Centenary Stage's Black Box Festival Begins with A COUPLE OF BLAGUARDS, 11/1

The second annual Black Box Festival, held in the Edith Bolte Kutz Theatre, begins November 1st with an act that brings an old world charm, filling the stage with lively stories based on the lives of two Irishmen blessed with the gift of gab. A Couple of Blaguards is a two-character comedy, created by the brothers Frank McCourt and Malachy McCourt, best known for their literary works Angela's Ashes and A Monk Swimming. The McCourt brothers tell the tale of their early lives in Ireland and their successful escape to America.

Stage and screen veterans, Howard Platt and Jarlath Conroy take on the roles of the McCourt brothers in this memoir full of comedic, yet heartfelt tales of the past. Howard Platt, playing Malachy McCourt, is a show business veteran of more than 37 years. Jarlath Conroy, playing Frank McCourt, has credits in television, film, and on and off Broadway. The two actors craft a vaudevillian act full of comedy, Irish songs, and a gallery of relatives, rogues, and fools.

The Hamilton Spectator says, "Conroy and Platt are so good at conveying the hearts and minds of the rascally McCourts that they take what might be a simply pleasant evening of Irish poetry, recollection and song, and turn it into a fully fleshed drama."

A Couple of Blaguards runs November 1st-4th in the Edith Bolte Kutze Theatre at the David and Carol Lackland Center in Hackettstown. To purchase tickets or to find more information on other CSC shows, visit www.centenarystageco.org, or call (908) 979-0900.

**HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF: $5 from every ticket sale for "A Couple of Blaguards" this weekend, November 3rd & 4th, will go the Red Cross. We are also collecting canned goods to supply local food banks who are providing relief for Hurricane Sandy victims.

Other shows in the Black Box Festival include Parallel Exit's Room 17B running November 8-11th and Bill Bowers' Under a Montana Moon running November 15th-18th.

Tickets for shows in the Black Box Festival range from $17.50 to 27.50 with discounts for students and seniors. Performance times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Every Thursday night is "Family Night," which offers a 2-for-1 rush ticket price when purchased at the door. CSC also offers several different packages, such as a Pick Five Flex Pass for $110, to purchase tickets for multiple shows at a discounted price. Patrons are encouraged to check the age recommendation for individual shows.

The Centenary Stage Company is a not-for-profit professional equity theatre, in residence at Centenary College, dedicated to serving as a cultural resource for audiences of the Skylands Region with professional music, theatre and dance events and arts education programs throughout the year. Performances at the Centenary Stage Company are made possible through the visionary support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, and CSC members, friends and sponsors, including Premier Sponsor Heath Village, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Regional Medical Center and The Holiday Inn, and Series sponsors, Fulton Bank, and Mamas and Café Baci.

Pictured: Howard Platt and Jarlath Conroy in A Couple of Blaguards

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