards for Dramatic Arts students, and Summit community collaborations. Their Kaleidoscope productions have traveled to various outreach locations, including special education schools, nursing homes, and children's hospitals, to share productions with those who cannot travel to see them.
They have our own theatre, off Springfield Avenue just west of the Summit business district, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings. The old stone part of the building was constructed in 1891 to house Summit's first library. At that time, the library was run by the Summit Library Association, a private, non-profit organization. In 1900, the City of Summit established a municipal library (the Summit Free Public Library), and took over day-to-day operation of the library; in 1910, the city constructed a new library building and abandoned the old building at 10 New England Avenue. It was standing empty when their founders began using it as a theatre in 1918. For the next 50 years, the Summit Playhouse Association rented it, for one dollar a year, from the Summit Library Association. During that time they maintained and improved the building, and in 1960, they added a 120-seat auditorium and converted the original 1891 building into a stage. In 1968, the Summit Library Association, now essentially defunct, officially deeded the building -- its last remaining asset -- to the company.
