Theatre & Dance
Photo of In The Heights
JCTC and NJCU presents:
Lines in the Dust By Nikkole Salter
Thursday, November 7, Friday, November 8 & Saturday, November 9, 8:00 p.m.
West Side Theatre
Tickets: $25, Students: $5
When Denitra loses the charter school lottery
for her daughter, she must find another way to escape from their underperforming neighborhood school. The answer seems like a risk well worth taking, but may end up requiring a bigger sacrifice than she ever could have imagined. Set in 2010 in Essex County, NJ - over a half-century after Brown Versus The Board of Education, LINES IN THE DUST questions how far we’ve come and more importantly, where we go from here. (Luna Stage Commission)
Past Events
First Annual Festival of Independent Theatre Companies
Highlighting five NY and NJ independent theatre companies/ playwrights and celebrating the work they do. Plus Saturday workshops!
COMPANIES: Art House Productions, The Greenhouse Ensemble, Jersey City Theatre Center (JCTC), Speranza Theatre Company, and The 9th Floor.
LOCATION: West Side Theatre, 285 West Side Avenue
PARKING: Parking is available in the NJCU garage located on Culver Avenue, between JFK Boulevard and West Side Avenue. The cost is $10.
To get from the parking lot to the West Side Theatre, you can walk across the campus to the shuttle stop shelters located in Lot 4 on Audubon Avenue next to the Professional Studies building. There will be an NJCU Shuttle making loops between this shelter and the West Side Theatre from 7:15pm - 8pm and again between 10:30 pm – 11:00 pm. For additional information, call the Parking Office at 201-200-2240 between the hours of 7am and 11pm.
DATES & TIMES:
- Thursday, September 12 - 8:00 p.m. JCTC Unbossed & Unbowed by Ingrid Griffith directed by Olga Levina. This is followed by a ticketed reception.
- Friday, September 13 - 8:00 p.m. Speranza Theatre Company Unveiling Liberty & The Greenhouse Ensemble Soup or Heroes – by Joey Rotter directed by Hazen Cuyler
- Saturday, September 14 - 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. the daytime Directing & Acting workshops from 11am-1pm have been postponed. Check back for rescheduled dates, and please attend our evening shows.
- Saturday, September 14 - 8:00 p.m. The Greenhouse Ensemble presents short plays by The 9th Floor Playwrights & Art House Productions presents Sketch Comedy from The Executives!
TICKETS: $25 per show & per workshop, or $60 Full Conference pass, which includes 1 workshop and reception. Students and Seniors can purchase tickets for $15 at the door with valid ID only.
JCTC Unbossed & Unbowed
by Ingrid Griffith directed by Olga Levina
Thursday, September 12, 8:00 p.m.
A daughter of Caribbean immigrants is awakened early to the social injustices in her Brooklyn neighborhood and decides to enter politics. In the 1960s she fights an uphill battle against racism, sexism and the white political machine. Shirley Chisholm refuses to give up her battle for social justice even though she risks losing everything.
Talk back after the show with the playwrights and directors.
This is followed by a ticketed reception.
Speranza Theatre Company: Unveiling Liberty & The Greenhouse Ensemble Soup or Heroes
Friday, September 13, 8:00 p.m.
Unveiling Liberty – It’s 1886 and ten-year-old Isabelle is enamored with the enormous statue about to be unveiled in NY harbor. Her father and brother will attend the dedication, and Isabelle doesn’t understand why, as a girl, she’s not allowed to go. Meanwhile, the fact that a woman has been chosen to represent liberty has drawn the attention of the Woman’s Suffrage Association. This play explores the state of women’s rights at the time of the birth of an iconic landmark (Family Friendly).
Soup or Heroes – by Joey Rotter directed by Hazen Cuyler: Two friends write the next big superhero film together. Will this hero have flight? Or super strength? Tights? Or a cape? Can they agree? Or will the forces of darkness drag them into mediocrity? "Soup Or Heroes" takes on the superhero genre and the giant cartoon sized bags of money that await anyone who gets the script writing formula just right. (PG-rated)
Talk-back with the companies and playwrights following the performance.
The Greenhouse Ensemble presents short plays by The 9th Floor Playwrights & Art House Productions presents Sketch Comedy from The Executives!
Saturday, September 14, 8:00 p.m.
The 9th Floor Playwrights’ heralded one-acts will be produced by The Greenhouse Ensemble. Plays by these award-winning playwrights are: Circling the Globe by Victoria Daly, Always a Line, by Charlene A. Donaghy and The Lonely One by Julie Weinberg.
Talk back after the show with the playwrights and directors.
Woody Fu's Too Many Asians pokes fun at the entertainment industry's lack of Asians in serious roles.
In his clever, broadly funny, satirical one-person show, Woody Fu (actor, comedian, writer) performs a series of comedy sketches, and plays multiple characters ranging from a KPOP boy band, to a very confident pigeon and more. Directed by Hunter Nelson. (R-rated)
Talk back after the show with Woody.
Note: Woody's show contains sensitive material. The post-show talk-back/ Q&A will include discussion with the performer about his craft, which will include ideological context for the show’s risqué content.
Saturday workshops: Directing and Acting Technique (Postponed)
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
West Side Theatre
The daytime Directing & Acting workshops from 11am-1pm have been postponed. Check back for rescheduled dates, and please attend our evening shows.
Schooltime Performance
Mexico Beyond Mariachi: SUGAR SKULL!
Thursday, September 26, 9:45 a.m.
Margaret Williams Theatre
$8 for all students and adults (including teachers)
CONTACT: boxoffice@njcu.edu, 201-200-2429
GRADES: 1–6
Mexico Beyond Mariachi performs SUGAR SKULL! A Dia De los Muertos Musical Adventure! A heartfelt story following young Vita on a magical adventure where she discovers the true meaning of Day of the Dead with the help of a candy skeleton who suddenly springs to life. It’s an entertaining, educational show that takes you on a historic and geographical journey through traditional Mexican music and dance.
NJCU Musical Theatre
You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown
Friday, October 25 & Saturday,
October 26, 7:30 p.m. Friday,
November 1, & Saturday, November 2, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 27th & Sunday, November 3, 3:00 p.m. School-time Matinees on October 30 and 31 at 10:30 a.m.,
by reservation.
$15 general/$5 students and seniors West Side Theatre
Based on the characters created by Charles Schulz in his PEANUTS comic strip, this musical brings joy to audiences of all ages through vignettes showing the comical, energetic and endearing lives of these beloved characters: Charlie Brown, Sally Brown, Snoopy and more.