(HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ) -- Everyone knows how hard it is to get to Broadway. It turns out it is not too easy to get to Haddon Township, New Jersey, either. Just ask the South Jersey creators of a new musical, The Bisley Boy: Joshua Bessinger, Krysten Cummings and Collin Maier. The show will have its world premiere at the Ritz Theatre Company in Haddon Township on Friday, September 16th and will run through Sunday, October 2nd.
“Nothing pleases me more than to open our brand-new 2022-2023 season with an original work,” says Ritz Producing Artistic Director Bruce A. Curless. We may indeed be the only South Jersey theater to include original works in our mainstage season. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down at Amy’s, a restaurant here in South Jersey, and listening to the plans that longtime friends and Ritz alums Josh Bessinger and Krysten Cummings had for a brand-new musical. To hear the passion and degree of commitment in their voices, I knew we were in for something very special. Add Collin Maier to the mix and the passion only continued to grow. The three bring The Bisley Boy to the stage with the same degree of passion and artistry I heard in those early years of development.”
“It took us three years to really lock this down” says Maier, who is the show’s composer and arranger, “and as with any theatrical production, the three of us are still making a change here or an addition there.”
The Bisley Boy tells the story of sometimes theater manager Bram Stoker, best known for authoring Dracula. In another of his books, the non-fiction Famous Imposters, he wrote about the tale of Queen Elizabeth I (The Virgin Queen) dying suddenly as a young girl and being secretly replaced by a boy her age because of royal politics.
Stoker visited the English village of Bisley where an annual celebration featured dressing a young boy in Elizabethan garb as the “May Queen.” There, he discovered the legend of Princess Elizabeth coming to the village for a summer excursion, supposedly dying and being replaced by a young boy.
Since Elizabeth never married and was always seen in high-collared clothing and stark white makeup, the story, despite a lack of definitive proof, is still a popular one. Indeed, Elizabeth herself once said, “I have the heart of a man, not a woman, and I am not afraid of anything.” She also refused medical care in her life and was never autopsied or examined in death.
Bessinger, who co-wrote the Bisley Boy music, and collaborated with Cummings on the book, plays Bram Stoker in the musical. He said the story begged to be made into a musical. “Today our society is struggling with topics of sexual and gender identity. In Elizabeth’s time, those topics were completely buried. The three of us saw an opportunity to use Stoker’s life and his story to reflect today’s concerns.”
Cummings, who collaborated on the book and is directing the show, says “part of the reason it took three years was we wanted to look at contemporary topics yet still honor and represent American musical theatre and create a great musical show.” During the creative process, the show’s gestation was also slowed by Cummings’ theater obligations in London where she has lived for 20 years.
She says “the pandemic actually helped, as I came home to Pennsauken to wait out the virus and we were, all three, if not together, a local phone or zoom call away.
The three have been hands-on in every aspect of the show’s production. Bessinger says “perhaps because we have spent so long working on this, nothing seemed to be unworthy of our attention. Since we have all been involved in many aspects of theatre, we designed the sets, cast the show, and made sure every aspect of sound, lighting, and presentation was perfect.”
“Working with well-known directors and producers taught me that they worry about every aspect of a show,” said Cummings. “We did the same thing. Hopefully, our audiences will be entertained and our success in Haddon Township at The Ritz will allow us to go further with The Bisley Boy.”
The Bisley Boy company includes Joshua Bessinger (Bram Stoker), Spencer Petro (Bisley), Michael Doheny (Sir Henry Irving), Jennie Santiago (Alice Comyns-Carr & Queen Elizabeth I), Hadar (Florence Stoker), Sharon A. Martin (Kat Ashley), Rachel Redden (Oscar Wilde), Emily Goldstein (Dame Ellen Terry), Larisa Bunch (Dame Genevieve Ward), Sydney Sheehan (Mary, Queen of Scots), Roxanne Paul (Charlotte Stoker), Ollie Gregorio and Tommy Heneghan (Young Bisley), Kyleigh Filippone and Lucy Hofstetter (Princess Elizabeth), Alexander Brown(Ensemble), Audra Casebier (Ensemble), Adia Gilmore (Ensemble) Kage Harris (Ensemble), Chimere Lynn (Ensemble), Joseph Rippert (Ensemble).
The Bisley Boy is produced by The Ritz Theatre Company and Chuck Hamilton. The creative team includes Krysten Cummings (Director), Collin Maier (Musical Director) Courtney Daniels (Choreographer), Derek Cortes (Lighting Design) Amanda Frederick (Stage Manager) and Kimberly DiStefano (Assistant Director).
Tickets are available via The Ritz Theatre Box Office, 915 White Horse Pike, Haddon Township, NJ, by calling (856) 288-3500, or online at www.RitzTheatreCo.org.
