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SUMMARY:The 39 Steps
DESCRIPTION:Four Actors\, 150 Characters\, and a Plane Crash on a Black-Box Stage: Princeton Summer Theater Stages “The 39 Steps” \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe technical challenge embedded in Patrick Barlow’s stage adaptation of The 39 Steps is\, on paper\, close to absurd: take Alfred Hitchcock’s sprawling 1935 spy thriller — a film built around train chases across the Scottish Highlands\, a manhunt spanning multiple cities\, and a cast of dozens of characters — and stage it with exactly four actors\, none of whom leave the stage for long enough to suggest the production has any budget for understudies or scene changes in the conventional sense. Princeton Summer Theater opens that production on July 2\, running Thursdays through Sundays through July 18 at the Hamilton Murray Theater on the Princeton University campus\, and the company’s track record over more than five decades of summer programming suggests they understand exactly what makes this particular theatrical magic trick work. \n\n\n\nThe production is the second mainstage offering in Princeton Summer Theater’s 56th season\, following the company’s June run of Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park and preceding a July 23 production of Sam Shepard’s True West that closes the company’s main stage programming for the summer. Evening performances run Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.\, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. — a four-show-per-week rotation across the production’s three-week run\, July 2 through July 18\, with specific performance dates of July 2-5\, July 9-12\, and July 16-18. \n\n\n\nWhat The 39 Steps Actually Is\n\n\n\nPatrick Barlow’s adaptation\, which won two Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards during its Broadway run\, takes John Buchan’s 1915 spy novel and Alfred Hitchcock’s celebrated 1935 film adaptation and compresses them into a two-hour stage farce that functions simultaneously as a loving homage to classic Hitchcock suspense and as a deliberate parody of the theatrical conventions that period mystery thrillers depend on. The plot follows Richard Hannay\, an ordinary man whose unremarkable life is upended when a mysterious woman is murdered in his London flat\, leaving him the prime suspect in her death and the unwitting custodian of a dangerous secret involving an international spy ring. Hannay flees north toward Scotland\, encountering an escalating series of dangers\, disguises\, and unlikely allies and adversaries as he attempts to clear his name and unravel the conspiracy at the center of the plot. \n\n\n\nThe genius of Barlow’s theatrical adaptation lies not in faithfully recreating the cinematic scope of Hitchcock’s film but in openly acknowledging the impossibility of doing so and turning that impossibility into the production’s central comedic engine. Where the film uses the full resources of 1930s British cinema to depict train chases across the Highlands\, biplane pursuits over open countryside\, and crowd scenes in London theaters\, the stage production accomplishes the same narrative beats using minimal set pieces\, deliberately visible theatrical artifice\, and a small ensemble of performers who must physically transform between characters in full view of the audience. A description that mixes “a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel\, add a dash of Monty Python” captures the production’s tonal blend accurately: this is suspense theater that is fully aware of its own absurdity and that invites the audience to delight in watching the mechanics of theatrical illusion rather than concealing them. \n\n\n\nThe Four-Actor Structure That Makes It Work\n\n\n\nPrinceton Summer Theater’s production features Jacob Schorsch as Richard Hannay — the production’s sole actor playing a single character throughout\, anchoring the frantic transformations happening around him — alongside Shaelin McKenna\, who takes on the principal female roles of Annabella\, Margaret\, and Pamela\, and Joseph McLean and Jordan Rashdan\, credited as Clown 1 and Clown 2\, who between them portray the remaining roster of more than 150 characters that populate Buchan’s and Hitchcock’s narrative. \n\n\n\nThe character count is not exaggeration for marketing purposes. The structural demand of Barlow’s script requires McLean and Rashdan to embody an enormous range of supporting roles — policemen\, conspirators\, hotel proprietors\, train passengers\, Scottish farmers\, London theatrical performers\, and dozens of others — through the kind of instantaneous costume and characterization shifts that depend entirely on quick-change choreography\, vocal and physical versatility\, and split-second timing between the performers and the production’s backstage crew. This structural constraint is what gives the production its distinctive energy: rather than concealing the labor of theatrical transformation behind the curtain\, The 39 Steps puts that labor on display as the central spectacle of the evening. Audiences are not simply watching a story unfold — they are watching two performers execute an extraordinary feat of theatrical athleticism in real time\, swapping hats\, coats\, and accents with a speed that becomes\, in itself\, one of the production’s primary comedic and technical achievements. \n\n\n\nThis kind of multi-role demand is genuinely difficult to execute well\, and it places significant pressure on the production’s pacing and stage management. A transition that takes a beat too long breaks the comedic momentum the entire show depends on; a transition executed with precision becomes one of the most purely enjoyable elements of live theatrical craft an audience can witness. Princeton Summer Theater’s track record of training young theater professionals across every discipline of production — performance\, direction\, stage management\, design — gives the company’s productions a level of technical rigor that this particular script rewards heavily. \n\n\n\nA Director With a Specific Pedigree for This Material\n\n\n\nThe production is directed by Erik Bloomquist\, an award-winning New England stage and film director whose background gives him a particular and well-matched set of credentials for material built around tight comedic timing and suspense pacing. Bloomquist is a two-time Emmy Award winner\, having won