SEASON 2008:
PRESS RELEASES/REVIEWS/OTHER
Reviews
A CHRISTMAS CAROL REVIEW
WOMAN IN BLACK REVIEW: SUSSEX PRODUCTION IS FILLED WITH CHILLS
YOUNG ACTORS ENLIVEN MUSICAL VERSION OF E.B. WHITE'S FABLE
A CAST THAT COULDN'T BE BETTER: THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL
WHO'S THAT GIRL? CAUSE FOR LAUGHS AT TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER
EXAMINING A MULTI-FACETED GLASS MENAGERIE
REVIEW-THE GLASS MENAGERIE
Press Coverage
A CHRISTMAS CAROL--SHARE THE TRADTION
TRI-STATE ACTORS  PRESENTS GHOST PLAY, THE WOMAN IN BLACK
GLENN ZERVAS IN CONCERT
TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER WILL PRESENT CHARLOTTE'S WEB
THE LOST RAMBLERS: LIVE BLUEGRASS AT TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER
TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER PRESENTS THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL
TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER PRESENTS THE WIZARD OF VERSE
TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER PRESENTS THE GLASS MENAGERIE
STUART LITTLE RETURNS FOR FAMILY WEEK AT THE THEATRE
TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER ANNOUNCES 2008 SEASON
NEWS ABOUT ACTING CLASSES

WINTER WORKSHOPS NOW REGISTERING

Sussex...Tri-State Actors Theater is now registering Winter Classes for Children, Teen, and Adult Acting.
Advance sign-up can be made by phone by calling 973 875-2950.

Teen Classes for ages 13-17, will begin Monday, January 11 with Tri-State Artistic Director, Paul Meacham.
Classes will learn the basic skills of acting, work on monologues and 2-character scenes, with individual
instruction for every student. Registration fee is $230.00. Classes meet Monday evenings from 5 until 7 pm
for 10 sessions, final class is Monday, March 22.

The Advanced Acting Workshop for ages 18 and up, under the direction of professional actor and teacher,
Tara Bowles, is for adults with or without acting experience. Class focus is on acting as developed through
Stella Adler Technique. Scene study. Classes meet Monday evenings from 7 until 9 pm, beginning January 11.
Workshops will be held once a week, for a total of ten sessions; final class is March 22. Registration fee is
$260.00.

Children's Classes for ages 6-12 years, under the instruction of Fran DeCesare, a professional actor and
teacher begin on Saturday, January 23. There will be a total of six sessions. Individual attention is given to each
student; creative dramatics, games, and ends with Parents Participation Day. Final class is Saturday, February 27.
Registration fee is $190.00.

For more information or to register, please call the theater
at 973 875-2950.

TRI-STATE  ACTOR GARNERS BEST PERFORMER AWARD

Paul Meacham, long-time professional actor and artistic director of
Tri-State Actors Theater, was named the best performer for 2009 by the
TIMES-HERALD-RECORD in the paper's year-end "Go Magazine Best
 of 2009" awards in the arts.

The award was based on his performances as Ebenezer Scrooge in
Tri-State's acclaimed production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL during
December, 2009.
       As Ebenezer Scrooge                 Paul Meacham as himself

Meacham began his professional acting career in 1970 in New York following a career in educational theater
at Michigan State University, the University of Tennessee where he taught, directed and acted in numerous
productions, and at Sussex County's Wallkill Valley Regional High School, where he taught and directed the
theater program for many years.

His career in theater has spanned almost 50 years including performances on many stages, in film and on
television. He founded Tri-State Actors Theater in 1988 and has developed Tri-State into the foremost professional
theater company in Sussex County and the surrounding regions of Pennsylvania and New York.

TIMES HERALD RECORD
PLAY REVIEW December 15, 2009
By James Cotter

Sussex, NJ.--Ebenezer Scrooge is busy onstage again this December,
and Paul Meacham of Tri-State Actors Theater has not only adapted
Charles Dickens'’ "A Christmas Carol" in a new version, but also
plays the role himself.  Dickens subtitled his novel "A Ghost Story of
Christmas," and the three ghosts of Scrooge’s past, present, and future
life cause him to turn himself around from a stingy, gruff and mean boss
to a kindhearted Christian.  Meacham makes his conversion a personal
adventure that embodies the meaning of Christmas.  The Victorian setting by Meacham with its platform risers
topped by a curtained bed in this century-old theater enhances the dramatic experience for the audience. 
Patricia Meacham's lavish costumes capture the period perfectly.

Mixing narration and dialogue, director Meacham has his five other actors multitask by playing a variety of roles.
Bill Edwards appears as the ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former partner, who warns him of the dire conse-
quences of his money-grubbing way of life.  Edwards is also Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's beleaguered office clerk
whose family is impoverished and struggling to survive.  Katie Tame appears as the ghost of Christmas Past in a
flourishing white sleeping gown to show him critical moments of his life when he turned from true values to merely
material success.  She also portrays Mrs. Cratchit, who, unlike her husband, is angry with miserly Scrooge, but
ends up forgiving him in the Christmas Spirit.

Christmas Present is played by Veteran actor Jack Harris as a vigorous, colorful force of goodwill who reveals to
Scrooge the plight of the Cratchits and their crippled son, Tiny Tim.  He is also Scrooge's nephew, Fred, who ar-
rives in the office announcing he good news of the season to his uncle’s deaf ears.  Harris returns as the friendly
Mr. Fezziwig and as Peter, another member of the Cratchit family.  The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is played
by Kevin Sebastian with silent mystery since he only points to scenes without saying a word.  He also portrays
Scrooge as a youngster at school and later as a reluctant suitor of Belle, who refuses to marry him.  Sebastian
manages to cut a pathetic figure as poor twisted Tiny Tim.  Jenelle Sosa plays Belle, Cratchits daughter, Martha,
and the amiable Mrs. Fezziwig.  Like the others, she changes character with remarkable believability.

Meacham and the whole cast need to be seen to be believed.  They have transformed this familiar tale into some-
thing rich and strange, full of turbulent action from the first chaotic moment when the actors arrive onstage wonder-
ing where their lead has disappeared to and equally resonant with the eloquence of that master storyteller,
Charles Dickens.

