New Jersey Repertory Company Presents FERN HILL

By: Jun. 26, 2018
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New Jersey Repertory Company Presents FERN HILL New Jersey Repertory Company, located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, is proud to present the premiere of Fern Hill by Michael Tucker (L.A. Law, Radio Days), from August 9 through September 9, 2018.

Fern Hill is helmed by Australian director, Nadia Tass, and stars Jill Eikenberry (L.A. Law, Moonchildren), John Glover (Smallville, Waiting for Godot), Dee Hoty (Bright Star, Mamma Mia!), Jodi Long (Sullivan and Son, The Hot Chick, Splash), Tom McGowan (Frasier, Wicked, Chicago), and David Rasche (Speed-the-Plow, Veep, Burn After Reading).

Three couples in their golden years are gathered at Sunny and Jer's farmhouse to celebrate milestone birthdays that span three decades. The foundation of their long friendship is honesty and support - as well as a commitment to the enjoyment of food, wine, and laughter. They're so close that Sunny suggests they all move in together - to live and work and assist one another as they grow older. Their companionship is put to the test, however, when a marital betrayal is discovered. The bonds of loyalty and truth are explored in this mature comedy.

Tickets, Subscriptions, Reservations Fern Hill runs August 9 through September 9, 2018. Previews are Thursday and Friday, August 9 and 10 at 8:00 PM, and Saturday, August 11 at 3:00 PM. Opening night with reception is Saturday, August 11 at 8:00 PM. Regular performances are Thursdays, Fridays 8:00 PM; Saturdays 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM; Sundays 2:00 PM.

Tickets are $50 (opening night with reception $60; premium seating + $5). All tickets may be subject to a service charge. Annual subscriptions are $225 per person. For tickets or additional information call 732-229-3166 or visit www.njrep.org.

Michael Tucker (Playwright) is an actor, author, and playwright. His first play, The M Spot debuted at New Jersey Repertory Company. His short play, Pittsburgh was presented at last year's West End Festival of the Arts 2017, and another short play, Zazú will be presented at the same festival in 2018. He has also written three memoirs and a novel, After Annie. Michael has acted over the last fifty years in theater, TV and film, most notably in the TV Series, L.A. Law.

Nadia Tass (Director) Awarded, Screen Leader Award for Outstanding Leadership, Achievement and Services to the Screen Industry, Nadia Tass is one of Australia's most iconoclastic directors of both stage and screen, well-known internationally, for directing films, including the Australian classics Malcolm and The Big Steal, Amy, and Matching Jack. She has garnered 69 awards for her body of work. Nadia has directed films and high-end television for the BBC and in the US for Universal Studios, Disney, Warner Bros, CBS, including the ratings hit The Miracle Worker for ABC, and three American Girl movies. She was honored by the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles with a retrospective of her work. Nadia's experience as theatre director is extensive and diverse, ranging from improvised, classic, to contemporary, and musical theatre. In 2018 she directed Sex and Other Disturbances for Portland Stage (Maine), Sorting Out Rachel for Ensemble Theatre (Sydney,). Amongst her extensive work in theatre, she has directed the American plays Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar, The Other Place by Sharr White for Melbourne Theatre Company, Annie Baker plays The Flick, The Aliens and an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya for Red Stitch Theatre. She also directed commercial musicals Promises, Promises and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which toured Aust., NZ, and Asia. Fern Hill marks Nadia Tass' debut with NJ Rep.

Jill Eikenberry: Broadway - Moonchildren, All Over Town, Watch on The Rhine, Summer Brave and Onward Victoria. Off Broadway - Uncommon Women and Others, Eccentricities of A Nightingale, Save Grand Central, Life Under Water (Obie Award), Lemon Sky (Obie Award), A Picasso, Enter Laughing - the Musical, The Kid, (Drama Desk nomination), Be A Good Little Widow, Jericho, and An Evening at the Talk House by Wally Shawn. Regional - The M Spot by Michael Tucker, and multiple productions of Love Letters by A.R Gurney. Film - Between The Lines, Butch and Sundance, Arthur, Rich Kids, Hide in Plain Sight, The Manhattan Project, Something Borrowed, and Young Adult with Charlize Theron. TV - L.A. Law- 8 seasons - (5 Emmy nominations and 1 Golden Globe Award), Chantilly Lace, An Inconvenient Woman, Judging Amy, Law and Order, Body of Proof.

