(SUMMIT, NJ) -– Six playwrights. Fourteen actors. Three singers. A band.
Welcome to the 2025 presentation of Kaleidoscope Kabaret, The Theater Project’s annual festival of short plays and songs, which will entertain audiences August 1–3 at Oakes Center Theater.
This year’s Kabaret will feature short works by four veteran playwrights and two award winners from The Theater Project’s Young Playwrights Competition. In addition, the program will include musical numbers from solo vocalists and a seven-piece band.
“We affectionately describe Kaleidoscope Kabaret as a vaudeville of new work,” said Mark Spina, The Theater Project’s artistic director, “but fundamentally, it’s a showcase for the extraordinary theatrical talent that flourishes in our community.”
After each evening’s performance, the audience will have the opportunity to meet and speak with the playwrights.
Kaleidoscope Kabaret will run on Friday, August 1st at 7:30pm, and Saturday, August 2 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, August 3 at 2:00pm. Tickets cost $35 for general admission, $28 for seniors ($23 for the Sunday show), and $20 for students. Tickets are available for purchase online. Oakes Center Theater is located at120 Morris Avenue in Summit, New Jersey.
The Plays and the Playwrights of Kaleidoscope Kabaret 2025:
* College by Lucas Luchsinger. Decisions, decisions on college selection – consult an expert or toss a coin? The play was a winner in the 2025 Young Playwrights Competition.
* Sister Resisters by Lynn Marie Macy. Two women meet and form a bond in a ladies’ lounge while escaping an American protest march.
* Pay Day by Rosemary Parillo. Two friends engage in a blowout bust-up following a financial collapse that threatens their economic survival.
* The Darkness Between Dreams by Jonathan Samarro. A retiring gravedigger trains his replacement. Maybe.
* A Eulogy by Joseph Vitale. A minister, who has delivered one too many eulogies, lets it all hang out and lets us know how he really feels.
* Dear Margaret by Karma Beech Wilson. Siblings Jenna and Noah unearth and must deal with a disturbing family secret. The play was a winner in the 2025 Young Playwrights Competition.
The Singers
* Gail Lou is the accompanist/vocal coach at Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory, Rutgers University. She holds a bachelor’s in vocal music from Montclair State College.
* David Tillistrand’s credits encompass off-Broadway, the Texas Shakespeare Festival, and off-off Broadway.
* Sandra Toll has directed more than thirty productions at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy in Elizabeth and recently received the Governor’s Award in Theatre Education as Outstanding Theater Teacher.
The Band
* Maybe Tomorrow, Renee Gomez and Juliet Luchsinger (vocals), Shamar Thomas and Alexis Mencias (guitar), Kamar Thomas (bass), Lucas Luchsinger (drums), and Juliet Luchsinger (violin).
Kaleidoscope Kabaret is made possible in part by the generosity of many sponsors and donors, especially Joseph Kubala and Stephanie Fein and a grant from Union County Local Arts Program.
Founded in 1994 and based in Union, The Theater Project introduces New Jersey audiences to new plays and supports rising playwrights and theater artists. It develops new audiences for theater by service to the community, providing programs for children, and using theater as a forum to address current issues.