Sussex... Tri-State Actors Theater's next and final 2009 New Plays Reading will be held on
Saturday, November 14 at 8:00 pm in the Theater’s Black Box space, 74 Main St.,
Sussex. YOUR AVERAGE JOSE' is a new play by one of Spain's up and coming young
playwrights, Juan Pablo Heras. Writer and translator, Rick Hite (pictured at left), has translated
 the script into English.

Your Average Jose' is "your average Joe" who is a twenties-something Spanish guy (read by Bill Edwards)
who turns out to be anything but average when it comes to catching a common cold, falling in love, and
figuring out what life is all about. Of course it takes the right woman (read by Sarah Koestner) to help the
poor guy do all that figuring out and a little help on the side from a few oddball friends. It’s all about what
we’re all about when we’re not so sure what it’s all about but feel it’s still worth the effort and more fun than
not along the way. A great ride! A happy ending!

A talk back with the director, translator and actors will follow the reading. Refreshments will be served.
Admission is by donation. For more information about the reading and Tri-State Actors Theater, please
call the Box Office at 973-875-2950.

Play Review: TENSION MOUNTS IN COMPELLING "TURN OF THE SCREW"

By James F. Cotter
For the Times-Herald Record
October 14, 2009 

SUSSEX, N.J. -- Henry James wrote "The Turn of the Screw" as a ghost
story, but it turned out to be a psychological thriller. For him, the twist in
the plot was to have two orphaned children encounter demonic spirits with the
reader left guessing what evil they intend. The story is narrated by their
governess, who tries to protect the boy and girl from harm, but is she a
trustworthy narrator? Is she too wrought up and enamored of the uncle who
has sent her to the remote estate to supervise the two engaging wards?
Readers are left with even more guessing as they try to probe James' original
intention.

The short novel has been adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher for the stage and is
being presented by the Tri-State Actors Theater under the experienced direction of Paul Meacham. This
adaptation is unusual in that it calls for only two actors to play all the roles: the governess, of course, and then a
male actor for the rest. It is also performed without an intermission so that the audience is propelled right into
the "tale of terror" that takes place at Bly, the isolated country estate with its haunted gothic rooms and tower,
extensive grounds and adjoining lake.

Meacham's set design captures the Victorian setting with a single large armchair, massive stairway and
shrubbery to suggest the lake. Patricia Meacham's costumes also reflect the period with a long lady's gown and
wraps and a man's dark tight-fitting suit that requires no changes for the various parts.

As the governess, who remains unnamed in the tale she tells, Ellen Lindsay begins as a dreamy idealist who
forms an instant crush for the uncle who hires her on the condition that she never contact him no matter what
happens at Bly. She is just as enthusiastic when she first meets lovely little Flora, who remains mute
throughout the whole unfolding mystery, and handsome 10-year-old Miles, who has been dismissed from school for
some misbehavior that he is reluctant to discuss.

The governess soon becomes more ardent in her attachments and more determined to save the children as
she encounters the apparitions of evil that come to her, the former servants, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, who were
lovers when they were alive. Lindsay is compelling to watch as she grows more frantic and possessive
toward Miles, embracing him and urging him to reveal his past secrets. They enjoy exchanging riddles while
becoming more enigmatic in their sexually fraught relationship.

As everybody else, Jason Guy gives a tour-de-force performance, coolly commanding as the seductive uncle,
twisted and cackling as the housemaid, Mrs. Grose, and bouncing up and down and whirling around as the
rambunctious Miles. Guy has a dancer's and gymnast's energy as he rapidly moves from role to role,
hardly pausing as he builds up tension that is leading to an unimaginable climax. It is all there in James'
text, only more dramatic and perilous as the havoc increases in the characters' confrontations.

See for yourself how James, who never succeeded in the plays he wrote for the stage, will keep you on the
edge of your seat.

Youngsters' enthusiasm keeps 'Fable' aloft

BY CYNTHIA TOPPS
THE TIMES HERALD RECORD

Sussex, NJ. - You may have thought that Aesop was a freed slave in mid sixth
century B.C. Greece, who told wonderful fables that had morals.  Or you may have
thought Aesop and his son were cartoon characters on “Rocky and Bullwinkle” who
told wonderful fables that had morals (with a pun tacked on at the end as well).

Well, according to Joseph Robinette and Thomas Tierney, Aesop is Greek, but he is
more than 2,400 years old and travels around in a space ship called the Fabulous Fable
Factory.  Along with him are mechanical parts that help him create Fabulous Fables.  But
he is missing a very important part: a moral maker.

Tri-State Actors Theater is presenting the musical THE FANTASTIC RETURN OF THE
FABULOUS FABLE FACTORY performed by its Student Intern Company.  The story is
peppered with such fables as “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and “The Day Dreaming Milkmaid”
accompanied by cheery, delightful songs.

As we board the spaceship, the parts are hatching a surprise for the 2469^th birthday of Aesop (Cody Riker).  They
have returned the ship to a spot where 30 years ago they found a moral maker.  When they arrive, they find they
have landed in a mall.  Jane (Kelly Osborne) discovers them when she enters a store dressing room.  Aesop and
the parts convince Jane to help them and she agrees and uses a computer device called a porcupine to assist them. 

What makes this show "Fabulous" is the enthusiasm and energy of the young performers.  Standouts are Riker as
an appropriately ancient Aesop, yet spry for his 2,000-plus years, and Osborne as a charming Jane.  Jackie Torres
expertly plays a series of tough characters (a Wolf, A Sailor, a Lion and a hungry Cat).  Dallas Haines garners lots
of laughs, and Lauren DeVore is especially fine as the Day Dreaming Milkmaid and the Goddess Juno.

Alexis Alemy, Ali Castellucci, Jon Dragon, Megan Good, Rebecca Kus and Alexa Ross round out the troupe of players. 
They throw themselves into all the stories as well as the dance routines by Anna Matthews.  All the performers can
be heard (without the use of body microphones), but sometimes words to the songs were difficult to understand. 

The costumes by Patricia Meacham and the props were colorful.  The spaceship set design by director Paul Meacham
was eye catching with lots of lights and levers.

THE FANTASTIC RETURN OF THE FABULOUS FABLE FACTORY has its own moral: Young people should not rely
too heavily on technology but use their own brains and imaginations instead. 