John Glover: Broadway: Saint Joan, The Cherry Orchard, Macbeth, Death of A Salesman, The Royal Family, Waiting for Godot (Tony Nomination), The Drowsy Chaperone, Give Me Your Answer, Do!, Love! Valour! Compassion! (Tony Award), Tartuffe. Off Broadway (Select Credits): Fire and Air, Troilus and Cressida, Nikolai and the Others, The Paris Letter (Drama League Award, Drama Desk Nomination). Television (Select Credits): Smallville, Brimstone, Frasier, (Emmy Nom.) An Early Frost (Emmy Nom.), Crime and Punishment (Emmy Nom.), Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder (Emmy Nom.), L.A. Law (Emmy Nom.) Film: over 35 films including Payback, Batman and Robin, Love! Valour Compassion!, Gremlins II, Scrooged, The Chocolate War, Masquerade, 52 Pick-Up, White Nights, Melvin and Howard, Julia, and Annie Hall.

Dee Hoty: Broadway: Bright Star, Gigi, Mamma Mia!, City of Angels (Outer Critic's Circle nomination) as well as Tony Award nominations for her roles in Will Rogers Follies, Footloose, and Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public. Regional Theatre: The Kennedy Center, Two River Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Cleveland Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Hartford Stage Co., Walnut Street Theatre, San Jose Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Paper Mill Playhouse. Television: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Sinner, Elementary, Smash, Law and Order. Film: I.E.D., The Chaperone. BA in Speech & Theatre, plus Honorary Doctor of Arts from Otterbein University.

Jodi Long made her Broadway debut at age 7 in Nowhere To Go But Up directed by Sidney Lumet, the first of 5 Broadway shows: Loose Ends with Kevin Kline, The Bacchae with Irene Papas, Stephen Sondheim's Getting Away With Murder and the revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, for which she won an Ovation Award at The Mark Taper Forum. Lincoln Center, Public Theater, Roundabout, MTC, ranging from Wasserstein to Shakespeare to originating 5 David Hwang plays. Film: Beginners with Ewan McGregor, Patty Hearst, Sour Sweet, The Hot Chick, Striking Distance and Rollover with Jane Fonda. TV: Okcha in Sullivan And Son, Margaret Cho's mother in All American Girl, Cafe American, Falling Water. Jodi wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary Long Story Short about her vaudevillian parents. Her one-woman show, Surfing DNA, garnered her an Ovation Nomination for Best Solo Performance and will be presented at NJ Rep next season.

Tom McGowan: Broadway: Wicked, She Loves Me, Casa Valentina, Chicago, Ivanov, La Bete (Tony and Drama Desk noms.) Off-Broadway: The Food Chain (OBIE). West End: Wicked. Television: Uncle Jax on The Good Fight, Kenny on Frasier, Bernie on Everybody Loves Raymond, Veep, Modern Family, CSI, ER, Curb Your Enthusiasm. Film: Freeheld, The Birdcage, Heavyweights, Ghost World, Bad Santa, As Good As It Gets, Bean, Family Man. MFA, Yale. BFA, Hofstra.

David Rasche began his career at Chicago's Second City. Broadway credits: Speed-The-Plow by David Mamet, Lunch Hour with Gilda Radner (dir. Mike Nichols), Loose Ends by Michael Weller. Off-Broadway: Thornton Wilder's Skin of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience), Kenneth Lin's Warrior Class (Second Stage), Chekhov's The Seagull at CSC (Richard Seff Award), Regrets Only by Paul Rudnick (Manhattan Theater Club), Mamet's Edmond (Atlantic). TV credits: recurring roles on HBO series Succession and Veep. Also recurred on Bored to Death with Ted Danson and Jason Horwitch's Rubicon. He has appeared on shows from Miami Vice to Monk. He played the titular role in the series Sledge Hammer. Films include: My Cousin Sister's Wedding, In the Loop (Armando Iannucci), Burn After Reading (Coen Brothers), Men in Black III (Sonnenfeld), Flags of our Fathers (Clint Eastwood), Flight 93 (Paul Greengrass), The Sentinel (with Michael Douglas).


Fern Hill was developed during a residency at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference in 2017. Executive Director, Preston Whiteway. Artistic Director, Wendy C. Goldberg.



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