(ORADELL, NJ) -- Bergen County Players (BCP), one of America's longest-running little theater companies, has announced its 2025-26 season - an ambitious, joyous, and playful year of audience-pleasing musicals and innovative plays for its 93rd season. Mainstage productions include Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; The Game's Afoot; Spin; The Rumpelstiltskin Musical; Seascape; Play On!; The Cake; and The 39 Steps. Second Stage Productions include It's A Wonderful Life and Kodachrome.
From delightful musicals to hilarious comedies to thought-provoking dramas, BCP has garnered a reputation for outstanding quality productions at affordable prices. BCP is excited to kick off its 93rd season in September with the area premiere of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical phenomenon Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Early Access tickets for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and the rest of the 2025/26 season will be available starting early July. A minimum $75 tax-deductible donation will activate Early Access status and can be transacted online or by phone at 201-261-4200 after July 1. Regular ticket sales for the general public will open later that month. (Dates subject to change. Please visit www.bcplayers.org for updates). Special discounts for groups of 20 or more are also available by calling the box office number (extension 6) or by emailing [email protected]. The box office is located at the Little Firehouse Theatre, 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, New Jersey.
MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS
September 13 - October 11, 2025 | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Music and Lyrics by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil; Book by Douglas McGrath; Directed by Alyson Cohn. Based on the life of Carole King, one of the most successful songwriters in history with more than 75 million records sold, this nostalgic and captivating musical, nominated for seven Tony Awards (including Best Musical), ran on Broadway for nearly seven years (and over 2,400 performances) to international acclaim. Featuring some of King's classic songs ("So Far Away", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "You've Got a Friend") along with hits she created made famous by others ("Up on the Roof", "One Fine Day", "Take Good Care of My Baby"), the story depicts King's journey from young songwriter to a solo artist, highlighting her creative evolution and the challenges she faced.
"It's about the music...that reaches us on a level we cannot verbalize. It's a heart and gut thing where we are at the center of our own selves. And at the center of all that music is Ms. King." (NY THEATRE GUIDE)
October 25 - November 15, 2025 | The Game's Afoot by Ken Ludwig; Directed by Glenn Woertz. It is December 1936, and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is murdered, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous.
Ken Ludwig, creator of Lend Me a Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo, "provides everything you love about live theatre: extravagant characters with underlying motives, a mystery thriller with many characters who could "have done it", superb comic timing, an eerie atmosphere conveyed through creative lighting and sound, authentic costumes, dramatic irony, and a clearly articulated Sherlock Holmes style." (BROADWAY WORLD)
December 6 - December 21, 2025 | Spin: The Rumpelstiltskin Musical by Neil Fishman and Harvey Edelman; Directed by Bunny Mateosian. The story takes place in a Nice Little Kingdom and ignites when a foolish miller brags that his daughter, Jane, can spin straw into gold. Since she cannot perform such a miracle, Jane desperately enlists the powers of a magical being...Rumpelstiltskin... in exchange for a promise with dire consequences. A fun, fractured fairy tale for the entire family.
January 10 - January 18, 2026 | Seascape by Edward Albee; Directed by Dottie Fischer. On a deserted stretch of beach, a middle-aged couple relaxes after a picnic lunch and converse idly about home, family, and their life together. They are suddenly joined by two sea creatures, a pair of lizards from the depths of the ocean, with whom they engage in a fascinating dialogue. The emotional and intellectual reverberations of this bizarre conversation will linger in the heart and the mind long after the curtain falls. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Award nominations, this 'Limited Mainstage Production' will run for just five performances.
February 7 - February 28, 2026 | Play On! by Rick Abbott; directed by Lynne Lupfer. The hilarious story of a community theatre group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance, in which anything that can go wrong, does.