A great lesson for youngsters to learn, and what a fun way to learn it ... watching a theatrical production performed by
their peers.

The Lost Ramblers have been playing and promoting bluegrass in and around northeastern PA and northwestern NJ
since about 1978, when Neil Morris, Pete Papallardo and John Updike ("the other John Updike") first got together to
pick and sing. A few years ago, the guys decided to throw their hat in the ring and go for broke, with their own nonprofit
organization, visit their website at http://www.poconobluegrass.org, devoted to bringing Bluegrass and other acoustic
sounds to everybody. They started their very own "Winterfest" a three-day bluegrass festival in Stroudsburg, PA, to add
to the monthly "Shindigs" they’ve been running for some time, and have appeared at festivals throughout the East.
If you've been to the Peters Valley Craft Festival during the past few years, or visited Winterfest and the many other
Bluegrass festivals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, you've heard these fine players. The band’s talented and highly
skilled musicians are known for their mastery of multi-instrumental acoustics and three-part harmonies. The Lost
Ramblers have been performing regionally and nationally for over twenty years. Their music has been featured on TV,
videos, radio, and on recordings.

Get your seats now for this family friendly, musical funfest at Tri-State. Curtain time for The Lost Ramblers opens
8 pm on Saturday, July 18. All seats are $20 each. Wheelchair access and elevator service are available for patrons
with special needs. Reservations are recommended for all performances. For tickets, information, and special
services, please contact the Box Office at 973 875-2950. Main Street parking is limited and patrons are encouraged
to use the free municipal parking lot on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater.

Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web at
http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part by a
grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Horizon Foundation of New Jersey.

SUSSEX, N.J. — Mel Brooks' most recent forays on the Great White Way —
"The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein" — were based on two of his hit movies.
One can only imagine what colossal production numbers might be choreographed if
"Blazing Saddles," "High Anxiety" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" were to make it
to Broadway.
 
But one need not look any further than Boyd Graham and Jed Feuer's "The Big
Bang" to envision what Brooks' "History of the World, Part I" would have been
like if Brooks had sent this 1981 film he wrote, directed and produced to the stage
with a tiny bit of "The Producers" plot line thrown in for good measure.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Brooks would be happy to know that
Graham (book and lyrics) and Feuer (music) have paid him homage with their work currently
being presented by a fantastic two-man cast at Tri-State Actors Theater.

As prospective investors of a Boyd (Bill Edwards) and Jed (Scotty Watson) $83.5 million budget, 318-member-
cast production encompassing "the entire history of civilization," the audience is treated to a backer's audition
of "highlights" from this mega-musical billed as "one of the greatest theatrical events of all time."

What follows in the umpteen acts and scenes are 90 minutes of the most laughable lyrics and chaotic costume
changes you will ever see, thanks to this duo of gifted actors.

From the beginning of time, Edwards and Watson delight us in "One Big Bang," the opening number. Throughout
history, and subsequent acts and scenes, the two go on to portray Adam and Eve, Jewish slaves, the Blessed
Virgin and Mrs. Gandhi, Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella, Minnehaha and Pocahontas, Napoleon and
Josephine Bonaparte, and Tokyo Rose and Shanghai Lil.

As Boyd, Bill Edwards is just marvelous as the jive-talking Egyptian queen Nefertiti in "Viva la Diva," a wacky
soothsayer in "Wake Up Caesar" and a heavily Puerto Rican-accented Queen Isabella in "The United States of
Isabella." With Watson at his side, Edwards shines as Amber Lee in the antebellum South, serves up a witty
ditty as one of Henry VIII's chefs in "Cooking for Henry" and brings down the house in the final number.

Not to be outdone by his partner, Scotty Watson is equally entertaining as Jed. In his scenes as Mrs. Gandhi
("Motherhood Is One Hell of a Job"), Pocahontas ("The Dating Scene") and Tokyo Rose ("Ladies of the Orient"),
 he is a zany sidekick. However, Watson is best as Leo the Christian-eating lion in "I Work the Colosseum,"
Josephine meeting Napoleon Bonaparte for the first time in "Today's Just Yesterday's Tomorrow" and
Eva Braun in "Loving Him Is Where I Went Wrong."

Chris Lance adds a bit of dry humor as Albert, their accompanist.

Jenn Womack's direction of this insanely inventive musical is superb, as is Patricia Meacham's wardrobe
created from costume designs used in Tri-State's 2004 production of this show.

By Elisa D. Keller

When asked to describe the two-man musical comedy THE BIG BANG,
now playing at the Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex, actor Bill Edwards
has a standard response he likes to give. " Have you heard of  'Wicked'
and 'Les Mis?' he asked.  "It's nothing like that."

Directed by Jenn Womack and starring Bill Edwards and Scotty Watson
as two overly ambitious writers seeking investors for their new epic musical
production telling the entire history of the world, THE BIG BANG is 90
minutes of prop-driven hilarity.

The two actors jump between comic reenactments of major historical and
religious events, from the creation of Adam and Eve to the rise and fall of Julius Caesar, all while trying to convince the
audience to financially back their play, which , at an estimated cost of around $85 million and a 12-hour running time,
would inevitably be destined to fail.

"These are not smart men we're playing," laughed Watson. "It's really
fun, frenetic and crazy."

THE BIG BANG was also stage at Tri-State in 2004,and has been frequently
suggested as a play the community would like to see again, according to
theater founder Paul Meacham.

"It was such a popular show," Meacham said. "At least in one slot during the
season, I try to listen to the community about what they like.  I thought I would
bring THE BIG BANG back and do it again.  It's meant to be  a funny, slap-
stick musical, a little like 'The Producers' on a small scale."

Also the director during the show's 2004 run at Tri-State, Womack describes
THE BIG BANG as the history of the world meets "Waiting for Guffman."
"It is kind of like choreographed chaos," womack explained. "It is an explosion of comedy and music intertwined with more
props than almost any other show.  It's also a lot of fun."

With different audiences serving as the show's potential investors every
night, Watson and Edwards also hope to work in some improvisations,
making each performance a unique experience.  The duo worked together
in 2007 in the Tri-State production of GREATER TUNA and a recent improv
comedy benefit, and found that their different acting styles mesh well.

