Bergen County Players Kicks Off 2016 with GOOD PEOPLE Tonight

Are you "good people"? Find out as the Bergen County Players (BCP), NJACT's 2015 Community Theatre of the Year, kicks off 2016 with GOOD PEOPLE, by award-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and directed by Peter Colletto, a BCP life member who has directed eight previous productions for the group.

The show, which contains mature subject matter and language, opens its run tonight, January 9, for four consecutive weekends, ending on January 30. The curtain goes up for Friday and Saturday performances at 8 pm, with Sunday matinees at 2 pm. It will be presented at the Little Firehouse Theatre, 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, home of the group since 1949.

GOOD PEOPLE offers an intimate look at how luck, class and the choices we make intersect to form our lives.

"Good people," as depicted in the play, are those who Colletto says "have integrity, stay true to themselves and also know instinctively what others need". A big admirer of the playwright's other works, which include Pulitzer Prize winning "Rabbit Hole" and lyrics for "Shrek The Musical", Colletto is very excited about the opportunity to direct this play. "It is extremely well-written," he says. "The scenes are so moving, loyalties change, sides change. It's sad and comical at the same time, but always entertaining and very provocative for today's audiences, when so many people feel vulnerable about their financial future."

The story is set in motion when Margaret "Margie" Walsh (Paula O'Brien of Park Ridge), a working class Southie who has struggled for years, is fired from her job in a Dollar Store by her kid boss Stevie (Paul Reitnauer III of Demarest). Desperate for work, she decides to ask for help from a former neighborhood friend who has made good, Dr. Mike Dillon (Mic McCormick of Tenafly). Margie is joined on her mission to get work and make a point about life by her best friend Jean (Jean Marie Garver-Gaydos of River Edge) and her needy landlady Dottie (Michele Blum of Oakland), all of whom have failed to get out of the old 'hood. The cast is rounded out by Mike's posh wife Kate (Nadiya Braham of Hackensack) and the priest who calls out the bingo game (Ed Gross of Westwood).

The production team, besides director Colletto, who also is the lighting designer, includes Rhea Smith (Producer & Program Notes), Joanne Misha (Assistant to the Director), Michael Smith (Set Design & Construction, Photography), Michele Roth (Stage Manager), Katie Lupfer (Costumes), Joe Halajian (Sound Design), Angela Grippo and William Powers (Sound Operation), Rosemary DeFlorio (Lighting Operation), Cammy Bourcier (Publicity) and Arno Austin, Richard Ciero, Pauline Quinones and Andrew Whitney (Props & Crew).

Please note: GOOD PEOPLE contains mature subject matter and language.

All performances for GOOD PEOPLE take place at The Little Firehouse Theatre at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, home to the Bergen County Players since 1949. Performance times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm.

Tickets for GOOD PEOPLE are $21 for all evening performances, $17 for matinees and can be purchased online at www.bcplayers.org, by calling 201-261-4200 or by visiting the box office at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell during regular box office hours. Visa, Master Card, and American Express are accepted. Those interested in Group Sales of 20 or more tickets can email groups@bcplayers.org or call the main number and press #6.

As it has for the past few seasons, BCP continues to offer a "Questions & Artists" (Q&A) discussion following select performances. GOOD PEOPLE Q&A will take place immediately following the Friday, January 15, performance. Admission is included in the cost of the ticket.

Advance discount tickets for students age 25 and under with proper ID are available for $14 by phone or walk-up only, and student rush seats can be purchased for $5 (cash only) starting 30 minutes before the curtain at every performance, pending seat availability. There is a limit of one rush ticket per student.

Parking is free at the Park Avenue municipal lot, across the street, one-half block north of the theatre.

The Bergen County Players has grown tremendously from its roots as a small community theatre when it was founded in 1932; today, more than 300 volunteer members, working on and off stage, make possible the nine productions presented each season.

Pictured: Jean Marie Garver-Gaydos, Paula O'Brien, Mic McCormick, Paul Reitnauer III, Michele Blum and Nadiya Braham appear in Bergen County Players' production of GOOD PEOPLE, opening January 9th at the Little Firehouse Theatre, Oradell. Photo by Michael Smith.

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