Unmasking The George Street Playhouse

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 9:40pm

They've trademarked that they are "World-Class Theatre in New Jersey" (tm) but when I look at their offerings this season and next they are almost the same exact shows I have seen listed in the various cities I travel for work, from Hartford to Atlanta, and Providence and beyond. The only thing missing is "Xanadu."

Anybody ever been and is it the same old same old? Their artistic director is addicted to exclamation points!

Updated On: 6/3/12 at 09:40 PM

[once a month]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 1:50pm

I find it to be an intimate theatre, all good seats. Sorry I just missed their The 39 Steps with Howard McGillan last month, but they do try. Loved their Falsettos with Liz Larson and their Sylvia with Boyd Gaines was extremely funny and heartwarming.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 2:35pm

You mean "Sylvia" with Rachel Dratch, right?

[once a month]

Posted: 6/5/12 at 11:15am

Yes, thank you, Rachel Dratch! She was the headliner, but being that I hadn't seen SNL in eons her name escaped me. I do recall Boyd Gaines, merely due to the fact I've seen him so often over the years.

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 6/5/12 at 11:47am

I've been there a few times. Have seen Falsettos, The Last 5 Years, Souvenir and this season, It Shoulda Been You.

Always enjoy seeing a show in this space, and the fact that it's only a 10-15 minute drive doesn't hurt, either!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/5/12 at 11:58am

Sounds like they place their emphasis on sure-bet crowd-pleasers.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/5/12 at 12:10pm

It is a fine space. But the level or artistry is more like third tier commercial wannabe local theater.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 10:10am

Didn't they used to present new works - Premieres that later played Off-Broadway?

[morosco]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 10:19am

The upcoming season doesn't look like typical "appeal to the masses" programming.

One Slight Hitch
October 5 - October 28, 2012
Dearly beloved, fasten your seatbelts! A smart modern farce from The Daily Show’s Lewis Black. Life in suburban Cincinnati circa 1981 is good for Doc and Delia Coleman on the morning they plan to throw their eldest daughter the lavish wedding they never had, until one slight hitch wreaks glorious havoc on all of their plans. A riotous and strangely romantic ride through the deconstruction of one family's equilibrium, from one of the most prolific and popular stand-up comedian/actor/authors working today.

Ken Ludwig's The Game's Afoot
November 13 - December 9, 2012
Join us for murder, mayhem and a crazy Christmas Eve at Connecticut’s famously eccentric Gillette Mansion! When one of his party guests turns up dead, it’s “elementary “ that acclaimed actor William Gillette would don his Sherlock Holmes cap and employ the persona of the master detective to solve this holiday whodunit with a healthy dose of festive fun. A murder mystery comedy (for the holidays) from the author of George Street Playhouse hit productions Lend Me a Tenor and The Fox on the Fairway.

Good People
January 29 - February 24, 2012
Welcome to Southie, a Boston neighborhood where a night on the town means a few rounds of bingo… where this month’s paycheck covers last month’s bills… and where Margie Walsh has just been let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break, Margie thinks an old fling who's made it out of Southie might be her ticket to a fresh new start. But is this apparently self-made man secure enough to face his humble beginnings? Margie is about to risk what little she has left to find out.

Rich Girl
March 12 - April 7, 2013
For the first time in her life, Claudine has toppled head-over-heels in love. But her celebrity-financial-guru mother has obvious misgivings about her daughter’s amorous entanglements with Henry -- an artist with rugged good looks, just enough charisma and a negative bank balance. But does money matter when happiness is on the line? A modern day adaptation of Henry James' Washington Square, Rich Girl is a clever and hip new comedy about women and their relationship to men, mothers and money - in that order.

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 10:20am

They did do Toxic Avenger before it went to New World Stages. I forgot I saw that, also. I knew I was missing something.

Updated On: 6/6/12 at 10:20 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 11:33am

I do love Lewis Black. Looks like "Good People" is this year's "Red" for local companies.