New Season at Firehouse Theater Announced

The Bergen County Players recently announced their 2011-12 season at the Little Firehouse Theatre in Oradell, and local patrons of the arts will be in for a treat. The seven main stage productions and two second stage shows feature a Broadway musical, a Dramatic Play, a fairy tale, Romantic Comedy, three more comedies, another musical and a critically acclaimed drama.

Main Stage

The season kicks off with William Finn's Broadway musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" to be directed by Larry Landsman from Sept. 10 through Oct. 2.

The show's Tony Award-winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time. Six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.

Toward the end of October, will be Edward Albee's drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" from Oct. 22 to Nov. 12. Set on the campus of a small New England college, George and Martha invite a new professor and his wife home for a nightcap. As the cocktails flow, the young couple finds themselves caught in the crossfire of a savage marital war where the combatants attack the self deceptions they forged for their own survival.

The annual holiday children's production for this year is "Sleeping Beauty" from Nov. 26 to Dec. 18. The classic fairy tale follows a young princess who was cursed by a wicked fairy to die after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle. But the curse was partially abated when the final fairy godmother proclaimed the princess would sleep for 100 years until being awakened by a prince.

Daniel Goldfarb's romantic comedy "Modern Orthodox" will be performed from Jan. 14, 2012 to Feb. 4 and is directed by Steven Bell. In a Manhattan coffee shop, Ben, an Upper West Side financial consultant, meets Hershel, an Orthodox jewel merchant, to buy an engagement ring. Although both men are Jewish, it is their shared religion that instantly divides them. 

For some laughs, check out "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" by Neil Simon from Feb. 18 to March 10. Watch as Barney Cashman, a middle-aged, married nebbish who wants to join the sexual revolution before it's too late fail at three attempts of seduction and adultery.

A three-act comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner" by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman and directed by Bunny Mateosian is set for a March 24 to April 21 performance run.

Set in the small town of Mesalia, Ohio in the weeks leading to Christmas in the 1930s, radio wit Sheridan Whiteside of New York City was invited to dine at the house of factory owner Ernest W. Stanley and his family. But before entering the home, he slips on a patch of ice and injures his hip and is later attended by the absent-minded Dr. Bradley and frantic nurse Miss Preen.

Carol Fisher will direct the May 5 to June 3 production of "Is there life after high school" by Jeffrey Kindley. The musical uses songs and monologues to recall the joys, terrors, envies, hates, and loves that most teenagers experience throughout their four years of high school.

Second Stage Shows

Kurt Vonnegut's "Who Am I This Time" will be performed on Nov. 5 and 6. The short story centers  Harry Nash, who is an extremely shy and characterless small-town man. However, whenever he takes a part in the local, amateur theater production he becomes the character to an overwhelming extent. Soon Helene Shaw, a recent addition to the town, falls in love with Nash - but with his character in the play.

Then on May 19 and 20, Moises Kaufman's critically acclaimed "Laramie Project" comes to the stage. Directed by Alyson Cohn, "Laramie" features over 60 perspectives from the residents of Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998 and the aftermath leading up to and following the trial of Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney.

Ticket and Schedule Information

• All performances take place at The Little Firehouse Theatre at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, home to the Bergen County Players since 1949. Performance times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm
• Those interested in schedules, discount offers and buying tickets for the upcoming season, can log onto BCP’s website at: www.bcplayers.org, visit the box office at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell or call (201) 261-4200.  Visa, Master Card, and American Express accepted.
• Parking is free for patrons at the Park Avenue municipal lot, across the street, one-half block north of the theater.