"We've been laughing about it because it's incredibly similar to Laurel and
Hardy," said Watson, noting that he is a larger man, while Edwards is thin
and over-the-top. "He really can go for flights of fancy.  It's my place to always
scowl.  When that happens, it's a tough acting job for me because I'm always amused."

Watson, originally from Toronto, Canada, is a Second City veteran with a
background in sketch comedy and improv.  Edwards, a more traditional
theater actor, is a Kittatinny Regional high School graduate who grew up in Stillwater before his family moved out of the area.
"It's kind of nice how things come back in circles," said Edwards, who now lives in Secaucus and enjoys commuting back to
Sussex for work.  This is his fifth season performing in various productions at Tri-State.

"They are excellent comedians," said Womack, noting that her professional experience is more rooted in musical theater,
making for an interesting balance.  "I don't really have an[y] experience directing comedy, so I think the combination of
their talents and my experience directing musicals has made it a different show than I ever thought possible."

Tri-State will follow THE BIG BANG, which runs four shows a week through July 12, with its traditional all-student children's
production from Aug.5-22.  This year's cast of local student interns will perform THE FANTASTIC RETURN OF THE
FABULOUS FABLE FACTORY.

These two lighter summer shows fall in the middle of  more serious fare, including a spring run of PROOF and Henry James'
TURN OF THE SCREW coming up in the fall.

"We always try to have a lighter show in the season, one that maybe has more mass appeal," noted Meacham.  Now in
its 22nd season -- the company's seventh in the historic Crescent Theater in Sussex Borough -- Tri-State is a professional
theater company and non-profit organization run through charitable donations as well as grants from entities like the New
Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge foundation and the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey.

While the current economic turndown has cut into both the theater's donations and its grant money, Meacham is hopeful
it will weather the storm with some cutbacks in rehearsal costs and smaller cast productions.

"We really want Sussex Countians to know that we are something they can't see other places.  We want to be here in 20
years--forever if possible--for the entertainment and, really, the good of Sussex County," said Meacham.  "We look forward
to a lot of people coming to this show and enjoying it.  I could sit through almost every performance myself and laugh, and
I think that's great."

"We jump from ancient Rome to 500 years later in the Middle East for no other reason that just to do it," Watson added. 
"It's such a pleasure to go to the theater knowing you're going to make 100 people laugh tonight."

Review: 'Proof' at Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex, N.J.

By MARCUS KALIPOLITES
For the Times-Herald Record
April 24, 2009
SUSSEX, N.J. -- The set of a run-down house with barren flowers on the
back porch serves as metaphor for the mental decline of a brilliant University
of Chicago professor and mathematician in the Tri-States Actors Theatre
production of "Proof." The agony is compounded as Robert's troubled
daughter wonders whether she inherited his genius or insanity.

In David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize-winning play directed by Paul Meacham,
four polished players flesh out the dramatic story in both current time and
flashbacks. Through several scenes, Paul Falzone as the late mathematician
Robert captures the torture of a disengaged man. At the hands of daughter
Catherine, Katie Tame not only struggles through several years to care for her
intelligent but unstable father but also has the anguish of fending off her controlling sister. As played by Patricia
Durante, Claire dominates by selling off the family home and demanding that Catherine come to live with her in New
York. And Sal Caccaito as Hal, Robert's former doctoral student, creates a dilemma concerning "Proof" as he
excitingly discovers among Robert's papers a unique and world-intriguing mathematical formula, which raises the
question "Who wrote it?"

The apparition of Robert is both fatherly as well as engaging as he drops in on Catherine's 25th birthday, faulting
her with "don't waste your talent" and "stop moping around." He also becomes furious that she should enroll in
rival Northwestern University. In an especially dramatic episode, Falzone's character works at a small table in
the yard wearing a short sleeve jersey in 30-degree winter weather as he increasingly turns feverish and
exhortive in his attempts to engage a hand-rubbing and chilled Catherine to join him in a team effort.

Tame's character of Catherine covers a wide range of emotions -- from unselfish love for Robert during his
years of mental turmoil yet defying his fatherly advice, to escaping her frustration by swigging champagne, to
attempting to stop Hal's running off with any of Robert's documents as well as romancing Hal.

While Cacciato as Hal succeeds in creating a respectful and unassuming bespectacled student in a flashback visit
to his professor's home, he also conveys the image of a happy-go-lucky rock band drummer. The joy of a kiss
by Catherine soon enough turns to exasperation as he rejects her claim to the proof. Besides Claire also
disbelieving that Catherine had anything to do with the proof, Durante's character remains domineering in faulting
her sister's wish to remain in Chicago and in planning to whisk Catherine away.

In this play of well-drawn characters, the dialogue is fast-paced and dazzling, and the production is worth seeing.

IF YOU GO ...
What: "Proof" by David Auburn
Where: Tri-State Actors Theater, 74 Main St., Sussex, N.J.
When: 8 p.m. April 24-25 and 30 and May 2 and 7-9; 3 p.m. April 26 and May 3 and 10
Tickets: $30, $27 senior citizens, $20 students, $20 for all Thursday performances
Call: 973-875-2950

Branchville's Patricia Durante serenaded Tri-State's Gala audiences with Broadway
show tunes. Ms. Durante will play Claire in Tri-State's season opener, PROOF,
opening April 22 at the historic Crescent Theater, Main St., Sussex, NJ. 973 875-2950


Sussex… Tri-State Actors Theater opened its twenty-second season with a recent Spring Fling Gala on March 21
at the historic Crescent Theater, Main St., Sussex. The evening began “Downstairs in the Black Box Theater” with
introductions from Tri-State’s Board President Joe Shallenburger and Master of Ceremony, actor and stand-up
comic, Scotty Watson. A variety of appetizers were served by several of Tri-State’s Student Interns and singers
Ava Rae Heatley and Kyle Hancharick provided musical selections, while magician Seth Dale treated the audience
to a mix of slight of hand and humor. The evening events concluded “Upstairs on the Mainstage” with coffee and
dessert and show tunes performed by Patricia Durante, accompanied by Chris Lance on the keyboard.

