Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Presents 'Comedy' 4/30

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey begins its 2008 Season with one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, The Comedy of Errors.  The madcap hijinks begin on April 30 and continue through May 18.  The Theatre also announced an addition to its early curtain performances.   Beginning this season, Wednesday evening performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. in addition to early curtains on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m.  Performances are Tuesday through Sundays at The Theatre's Main Stage – the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison.   Regular ticket prices are $29-$53.  Discount ticket packages and subscriptions of 7, 5 or 4 shows are also available.  For tickets or more information, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

 Two sets of identical twins, separated at birth, find themselves in the same city, on the same fast-paced, bewildering day in Shakespeare's riotous farce of wild misadventures and mistaken identities.  Madcap, yet sweet, these improbable antics launch the 2008 season with high and hilarious style.  The play, Shakespeare's shortest and earliest comedy, also inspired the Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse.  

 Nick Cordileone and Greg Jackson play the first set of confounded twins – Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus.   Cordileone returns for his second season at The Shakespeare Theatre having appeared previously in the hit Outdoor Stage production of The Taming of the Shrew.  He has also appeared at such prestigious theatres as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse and The Old Globe.  He is the recipient of two San Diego Critics Circle Awards.   Greg Jackson returns for his eleventh season at The Shakespeare Theatre.  Most recently, he was seen in A Christmas Carol at the Shakespeare Theatre where he also appeared in The Play's The Thing, Othello, and Hamlet, among others.   He also created and starred in the off-Broadway hit Duet with the Adobe Theatre Company. 

 The Comedy of Errors' second set of utterly confused twins are played by Christian Conn as Antipholus of Syracuse and Derek Wilson as Antipholus of Ephesus.  Wilson returns for his fifth season at The Shakespeare Theatre where he has appeared in Henry VI: Blood & Roses, Cymbeline, and The Rivals among others.  He has also appeared in productions at the NYFringe, The Shakespeare Company and the Human Race Theatre Company.   Christian Conn returns for his fourth season at the Shakespeare Theatre.  He has appeared with The Acting Company in Pudd'nhead Wilson and The Taming of The Shrew and in The Idiot at Manhattan Ensemble Theatre.  He has also appeared at Syracuse Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre Company and Cincinnati Playhouse.

One of The Shakespeare Theatre's favorite comedic actors, James Michael Reilly, returns to play the ludicrous conjurer Dr. Finch.  Reilly has appeared in many of the Theatre's great comedies including The Rivals, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night and The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged).   Broadway veteran Mary Dierson returns to play the Abbess.  Dierson appeared on Broadway in Amadeus, The Elephant Man and Dracula.   She also appeared with Meryl Streep in the film Doubt and studied with Salvador Dali.

Playing Adriana, wife of Antipholus of Ephesus who can no longer put up with her husband's games, and Luciana, her sister, are Melissa Condren and Julia Coffey, both making their Shakespeare Theatre debuts.  Coffey has appeared at Shakespeare theatres across the nation including Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.  Condren appeared in several productions at The Old Globe.    John Ahlin returns to the Shakespeare Theatre to play the goldsmith Angelo.   Ahlin appeared on Broadway in the 2007 Tony Award-winning Journey's End as well as The Lieutenant of Inishmore. 

Rounding out the cast of 19 are Richard Bourg, Raphael Nash Thompson, Deirdre Da Silva, Michael Pauley, Philip Mutz, Sarah Miller, Frank Copeland, Vladimi Versailles, Garret Gallinot, Michael Pauley, and Michael Striano.  

Madison, New Jersey native Stephen Fried makes his Shakespeare Theatre Main Stage directing debut with The Comedy of Errors.  Fried had his first exposure to Shakespeare in an after-school program provided by The Shakespeare Theatre nearly 20 years ago.   After spending several summers in the Theatre's education programs for young people, Fried attended Stanford University studying drama and history.   He then attended the prestigious Yale School of Drama where he received an MFA in directing.   For the past 3 years, Fried served as the Resident Assistant Director at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC where assisted renowned directors including Michael Kahn, Ethan McSweeny and Stephen Wadsworth.  He recently directed productions at Illinois Shakespeare Festival and Milwaukee Shakespeare and directed The Ghosts of Edwin Booth, which he co-created, at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

Tickets to The Comedy of Errors are now on sale.   Discount ticket packages offering a choice of 7, 5, or 4 plays at reduced prices are also available.  For tickets or more information, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.    Single tickets include a $1 facility fee, not subject to discount.

Performances of The Comedy of Errors begin with Previews on Wednesday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 1 at 8 p.m. and Friday May 2 at 8 p.m.   These Preview performances offer opportunities for reduced-priced tickets while enjoying the excitement of the very first performances in front of an audience.   As always, the first preview performance is Pay What You Wish night.   Visit The Shakespeare Theatre Box Office between noon and curtain on April 30 and name your own admission price for that evening's 7:30 preview performance (regularly $29 to $33, offer subject to availability).

 Calling all twins!   Friday, May 2 at 8 p.m. is Twin Night at The Shakespeare Theatre.    Twins who attend the performance that evening can purchase one ticket and get the second for their twin for free!  

 For no more than the cost of a regular ticket, Symposium Series performances include the additional treat of a post-play discussion with the cast and artistic staff, on Tuesday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 10 at 2:00 p.m.  

