LUNAR ECLIPSE to Make NJ Premiere Timed to Real Lunar Eclipse

Opening night of East Lynne Theater Company's New Jersey premiere of Donald Margulies' Lunar Eclipse will share the evening with the celestial event that inspired it. On Aug. 27, as audiences experience the story inside the Clemans Theater for the Arts at the Historic Allen AME, a partial lunar eclipse will unfold in the sky above Cape May and continue into the early hours of Aug. 28. Following the opening performance, Cape May Astro will provide a live, high-definition view of the eclipse from the theater's parking lot as part of the opening-night celebration. The production runs through Sept. 20.

Directed by East Lynne Executive Director Mark David Boberick, who also created the scenic design, Boberick is the co-creator and chief creative director of Petals Floral Design & Gifts, established in Wildwood in 2013, and is known throughout the region for his work in floral, interior and theatrical design. Lunar Eclipse marks his theatrical directing debut. The production features lighting design by Kirstin Ritch, original music by Mark Lehnowsky and production stage management by Ben Simonetty.

Lunar Eclipse follows George and Em, a long-married couple who watch the stages of a lunar eclipse from their family farm. As the moon moves through Earth's shadow, memories surface and long-held truths emerge, revealing the moments that have defined their life together. What begins as a simple evening of stargazing becomes a profound exploration of love, commitment, loss, and the enduring mysteries of marriage.

Real-life couple Andy Prosky and Rita Rehn star as George and Em. Prosky, the son of the late actor Robert Prosky, has appeared in the films Up Close & Personal, Men in Black and Mrs. Doubtfire and on television in Blue Bloods, John Adams and Law & Order. His extensive stage credits include King Lear, Noises Off and Born Yesterday. Rehn appeared on Broadway in A Chorus Line and Nine and is a two-time New Jersey theater critics' award recipient, honored for both Best Actress and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her television credits include The Blacklist and Chicago Fire, among others. Prosky and Rehn have a summer home in Cape May Point.

Margulies, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Dinner with Friends, is celebrated for finding extraordinary emotional depth in everyday life. In Lunar Eclipse, he captures the humor, tenderness and complexity shared by two people over a lifetime.

'I wish I could claim we planned it, but the coincidence of a real lunar eclipse is completely genuine,' said Boberick. 'We had selected the play, scheduled the production and secured the rights before I discovered that opening night would fall on the night of an actual lunar eclipse. For a play about love, loss and the mysteries we live with, it feels as though nature has become part of the production.'

The Marquee Producers of Lunar Eclipse are Petals Floral Design & Gifts, the Dr. Laura Bell Foundation, Nicholas Nastasi, Mark Sucher and Jane Lyons.