Clocking in at a brisk two hours, "Rick Abbott's brilliant dialogue allows the audience to laugh right along with the actors as things continue to fall apart." (BROADWAY WORLD)
March 14 - April 11, 2026 | The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter; Directed by Carol Fisher. In this touching and topical dramatic comedy, a vivacious, conservative North Carolina baker Della faces a crisis of conscience when Jen - whom she loves like a daughter - asks her to bake a cake for Jen's lesbian wedding.
"The hot-button topic, inspired by a real-life case that went to the Supreme Court, sounds like a recipe for theatrical controversy. Especially when it presents a largely sympathetic portrait of its central character. So, the biggest surprise about The Cake is how sweetly inoffensive it is." (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)
May 2 - May 31, 2026 | The 39 Steps; Adapted by Patrick Barlow from the movie by Alfred Hitchcock and the novel by John Buchan; Directed by Steve Bell. London, 1935. The rather dull Richard Hannay encounters a woman who claims to be a spy. When she is suddenly murdered, Richard finds himself the focus of a nationwide manhunt led by a mysterious organization called 'The 39 Steps'. This film noir gem is a hilarious comedy full of dazzling, inventive stagecraft and virtuoso performances that will have you rolling in the aisles until the death-defying, climatic finale.
Combine a film masterpiece by Alfred Hitchcock with a juicy spy novel and add a large splash of Monty Python humor. The result? A fast-paced whodunit with four versatile actors portraying more than 150 roles!
SECOND STAGE PRODUCTIONS
December 13 - December 14, 2026 | It's A Wonderful Life - From the Lux Radio Theatre; Adapted and Directed by Thomas Carey Gsell. Don't miss this unique "mash-up" compilation of the movie written by Philip Van Doren Stern and the radio play by Lux Radio Theatre. No matter what the source, you'll swoon over this staged holiday favorite with its story of love and redemption.
June 6 - June 7, 2026 | Kodachrome by Adam Szymkowicz; Directed by John Giresi. This delightful one-act comedy is very much in the vein of Our Town as it tracks multiple characters throughout the small town of Colchester. "The characters' struggles, hopes, and fears will likely feel familiar, because they're your struggles, hopes, and fears as well. It's tender and poignant and awkward and funny all at the same time - you know, just like life." (BROADWAY WORLD)
TICKET AND SCHEDULE INFORMATION
* All performances will take place at The Little Firehouse Theatre at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, home to the Bergen County Players since 1949. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm. Other curtain times apply to the family show SPIN: The Rumpelstiltskin Musical which are Fridays 7:30pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00pm & 3:30pm. December Second Stage performances are Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 pm with the June Second Stage performances at Saturday 2:00pm & 8:00pm and Sunday at 2:00pm.
* Tickets prices for the 2025/26 Season are Musicals $35, Plays Fri/Sat $30, Plays Sun $28, Family Show $19 for all performances, Second Stage $20 all performances and can be purchased online at www.bcplayers.org, by calling 201-261-4200 or by visiting the box office at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell during regular box office hours. Visa, Master Card, and American Express are accepted.
* BCP's popular Questions & Artists talkback session will be held on the first Friday performance of the show’s run.
* Those interested in Group Sales of 20 or more tickets can email [email protected] or call the main number and press #6.
* Row K, Seats #1 and #2 are held to accommodate people with disabilities. They can be purchased by calling the box office at 201-261-4200. These seats will be released for public sale two weeks prior to performance.
* Advance discount tickets for students aged 25 and under with proper ID are available for $19 by phone or walk-up only, and student rush seats can be purchased for $10 (cash only) starting 30 minutes before curtain at every performance, pending seat availability. There is a limit of one rush ticket per student. Student Rush does not apply to the Family Show.
* Parking is free for their patrons at the Park Avenue municipal lot, across the street, one-half block north of the theater, as well as street parking on Kinderkamack Road and various side streets, including municipal lots behind Town Hall and the Library on Church Street. All locations are within easy walking distance.
Bergen County Players, Inc. is a non-Equity, non-profit community theater company dedicated to presenting quality productions for the enrichment of the community.
