(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The Company Theatre Group, a beloved regional theater company, is thrilled to announce a special fundraising event: "PROJECT COMEBACK: THE MONTCLAIR TOUR," featuring 4 nights of hilarious one-act plays (April 5-6 and April 12-13, 2025). Paul Whelihan, Producing Artistic Director of Pushcart Players (now in their 50th Season) will star alongside other professional New Jersey theatre actors in this latest work for The Company.
The production marks the first in-person event for The Company since November 2019, celebrating their long-awaited comeback and their commitment to the performing arts in New Jersey. “After a long hiatus, we are excited to return to the stage and offer something truly special to our patrons” said Louis Scarpati, Managing Artistic Director of The Company Theatre Group.
“Having Paul Whelihan, a respected performer and leader in the NJ professional theatre community, join us for this event is both an honor and a testament to the vibrancy of live theater in our state. This performance is not only a celebration of our return, but a way for us to raise support for the future of The Company and its commitment to producing high-quality professional theater.”
Paul Whelihan, photo by Michael Stahl
The Company Theatre Group was founded in the summer of 2007. Drawing inspiration from the acclaimed Group Theatre, The Company believes in creating authentic human behavior on stage – “Life in Fiction”. Their goal is to create an environment and an experience where each audience member can feel like a fly on the wall, watching the lives of real people unfold and sometimes unravel right before their eyes.
Notably, In November 2019, The Company produced “12 Angry Men” at The Hackensack Performing Arts Center, featuring four artistic directors from other professional NJ theatres: Carl Wallnau (Centenary Stage Company), Frank Licato (Hudson Theatre Works), Paul Whelihan (Pushcart Players) and Michael Bias (Garage Theatre); as well as Teddy Coluca, a veteran of their stage and Advisory Board who has appeared as Brimley on NBC’s “The Blacklist”, and Lester on Hulu’s smash hit “Only Murders in the Building.” The show featured some casting twists, with Andrea Prendamano (also performing in “Project Comeback”), Danielle Cornell, and Regan McKenzie, playing roles traditionally performed by male actors.
Performances of “Project Comeback: The Montclair Tour” are at Montclair’s own Tierney’s Tavern (138 Valley Road) on April 5th at 8:00pm and April 6th at 4:00 pm. Tickets are available for purchase online. The final two performances are on April 12th at 8:00pm and April 13th at 4:00pm at The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair (67 Church Street). Tickets for those shows are available for purchase online. Tickets are also available at the door of either venue for $30.
Paul Whelihan performs, directs, and stage-manages off-Broadway (47th Street Theater, 59 East 59 Theatres, NY Fringe Festival, 54 Below, TheaterLab) and regionally (Bickford Theater, Forum Theater, Royal Poincianna, Broward Center, Centenary Stage, Growing Stage, Luna Stage Company, The Company Theater Group, Premiere Stages, Quillo Arts Center). Roles include Muchnik in “Little Shop of Horrors,” Tevye in “Fiddler…,” Pseudolus in “…Forum,” Noah in “Two By Two,” Miss Texas in “Pageant,” and Crouch in “Not Now, Darling.” Whelihan originated the characters of Gruber in “The Flame Keeper,” Branch Rickey in “Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting,” Stanley in “Kiss the Bride,” and the Mayor in Sheldon Harnick’s “Dragons.” He has written and produced 10 plays for young audiences including the ground-breaking “Treasure Island,” in which the entire company spoke, sang, and used American Sign Language to illuminate the story.
“I’m very grateful that The Company is up and running again after the national intermission in live performances,” said Whelihan, “and I’m thrilled to be working with these gifted artists. I’m grateful, too, that I could keep my day job [Pushcart Players] while having enormous fun doing it!”
Pushcart Players is the award-winning touring theater company specializing in arts education for children. Twice nominated for an Emmy©, Pushcart is the recipient of numerous state and private awards for excellence and innovation. A social-profit organization founded in 1974, Pushcart brings substantive musical theater, workshops, and residencies to young people and their families in schools and theaters nationwide. The troupe has traveled more than 7.5 million miles nationally and abroad, from the rural red schoolhouse to the nation’s White House.
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