for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Writer for his nationally syndicated PBS mystery-comedy television series The Cobblestone Corridor — credentials that place him squarely within the genre territory The 39 Steps occupies\, blending mystery plotting with comedic execution in a format that depends on disciplined pacing rather than indulgent scene work. \n\n\n\nBloomquist’s stage credits include productions at Ivoryton Playhouse\, Ozark Actors Theatre\, Priscilla Beach Theatre\, and Trinity College\, while his film credits include Founders Day\, She Came from the Woods\, and Long Lost — a filmography weighted toward suspense and genre filmmaking that gives him direct professional experience with exactly the kind of tonal balance The 39 Steps requires: genuine tension and stakes delivered with a wink\, never losing narrative momentum even as the production acknowledges its own theatrical artifice. A director whose professional television work specifically rewards tight cues and cinematic pacing over long\, drawn-out theatrical pauses is\, for a script built around relentless forward motion and rapid-fire character transformation\, close to an ideal match. \n\n\n\nThe Venue: An Intimate Black-Box Alternative to the Outdoor Festival Circuit\n\n\n\nPrinceton Summer Theater stages all of its productions at the Hamilton Murray Theater\, also known as Theatre Intime\, located inside Murray-Dodge Hall on the Princeton University campus. The venue’s character is central to understanding what this production will actually feel like to attend. Unlike the large-scale outdoor festival tent productions that define much of central New Jersey’s summer performing arts calendar\, Hamilton Murray Theater is a small\, indoor\, air-conditioned space — the kind of intimate black-box-adjacent environment where audiences sit close enough to performers that vocal nuance\, physical comedy\, and the small technical details of quick-change craft register clearly without amplification or the acoustic compromises that outdoor tent venues introduce. \n\n\n\nFor a production built specifically around the visible mechanics of theatrical transformation — the audience needs to actually see McLean and Rashdan swap a hat and a coat in three seconds to register the joke — the intimacy of the venue is not incidental. It is structurally necessary to the production’s comedic and technical effect in a way that a large outdoor amphitheater or festival tent could not replicate. The historic character of Hamilton Murray Theater\, a building with its own substantial history within Princeton’s campus theatrical tradition\, adds a further dimension of atmosphere appropriate to material steeped in the visual and tonal conventions of 1930s British mystery theater. \n\n\n\nPrinceton Summer Theater’s Place in the American Theatrical Pipeline\n\n\n\nFounded by a group of Princeton University students in 1968\, Princeton Summer Theater has operated continuously for more than five decades as an institution explicitly dedicated to training the next generation of theatrical professionals — offering young artists\, including current Princeton students and recent graduates from Princeton and other institutions\, the opportunity to develop expertise across every dimension of theatrical production\, from performance and direction to stage management\, design\, and company administration. The organization’s alumni roster includes Tony Award-winning actress Bebe Neuwirth\, Broadway and television writer Winnie Holzman\, and the late actor William Hootkins\, whose film career included roles in the original Star Wars trilogy and Batman — a roster that reflects the organization’s genuine track record of launching durable professional careers across multiple branches of the entertainment industry. \n\n\n\nThe 2026 season’s leadership reflects that ongoing mission directly. Executive Director Orion Lopez-Ramirez\, returning for his second year in the role\, graduated this spring from Princeton University with a degree in Public and International Affairs and minors in Urban Studies and Theatre\, bringing both administrative and performance experience to the organization’s operational leadership. Artistic Director Lucy Shea\, an English major from the Class of 2027 pursuing minors in theater and teacher preparation\, has described the 2026 season’s programming as deliberately structured to move audiences between registers — from the romantic comedy of Barefoot in the Park through the mystery and wit of The 39 Steps to the family reckoning at the center of True West — a season Shea has characterized as bringing together a youthful spark and a mature sensibility across its four productions. \n\n\n\nWhat to Expect and How to Attend\n\n\n\nThe production carries a recommended age guidance of 11 and older\, with the company noting that the show includes stage haze\, gunshot sound effects\, and content of a suggestive nature consistent with its noir source material. The fast-paced\, multi-role theatrical format is\, by design\, constructed to prevent the kind of slow\, static pacing that can sometimes characterize traditional regional theater drama — the production’s entire structural premise depends on relentless forward momentum\, and audiences attending should expect a brisk\, high-energy two hours rather than a contemplative evening. \n\n\n\nEvening tickets for performances at 7:30 p.m. and matinee tickets for the 2:00 p.m. performances are available for purchase online through Princeton Summer Theater’s ticketing partner. Opening night\, July 2nd\, includes an additional program at the Princeton Public Library — Princeton Summer Theater: Live at the Library — a moderated conversation with the production’s actors and director discussing the behind-the-scenes process of mounting the show\, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ahead of that evening’s performance. \n\n\n\nFor audiences in central New Jersey looking for a summer theatrical experience distinct from the large-scale outdoor festival programming that defines much of the region’s warm-weather arts calendar\, Princeton Summer Theater’s production of The 39 Steps offers something genuinely different: an intimate\, air-conditioned\, tightly paced evening of theatrical craft\, built around a script whose entire reason for existing is to demonstrate what four skilled performers and a disciplined director can accomplish with almost nothing but timing\, talent\, and a closet full of hats.
URL:https://explorenewjersey.org/event/the-39-steps-2/
LOCATION:Princeton Summer Theater\, Hamilton Murray Theater\, Princeton University\, Princeton\, New Jersey\, 08544\, United States
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SUMMARY:The Wedding Singer Summerfest 2026
DESCRIPTION:Summerfest 2026 Brings “The Wedding Singer” Back to New Jersey—A High-Energy Musical Celebration of Love\, Loss\, and 1980s Nostalgia at the Sitnik Theatre \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew Jersey’s summer theatre season reaches a defining moment this July as Summerfest 2026 launches one of its most anticipated productions: The Wedding Singer\, a vibrant\, era-defining musical set against the unmistakable backdrop of 1985 New Jersey. Running from July 9 through July 19 at the Sitnik Theatre in Hackettstown\, this production delivers a fully realized theatrical experience that blends comedy\, romance\, and a powerhouse score into one of the most entertaining stage events of the season. \n\n\n\nAt its core\, The Wedding Singer is more than a nostalgic throwback—it is a sharply crafted musical that captures the emotional highs and lows of love\, reinvention\, and second chances. With music by Matthew Sklar\, a book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy\, and lyrics by Beguelin\, the show builds on the enduring popularity of the original film while transforming it into a dynamic live performance that resonates with contemporary audiences. For New Jersey\, the setting is not incidental—it is essential. This is a story rooted in the energy\, attitude\, and cultural identity of the Garden State\, making it a natural fit for the stage at the Sitnik Theatre. \n\n\n\nThe narrative centers on Robbie Hart\, a charismatic wedding singer whose life is built around celebrating other people’s happiest moments. Known as the life of every party\, Robbie thrives on the joy and spectacle of wedding culture—until his own world collapses when he is left at the altar. What follows is a downward spiral that sees him transform from beloved entertainer to reluctant cynic\, bringing a sharp comedic edge to what is ultimately a deeply human story about heartbreak and recovery. \n\n\n\nEnter Julia\, a kind-hearted waitress whose optimism and warmth cut through Robbie’s disillusionment. Their connection forms the emotional backbone of the production\, offering a counterbalance to the show’s high-energy musical numbers and comedic set pieces. Yet the stakes are far from simple. Julia is already engaged to a high-powered\, status-driven fiancé whose ambitions reflect the excess and materialism often associated with the 1980s. This tension sets the stage for a race against time\, as Robbie must rediscover his purpose—and his courage—before the opportunity for love slips away. \n\n\n\nWhat distinguishes The Wedding Singer as a theatrical experience is its ability to fully embrace the aesthetic and cultural identity of the 1980s without reducing it to parody. The production leans into the era’s defining characteristics—bold fashion\, larger-than-life personalities\, and a soundtrack infused with pop and rock influences—while maintaining a strong narrative focus. The result is a show that feels both celebratory and grounded\, capturing the spirit of the decade while delivering a story that remains universally relatable. \n\n\n\nMusically\, the show stands as one of the most engaging scores in contemporary musical theatre. The compositions channel the sound and energy of the 1980s\, blending infectious melodies with character-driven lyrics that advance the story with precision. Each number is crafted to reflect the emotional state of the characters\, whether it’s the exuberance of a wedding celebration\, the raw vulnerability of heartbreak\, or the triumphant realization of love. The score’s versatility ensures that the production maintains momentum throughout\, keeping audiences fully engaged from the opening number to the final curtain. \n\n\n\nStaging The Wedding Singer at the Sitnik Theatre elevates the experience even further. Known for its balance of intimacy and professional production quality\, the venue allows for a direct connection between performers and audience\, ensuring that every comedic beat lands and every emotional moment resonates. This proximity enhances the storytelling\, making the audience feel like active participants in Robbie’s journey rather than distant observers. \n\n\n\nAs part of Summerfest 2026\, this production also reflects a broader commitment to delivering high-caliber theatre in New Jersey. It underscores the region’s ability to host performances that rival those found in major metropolitan centers\, while maintaining a distinct local identity. The inclusion of The Wedding Singer in this year’s lineup signals a strategic focus on productions that combine wide audience appeal with strong artistic execution\, reinforcing the Sitnik Theatre’s role as a key destination for live performance in the state. \n\n\n\nFor audiences\, the appeal of The Wedding Singer extends beyond its storyline. It offers a complete entertainment experience—one that invites laughter\, nostalgia\, and emotional investment in equal measure. It is a show that speaks to multiple generations\, connecting those who lived through the 1980s with younger viewers discovering the era’s cultural impact for the first time. This cross-generational appeal is a defining strength\, ensuring that the production resonates across a broad audience base. \n\n\n\nThose looking to attend can explore performance schedules and ticket availability through the official Summerfest listing for The Wedding Singer. With a limited run from July 9 to July 19\, demand is expected to be strong\, particularly given the show’s recognizable title and enduring popularity. \n\n\n\nAs the lights come up this July in Hackettstown\, The Wedding Singer promises to deliver a theatrical experience that is as entertaining as it is meaningful. It is a story about rediscovery\, about finding your voice after loss\, and about the courage it takes to pursue something real in a world often driven by appearances. Set against the unmistakable energy of 1985 New Jersey\, this production captures the essence of what makes live theatre so powerful—the ability to transport\, to connect\, and to remind audiences that even in the most unexpected moments\, a new beginning is always possible.
