Upper WET Side
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4/13: Right Here in River City
April 13, 2012
Brett Colby IS Professor Harold Hill…and Father Alphonse Stephenson IS everyone’s favorite Pentagon-based Broadway conductor/ Catholic priest/ Jersey Shore legend…when THE MUSIC MAN takes over the stage of the Algonquin in Manasquan beginning April 20.
Hide the passed hors d’oeuvres; squirrel away the plastic tumblers of merlot — we’re back in First Nighting mode, for another freewheeling, freeloading round of adventures in local theatah, up and down this thing we called the Upper Wet Side.
We’ve already clued you in on the current engagement of Maureen McGovern and her show Carry It On at Two River Theater — and in days to come we’ll be posting interviews with ace director Mark Shanahan (who’s got not one but TWO fun projects opening imminently in Long Branch and New Brunswick), as well as original RENTmates Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp (coming on April 21 to the Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University). Beginning right NOW, however, we’re kicking things strictly COMMUNITY, where everybody knows your name, and the star of the show probably has to help strike the set…
Simonelli Sez, all over the place. A longtime Monmouth County resident and a prolific playwright whose more than one dozen comedies and dramas are seen regularly on regional stages, Joe Simonelli has been an especially busy guy in recent months, at The First Avenue Playhouse in Atlantic Highlands (where his best known play Men Are Dogs continues a special monthly engagement) , at The Grange Theater in Howell — and at the Traco Theater in Toms River, the newly established downtown movie revival house where his original script Old Ringers begins a two weekend stand on Friday, April 13. A semi-sequel to Dogs, the “adult bawdy comedy” brings back two of that earlier show’s characters for a stand-alone scenario involving a quartet of senior ladies and an entrepreneurial adventure in the phone sex industry. The show continues through April 22 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3 p.m. Traco Theater, 16 Washington St., Toms River • April 13 at 8pm (through 4/22)
Simonelli returns to the Traco in May with a fresh production of his With This Ring — but before that he’ll be back home on the Grange with a new staging of Roommates, an odd coupling involving a swinging ladies’ man, his divorced friend who comes to crash (and becomes the Thing That Would Not Leave), various meddling neighbors and still more mirthmaking machinery. Roommates opens at 8pm on Friday, April 27 and continues for four more shows on April 28, May 4 and May 5 (plus a 3pm matinee on April 29); tickets ($15) can be reserved by calling (732)768-2709. The Grange Playhouse, 4860 Route 9 South, Howell • April 27 at 8pm/ $15 (through 5/5)
That’s what’s opening tonight; flip the paperless for more going up tomorrow (April 14) and in weeks to come…
3/8: The THRILL of First Nighting!
March 8, 2012
The cast of GOD OF CARNAGE — Laurie Devino, Samantha Ambler, Carl J. Nolan and James Walsh — is helping to make little old First Avenue Playhouse a very interesting place here in March.
Ah, the Theatah…”the thrill of first nighting,” as they say in “Autumn in New York;” only this ain’t autumn, New York, or even opening weekend for much of what we’re about to describe. Still, it IS worth our while to do the occasional Footlight Parade Roundup, especially given that it remains the primary beat of this correspondent (who admittedly doesn’t follow the music thing like he used to). To those who believe we’ve been dwelling upon stage stuff pretty heavily in recent days (see our home page for timely stories on the latest offerings from New Jersey Repertory Company, Two River Theater, and the all new L!VE Asbury Park), you’re absolutely right…but as we “spring ahead” clockwise and leave the Winter That Wasn’t in our periscope, we find much randomness of interest to call your attention to, here on the Upper Wet Side of NJ…
DOGS and CARNAGE on First Avenue. We’ve always been fond of the scrappy little storefront “dessert theatre” known as First Avenue Playhouse, but all those who think of the year-round Atlantic Highlands institution as purely the province of Neil Simon and Nunsense might want to take a closer look as March 2012 transitions quickly from Lion-esque to Lamb-y. On stage NOW and continuing through March 24 is a very recent international comic favorite that’s being seen ’round these parts for the first time — God of Carnage, adapted by Christopher Hampton from the French script by Yasmina Reza (Art).