Tri-State Actors Theater is proud to announce David Auburn’s award winning play
Proof as its 2009 season opener. Auburn’s play, a family drama that touches the soul,
debuted at the Manhattan Theater Club in New York in 2000 and was instantly hailed
by critics. In addition to a two-year, sold-out run on Broadway, the play was awarded
the Pulitzer Prize in Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2001. Proof was also
made into a major motion picture. David Kaufman of the Daily News called PROOF "an
exciting new drama. This play … combines elements of mystery and surprise with
old-fashioned storytelling to provide a compelling evening of theater."

You don’t have to know anything about math to enjoy PROOF. PROOF is about
mathematicians, but it's more about what goes on in their hearts than in their heads.
Auburn brings together four characters on the porch of an old Chicago home to explore
the complex formulas of love, trust and fear that bind a family together, for better or
worse. It's the eve of Catherine's 25th birthday. Her father, a famous mathematician
who in middle age slipped into dementia, has just died. Catherine dropped her own studies in math to spend the
last five years taking care of him, and now must confront her own life head-on. How much of her father's genius-or
madness-will she inherit? Her sister Claire has flown into town to take care of her and Hal, a former student of her
father's, has fallen in love with her. When Hal discovers a revolutionary new mathematical proof in the family's attic,
the bonds between all three are tested to their limits as they search for the truth about the proof's author.

Catherine is played by Equity actress Katie Tames, who’s past appearances at TAT include A CHRISTMAS CAROL,
THE GLASS MENAGERIE, 12th NIGHT and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Patricia Durante of Branchville
plays Catherine’s sister Claire. Sal Cacciato, who plays Hal, is making his Tri-State debut. Playing Robert,
the brilliant but disturbed mathematician is Paul Falzone. Falzone, a member of Actors’ Equity, made his
Tri-State debut in Arthur Miller’s THE PRICE in 2007.

Performances for PROOF begin Wednesday, April 22 with an open Dress Rehearsal at 8:00 pm and runs until May
10. Tickets for Thursday evenings at 8:00 pm are $20. Tickets for Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm and
Sunday matinees at 3:00 pm are $30, $27 for Seniors 60 and over, and $20 for students.

Spring Acting classes for children, teens, and adults are just beginning and registrations are still being taken by
calling the theater at 973 875-2950.

2009 Season Subscriptions, Flex Passes and individual tickets are now on sale. Advance ticket purchases are
recommended for all performances. Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator service are available for
patrons with special needs. For tickets, information, and special services, please contact the Box Office at 973
875-2950. Main Street parking is limited and patrons are requested to use the free municipal parking lot on Harrison
Street, directly behind the theater.

Tri-State Actors Theater is the foremost professional theatre company in Sussex County, northeast Pennsylvania,
and south central New York. It’s performances have been praised by many critics including those of the STAR-
LEDGER, THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD, the Morristown DAILY RECORD, and the NJ HERALD. Additional
information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web at
http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part by a
grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2009
                                                 New Jersey Theatre Alliance 12th Annual Family Week at the
Theatre in association with Tri-State Actors Theater presents
Charlotte's Web, the musical
 
The New Jersey Theatre Alliance and Tri-State Actors Theater will present
Tri-State's Summer Intern production of Charlotte's Web, the musical,
on Saturday, March 7, 2009. This performance is part of the 12th Annual Family
Week at the Theatre and The Stages Festival, a statewide event that provides
discounted and free theatre performances for families during the first week of
March, and continues with low-cost events for all ages throughout the month.
Charlotte's Web will be presented 11:00 am and 2:00 pm for children and their
                                                families.

Joseph Robinette, a national award-winning children's playwright, has adapted award-winning author E.B. White's
book for the stage with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse (Annie, Bye, Bye, Birdie.) This exciting musical version
of Charlotte's Web brings a new dimension to E.B. White's beloved classic with a thrilling musical score. White
considered the book a story of "friendship and salvation on a farm," basing his story on his own love for animals on
his family farm in Maine.

Family Week at the Theatre is an annual statewide event offering free and discounted tickets to attendees, and
was developed to encourage families to attend professional theatre together by making the experience affordable,
educational and exciting. Across the state, in all 21 counties, young people (ages 5 -18) will receive free and
discounted tickets to over 100 performances and special events, including free classes, workshops and backstage
tours. Since its inception in 1998, the program has served over 65,000 people. The New Jersey Theatre Alliance
encourages our audiences to bring grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, caregivers and more in their theatre
parties. For the second year in a row, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance extends the invitation with The Stages
Festival – offering discounted shows, programs, and workshops for all ages in theatres, libraries and Barnes and
Noble bookstores statewide.

While most of these performances are offered free of charge for young people, there may be a nominal admission
charge for adults. Reservations are a must for Charlotte’s Web. Tickets prices are $10 for adults and one child free
with each paying adults; the cost for children 11 and under is $8.00. For more information or to order tickets, call the
box office at 973 875-2950. Tri-State Actors Theater is located at 74 Main Street in Sussex, New Jersey. To receive
a full schedule of events for Family Week at the Theatre (March 4-11, 2009) and The Stages Festival (March 11 - 31,
2009) please visit http://www.familyweek.com.

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance provides a wide variety of programs and services for the state's professional
theatres and the audiences who enjoy them. Two free Acting Workshops led by Fran DeCesare are planned for
children ages 10 to 18. The first will be held on Saturday, March 5 beginning at 7:00 pm at the Main Branch of the
Sussex Library, 973 948-3660, and the second on Saturday, March 14, from 10 am until noon at the Sussex-
Wantage Branch, 973 875-3940.

Family Week at the Theatre is a co-sponsored project of The New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of
State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and Discover Jersey Arts. Visit
http://www.JerseyArts.com for more information about other arts programming happening around the Garden
State. Additional support has been provided by, Bank of America, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, Fund for New Jersey
Blind, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The George Ohl, Jr. Trust, The New Jersey Division of the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing, the New Jersey Library Association, New Jersey Monthly, New Jersey State Library, Johnson &
Johnson, Barnes and Noble, Discover Jersey Arts, The Prudential Foundation and WNYC.

Play review: 'A Christmas Carol' at Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex, N.J.

By MARCUS KALIPOLITES
For the Times Herald-Record
December 06, 2008 6:00 AM

SUSSEX, N.J. — Next to reincarnating Scrooge, Paul Meacham turns in an inimitable
portrayal of the larger-than-life character in "A Christmas Carol." And with resourceful
acting by the veteran actor and five other players in two-dozen roles, 19th-century London
comes to bristling life in the Tri-States Actors Theater production of Charles Dickens' classic
novel adapted for the stage by Christopher Schario.

