(BURLINGTON, NJ) -- Bridge Players Theatre Company presents Sistas: The Musical by Dorothy Marcic weekends from September 12-27, 2025 at the Broad Street United Methodist Church in Burlington. This is a joyful, soul-stirring celebration of Black women through music, memories, and sisterhood!
Set in a familiar moment of transition, Sistas: The Musical brings together five women as they gather to clear out their family matriarch’s home. What begins as a chore quickly becomes a moving journey through memory, music, and history. As they uncover keepsakes and share stories, they reflect on their own lives, legacy, and the unshakable bonds of family and sisterhood.
With heart, humor, and honesty, they lift their voices in tribute—singing hits from Billie Holiday to Beyoncé, spanning decades of music that helped shape a culture. This uplifting musical reminds us that healing often begins at home—and that joy and resilience live in every generation.
The cast includes Lynette Sheard (Dr. Simone), Carol Jones (Gloria), Abra Watson (Roberta), Paige Bates (Tamika), and Lindsey Bader (Heather).
Performances take place Friday, September 12 at 8:00pm; Saturday, September 13 at 8:00pm; Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm; Friday, September 19 at 8:00pm; Saturday, September 20 at 3:00pm & 8:00pm; Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm; Friday, September 26 at 8:00pm; and Saturday, September 27 at 8:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase online. Broad Street United Methodist Church is located at 36 E Broad Street in Burlington, New Jersey.
Dr. Dorothy Marcic is a playwright, professor, and writer, whose productions have played in 100 cities, including more than nine years of her Off-Broadway musical, SISTAS, which has also aired on BET-TV.
She is on the faculty at Columbia University, and a former professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Economics-Prague, has three masters (including creative writing) and a doctorate, and is the author of 18 books, including the best-selling Understanding Management and RESPECT: Women and Popular Music.
Some years ago, Dorothy left full-time academia for playwriting. She turned her RESPECT book into a musical (also called This One’s for the Girls), tracing women’s development through Top-40 music with content-analysis research of how women are depicted in popular music lyrics: From co-dependent in independent, from “Someone to Watch Over Me” to “I Will Survive” and “Independent Women.”
Bridge Players Theatre Company was founded in 1976 by the late Girard Paolini and the late Joseph LaCerra, two former residents of Palmyra. When the Bi-Centennial celebration was being organized, Mr. Paolini, a Palmyra pharmacist, wrote a musical called “Let’s Wave the Flag Once More." It was performed in Palmyra as part of the planned events, and at the production's conclusion, those who participated enjoyed themselves so much that they decided to form a community theatre organization. Thus, Bridge Players was born. The name was chosen because of the proximity to and the identification with the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. LaCerra and Paolini remained active with the group until their passings.
The company is dedicated to presenting high quality, affordable theatrical productions to the community. They encourage an active and diverse membership by creating opportunities, both on and off stage, for people of all ages and from all backgrounds, inviting all to celebrate their individual talents and their mutual passion for live theatre.
