Political back deals, bribery, infighting, loud mouthed-power brokers with unintended comedy…no, we are not talking about what’s happening in Washington DC now.  Garson Kanin’s classic comedy/drama has never been more relevant.

Born Yesterday

By Garson Kanin

Directed by Alex Oleksij

Millionaire businessman Harry Brock comes to Washington determined to become a power behind the scenes. Feeling that his ex-chorus girl girlfriend, Billie Dawn, isn’t sophisticated enough for the Washington DC crowd, he arranges for her “education”. Billie’s educational enlightenment proves to be more than Harry ever bargained for! Garson Kanin’s classic. award-winning comedy, a political take on Pygmalion, remains just as timely and insightful as ever.

March 29, 30, 31, April 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13 / Tickets: $25*

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 3:00pm
*Opening Night, Buy 1, get 1 Free

Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students/seniors, and can be ordered at Brown Paper Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/132855 or by calling our box office at 973-744-9752.

Cast

Harry Brock – Ken Budris

Billie Dawn – Julie Anne Nolan

Paul Verrall – Robert Barwick

Ed Devery – Rick Brown

Eddie Brock – Scott Guzzo

Senator Hedges – Dickson Lane

Mrs. Hedges – Jean M. Kuras

Assistant Manager – Nelson Valentin

Bellhop/Barber – Joshua T. Crockett

Maid/Manicurist – Sev

Looking for New Jersey family friendly things to do in February? Check out Studio Players’ Cinderella or the Story of Bigfoot. We have entertainment options that your whole family can attend.

Cinderella or the Story of Bigfoot

By Elizabeth Ely Moreno

Directed by Mirit Skeen

In this goofy retelling of the traditional Cinderella story, Ella Le Grand not only has to contend with her evil stepmother, but she also has to deal with her feet. They aren’t dainty princess feet; they’re huge! All’s well that ends well as our tale shows that true beauty comes from within, and that it’s not just okay to be yourself, in fact it’s the only way to be.

February 23, 24, March 2, 3 / Tickets $10

Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 and 3:30

Tickets are $10 and can be ordered at Brown Paper Tickets or by calling our box office at 973-744-9752.

Looking for family friendly fun in Montclair, NJ? Look no further than Studio Players Production of Rapunzel.

Rapunzel

Adapted by Karen Boettcher-Tate

Directed by Beatriz Esteban-Messina

Well-known characters from the classic story mingle with delightful new characters to answer your long-asked questions: HOW did Rapunzel end up in the tower? WHY is the witch so protective of her? WHERE did the prince come from? WILL her parents like the prince? And most important of all, just WHAT the heck is a “Rapunzel”?

May 11, 12, 18, 19 / Tickets $10

Performances at 1:30 and 3:30

Tickets are $10 and can be ordered at Brown Paper Tickets or by calling our box office at 973-744-9752.

CAST

Paul Bettys 
Charlotte Bowe 
Joshua Crockett
Helen Exel 
Donna Fraissinet 
John Fraissinet
Rowan Iamble 
Amanda Jean
Caitlin Leon 
Heidi Lieb
Nikko Lieb 
Miranda Montalvo 
Jack Pignatello 
Natalie Smith

Into the Woods

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Lapine

Directed by Ben Liebert, Music Direction by Brian Michalowski

What happened to the simpler times when we were kids, before life got complicated and our
innocence was just a memory? In this new take on the Sondheim and Lapine classic musical,
that’s the question we’re looking to answer. Join the Librarian as she intertwines classic fairy tale characters to look at our childhood hopes and dreams and what happens when children listen.

November 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 / Tickets: $25*

Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 3:00pm
*Opening Night, Buy 1, get 1 Free

Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students/seniors, and can be ordered at Brown Paper Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/132855 or by calling our box office at 973-744-9752.

CAST

Narrator – Susan Holtz

Cinderella/Rapunzel – Natasha Sydor

Jack/Steward – Kevin Ohlweiler

Baker – Kay Koch

Baker’s Wife – Lauren Taylor Berkman

Little Red/Stepmother – Krista Gonzalez

Cinderella’s Prince/Lucinda – Michael Smith-Gallo

Rapunzel’s Prince/Florinda – Adam Ziering

Jack’s Mother/Mysterious Man/Granny/Cinderella’s Father – Jessica Katz

Witch – E. Dale Smith-Gallo

Studio Players is currently seeking director applications for its 83rd season. Below is an application to apply. If you have any questions, please contact our Vice-President, Janet Sales at janetsales@comcast.net.

The deadline to apply is December 1, 2018.

Directors Application 2019.2020 season

Don’t miss the sequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as Studio Players in Montclair presents a great show that’s fun for the whole family. We continue with our 82 season providing quality theatre at affordable prices right here in New Jersey.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Based on the book by Roald Dahl

Dramatized by Richard R. George

Directed by John Fraissinet

The adventure continues! In Roald Dahl’s sequel to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket pick up the story right where it ended… in the sky in a Glass Elevator. Chaos ensues as astronauts, a pompous head-of-state, and even space aliens challenge the gang’s return to the Chocolate Factory. 

There will be Wonka bars for sale each show. One will even have a Golden Ticket inside. Check out our first Golden ticket winner posing with the cast.

Sept 29, 30, Oct 6, 7

Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 and 3:30/Tickets $10

Tickets are $10 and can be ordered at Brown Paper Tickets or by calling our box office at 973-744-9752.