In addition to the visual appearance of arrogance early on, Meacham's character scorns the
poor with violent raps of his cane, snarls at a cheerful nephew and dispatches soliciting
Gentlewomen without a donation. Soon enough, however, a torturous confrontation by the
ghost of his deceased partner (accompanied by booming and thunderous claps) finds
Scrooge cowering in terror. By play's end, and having given up his penurious ways,
Meacham's alter-ego relishes the joy of an angel with a combination of praying, crying
and laughing.

But while Meacham portrays only one character (and a very evolving one at that), all of the other performers imbue
their many characters with a whole range of emotions. Besides playing the humble employee and modest family
man Bob Cratchit, Bill Edwards (laden with raggedy appearance, keys, locks and sounds of rattling chains)
electrifies the action with Marley's dire threats.

And the action does indeed cover a lot of ground as Scrooge is led through happier episodes of his life, as in the
school-room where Kevin Sebastian (who also later plays a congenial Tiny Tim) conveys the image of a serious
student. In guiding the gaping and astonished man through the early years, white-gowned Katie Tame not only
serves as the ebullient Christmas Past, but also, as Mrs. Cratchit, she frowns, then relents, on toasting Scrooge
at dinner. She and Jennelle Sosa also serve as congenial Gentlewomen.

Christmas Past aside, it's also the reality check of Jack Harris' Christmas Present and the foreboding of
Sebastian's Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that force the scornful businessman to change his outlook on life.

Directed by Meacham, the production features credible character acting throughout, efficient use of props in quick-
changing scenes, nonstop movement of the players, effective light and sound changes and costumes appropriate
to time and place.As inspired and captivating as any story dealing with a salvaged soul, this presentation of "A Christmas Carol"
is worth seeing.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: SHARE THE TRADITION

Scrooge, played by actor and director Paul Meacham, is a lonely miser
who finds a second chance to become a loving, generous human being.
The spirits and visions that haunt Scrooge are portrayed by (standing) Bill
Edwards, Katie Tame and Jack Harris. Looking on from above is Kevin
Sebastian as Tiny Tim and Jenelle Sosa as Belle. Tri-State Actors Theater’s
A CHRISTMAS CAROL runs December 3 through December 21, 74 Main St.,
Sussex, New Jersey. 973-875-2950








A CHRISTMAS CAROL - SHARE THE TRADITION

Sussex...The stage of the historic Crescent Theater will glow with good spirits and tradition when Tri-State
Actors Theater presents its annual production of Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, adapted by "
Christopher Schario, playing December 3 through December 21. The heart-warming holiday classic has
delighted tri-state audiences since 2005, making it a well-loved holiday entertainment.

Schario's adaptation sparkles with clarity and wit and brings the holiday spirit to all ages. Song and dance,
ghostly chills, laughter and warmth deck the halls, as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted by the spirits
of his past, present and likely future. This evergreen tale of generosity, kindness and true Christmas spirit
comes to joyous life as six actors portray all of Dickens’ characters. Vividly told and richly interpreted,
A CHRISTMAS CAROL captures all of Dickens' delightful language, and delights the eye as well as the spirit
and is a great holiday gift for the entire family and friends!

Artistic Director and Tri-State founder, Paul Meacham* will direct A Christmas Carol, as well as play Scrooge -
a lonely miser, who, through the help of spirits and visions, finds a second chance to become a loving,
generous human being. Returning cast members Bill Edwards*, Katie Tame* and Jenelle Sosa are joined on
stage this season by Jack Harris* and Kevin Sebastian. (*Denotes membership in Actors Equity Association,
the union of professional actors and stage managers.)

The play begins with a young boy reading Dickens' novel for the first time. As the scenes are played out behind
him, the child becomes totally caught up in the story and is finally invited by the other characters to enter the
play as one of them. Playwright Christopher Schario focuses on Dickens' powerful language, humor and warmth
as this charming version tells the story of the redemption of a human soul.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL plays December 3 through December 21. The performance on Wednesday, December
3 has been rescheduled to 7:00 pm. All tickets are $20.00 each. Student Matinee tickets are still available for the
10:30 am matinee performance on December 4. The Student Matinee rate is $18.00 per ticket. Opening Night for
A CHRISTMAS CAROL is Friday, December 5 at 7:00 pm. A "Meet the Artists" reception and refreshments will
follow the performance. The evening performance on Saturday, December 6 will begin at 7:30 pm following Sussex
Borough’s Christmas tree lighting in the park next to the theater.

To provide more access to more people, Tri-State will offer an open captioned performance on Saturday,
December 6 at 2:00 pm. This open captioned performance is made possible by The New Jersey Division of the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing in partnership with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council
on the Arts/Department of State. Open captioning is a text display located on the side of the stage. Scrolling the
words in synchronization with the performance, open captioning assists people with varying degrees of hearing
loss, as well as hearing audience members who might not catch every word during a performance.

Public performance dates and times are:
Fridays, December 5, 12 and 19 at 7:00 pm---Saturdays, December 6, 13, and 20 at 2:00 pm
Saturdays, December 6 at 7:30 pm, December 13 and 20 at 7:00 pm ---Sundays, December 7, 14 and 21 at 3:00 pm

Ticket prices for all performances are: $30, $27 for senior citizens 60 and over, and $20 for students (college
students will need ID.) The running time for A CHRISTMAS CAROL is approximately two hours. Tickets for
are available on-line at http://www.tristateactorstheater.org, by calling the Box Office at 973 875-2950 or by
stopping by the theater at 74 Main St., Sussex.

Reservations are recommended for all performances. Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator
service are available for patrons with special needs. For tickets, information, and special services, please
contact the Box Office at 973 875-2950. Free parking is available at the Municipal Parking Lot on Harrison
Street, directly behind the theater. Handicap parking is available on Main St.

Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web
at http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part
by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the
National Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Review: Sussex production is filled with chills
   
by James Cotter
for the TIMES HERALD-RECORD
October 11, 2008

SUSSEX, NJ-- Halloween will be soon upon us with its haunted houses and
ghosts.  THE WOMAN IN BLACK has both house and ghost with mayhem
and death lurking in the English fog on a deserted island cut off from the
mainland by a march.  A solicitor talks an actor into playing his part to help
him exorcise the evil memories of his encounter with the ghost of a mother
who has lost her child in an accident on the causeway.  In re-enacting the
scenes, the actor brings the past back to life, with terrible consequences.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK is adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the novel by Susan hill.  it is being revived by
Tri-State Actors, under the adept direction of Paul Meacham, with two first-class players: Roland Johnson in the
part of Arthur Kipps, the solicitor, and Gordon Gray as the actor.

Johnson transforms himself from a third-rate reader of his own play into a versatile actor portraying not only Kipps
but also a variety of other characters.  He narrates passages while they unfold on the stage with horrifying
reality as Gray grapples with the ever-growing tension of dark rooms, ghastly apparitions and screams in the night.
Gray is mesmerizing as he throws himself into solving the mysterious events of the past.  Both actors project
forcefully and handle English accents convincingly.  Lauren DeVore is the skeletal woman who seems all the
more frightening in her silent and sudden appearances.

Set design by Paul Meacham shifts easily from the cluttered actor's studio to the macabre rooms of the
marshland house.  Costumes by Patricia Meacham allow Johnson to change quickly into different roles and make
the Woman in Black a true specter.  The total blackouts by lighting designer Steven Silvia are particularly effective.

A pre-show Halloween Party and Costume Contest will be held on Oct. 31.  For genuine stage fright, do not miss
this gothic Victorian thriller.

Play review: 'Charlotte's Web' at Tri-State Actors Theater
Young actors enliven musical version of E.B. White's fable
By James F. Cotter
For the Times Herald-Record
August 13, 2008

SUSSEX, N.J. -- "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White is a fable about the power of words. A pig named Wilbur is
destined to become baked ham when a spider named Charlotte makes him famous by spinning words to describe
him: "terrific" and "radiant" for starters. Farmer Homer Zuckerman sees fame and fortune in his precious piglet and
calls in the media on the eve of the county fair to garner blue ribbons for his prize. At the end of the first act, the
farm and town are all excited with the publicity, but things take a twist in the second half to teach us all that
friendship is not to be bought or taken for granted. White's humor and sense of truth make this appeal to all ages.

A stage adaptation by Joseph Robinette with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse, who wrote the Tony-winning
scores of "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Annie," is being revived by the Tri-State Actors Theater featuring the 2008 Student
Intern Company. The 20 actors ages 13-18, under Paul Meacham’s expertly experienced direction, keep the
audience guessing about what will happen next.

Chris Lance at the electronic keyboard sounds all the right notes and maintains a quickened pace, while
choreographer Sandy Gardner takes the dance numbers to a level of high steps and sudden shifts. The costumes
by Patricia Meacham are strange and imaginative for the animals while typically rural for the farm folks. Paul
Meacham's set design adapts quickly for barnyard and fairgrounds.

As Charlotte, Amanda Martino is tall and sinewy with attractive movements for her many arms and legs. She sings
her "Spinning Song" and advice to Wilbur, "You're You," with clear conviction, while Emma Delia as Wilbur wavers
and wiggles trying to adjust to the changing ways of fate. Without being cute, she endears her character with a
growing self-awareness and the values of friendship.

As Templeton, Lauren DeVore creates a complex rat interested only in its own survival while learning to live with
and to help others. Goose (Raquel Warehime), Gander and Boar (Dallas Haines), Lamb (Sarah Woods), Sheep
(Jackie Torres), Bat (Kelly Osborne) and Owl (Alexis Alemy) complete the menagerie with wings, dancing feet and
varied expressions to match each creature.

Among the humans, the most important role, Fern Arable, is played with authority by Emily Maynard as she pleads
to save Wilbur from the butcher's knife and sings a satiric duet, "Don't," with her brother Avery (Jon Dragon) on what
parents forbid children to do. Christian Rohde and Ava Rae Heatley portray the parents with proper solicitude.

Josh Ernst plays farmer Homer Zuckeram, and Lauren Caldera his wife, Edith, with realistic ideas of what to expect
from their livelihood and the opportunities a famous pig offers them. Cody Riker is Lurvy, their young farmhand who
feeds Wilbur but is more interested in looking out for himself.

THE LOST RAMBLERS BRING LIVE BLUEGRASS TO TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER

The Lost Ramblers will perform
at Tri-State Actors Theater on
Saturday, July 12 at 8pm.
Call 973 875-2950 for
tickets.
 

Sussex...The Lost Ramblers will perform in concert at Tri-State Actors Theater on Saturday, July 12 at 8:00 pm.
The band offers high-energy, foot-tapping beats, tight harmonies, and boasts a repertoire that is as entertaining
as it is eclectic. They specialize in authentic Appalachian acoustic sounds, and their performances run the
gamut from bluegrass and gospel, to swing, Irish, and favorite old-timey music. The concert will be held
in the air-conditioned mainstage of the historic, Crescent Theater, 74 Main St., Sussex, New Jersey. The Lost
Ramblers put on a fun and entertaining show for the whole family. The Lost Ramblers have been playing and
promoting bluegrass in and around northeastern PA and northwestern NJ since about 1978, when Neil Morris,
Pete Papallardo and John Updike ("the other John Updike") first got together to pick and sing. A few years ago,
the guys decided to throw their hat in the ring and go for broke, with their own nonprofit organization, visit their
website at http://www.poconobluegrass.org, devoted to bringing Bluegrass and other acoustic sounds to everybody.
They started their very own "Winterfest" a three-day bluegrass festival in Stroudsburg, PA, to add to the monthly
"Shindigs" they’ve been running for some time, and have appeared at festivals throughout the East. If you've been to
the Peters Valley Craft Festival during the past few years, or visited Winterfest and the many other Bluegrass festivals
in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, you've heard these fine players. The band’s talented and highly skilled musicians
are known for their mastery of multi-instrumental acoustics and three-part harmonies. The Lost Ramblers have been
performing regionally and nationally for over twenty years. Their music has been featured on TV, videos, radio, and
on recordings.