URL:https://explorenewjersey.org/event/the-wedding-singer-summerfest-2026/
LOCATION:Sitnik Theatre\, 715 Grand Ave\, Hackettstown\, New Jersey\, United States
CATEGORIES:Theatre
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SUMMARY:The Little Mermaid
DESCRIPTION:The MAC Players Bring Disney’s The Little Mermaid to the Middletown Arts Center This July \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe question of what makes a regional theater production worth attending — really worth attending\, in the way that leaves an audience thinking about it on the drive home — is rarely answered by production budget or venue size. It is answered by the specificity of the cast’s investment in the material\, the coherence of the creative vision behind it\, and the accumulated experience that the people on stage and behind the scenes bring to a piece of work they have chosen to do. By each of those measures\, the MAC Players’ production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid\, running July 10 through July 19 at the Middletown Arts Center\, makes a serious case for itself before the curtain rises. \n\n\n\nThe show runs Thursday through Sunday across two weekends\, with performances on July 10\, 11\, 12\, 17\, 18\, and 19 at the Middletown Arts Center\, 36 Church Street in Middletown\, New Jersey. A special children’s matinee takes place Saturday\, July 11 at 2:00 p.m.\, with tickets priced at $10 for children ten and under. Tickets for all other performances are available through the MAC Players’ standard ticketing channels. \n\n\n\nThe production is directed by Bailey Dumlao\, with musical direction by Lauryn Boyle and choreography by Njelama Dacas Johnson. The creative team is supported by assistant director Trish Vignola-Tyler. The show features music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken\, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater\, and a book by Doug Wright — the same creative architecture that made the 2008 Broadway production one of the most musically substantial Disney theatrical adaptations. Based on both Hans Christian Andersen’s nineteenth-century fairy tale and the 1989 animated film that effectively relaunched Disney’s animation division\, the story centers on Ariel\, a young mermaid whose desire to be part of the human world brings her into conflict with her father\, King Triton\, and the scheming sea witch Ursula. \n\n\n\nThe Score That Makes the Show\n\n\n\nMenken’s score for The Little Mermaid is not incidental to the theatrical experience — it is the theatrical experience. The 1989 film’s original songs\, including “Under the Sea\,” “Part of Your World\,” and “Kiss the Girl\,” are among the most structurally accomplished popular compositions produced by the studio era of American animated film\, and their elevation to the stage version benefits from the additional musical context that theatrical arrangement and live orchestration provide. Glenn Slater contributed new songs for the stage adaptation that integrate with Ashman’s original lyrics with sufficient craft that the seams are rarely visible. The Ashman-Menken collaboration\, which also produced Beauty and the Beast and began with Little Shop of Horrors\, represents one of the most productive partnerships in the history of the Broadway-Hollywood musical pipeline\, and the fact that Ashman died in 1991 before seeing the theatrical adaptation of the work he co-created gives the production a bittersweet dimension that serious audiences tend to feel even when they cannot precisely articulate its source. \n\n\n\n“Part of Your World” — Ariel’s signature ballad\, the song that defines her character’s desire and frames the entire narrative — is one of the most demanding soprano showcases in the Disney theatrical canon. “Under the Sea” requires Sebastian to carry a high-energy calypso number that shifts from comic to earnest without losing momentum. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” gives Ursula a villain’s aria that needs to be both menacing and deeply funny simultaneously. The casting demands that these songs create are substantial\, and the degree to which the MAC Players’ production meets them will be the central question the audience answers for itself by the end of the first act. \n\n\n\nThe Production Team: Professional Credentials at a Regional Scale\n\n\n\nThe creative team assembled for this production brings a depth of professional experience that exceeds what the regional community theater designation might suggest. Director Bailey Dumlao brings an extensive resume that encompasses original productions at established institutions alongside their community work. Associate and assistant directing credits at Two River Theater — one of New Jersey’s most respected professional theater companies — include world premieres of works by significant contemporary playwrights\, among them Hansol Jung\, Kate Hamill\, and Mando Alvarado. Additional work at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota\, one of the premier regional theaters in the southeastern United States\, and original directing credits at the Act Out\, Diva! New Play Festival in Asbury Park demonstrate the range of work Dumlao has brought to this production’s leadership. They are an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society\, the professional union that represents theater directors and choreographers nationally. \n\n\n\nChoreographer Njelama Dacas Johnson carries credentials that span professional commercial work and education-based choreography. Her 2025 Google Pixel commercial credit places her in the category of choreographers whose work reaches national audiences outside of theatrical contexts\, and her acceptance into the inaugural class of the Alvin Ailey Teacher Certification Program marks her as someone the most significant institution in American dance education has identified as a practitioner worth developing. Her high school production choreography credits include a 2025 Count Basie Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Pippin — the Count Basie Awards being the regional theater equivalent of the Tony Awards for the Monmouth-Ocean County area\, and among the most credible competitive recognitions in New Jersey community and youth theater. \n\n\n\nAssistant Director Trish Vignola-Tyler holds a B.A. in Theatre from Fordham University and an M.A. in Comedic Writing from Falmouth University\, with production credits at the Roundabout Theatre Company — a Tony Award-winning Broadway institution — and performance history at festivals including the Chicago SketchFest and the Del Close Marathon\, the premier improv comedy festival in the world. The breadth of Vignola-Tyler’s training\, which encompasses experimental theater at La MaMa and formal comedy training at The Second City\, brings a specific kind of theatrical intelligence to the assistant director’s role. \n\n\n\nThe Cast: Range\, Depth\, and Genuine Theatrical Investment\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe cast assembled for this production spans a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels — from performers making their first appearance with the MAC Players to artists with professional credits at New York venues\, Broadway-adjacent training institutions\, and national film and television. What they share is the kind of specific enthusiasm for the material that makes live theater compelling rather than merely competent. \n\n\n\nFelicia Russell\, who plays Ariel\, has described preparing for this role as something that began at age three — a biographical detail that speaks to the particular relationship some performers develop with specific characters well before they have the technical means to play them. Her theatrical credits include Anya in Anastasia\, Maria in The Sound of Music\, and Amalia in She Loves Me\, all soprano-heavy roles that map the arc of a developing voice across increasingly demanding material. Two original plays of hers have been performed as staged readings\, with And at the Hour winning Brookdale College’s Global Citizenship Award. Russell is not only a performer but a theatrical generalist who works in lighting\, costumes\, stage management\, and playwriting — the kind of multi-dimensional engagement with theater that produces actors who understand the full scope of what they are participating in when they walk onto a stage. \n\n\n\nEvan Cerqueira\, taking on the role of Ursula\, brings a genuinely diverse performance history that includes Avenue Q\, Angels in America\, and Little Shop of Horrors — works spanning the full comedic-to-serious theatrical spectrum and requiring an actress with both technical range and a willingness to commit fully to outsized characters. Her directorial work includes a production of Maury Yeston’s Titanic that received Perry Award nominations — the Perry Awards being another of the regional theater recognition systems that track excellence in New Jersey productions. She is scheduled to direct a new play\, December Roses\, at StageWorks 237 this November. Ursula is a role that has been defined primarily by two performances: Pat Carroll’s original Disney animation voice work\, and the theatrical tradition that grew from it. Cerqueira’s program notes make clear she has done her research — acknowledging Divine\, the John Waters collaborator whose physical presence informed the character’s original design\, as well as animator Glen Keane and voice director Rob Minkoff. \n\n\n\nJavier Coss\, playing Sebastian\, brings ensemble credits from Sweeney Todd\, Legally Blonde\, Kinky Boots\, Footloose\, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat\, and West Side Story — a catalog that covers enough of the musical theater canon to indicate a performer who has worked in consistently different contexts and registers. Sebastian is the production’s comic engine and one of its primary musical vehicles; “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl” live or die on the energy and technical facility of the performer playing the Jamaican crustacean advisor to the king. \n\n\n\nRandy Hurst\, playing King Triton\, offers one of the more interesting biographical dimensions in this cast. He has spent more than a decade as a musical director — a role that requires encyclopedic knowledge of how theatrical music is built and performed — and has in recent years been transitioning into performing himself. The specific knowledge a musical director carries about how to serve a song\, how to support surrounding performers while maintaining individual clarity\, and how to understand a score’s architecture from within gives Hurst a technical foundation that differs from actors who arrived at musical theater from a performance-first background. \n\n\n\nHaley Bella Seda\, appearing as a Mersister\, holds an NYU Tisch School of the Arts degree with training at New Studio on Broadway and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Her television credit includes NBC’s Chicago P.D.\, and her original television pilot\, Juniper’s Playbook\, has received recognition from the New York International Film Awards\, the Big Apple Film Festival\, the Chicago Script Awards\, and the New York Script Awards. Her presence in the ensemble reflects the degree to which the MAC Players draw from a talent pool that extends well beyond community theater convention. \n\n\n\nSamantha Ust\, appearing as Grimsby and in the ensemble\, has performed multiple times at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall through the Brookdale Concordia Chorale and has toured internationally\, including a residency at England’s Exeter Cathedral. Evelynn Knox\, appearing as a Mersister\, is the 2025 New Jersey State Champion of the Poetry Ourselves Competition\, the 2026 New Jersey Poetry Out Loud State Runner-Up\, and a participant in the New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s Curtain Call 2026 — recognition across multiple disciplines that speaks to a versatility extending beyond singing and movement into literary performance. Ella Mangano\, another Mersister\, is the recipient of the Count Basie Award for “The Future of Theater” for her performance as Annie. \n\n\n\nThe MAC Players and the Middletown Arts Center\n\n\n\nThe MAC Players are the resident theatrical company of the Middletown Arts Center\, which opened