ONSTAGE In Bedford Announces 2019 Season

Last night at the opening night of Steve Peros' The Cat's Meow, ONSTAGE in Bedford announced their 34th season, branded as "2019: A Season of Comedy & Mystery." "I've been talking to our patrons throughout this last year about what they wanted to see on our stage," said Michael B. Winters, Artistic Director of ONSTAGE. "What I heard over and over again is, 'We want to laugh!' So, we're giving our audiences what they've asked for, with a little mystery and crime thrown in for fun."
World Premiere

One of the plays is a world premiere: Wait! Aren't They Dead? by New York playwright Joe Major, being directed by ONSTAGE President Mike Hathaway. "Back in February, I directed a staged reading of an adapted screenplay for MBS Productions' 7 Plays in 7 Days series," explained Hathaway. "Among the other selections was this hysterical comedy that had ONSTAGE written all over it. Joe, the play's author, was in attendance one night and we got to chatting. Lightbulbs were going off all through my brain for the show and it turns out they matched Joe's vision. He agreed to adding some new material to make it a little longer to accommodate an intermission, so the version we're premiering really is a brand new, never-before-seen work."

Major added, "Last winter, I flew in from New York to see a reading of my newest script at a festival in Addison. Little did I know I'd be meeting a lifelong friend for the first time. My conversations with Mike have convinced me that ONSTAGE is the perfect fit for my strange sense of humor. We started sharing ideas and soon we were finishing each others' sentences like obnoxious twin sisters. You don't find that kind of synergy often and it's very exciting!"

Five Plays, Two Musicals The entire season is comprised of five plays and two musicals, many new to the theater. "Two of the plays, I Hate Hamlet and Let's Murder Marsha, have been produced by ONSTAGE before, in 2005 and 1991, respectively," said Winters. "Everything else will be brand new for our audiences and we can't wait to share the experience!"