Reset for American audiences to the gentrified precincts of millennial Brooklyn, the four-character comedy centers around a very civilized discussion between two sets of parents, one of whom have a son that injured the son of the others. To say that the level of discourse doesn’t stay civil for too long would be an understatement of course, and things devolve to a point that makes the playground seem like the Oxford Union by comparison. This is the play that netted a Tony for Marcia Gay Harden (who shared the Broadway stage with Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini), and was filmed last year by Roman Polanski with an Oscar-lauded cast (Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly). Samantha Ambler, one of our fave players on the local community stage scene (and one of the people who’ve brought you the offbeat entertainments of Thirst-E Productions), joins Laurie Devino, Carl J. Nolan and James Walsh for a show that gets served up with dessert TONIGHT, Fridays, Saturdays (plus March 22) at 8:30pm, with a Sunday matinee on March 18.
But that’s not all: Atlantic Highlands-based playwright Joe Simonelli — a prolific creator of original comedies AND dramas who’s premiered many of his works right there on First Avenue — returns to First Ave this Sunday, March 11, for the first in an “every second Sunday” stand of Men Are Dogs, his most popular play and an ensemble piece that’s been published and produced Off Broadway. This exclusive NJ engagement of the comedy (in which a therapist who runs a support group for single and divorced women has issues of her own with Mom and that new delivery guy) has Roberta Davis directing a show that’s been a proven crowdpleaser AND a hit with area actresses. First Avenue Playhouse, 123 First Ave., Atlantic Highlands • all tickets $20 (check website for info on dinner theater packages)
…and there’s more where that came from, theater fans…
2/20: Phoenix Rises to the Occasion
February 19, 2012
Dan Peterson reprises the PRODUCERS showstopper “I Want to Be a Producer,” when Phoenix Productions celebrates its 25th anniversary this Saturday at the Count Basie.
They come from all walks of life — suits and students; public servants and professionals; homemakers and hobbyists. Some have even made a go at show business as a career — but if the hundreds of actors, singers and dancers who have appeared with Phoenix Productions have one great thing in common, it’s that they get to strut their stuff on the same stage that’s hosted the likes of Tony Bennett, George Carlin, Al Pacino, Cary Grant, and a Boss named Bruce.
That stage is of course the Count Basie Theatre, where for eight weekends out of each year the folks at Red Bank’s resident community theater company offer up an array of musical favorites that have ranged from old favorites (Annie, Fiddler, The King and I) to new phenoms (High School Musical, Hairspray, Rent). It’s an affiliation that has spurred the borough-based Phoenix phalanx to artistic and technical heights undreamed of by church-basement troupers — and here in 2012, it’s a self-set standard that’s expected to be met and exceeded during the company’s milestone 25th season (the company has also done performances of select shows at Lakewood’s Strand for the past few seasons).
This Saturday night, February 25, the Basie building will serve as host venue for 25 Years of Phoenix: An Evening of Music and Memories — an event in which over two dozen veterans of past Phoenix productions perform a set of signature tunes from 20 of the more than 100 shows that Phoenix has mounted since their first summer-stock endeavors in 1988. Scheduled to appear are such returning guest stars as David Weitzer (last year’s Sweeney Todd), former Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo (Cinderella) and Debby Dutcher (Broadway’s Phantom), along with such Phoenix phaves as Todd Aikens, Jennifer Forziati, Martin Grubman and Michael Kroll.
The 8 pm concert event is preceded by a 6 pm VIP Cocktail Party in the Basie’s Carlton Lounge, and followed by a 10 pm reception with the cast inside the Phoenix Rehearsal Center, the troupe’s HQ (and the one-time “other WaWa” for Red Bank old-timers) located right next door to the Count’s castle at 111 Monmouth Street.
Also on the agenda is the endearingly traditional raffle drawing, conducted by Phoenix founding father, board chairman and Red Bank resident Tom Martini. A silent auction boasts some fairly star-kissed items up on the block; fitting for a troupe of “weekend warriors” whose list of Honorary Trustees includes the likes of Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman and Olympia Dukakis. UpperWETside put in an early bid for an interview with the not-easily-shaken Mr. Martini.