in 2007 in a building transformed from a commercial storage facility into a dedicated arts venue through a community decision made in the late 1990s. The center\, operated by the Middletown Township Cultural and Arts Council\, sits at 36 Church Street adjacent to the Middletown train station — a centralized location within one of Monmouth County’s largest and most diverse municipalities. \n\n\n\nThe MAC Players have developed a production history at this venue that increasingly challenges the regional community theater designation. Recent productions in their catalog include Legally Blonde\, SpongeBob the Musical\, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee\, and Godspell — a range that demonstrates both the ambitious scale of what the company attempts and the accumulated trust they have built with their audience. The cast biographies for The Little Mermaid are notably cross-referenced across multiple MAC Players productions\, indicating a company with genuine continuity of membership — performers who return specifically because the productions are worth returning for. \n\n\n\nThe $10 Children’s Matinee and Why It Matters\n\n\n\nThe Saturday\, July 11 matinee at 2:00 p.m. — priced at $10 for children ten and under — is not a throwaway programming detail. It is a statement about what the Middletown Arts Center believes live theater is for and who it should be accessible to. The Little Mermaid is\, among many other things\, one of the stories that introduces children to the idea that popular narrative music can carry genuine emotional weight — that a song can do work that prose cannot\, and that the combination of storytelling\, music\, and live performance creates an experience that no screen can replicate. The $10 ticket price is low enough that cost is not a significant barrier for families across the economic range that Middletown’s community encompasses. What children who attend this matinee will carry out of that theater is the specific memory of having seen a live performance of something they already loved in a different form — and research on arts education consistently suggests that this kind of early exposure to live performance has measurable effects on cultural participation across the full arc of a life. \n\n\n\nDates\, Tickets\, and How to Attend\n\n\n\nThe Little Mermaid runs at the Middletown Arts Center\, 36 Church Street\, Middletown\, New Jersey 07748\, on the following dates: Thursday July 10\, Friday July 11\, Saturday July 12\, Thursday July 17\, Friday July 18\, and Saturday July 19. The children’s matinee at $10 for those ten and under takes place on Saturday July 11 at 2:00 p.m. Evening performance times and adult ticket pricing are available through the Middletown Arts Center’s website at middletownarts.org. The venue is located adjacent to the Middletown NJ Transit rail station\, making the production accessible by train from points along the North Jersey Coast Line. \n\n\n\nFor residents of Monmouth County and the broader Jersey Shore region\, the MAC Players’ Little Mermaid represents the kind of local theatrical event that repays the trip — a production built by people who take the work seriously\, assembled from a cast with genuine professional depth\, and organized around a piece of material that has proven its capacity to move audiences across generations and across the considerable distance between an animated film and a live stage.
URL:https://explorenewjersey.org/event/the-little-mermaid/
LOCATION:The Middletown Arts Center\, 36 Church Street\, NJ\, Middletown\, New Jersey\, 07748\, United States
CATEGORIES:Theatre
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ORGANIZER;CN="The Middletown Arts Center":MAILTO:artscenter@middletownnj.org
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260711T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260804T233000
DTSTAMP:20260707T105045Z
CREATED:20260707T105040Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260707T105045Z
UID:99774-1783800000-1785886200@explorenewjersey.org
SUMMARY:Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
DESCRIPTION:The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Is Staging One of the Funniest Theatrical Experiments in American Playwriting This Summer\n\n\n\nThe premise of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery is also its central theatrical joke\, and it is announced in the production’s own marketing with the directness that the play itself embodies: five actors\, forty characters\, one unsolvable mystery. The joke is not in the impossibility of the task but in the commitment to attempting it — five performers cycling through more than forty distinct roles\, with their own costumes\, accents\, physicalities\, and comic logic\, in a production that depends on its ensemble’s ability to execute split-second transformations with the kind of precision that makes them simultaneously look absolutely effortless and absolutely ridiculous. The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey opens its production of Baskerville at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on the Drew University campus in Madison on July 11\, running through August 2\, with tickets priced from $45 to $85. \n\n\n\nKen Ludwig is the right playwright to have written this particular play for reasons that extend beyond the comic instinct that the premise requires. He holds degrees from Harvard\, Haverford College\, and Cambridge University\, studied music with Leonard Bernstein\, has had six productions on Broadway and six in London’s West End\, has won two Laurence Olivier Awards and two Helen Hayes Awards\, holds the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America\, and has had his plays commissioned by both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Bristol Old Vic. He is also\, by the consistent assessment of critics and audiences across the more than 30 countries in over 20 languages where his work has been produced\, genuinely funny — a combination of credentials and craft that is rarer than it sounds\, since serious dramatic accolades and the specific ability to make an audience laugh reliably and consistently are not