 On Thursday, May 8, The Shakespeare Theatre presents the popular education program Know the Show. From 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., artists from The Shakespeare Theatre will present a pre-performance talk that provides background information and an insider's perspective on The Comedy of Errors. General admission is $5 for the general public, $4 for ticket package holders. Tickets to that evening's 8:00 p.m. performance may be purchased separately for $42 or $46.

In addition to regular public performances, The Shakespeare Theatre will present special Student Matinee performances of The Comedy of Errors for school groups.  Student Matinees are at 10:30 a.m.  Tickets to these school-time performances are only $15 per person for student groups, including a post-show discussion with the actors and a comprehensive study guide for each teacher.  For Student Matinee reservations and more information, call 973-408-3980 or e-mail JBGrant@ShakespeareNJ.org

Creating the world of The Comedy of Errors are set designer Wilson Chin, lighting designer Charlie Morrison, and costume designer Alixandra Englund.  Kathy Snyder serves as production stage manager.    

Preview performances of The Comedy of Errors are Wednesday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday and Friday, May 1 and 2 at 8:00 p.m., offering the thrill of seeing a work-in-progress before the show officially opens.  Preview tickets are $29 to $33.

 Additional performances are Tuesdays and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. (excluding Opening Night at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 3); Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.; and Sundays, at 7:00 p.m.  

 Regular ticket prices range from $38 to $53 depending upon seating location and performance day and time. Single tickets prices include a $1 facility fee, not subject to discount.   Groups of 10 or more save up to 25% off the regular ticket price. 

 Patrons can save up to 45% off regular ticket prices by purchasing discount Ticket Packages that allow ticket buyers to select seven, five or four plays of their choice at discount prices.   Ticket Packages also offer additional benefits such as discounts on additional tickets and free and flexible ticket exchange privileges.  Patrons may also select FlexPasses -- discounted vouchers that are redeemed for tickets during the season.   Ticket packages start at $72.

 The 2008 Main Season also features the Amadeus by Peter Shaffer.  Witness the genius and madness of one of the greatest composers the world has ever known in a play that intrigues, incites and inspires.    Featuring Broadway veteran Robert Cuccioli, Amadeus runs May 28 through June 22.   Amadeus is made possible by a generous gift from the Pamela and Bill Craven Charitable Fund.

 Shakespeare's King Lear runs July 2 through July 27.  Renowned actor Daniel Davis (from television's The Nanny) brings the great anti-hero to life in this towering masterpiece where fools and madmen lead the blind. 

 Noel Coward's comedy Private Lives begins performances on August 6 and runs through August 31.  Coward's deliciously witty expose of "private lives" follows two couples from the shores of the French Riviera to a chic, Parisian pied-a-terre where the marital fireworks explode in a riotous display of verbal and physical comedy. 

The Fall portion of the season begins with Tennessee William's tour de force A Streetcar Named Desire running September 10 through October 5.  Williams' magnificent play of sensuality and fragility, cruelty and broken souls, has given the world the immortal Blanche du Bois, played in this production by the dazzling star of Broadway and film, Laila Robins.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet begins performances on October 15 and continues to November 16.   One of the most tragic and beautiful love stories ever penned – as wrenching a tale for old as it is for young – it has been nearly a decade since its brilliant characters and poetry illuminated The Shakespeare Theatre stage.

The season concludes with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale running December 3 through December 28.   The first of Shakespeare's great romances, The Winter's Tale provides a perfect holiday finale, for it is a play that celebrates the triumph of love, nobility and all things good, and ends with the promise of rejuvenation, redemption, and hope.  

The Shakespeare Theatre will once again present Shakespeare under-the-stars at its Outdoor Stage – the Greek Theatre at the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station.     The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) will run June 18 through July 20.  A multitude of side-splitting Shakespeare "riffs" will leave audiences of all ages rolling in the aisles, functioning as cheering sections and tapping their toes in rhythm to the percussive "music" of iambic pentameter as three wild and crazy actors take us on a rollercoaster ride through the Bard's canon.    Ticket for The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) are now on sale.  Tickets are $31 for adults and $16 for children.  Single tickets include a $1 facility fee, not subject to discount.   The Outdoor Stage is sponsored by Bank of America.  

 For more information about the season, to receive a free brochure, or to purchase tickets and ticket packages, call the box office at 973-0-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.  

 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Main Stage, the 308-seat F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, is conveniently located in Madison at 36 Madison Avenue (Route 124) at Lancaster Road (on the Drew University campus), just minutes from routes 287, 78 and 10. Parking is free.   The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre is barrier free with access into the theatre via a ramp and elevator access to all floors.   Wheelchair seating and transfer seating is available.  Braille and large print programs are available.   Infrared listening devices are available free of charge.  Some performances are audio described, captioned and sign-language interpreted.  Contact the theatre for more information.   For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

The acclaimed Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is an independent, professional theatre company located on the Drew University campus. One of the leading Shakespeare theatres in the nation, serving 100,000 adults and children annually, it is New Jersey's only professional theatre company dedicated solely to Shakespeare's canon and other world classics. Through its distinguished productions and education programs, the company strives to illuminate the universal and lasting relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences.

 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's programs are made possible, in part, by funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.  Additional major support is received from The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the F. M. Kirby Foundation, The Edward T. Cone Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and Drew University, as well as contributions from numerous corporations, foundations, government agencies and individuals. American Airlines is the official airline of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Crystal Rock Water is the company's official water provider. Barefoot Wine is the official wine provider.  The 2007 Outdoor Stage production of The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) is sponsored by Bank of America.

 

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