By John Posada
originally published: 05/10/2026
(NETCONG, NJ) -- The Growing Stage: The Children's Theatre of New Jersey is presenting Nate The Great weekends through May 17, 2026. In this musical, the world's greatest boy detective awakes, hoping that this day will bring a new case. He gets a call from his good friend Annie alerting him that her new painting of her dog Fang is missing! Photographer John Posada was on hand to take photos.
He rushes over to her house to investigate. There he searches for clues and interviews her brother Harry who loves red paint and monsters. He also observes (and possibly tangoes) with Fang. Having struck out at Annie’s house, Nate deduces that the painting must have been taken by Annie’s cat loving friend Rosamond; as she was the only other person with access to Annie’s masterpiece.
Upon arriving at Rosamond’s house, Nate learns that she has a case to solve as well. One of her four cats, Super Hex, is missing! Nate ultimately realizes that Rosamond could not have stolen the painting. For the first time in his career, he is…stumped. And worse yet, Mom is all out of pancakes.
To solve this case he is going to need to find some pancakes, learn to think new ways, and rely on the help of his friends. By the end he has opened up his mind to new possibilities, found Annie’s painting, found Rosamond’s cat, and maybe even solved the mystery of why music in a minor key makes us sad.
Performances take place Saturdays at 4:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm with a special opening night performance on Friday, May 1st at 7:30pm. Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling the Box Office at (973) 347-4946. Group rates are available for all productions. Performances take place in the historic Palace Theatre on Route 183 in Netcong, New Jersey.
Nate The Great is based on the book by Marjorie Sharmat with book & lyrics by John Maclay and music & lyrics by Brett Ryback.
The production is directed by Lori Lawrence, TGS’s Director of Educational Programming with musical direction by Melinda Bass O’Neill and choreography by Cari Sanchez.
Nate The Great features a professional company of artists including Luke Surretsky (TGS debut) as Nate; Jolee Morris (TGS Debut) as Annie; Katelyn Loss (Knuffle Bunny, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) as Rosamond; Andy Danford (Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Arthur & Friends) as Harry/Others and Hailey Lynne Sullivan (Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) as Mom/Others.
Here are more photos from the production.
Nate The Great is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials are supplied by Theatrical Rights Worldwide 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036.
The Growing Stage – The Children’s Theatre of New Jersey is a nonprofit professional performing arts center dedicated to theatre for young audiences. Through its programming, The Growing Stage provides opportunities for all to learn and grow through participation in the arts.
ALL PHOTOS BY JOHN POSADA
About the author: John Posada is a New Jersey based photographer specializing in photographing live theatre and music performances. Currently, John has spent the last 6 years concentrating on photographing almost 400 theater productions at over 70 different NJ theatres. Click here for John's website.
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