(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage has announced their 2023-24 season. The company will present three Mainstage productions, three Flip Side Improv Shows, a series of Meet The Artist: New Play Readings in May, and a month of the Summer Solos Reading Series in July. The season kicks off in October with a production of Grief at High Tide by Richard Willett.
All performances are at the Oakes Center (120 Morris Avenue) in Summit, New Jersey unless otherwise noted.
October 5-15, 2023 - Grief at High Tide by Richard Willett. When struggling New York photographer Jennifer Evers tells her husband Christopher that the photo she took of him by his mother’s deathbed—the one he never gave her permission to take and asked her not to show anyone—was secretly entered in a very prestigious competition, it doesn’t go well. To try to investigate the role that art plays in real-life relationships, Jennifer goes out on assignment to California, to create a piece on a Pulitzer Prize−winning photograph, Grief at High Tide, which changed the lives of everyone involved.
February 22- March 3, 2024 - Gone Missing. Book by Steve Cosson, Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman. A wry and whimsical documentary musical of loss devised from interviews with real-life New Yorkers by The Civilians, the acclaimed New York-based company. This collection of very personal accounts of things “gone missing” —everything from keys, personal identification and a Gucci pump to family heirlooms, your dog and your mind—creates a unique tapestry of the ways in which we deal with loss in our lives. A flexible company of six performs more than thirty characters, intertwining these stories of lost objects with tales from some unusual “finders,” ranging from a retired NYPD cop to a pet psychic. Set against eclectic and tuneful songs by Michael Friedman, Gone Missing is about the little things in life —seen largely.
April 18-28, 2024 - Kodachrome by Adam Szymkowicz. Welcome to Colchester, a small town where everybody knows each other and the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs. Our tour guide is Suzanne, the town photographer, who lets us peek into her neighbors’ lives to catch glimpses of romance in all its stages of development. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye.
Performances of The Flip Side Improv Group will take place on Saturday, November 4 at 8:00pm (The Afterlife); Saturday, December 2, 2023 (Holiday Special); and Saturday, March 9, 2024 (Ancient History).
Meet the Artist: New Play Readings are scheduled for Wednesday evenings in May (May 8, 15, 22, 29). This is a forum that showcases new theatrical works. The series provides audiences an opportunity to experience new shows and participate in discussions with playwrights, directors and actors. The goal of the series is to expose the adult public to the evolution of a theatrical presentation and to give the playwright valuable feedback to be used in the development of the play.
Vivid Summer Solos is a reading series that takes place Wednesday evenings in July (July 5, 12, 19, 26) on the lawn of the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey.
Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Our work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. We expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. We deepen the experience of all our patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.
The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.
Vivid Stage’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Summit Foundation and many other corporations, foundations and individuals. Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Vivid Stage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
