Gateway Playhouse presents "Harvey"

Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 10/26/2026

(SOMERS POINT, NJ) -- Gateway Playhouse presents Harvey by Mary Coyle Chase from November 6-8, 2026. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play was one of the longest-running comedies in Broadway history, charmingly presenting amiable Elwood P. Dowd's friendship with a tall white rabbit which only he can see.

When Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey – a very tall rabbit – to guests at a society party, his sister Veta, can no longer tolerate his eccentricities. She decides to have Elwood committed to Chumley’s Rest, a sanitarium, to spare her family from future embarrassment.

Problems arise, however, when Veta herself is mistakenly assumed to be on the verge of lunacy when she explains to doctors that years of living with Elwood’s hallucination have caused her to see Harvey as well! Veta is committed instead of Elwood, but when the truth comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion.

When he shows up looking for his lost friend, it seems that the mild-mannered Elwood’s delusion has had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors. Only then does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn’t so bad after all.

Performances take place Friday, November 6 at 7:00pm; Saturday, November 7 at 7:00pm; and Sunday, November 8 at 2:00pm. Tickets are $15 and available for purchase online. Gateway Playhouse is located at 738 Bay Avenue in Somers Point, New Jersey.

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The cast includes Ian Brady (Elwood P. Dowd), Alissa Dirato (Veta Louise Simmons), Gary Poetsch (Dr. William R. Chumley, M.D.), Ephraim Smith (Dr. Lyman Sanderson, M.D.), Jamia Boston (Ruth Kelly, R.N.), Andrew Czekalski (Judge Omar Gaffney), Joe Chialastri (Duane Wilson), Hillary Poetsch (Myrtle Mae Simmons), Andrew Zakheim (Betty Chumley), Ryan Daly (E.J. Lofgren), and Victoria Biron (Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet).

Harvey premiered on Broadway at the 48th Street Theatre, New York City, on November 1, 1944. It was produced by Brock Pemberton and directed by Antoinette Perry, with settings by John Root. The production ran for 1,775 performances. The role of Elwood Dowd was at points played by Joe. E Brown, Jimmy Stewart and Bert Wheeler.

Plays by playwright Mary Chase include Bernadine, Cocktails with Mimi, Mickey, Midgie Purvis, Mrs. Mcthing, The Dog Sitters, The Prize Play, and The Terrible Tattoo Parlor.

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Free Play Reading – To Kill a Mockingbird (Select Scenes)

Monday, October 26, 2026
@ 5:00pm
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) - Main Stage
Rahway, NJ

Senior citizens (55+) are invited to join area teachers and their students for a free play reading of select scenes from “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Christopher Sergel’s adaption of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel.