New Jersey Rep Presents PUMA Through April 3

What happens when two heavenly bodies collide? That is exactly what we encounter in Puma, a new play that explores the life-long, obsessive and tempestuous love affair between Marlene Dietrich, the German actress who became a Hollywood icon, and Erich Maria Remarque, the celebrated author of All's Quiet On The Western Front. Performances are Thursdays thru Sundays now thru April 3 at the New Jersey Repertory Company, 179 Broadway, Long Branch. For tickets call 732-229-3166 or visit www.njrep.org.

This compelling play is based on the personal diaries of Erich Maria Remarque that had been kept in a vault for years and were translated from the German and made accessible for the first time to Julie Gilbert, one of the playwrights. As a result it reveals previously unknown details about the lives of many of Hollywood's most famous personalities. The authors are seasoned writers. Julie Gilbert was born into a literary and theatrical family. Her mother was the actress, Janet Fox, and her great aunt was the renowned writer, Edna Ferber. Julie is a novelist and biographer who was nominated for a National Book Critic's Circle Award for her biography, Ferber, and also received a Pulitzer Prize nomination for Opposite Attraction: The Lives Of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard. Frank Evans is the lyricist for the off-Broadway musical, Abie's Island Rose and Back Home, The War Brides Musical.

The Cast of Puma
Puma is directed by NJ Rep's Artistic Director, Suzanne Barabas and stars Ylfa Edelstein (Marlene Dietrich), John FitzGibbon (Erich Maria Remarque), Christopher Vettel (James Stewart), Natalie Wilder (Paulette Goddard).