NENAproductions Opens 20th Year With Sondheim's ANYONE CAN WHISTLE

NENAproductions Theater Project is celebrating 20 years in residence at The Jersey Shore Arts Center with the 2022 - 2023 Theater Season. The upcoming season truly reflects what this theater company has set out to accomplish since its inception.

The mission of NENA is to enrich, educate and entertain our community by providing a superior live theater experience. The company encourages the imaginative and societal importance of theater through plays, musicals, children's theater, youth educational programs and community outreach efforts. NENAproductions Theater Project strives to produce classic and seldom seen theatrical pieces that provoke meaningful discussions about the human condition while bringing a sense of pride to our community.

The 2022 - 2023 season currently includes the seldom performed Stephen Sondheim cult classic, Anyone Can Whistle in October and the Greek tragedy, Medea, by Euripides, in March.

During NENA's tenure at the arts center, they have mounted productions of classics such as Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream, popular musicals like Chicago, The Rocky Horror Show, and Man of LaMancha, and more modern comedies and dramas including Equus and Scapino.

Over the past twenty years NENA has built a solid reputation of producing new Broadway shows, including the first New Jersey presentations of Rent, Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Carrie, and Fun Home. Never afraid of a little controversy, there were contested and discussed productions of The Laramie Project and Corpus Christi.

Proudly, the artistic team has most embraced the works of Stephen Sondheim including full productions of Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Sondheim on Sondheim, and Assassins.

Celebrating Mr. Sondheim's life and work, NENA is producing Anyone Can Whistle, his less than embraced work with a book by Arthur Laurents, his collaborator on Gyspy. NENA's Artistic Director, Nick Montesano, says "in the year since we have lost Mr. Sondheim, there have been numerous tribute productions. While 'Whistle' was considered a flop when it ran on Broadway, we think it is worth a look, especially in our political climate.".

Anyone Can Whistle tells the story of a corrupt mayoress who fakes a miracle to revitalize her bankrupt town and the ill-fated romance between the rational nurse, out to expose the fraud, and the easygoing doctor who is determined to enjoy the chaos that it brings. In the end, the show delivers a poignant message about the importance of the individual in a conformist society - but not before aiming its still-relevant barbs at government, religion, science, and anything else that stands in its way!

With its circus-like atmosphere, Anyone Can Whistle features a dazzling, melodic Broadway-style score that overflows with the youthful energy of experimentation, consisting of one showstopper after another.

NENAproductions is particularly thrilled to produce this show with a number of NENA veterans and multiple new faces. Tara Beams plays Mayor Hoover Hooper, Amy Skaleci appears as Nurse Apple, and Ray Dademo returns to NENA and Sondheim as Hapgood.

Performances for Anyone Can Whistle are Fridays and Saturdays, October 7 to 15, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, October 16 at 3pm. The show will be performed at the Jersey Shore Arts Center, 66 Main Ave. at the entrance to Ocean Grove. All seats are $25 with tickets available from www.ticketleap.com.

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