(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Ruth Stage continues its residency at the Jersey Shore Arts Center with Night of January 16th, presented from April 2-4, 2026. This follows the company's acclaimed productions of Edward Albee's The Zoo Story and At Home at the Zoo. In Ayn Rand's gripping courtroom drama, Karen Andre stands accused of murdering her powerful and enigmatic lover, Bjorn Faulkner.
As District Attorney Flint and Defense Attorney Stevens wage a calculated battle over ambition, loyalty and moral responsibility, witnesses take the stand to paint radically different portraits of the woman on trial. Is Karen a devoted secretary caught in the wreckage of a titan’s fall or a calculating opportunist who refused to be discarded? The truth fractures with every testimony - turning the courtroom into a psychological chess match where perception is everything.
In Ruth Stage’s immersive staging, twelve audience members are selected each night to serve as the jury, deliberating live onstage to determine the verdict. With two possible endings, no two performances unfold the same way.
Making her Ruth Stage debut, Rivera Reese stars as Karen Andre. Her television credits include recurring roles on Long Bright River starring Amanda Seyfried and on Law & Order: Organized Crime, opposite Christopher Meloni.
Performances take place Thursday, April 2 at 7:00pm; Friday, April 3 at 8:00pm; and Saturday, April 4 at 8:00pm. General admission tickets start at $39 (on stage jury seating is available for $59) and are available for purchase online. All shows will be performed at the Jersey Shore Arts Center (66 South Main Street) in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
The production is directed by nationally recognized director and choreographer, Elizabeth Troxler, whose regional credits include West Side Story, Newsies and numerous original narrative ballets. A former professional ballerina and Certified Teacher of the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance (London), she brings decades of artistic leadership and rigorous storytelling to the production.
Biographies
Rivera Reese (Karen Andre) Rivera Reese is a SAG-AFTRA actor and stunt performer and is thrilled to be making her Ruth Stage debut. Stage credits include the domestic and international tours of Marvel Universe Live! (Nebula), Alma Baya at A.R.T., and Netflix’s Money Heist: The Experience. Television credits include recurring roles on Long Bright River and Law & Order: Organized Crime, as well as work on FBI: Most Wanted and The Equalizer. She trained at the William Esper Studio and continues her studies with Theo Devaney.
Elizabeth Troxler (Director) is a director, choreographer, and creative producer whose work spans concert dance, musical theatre, and film. She has directed and choreographed productions of West Side Story, Newsies, Legally Blonde, Matilda, Bright Star, Fiddler on the Roof, and Chess at regional theatres nationwide, and has conceived and produced numerous full-length narrative ballets, including Peter Pan, The Snow Queen, Rumpelstiltskin, and Hansel & Gretel. Her New York City credits include productions of On the Town, On This Wondrous Sea (The Emily Dickinson Story), and the original works Daughter of Society and Let There Be Light, both winners at NYTF’s Summerfest.
Elizabeth is the founder and Artistic Director of Allongé Films, whose dance films have received international recognition at the Tokyo Movie Awards and the Prague Music Video Awards. She currently serves as Artistic Director of Chronicle Dance Theatre, dedicated to telling powerful stories through dance and live music.
A former professional ballerina and musical theatre performer, Elizabeth has appeared nationally and internationally with companies including the Nacional Ballet de Panama, at regional houses such as Riverside Theatre and Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and on the national tour of Sweet Charity. A Certified Teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance, she brings over thirty years of teaching and mentorship experience to her work, having taught at numerous universities and with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Her work is rooted in powerful storytelling and a lifelong commitment to artistic excellence.
Christian Specht (Lighting Designer) Originally from Leesburg, GA. Lighting design credits (selected): Off-Broadway credits: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Theatre St. Clements), Lone Star (Theatre Row)/Ruth Stage; Regional: The Zoo Story/At Home at the Zoo (JSAC) Ruth Stage; Do Re Mi, Smile, Zorba the Greek (AMD Theatre) J2 Spotlight Musical Theatre Company; 9 to 5, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Ragtime, The Music Man, Crazy for You, Hello Dolly, Brightstar, Cabaret (SSTI); 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Spongebob the Musical, Spamalot (Peach State Summer Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Penn State University) Peter and the Starcatcher, 1776, (Samford University); Glen Campbell, The Manhattan Transfer, Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual, Ann Hampton Callaway (Angelina Arts Alliance); Ain’t Too Proud/intern (Kennedy Center) Freaky Friday/ALD, Around the World in 80 Days/ALD (Alley Theatre); Titanic the Musical/ALD (Signature Theatre)
Ayn Rand (Author) was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher renowned for developing Objectivism, a philosophy championing rational individualism, ethical egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism. Born Alisa Rosenbaum in St. Petersburg, she witnessed the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which fueled her lifelong opposition to collectivism. After studying philosophy and history at the University of Petrograd, she emigrated to the United States in 1926, settling in Hollywood to pursue screenwriting.
Rand achieved fame with her novels, most notably The Fountainhead (1943) and her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged (1957). Her fiction, featuring heroic, self-made protagonists, served as a vehicle for her philosophy that "man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress". She argued that individuals should live for their own sake, pursuing their own happiness as their highest moral purpose. Despite critical backlash from intellectuals, her work gained immense popularity, particularly among libertarians and conservatives. She spent her later years lecturing and writing non-fiction to further define Objectivism before her death in New York City in 1982.
Ruth Stage (Producer) Founded in 2018 by Bob Lamb, Ruth Stage is a bold nonprofit professional theater company dedicated to reimagining classic works through a modern psychological lens. Under the visionary leadership of chairman and creative director Matt de Rogatis, the company specializes in emotionally raw, high-impact productions that excavate the mental health, trauma, identity and human behavior embedded within iconic literary texts. Ruth Stage is best known for its groundbreaking Off-Broadway premiere of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which drew national attention for its visceral reinvention of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece. The company continues to redefine the theatrical canon by fusing rigorous dramatic craft with contemporary themes of loneliness, addiction, repression, and the search for meaning, making old stories newly dangerous, urgent, and relevant. Beyond the stage, Ruth Stage champions social impact through partnerships with veteran and cancer support organizations, leveraging the power of theatrical storytelling to build community, foster empathy, and inspire healing. Ruth Stage’s productions are designed not just to entertain, but to provoke, confront and start conversations, cementing the company as one of the most fearless and innovative voices in American independent theater.
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