(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- George Street Playhouse will return to in-person performances this fall with a newly announced full season line-up. The season will include four plays, plus the East Coast premiere of the musical A Walk on the Moon, to be presented on the stage of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.
“After well more than a year, it is finally time to welcome our subscribers and ticket buyers back to the theater,” Artistic Director David Saint said. “We need to gather together again and replenish our collective spirit.”
Following a successful streaming season this past year, George Street Playhouse’s 5-play 2021/22 season will begin in October and run through May.
For the first production of George Street Playhouse’s long-anticipated re-opening, award-winning playwright and master of comedy Ken Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, The Fox on the Fairway) brings New Jersey a new romantic comedy, Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise — a love story set during World War II about a young soldier courting his sweetheart, a young actress on Broadway.
What starts with long distance letter writing ends in a “sweep you off your feet” meeting in Times Square. This funny, touching, patriotic and uplifting story, based on the playwright’s parents, is just the perfect “Welcome Home to George Street Playhouse.” Come fall in love with live theatre all over again.
Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise will begin performances October 26 and continue through November 21.
Following this year’s critically acclaimed virtual production of It’s Only A Play by Terrence McNally, George Street Playhouse will bring this hilarious comedy onto the stage to be seen in-person!
A Tony Award-winner and longtime friend of George Street, McNally left us this past year, and the Playhouse looks forward to celebrating his life with his hysterical comedy set at a Broadway Opening Night Party.
The New York Times called this valentine to the theatre “a hilarious gold-mining hit”
George Street’s production features a cast of award-winning Broadway farceurs who have to be seen in-person to be believed. The return to George Street Playhouse’s larger stage in the Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater will be a laugh-filled night to forget your troubles with guffaws!
It’s Only a Play, directed by Kevin Cahoon (George Street’s The Nerd), will begin performances on November 30th and continue through December 19th.
Next, George Street Playhouse Artistic Associate Laiona Michelle (Little Girl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical; American Hero) helms Her Portmanteau, a fascinating new play about Nigerian American immigrants that opens our eyes to the Nigerian culture, especially as it becomes assimilated in America.
Reminiscent of an Arthur Miller family drama, Ms. Udofia’s moving work, which The New York Times called “extraordinary,” touches on universal themes of mother-daughter relationships; forgiveness; reconciliation; and the struggle associated with leaving our countries of origin behind, while still holding on to the rich cultural heritage.
George Street is proud to be producing Ms. Udofia’s work directed by Ms. Michelle.
Her Portmanteau will be onstage January 18 - February 13, 2022.
Next, George Street Playhouse is honored to welcome the extremely talented, award-winning Director/ Choreographer Julio Monge, who will helm the American English-language premiere of a play by iconic Puerto Rican Academy Award-nominee Jacobo Morales.
Mfoniso Udofia's plays, Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau, and In Old Age have been seen at the American Conservatory Theater [A.C.T.], New York Theatre Workshop [NYTW], The Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. She’s the recipient of the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights’ Center and is a member of the New Dramatists class of 2023. Mfoniso is currently commissioned by A.C.T., Hartford Stage, Denver Center, A.C.T., Roundhouse, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, A.C.T., NYTW, The Playwrights Realm, McCarter Theatre, OSF, New Dramatists, PCS’s JAW Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, The OCC, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Page 73, New Black Fest, Rising Circle and more.
She has worked as a television writer on the third season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and the first seasons of both Apple TV's Little America and Pachinko. She's also working on Amazon's A League of Their Own.
Baipás (a byway detour from the main road) presents a magical world in which two very diverse, strong individuals are thrown together into a strange place. Using the legendary sensuous Bolero, they come to choose life and love. As this man and woman dance through the byways of love between clarity and confusion, with a healthy dose of sarcastic humor, they arrive in an unexpected place. A romantic pas de deux!
Baipás will begin performances on March 4 and continue through March 27, 2022.
After more than a year of anticipation, George Street Playhouse is thrilled to announce that A Walk on the Moon will close out the company's season!
The George Street Playhouse is excited to present the east coast premiere of A Walk on the Moon, a musical based on the film of the same name. Welcome to the iconic summer of 1969 when man walked on the moon, women fought for equal rights, the War in Vietnam raged on, and Woodstock showed America what the new generation stood for. At a Jewish bungalow colony in the Catskills, a young wife and mother, Pearl Kantrowitz, has an affair with the handsome Blouseman. While the affair jeopardizes her marriage and creates pain and turmoil, Pearl is forced to undertake a journey of self-discovery.
A Walk on the Moon is co-produced with Ruth and Stephen Hendel in association with Roy Gabay.
A Walk on the Moon features a Book & Additional Lyrics by Pamela Gray, Music & Lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman, Direction by Tony-Nominee Sheryl Kaller (Mothers and Sons on Broadway), Choreography by Tony-Nominee Josh Prince, Musical Supervision by Tony-Nominee Greg Anthony Rassen. Based on the Miramax and Village Roadshow Pictures/Punch Productions and Jay Cohen motion picture written by Pamela Gray.
A Walk on the Moon will begin performances on April 27 and continue through May 22, 2022.
Policy Regarding Vaccination Requirements for George Street Playhouse Audiences: Proof of full Covid-19 vaccination with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine will be required for entry.
Guests who are unvaccinated will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance start time, or a negative COVID-19 antigen test taken within 6 hours of the performance start time in order to enter the theater.
Masks will be required of all audience members, regardless of vaccination status.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint since 1997, and Kelly Ryman -- Managing Director since 2013, George Street Playhouse produces groundbreaking new works, inspiring productions of the classics, and hit Broadway plays and musicals that speak to the heart and mind, with an unwavering commitment to producing new work. As New Brunswick’s first producing theatre, George Street Playhouse became the cornerstone of the revitalization of the City’s arts and cultural landscape. With its 45-year history of producing nationally renowned theatre, the Playhouse continues to fill a unique theatre and arts education role in the city, state and greater metropolitan region.
Beginning with the 2019-20 Season, George Street Playhouse moved to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in downtown New Brunswick. Featuring two state-of-the-art theatres -- The Arthur Laurents Theater with 253 seats and The Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater which seats 465-- and myriad amenities, the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center marks a new era in the esteemed history of George Street Playhouse.
Founded by Eric Krebs, George Street Playhouse, originally located in an abandoned supermarket on the corner of George and Albany Streets, was the first professional theatre in New Brunswick. In 1984, the Playhouse moved to a renovated YMCA on Livingston Avenue, and in 2017 took temporary residence in the former Agricultural Museum at Rutgers University during construction of its new home.
The Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway. In 2018, George Street Playhouse was represented on Broadway with Gettin’ the Band Back Together which premiered on the Playhouse mainstage in 2013. American Son, produced by George Street Playhouse in 2017, opened on Broadway in 2018 starring Kerry Washington and Stephen Pasqual, and will appear on Netflix. Other productions include the Outer Critics’ Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger. In 2015, It Shoulda Been You opened on Broadway and Joe DiPietro’s Clever Little Lies opened off-Broadway. Both shows received their premieres at the Playhouse. Others include the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Drama League nominated production of The Spitfire Grill; and the Broadway hit and Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play Proof by David Auburn, which was developed at the Playhouse during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays.
In addition to the mainstage season, the Playhouse’s education department provides extensive programming for children, youth and adults. Partnering with administrators and educators throughout New Jersey, the Playhouse provides unique education experiences that both reinforce classroom curriculum and investigate issues such as bullying, diversity, immigration, health and wellness, and the rising epidemic of opioid addiction.
George Street Playhouse programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.
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