CAST

Packy Anderson – Lincoln Boyes – Beatriz Esteban-Messina -Helen Exel Lisa Geerhart – Adam Gelles – Allyssa Hynes – Aaron Kellner – Russ Meyer – Denise Organisciak – Alexis Saarela – Victoria Scott – Claire Thornton Emma Thornton – Karen Thornton – Simon Thornton- Kieran Wells

The Guys

By Anne Nelson

A Staged reading Supporting the 9/11 Fund

September 7 at 8:00 pm and September 9 at 3:00 pm

Tickets $20, Supporting Studio Players and 9/11 first responders https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3512574

How does a fire captain find the words to eulogize the men he lost on 9/11? Join us for a staged reading of the show critics called, “A courageous and riveting… play that tackles the horror of September 11th with an intimacy that’s both unsettling and healing.”

Featuring the talents of Robert Barwick and Claudia Budris. Directed by Bill O’Brien.

Schedule the week of August 19 and onwards:

Monday, Aug 20:

1–Earlier in the day Monday, continued drying out and remaining demolition of water logged drywall, wood racks, etc.

2–4:00 All hands on deck to load dumpster number 3!

3–Monday later afternoon work by Dry Ease (professional water remediation company) – this process will take about a week we believe.

Much of the donation money is going towards this remediation. We could still use a helping hand. Your donations are tax deductible. Donate online at our website via PayPal https://studioplayhouse.org/ or mail a check to Studio Players 14 Alvin Place Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

We will then get the boiler and electrics work estimated and going – we will have to turn off the power during the electric work.

We will move forward from there rebuilding the scene shop and dressing rooms:

We have received generous offers of some building material when it is safe to rebuild the downstairs dressing rooms and shop.

We are so grateful for the three dumpsters that have been provided to us by Champion Waste Removal (owners Louis and Michell Mauriello) at very little cost to us. We are guess that over 50,000 lbs of debris will have been removed…in other words, roughly 90% of our prop, furniture, door, window, and molding stock.

Items that we have salvaged are in storage pod donated by Mr. Silver.

We are also eternally grateful for a sizeable donation from generous supporter of the arts and the local community who wishes to remain anonymous.

We estimate that the remediation, repair/replace of the furnace, hot water heater, sinks, bathroom and rebuild the shop and dressing rooms will be close to $40,000 in the end. And that’s before we get to replacing our stock of furniture and building supplies and paint.

Fortunately we have had several offers of furniture,and folks are holding on to items for us because we quite literally have no place to put any donations until the work on the downstairs is completed.

Our first four shows, had their sets either stored in other locations and/or we’ve found some creative solutions. So…OUR SEASON IS A GO!!!!!! BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW TO:

The Guys (staged reading)

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Into the Woods

A Charlie Brown Christmas

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/132855

On behalf of Studio Players, we just want to take a moment to thank the Montclair community for rallying to our side.

We have had an outpouring of people helping us from folks we’ve never met before pitching in onsite, to donating funds, to offering to hold onto furniture until we are ready to start rebuilding our stock. What a COMMUNITY, and Studio Players as Montclair’s 80-year-old community theatre is so grateful.

Since Monday we have filled two dumpsters, each weighing roughly 10,000lbs, that’s 10 tons of waterlogged debris.

A third dumpster will arrive either late Friday or next week. Storage pods arriving shortly to hold what we have salvaged.

You can see photos on our Facebook page. Our revised schedule is below if you can help, we are at 14 Alvin Place Upper Montclair right next to the Acme.

Friday: No work, we all need sleep and rest

Saturday: 12:00-5:00 mostly moving stuff into the storage pods, but possible more clean up.

Next week TBA

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who has helped either physically onsite, by spreading the word, by donations, you are making a difference. If you would like to donate, you can either use the PayPal button in the front page of our website, or send a check to Studio Players, 14 Alvin Place, Upper Montclair, NJ, 07043.

SCHEDULE CHANGE: SCHEDULE MODIFIED DUE TO DUMPSTER PICK UP AND A NEW ONE COMING IN: We will organize a work group for today WEDNESDAY from 5 to 8 to continue removing all the damaged materials, and tomorrow THURSDAY have another 3 till dark to fill the new dumpster.

An update on our situation. We have obtained the donation of a dumpster thanks the generosity of Louis and Michell Mauriello (owners of Champion Waste Removal in Montclair) who heard about our plight and decided to help. See details on the NBC video and this post to find out what happened.

 

With the dumpster arriving tomorrow (AUGUST 14), work will begin at 3:00pm and continue until dark

Please invite all the people who have been involved with us and all who wish to assist.

If they can’t lift heavy things there are many other ways to help. Dress in old clothing you don’t mind getting dirty and wear closed shoes for safety.

We have not even begun on the prop room where we think there are salvageable items which are in need of sorting and cleaning.

I need a few people with good with spatial relation skills to help supervise the load of the dumpster effectively, we can’t just throw stuff in willy nilly.

Work will continue daily until we are done, at a minimum throughout the weekend and possibly the rest of the month.

Thank you to all who have been here, all who are working at home or work getting us noticed.

Tune in to NBC news at 4 to see Amy Fox and Bill O’Brien talking with Chris Glorioso covering our disaster!!

Even with the donated dumpster there will be many expenses: replacing the dump sink, shelving, possible repairs on heating system, electricity to run fans 24/7 and that’s before we even get to think about replacing lost furniture, paint, and props. Please encourage folks to donate if they are able details here. It’s tax deductible https://studioplayhouse.org/…/montclairs-studio…/

NBC 4 covered our story: