MAN OF LA MANCHA, RUTHLESS! and More Set for Bergen County Players' 2013-14 Season
By: BWW News Desk May. 10, 2013
Long considered one of America's premier community theater groups, Bergen County Players (BCP) has announced for 2013-14 another ambitious, passionate and playful year of audience-pleasing musicals and innovative plays for its 81st consecutive season. From toe-tapping musicals to hilarious comedies to intense dramas, BCP has garnered a reputation for outstanding quality productions at affordable prices. The new season kicks off with one of the best-loved musicals of a generation, the five-time Tony Award-winning Man of La Mancha (its principal song, "The Impossible Dream" has become a standard). BCP's 81st season opener will once again feature a live orchestra and will be suitable for all ages.
Tickets for Man of La Mancha and the rest of the 2013-14 season will become available online at www.bcplayers.org beginning mid-summer. Phone messages left at 201-261-4200 will be returned on a regular basis until the box office, located at the Little Firehouse Theatre, 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, NJ, opens on Thursday, August 15th for walk up sales. Discounts are available for groups and students throughout the season, with a special Group Sales Hotline at 201-262-0515 monitored on a continual basis.Book by Dale Wasserman
Music by Mitch Leigh and Lyrics by Joe Darion
Directed by Jacqueline Poquette
September 14 - October 12, 2013Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's 17th century masterpiece Don Quixote, this enduring musical explores the sometimes thin line between reality and insanity. Performed as a play-within-a-play, the story of the "mad" knight, Don Quixote, is re-enacted by the poet Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as they await a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. Its beautiful score, featuring the anthem "The Impossible Dream", led the way to five Tony Awards in 1965 and a Broadway run of six years. "The show lends itself to be shown in a small, intimate space, with the story unfolding in the audiences' lap to make that human connection." (Broadwayworld.com). *pending rights
Written by Barbara Lebow
Directed by Carol Fisher
October 26 - November 16, 2013Borrowing elements from a number of post-World War II books, this delicate drama about a Polish family split in half for over a decade and then reunited in New York after the liberation of the concentration camps is "an example of heart-on-sleeve theatre, but it's got a big heart, and an ample sleeve, and is irresistible." (Los Angeles Times). Winner of multiple Obie and Outer Critics Circle Awards, you'll be mesmerized by this "exploration of human strength and frailty, softened by moments of humor, leaving you with a sense of hope." (Anchorage Daily News).ALADDIN
Book and Lyrics by Jim Eiler
Music by Jim Eiler and Jeanne Bargy
Directed by Lynne Lupfer
November 30 - December 22, 2013While based on a story from The Arabian Nights, this Prince Street Players version uses artful Chinese theater techniques to put a new spin on a classic tale. Children ages 4 to 10 will be thrilled to follow Aladdin's quest to capture the heart of the beautiful princess Mei-Ling, taking him on a magical journey from rags to riches and featuring not one, but two fantastical genies! SPEED-THE-PLOW
Written by David Mamet
Directed by Peter Colletto
January 11 - February 1, 2014Centered around a plot of "what makes great literature?", this brutal satire by the immortal David Mamet is set deep in Hollywood and involves a hit-making director, a studio executive and their temporary receptionist who has her own ideas regarding the subject. Nominated for Best Play of 1988 and successfully revived 20 years later, the show is "an electric night of theater? with unpredictable tensions between sex and power, ideas and ambitions, and gaining insight and getting ahead ?" (USA Today) Warning: Mature Language.AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
By Mark Brown
Directed by Ray Yucis
February 15 - March 8, 2014Based on the enduring novel by Jules Verne, this stage version (minus the balloon) follows the adventures of Phileas Fogg of London and his French valet, Passepartout as they attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days in order to collect on a £20,000 wager (equal to about $2 million today!). Directed in the same fast-paced style as the recent hit The 39 Steps, with a small cast portraying dozens of characters, this charming production will provide a laugh-out-loud evening for theatergoers of all ages. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Stage Adaptation Written by Christopher Sergel
Directed by Bunny Mateosian
March 22 - April 12, 2014Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Harper Lee, and set in Alabama during the Great Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows the journey of two young white children whose father, Atticus Finch, has been appointed to defend a black man framed for a crime he claims he did not commit. This landmark story about justice and racism compels us to take an honest look at our nation's past and our moral responsibility to each other.RUTHLESS!
Book and Lyrics by Joal Paley
Music by Marvin Laird
Directed by Steve Bell
May 3 - June 1, 2014
No Shows Memorial Day WeekendAn all-female cast twists plots and characters into a hilarious spoof of Broadway-themed stories like Auntie Mame and Gypsy, as well as books made into movies such as The Bad Seed and All About Eve, in this Outer Critics Circle Award winner for Best Off-Broadway Musical of 1993. Running for more than 300 performances and spawning untold regional productions, the lead character has been played by Laura Bell Bundy, Natalie Portman and Britney Spears, turning the show into a cult hit over the past two decades. So fasten your seat belts--it's going to be a bumpy (or should we say campy?) night! ON THE Second Stage:A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Ellyn Essig
Saturday, January 25 @ 2 pm - Sunday, January 26 @ 7 pmNever been to a Shakespeare play because you fear the idea of a five-act production that runs all night? Or are you fascinated by Shakespeare and never miss an opportunity to see his genius on stage? Either way, you?ll love this light and breezy one-hour version of one of the Bard of Avon's most popular comedies, featuring the memorable characters of Puck, Bottom and Oberon. A Second Stage production not to be missed!MY FAVORITE WIFE
A Players Radio Theatre Production
Directed by Jerry Hurley
Saturday, June 7 @ 8 pm - Sunday, June 8 @ 7 pm (No matinee)It's been a few years, but Players Radio Theatre is back with another live performance of a vintage radio broadcast from the Little Firehouse Theatre! Based on a poem by AlFred Lord Tennyson, the story about a wife who comes home after being shipwrecked for seven years only to find her husband newly remarried was made into an unforgettable 1940 screwball comedy film starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. Originally performed by the Screen Director's Playhouse in 1950, this one hour radio script will be faithfully recreated on our stage with amazing sound effects and vocal tricks while streaming over the internet for a worldwide audience! All performances take place at The Little Firehouse Theatre at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, home to the Bergen County Players since 1949. All tickets for the musicals, Man of La Mancha and Ruthless!, are $22. All tickets for the December holiday show, Aladdin, are $13 on Fridays at 8pm and Saturdays/Sundays at 1 and 3:30 pm. All other tickets are $20 on Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and $16 on Sundays at 2pm. Second Stage tickets are $10.As it has for the past few seasons, The Players will continue to offer a Q & A ("Questions & Artists") discussion following select performances. These popular "talk-backs" will take place on the first Friday evening of each Mainstage show. Admission is included in the cost of the ticket.Those interested in schedules, discount offers and making reservations for the 2013-14 season, can log onto BCP's website at: www.bcplayers.org, visit the box office at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell or call (201) 261-4200. Visa, Master Card, and American Express accepted. Those interested in Group Sales or benefit theater parties can call (201) 262-0515. Student Rush tickets are available for $5 for students age 25 and under with valid ID, 30 minutes prior to curtain. One ticket per ID. Cash only. Students can also guarantee their seats in advance through the
box office for the special student price of just $14.00. Student Rush tickets are not available for the December holiday show.Parking is free for our patrons at the Park Avenue municipal lot, across the street, one-half block north of the theater, as well as street parking on Kinderkamack Road and various side streets, all within easy walking distance.The Bergen County Players has grown tremendously from its roots as a small community theater when it was founded in 1932; today, nearly 300 volunteer members, working on and off stage, make possible the nine productions presented each season. The current season includes the comedy Boeing Boeing (now on stage thru June 2nd, 2013) and the Second Stage production includes The "Sing-Along" Sound of Music (June 21st-23rd, 2013). Bergen County Players, Inc., is a non-equity, non-profit community theater company dedicated to presenting quality productions for the enrichment of the community. Further information can be found at www.bcplayers.org.
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