(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Theater Q Asbury, New Jersey's new LGBTQ+ focused theater company, will make its debut this October with Zanna Don't – The Reboot! running from October 10-13, 2024 at the House of Independents in Asbury Park. This fresh take on the 2003 Off-Broadway musical is directed by its original creator, Freehold native Tim Acito, and promises to bring audiences a joyous, funny, thought-provoking celebration which manages to be timely and vintage at the same time.
Zanna Don’t – The Reboot! turns the conventional American high school narrative upside down, imagining a world where being LGBTQ+ is the norm. At Heartsville High, patriotism comes in rainbow colors, and love stories are celebrated in every form. However, when two students discover they don’t conform to societal expectations, it throws their community into chaos. Enter Zanna—a magical, gender-nonconforming superhero-in-training—tasked with balancing patriotism, inclusivity, and love in a small Midwestern town.
For Artistic Director John Pantozzi, Zanna Don’t – The Reboot! is more than just an entertaining romp through gay America—the production itself is a statement of resistance against a climate that seeks to silence LGBTQ+ voices. “I believe it is more crucial than ever to celebrate and amplify the rich tapestry of LGBTQ+ experiences,” Pantozzi said. “Theater has always been a powerful tool for change and acceptance, we want to use this new stage to tell our stories authentically.” Quoting Janet Mock, the influential trans writer and producer of Pose, he added: “If we don’t tell our own stories, others will tell them for us, and they will get them wrong.”
Seated at the piano: TIM ACITO (Director, Book, Music, Lyrics); Left to right: SUSAN MURPHY (Assistant Director), JULIA NORTON (Production Stage Manager), JOHN PANTOZZI (Artistic Director), LYDIA MARIE SCHMIDT (Candi), ARIELLE FAYE TELEMACO-BEANE (Kate), HARRISON SAKAI (Tank), ERIC MAY LIU (Arvin), ELSA KEEFE (Roberta), JEREMY ALDEN (Steve), JALEN FORD (Mike). Photo by David Kenas
Tickets are available at www.theaterq.org or in person at Rebel Supply on Cookman Avenue Asbury Park. House of Independents is located at 572 Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Theater Q Asbury’s inaugural season reflects this mission of visibility, inclusion, and empowerment. Following Zanna Don’t – The Reboot! In March is ...what the end will be by Mansa Ra, an emotionally resonant intergenerational comedy that delves into the lives of three generations of Black gay men living under one roof. In April, David Saffert and Jillian Snow bring their acclaimed Liberace and Liza Minnelli tribute, After-Hourz, to the stage, offering a “truly terrific” night of show-stopping glamour, timeless entertainment and candelabras. The season concludes in June with TL; DR: Thelma Louise: Dyke Remix, a fun, fast-paced comic musical about queer iconography where strong female characters don’t “always gotta die.”, written by EllaRose Chary and Brandon James Gwinn.
But Theater Q Asbury’s ambitions don’t stop at its stage productions. The company is working on funding for an oral history project that will document the stories of Asbury Park’s LGBTQ+ residents—those who have played an integral role in the city’s cultural rebirth. With plans to engage playwrights to transform these interviews into new theatrical works, Theater Q aims to preserve and honor the city’s queer legacy. “LGBTQ+ history is Asbury Park’s history,” Pantozzi emphasized. “It was thrilling to hear Bruce Springsteen express those same sentiments from the Sea, Hear, Now stage during his historic concert on the beach. We want to showcase the struggles, the joys, the spirit, of those who helped transform this city into the vibrant, inclusive community it is today.” Through its programming, Theater Q hopes to become a hub for queer storytelling, shining a light on voices that are often overlooked or marginalized.
An Asbury resident, Pantozzi’s passion for LGBTQ+ advocacy is rooted in both his personal and professional experiences. He has a long history of championing inclusivity in the arts. As the former artistic director of Jersey City’s Actors’ Factory, in 1976 he produced a gay centric Aladdin’s Lamp adaptation called Wind-Ups that also had an off-Broadway production in 1997 retitled Dreamstuff. A member of Actors’ Equity, he has stage-managed and directed numerous regional and Off-Broadway productions. His advocacy work extends beyond the stage—he collaborated with the Gill Foundation to push for the adoption of domestic partner benefits at major companies before same-sex marriage was legalized and helped lead Automatic Data Processing (ADP) to its first 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. His efforts also resulted in ADP adding transgender health coverage to its benefits plan.
Left to right: JOHN PANTOZZI (Artistic Director) TIM ACITO (Director, Book, Music, Lyrics). Photo by David Kenas
For Pantozzi, Theater Q Asbury is the culmination of years of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and representation. “This theater is the realization of my two passions—queer rights and the performing arts,” he shared. “We want to create a space where our stories are not just told but celebrated, where we can not only come together as a community, but also share our stories with the larger community at large”
As the city’s arts scene continues to grow, Theater Q Asbury hopes it can add another jewel to the city’s cultural crown.
Clockwise from bottom left ft to right: ERIC MAY LIU (Arvin), HARRISON SAKAI (Tank), JALEN FORD (Mike), JEREMY ALDEN (Steve), ARIELLE FAYE TELEMACO-BEANE (Kate), ELSA KEEFE (Roberta), LYDIA MARIE SCHMIDT (Candi). Photo by David Kenas