always found together in the same playwright. Baskerville is the play where those qualities converge most visibly. \n\n\n\nThe source material Ludwig is adapting is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles\, the most atmospheric and most gothic of the Sherlock Holmes novels — the one in which the detective and his companion Watson travel to the desolate moors of Devonshire to investigate the supposed curse haunting the Baskerville family\, a supernatural hound said to prey on the male heirs of the estate\, whose most recent victim has been found dead on the grounds under circumstances that suggest either a very large animal or a very clever murderer. Doyle’s novel works because its combination of locked-room mystery logic and Gothic horror atmosphere produces a specific kind of dread that his other Holmes stories\, set primarily in London drawing rooms and railway carriages\, do not reach. Ludwig’s adaptation is a deliberate and affectionate assault on every element of that atmosphere: the Gothic dread becomes material for physical comedy\, the disguises that Holmes employs throughout the novel become increasingly elaborate theatrical setpieces\, and the narrative’s genuine mystery — who killed Sir Charles Baskerville\, and is the hound real? — is preserved as the engine that drives the plot even as everything surrounding it is played for maximum comic effect. \n\n\n\nThe theatrical mechanics that Ludwig employs to stage the forty-character constraint are what critics and audiences who have seen other productions of the play most consistently describe as its most delightful feature. Three of the five actors cycle through the large supporting cast while Holmes and Watson remain consistent\, which means that individual performers are executing character transformations in full view of the audience — changing costumes\, adjusting physicality\, adopting accents\, becoming entirely different people between one scene and the next\, sometimes between one sentence and the next — with the audience’s awareness of the mechanics being not something to be hidden but something to be celebrated. The visible machinery of the theatrical transformation is the joke. When an actor who was just playing a suspicious Devonshire farmer reappears forty-five seconds later as a London society matron with a different wig and a different accent\, the comedy depends on the audience seeing the change happen rather than being fooled by it. It is\, in the most direct sense\, a show about acting — about the physical and technical craft that allows trained performers to embody completely different people in rapid succession — and the audience’s enjoyment of it is the enjoyment of watching something technically demanding executed with apparent ease. \n\n\n\nCritical response to productions of Baskerville across the country has converged on a specific set of descriptions: Theatermania called it a perfect mix of slapstick and thrills. Multiple reviewers have specifically cited the combination of genuine mystery — the plot does sustain real suspense about who killed Sir Charles and whether the hound is supernatural — with the comedy\, noting that Ludwig manages to honor the spirit of Doyle’s original without sacrificing the farcical energy that the theatrical setup demands. The play runs approximately two hours including an intermission\, is recommended for audiences aged 10 and up\, and carries the specific family-event character that a summer comedic mystery at a professional classical theater produces: something that rewards adult theatergoers who know the Conan Doyle source material and entertains younger audience members for whom the physical comedy and rapid character transformations are the primary attraction. \n\n\n\nThe Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is also making a specific and meaningful effort to ensure that the production is accessible to family audiences through its Free Tix for Kids program\, generously sponsored by the Merrill G. and Emita E. Hastings Foundation and the Madison Rotary Club. With the purchase of any eligible adult ticket — regular\, senior\, the under-35 priced ticket\, or member — patrons can receive up to four free children’s tickets\, eliminating the economic barrier that can make a professional theater outing with a family group financially prohibitive. The program makes Baskerville one of the more accessible professional summer productions in New Jersey for families whose children might be encountering live professional theater for the first time\, and the play’s specific qualities — the physical comedy\, the evident craft of the quick changes\, the sustained mystery plot — make it an exceptionally well-suited first professional theater experience for young audiences. \n\n\n\nThe F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on the Drew University campus in Madison\, where the production runs July 11 through August 2\, is the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s primary performance venue — the space where the organization that serves approximately 75\,000 patrons annually stages its main-season productions\, and where the summer of 2026 is also hosting the outdoor Rogue Shakespeare production of The Merry Wives of Windsor running August 14 through 23. Baskerville tickets are on sale now through the Shakespeare Theatre’s ticketing website\, with regular performances on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.\, with additional midweek performances on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Doors open thirty minutes prior to each performance.
URL:https://explorenewjersey.org/event/ken-ludwigs-baskerville-a-sherlock-holmes-mystery/
LOCATION:F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre\, 36 Madison Avenue\, Madison\, New Jersey\, 07940\, United States
CATEGORIES:Theatre
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260714T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260714T233000
DTSTAMP:20260410T105621Z
CREATED:20260410T105615Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260410T105621Z
UID:85831-1784059200-1784071800@explorenewjersey.org
SUMMARY:Lilo & Stitch Free Summer Movie!
DESCRIPTION:Free Summer Movie Series in New Jersey Returns with Lilo & Stitch at State Theatre New Jersey: A Community Event Built for Families\, Film Lovers\, and a New Generation of Moviegoers\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew Jersey’s summer cultural calendar continues to expand in both scale and accessibility\, and this July\, one of the state’s most respected historic venues opens its doors once again for a signature community experience that blends film\, family\, and immersive presentation. On Tuesday\, July 14\, 2026\, State Theatre New Jersey will host a special free screening of Lilo & Stitch as part of its widely anticipated Free Summer Movies Series\, delivering a full evening of programming designed to engage audiences of all ages while reinforcing the state’s growing role as a destination for accessible\, high-quality film experiences. \n\n\n\nThis event is not positioned as a simple screening. It is a curated\, venue-driven experience that reflects the broader evolution of New Jersey’s film & tv landscape\, where historic theaters are increasingly redefining how audiences connect with cinema in a live setting. With free admission\, structured programming\, and a family-first approach\, the July 14 presentation represents a model for how community engagement and cinematic presentation can operate together at a high level. \n\n\n\nThe featured film\, Lilo & Stitch\, arrives in its live-action adaptation format\, reintroducing a globally recognized story to a new generation while maintaining the emotional core that made the original 2002 release a defining entry in Disney’s catalog. At its center is a narrative that blends humor\, science fiction\, and emotional storytelling\, following the unlikely connection between a young Hawaiian girl and a genetically engineered alien fugitive. What begins as a story of chaos and escape quickly evolves into a deeper exploration of belonging\, identity\, and the meaning of family—captured in the now-iconic concept of “ohana\,” where no one is left behind or forgotten. \n\n\n\nThis thematic foundation makes Lilo & Stitch particularly well-suited for a community-driven screening environment. It is a film that resonates across age groups\, offering both visual entertainment for younger viewers and emotional depth that connects with adults. In a live theater setting\, these elements are amplified\, transforming the viewing experience into something collective rather than individual. \n\n\n\nState Theatre New Jersey enhances that experience through its physical and technical capabilities. The venue’s expansive 46-foot screen and advanced sound system elevate the presentation beyond what audiences typically encounter in standard viewing environments\, allowing the film’s visual detail and audio design to fully translate in a large-scale format. The historic architecture of the theater itself adds an additional layer of atmosphere\, creating a setting where the act of watching a film becomes an event rather than a routine activity. \n\n\n\nThe evening’s programming begins well before the film itself. For the 6:30 PM screening\, families are encouraged to arrive at 5:30 PM for a pre-show experience that includes free\, movie-themed arts and crafts. Hosted in the theater’s accessible Studio space\, this component transforms the event into a full evening outing rather than a single screening\, offering children an opportunity to engage creatively with the themes of the film before taking their seats. This approach reflects a broader shift in how venues are designing programming—moving toward experiences that are interactive\, inclusive\, and community-centered. \n\n\n\nAccessibility remains a central focus throughout the event. All screenings in the Free Summer Movies Series include Spanish subtitles\, ensuring that the experience is welcoming to a wider audience and reflective of New Jersey’s diverse communities. Additionally\, the availability of group reservations for parties of ten or more allows organizations\, camps\, and extended families to participate together\, reinforcing the event’s role as a shared cultural moment. \n\n\n\nThe decision to present Lilo & Stitch within this series also speaks to a broader programming strategy that balances familiarity with renewed relevance. By selecting a title that carries both nostalgic value and contemporary appeal\, State Theatre New Jersey creates an entry point for multiple audience segments\, ensuring that the event resonates across generations. This is not simply about revisiting a known story; it is about recontextualizing it within a live\, communal environment where its themes can be experienced collectively. \n\n\n\nWithin the larger context of New Jersey’s cultural infrastructure\, events like this play a critical role in shaping how audiences engage with film. As streaming platforms continue to dominate at-home viewing\, venues like State Theatre New Jersey are redefining the value of the theatrical experience by emphasizing scale\, quality\, and community interaction. The Free Summer Movies Series stands as a clear example of this approach\, offering audiences a reason to return to physical spaces for shared experiences that cannot be replicated elsewhere. \n\n\n\nThe July 14 screening of Lilo & Stitch is expected to draw a broad and diverse audience\, from families seeking accessible summer activities to film enthusiasts interested in experiencing a beloved story in a fully realized theatrical setting. With tickets available at no cost\, demand is anticipated to be high\, making early reservations a key consideration for those planning to attend. \n\n\n\nAs New Jersey continues to expand its presence within the film and entertainment sectors\, initiatives like this reinforce the importance of accessibility and community engagement alongside high-quality presentation. They demonstrate that meaningful cultural experiences do not have to be exclusive or cost-prohibitive\, and that historic venues can continue to play a vital role in connecting audiences with the stories that define both past and present. \n\n\n\nOn July 14\, State Theatre New Jersey will once again transform into a gathering place for shared storytelling\, where families\, friends\, and communities come together to experience a film that has already left a lasting mark on audiences worldwide. Through thoughtful programming\, technical excellence\, and a commitment to inclusivity\, this event stands as a defining example of what summer entertainment in New Jersey can—and should—be.
URL:https://explorenewjersey.org/event/lilo-stitch-free-summer-movie/
LOCATION:State Theatre New Jersey\, 15 Livingston Avenue \, NJ\, New Brunswick\, NJ\, 08901\, United States
CATEGORIES:Film & TV
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ORGANIZER;CN="State Theatre New Jersey":MAILTO:Info@stnj.org
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