Get your seats now for this family friendly, musical funfest at Tri-State. Curtain time for The Lost Ramblers opens
8 pm on Saturday, July 12. All seats are $20 each. Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator service
are available for patrons with special needs. Reservations are recommended for all performances. For tickets,
information, and special services, please contact the Box Office at 973 875-2950. Main Street parking is limited
and patrons are encouraged to use the free municipal parking lot on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater.

Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web at
http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part by a grant
from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment
for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Too bad Simon was right about this 'Girl'
by Peter Filichia/The Star-Ledger
Sunday June 22, 2008, 9:28 PM

The Star-Spangled Girl
Where: Tri-State Actors Theater, 74 Main St., Sussex
When: Through July 6. Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
How much: $30 ($20 Thursdays). Call (973) 875-2950 or visit
tristateactorstheater.org

In his first memoir, Neil Simon called it "a play that I wasn't very fond of. It
didn't ring true. It wasn't good enough." Those opinions haven't discouraged
director Paul Meacham from mounting Simon's self-proclaimed lackluster
effort, the 1966 comedy "The Star-Spangled Girl," at his Tri-State Actors
Theater in Sussex. Simon was right. The saddest part of the evening is that
Meacham directs splendidly, with a cast that couldn't be better. Only
l-r:Bill Edwards as Norman, Misty Foster        the play disappoints -- and mightily.
as Sophie, & Clark Gookin as Andy
Andy Hobart is the publisher of Fallout magazine, a money-bleeding, counter-cultural, anti-war publication. He fields
endless phone calls from his creditors, which result in his equally endless excuses. Then Andy tries to convince the
collectors that they've reached a wrong number. Simon apparently hoped that if he repeated these phone calls
enough, eventually he'd come up with a funny bit. He didn't. Norman Cornell is Fallout's editor, not to mention its
writer, columnist and proofreader. He's able to do all those jobs, but what does him in is swimmer Sophie
Rauschmeyer, the pretty Olympic hopeful who moves next door. Simon delivers two hours of Norman making an
idiot of himself over Sophie -- perpetually talking about her demeanor, her aroma and, of course, her looks (leading
to such lines as "She has the most magnificent earlobes on the face of the earth"). Norman exclaims each with the
excitement level of an electroshock therapy session. Andy and Norman are supposedly political, yet Simon doesn't
show that side of them. These two clowns are unconvincing as the guys who say they finished first and second
respectively in their class at Dartmouth. Andy tells Sophie that Norman was recruited by Life, Look and the
Saturday Review, but there's nothing to show us why.

Norman's super-hyper blather can't be easy for an actor to sustain, but Bill Edwards does superbly in
keeping up the frenzy. Looking like Ellen DeGeneres' twin -- and sharing her sense of comic timing --
Clark Gookin excels as Andy. Gookin enlivens things, too, in showing Andy's exhaustion from his
landlady's attempts to romance him. That brings up another problem with the script: Everything interesting
that happens to Andy occurs off-stage. We only hear about it.

Deep in the play, Sophie has a line, "I am honest about my emotions, and that's the only way I know
how to be." Misty Foster apparently has taken this as her cue to deliver a no-nonsense, straight-laced, 
level-headed characterization. She succeeds.

Meacham keeps all three performers running at a crazed pace, all over the cluttered, charming and
convincing dump of a set that he designed, too. His wife, Patricia Meacham, also gets into the act,
designing costumes that are spot-on for the period.

Really, it's only Simon who's let Tri-State down.

Times Herald Record--Lifestyle
Who's That 'Girl'? Cause for laughs at Tri-State Actors Theater
Play review: 'The Star-Spangled Girl' at Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex, N.J.

By James Cotter

June 13, 2008
    

Sussex, N.J. --- Three's a crowd in Neil Simon's slapstick comedy "The
Star-Spangled Girl" at the Tri-State Theater.Andy Hobart and Norman
Cornell publish an offbeat protest magazine called Fallout from their
cramped San Francisco apartment; it's 1966 and a typical article is titled
"Is LBJ on LSD?" Norman writes and Andy manages the shoestring operation:
"Let me worry about the bills," Andy declares; "you write the magazine." Of course, they are broke and cannot pay
the printer or landlady.

Enter Sophie Rauschmeyer. She has just moved into the apartment next door and brings the boys a rum cake that

she cannot eat because she is in training for the Olympic swimming team. Starry-eyed Norman is instantly enthralled.

Sophie, however, is engaged to a Marine officer and wants to have nothing to do with the madcap Norman. He buys her

gourmet food that she finds inedible; he mops up her floor after she has waxed it; and he stalks her at work at the YWCA

where she is a swimming coach, causing her to be fired. Sophie also feels that Fallout is subversive, repulsive and

representative of everything she opposes.

In this collision course, Bill Edwards makes Norman a crazy character who explodes with emotion at the
mere sound of his beloved's voice. He records her speaking his name and plays it over and over. As Andy,
Clark Gookin tries to be reasonable with his partner but soon grows desperate when the lovesick Norman no longer
has time to write. Gookin is truly comic as a sunburned sufferer who has been out all day at the beach with
the elderly landlady as a way of avoiding payment of rent, only to return to a scene of chaos between ardent Norman
and frantic Sophie.

As Sophie, Misty Foster looks and acts the part of an all-American girl with a Texan drawl who is, in Andy's
eyes, "a flag-waving sea urchin." At first a self-described "nervous wreck," she becomes just as physical and loud
as the two men who attempt to dominate her and is more than a match for them in the increasingly intense
confrontation. In her miniskirts, Foster is also attractive enough for one to see why Norman falls head over
heels in love at first sight. There are some unforeseen developments in Act 2 that the actors handle with believable
earnestness and humor. Director Paul Meacham prepares for these changes with dramatic contrasts and
fast-paced dialogue. There's never a dull moment in this energetic revival of Simon's 1960's comedy.

For the Fourth of July, the show will be preceded by a picnic celebration outside in the historic town square.

TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER PRESENTS THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL

Sussex…What happens when you combine a plot that includes the all-American girl
next door with a lovesick writer and a harried editor? Neil Simon’s THE STAR-
SPANGLED GIRL! Tri-State Actors Theater will present Simon’s comedy, a love
triangle mixed with politics, June 11 through July 6, at the historic Crescent Theater,
74 Main St., Sussex.

Set in San Francisco in the 1960s, Andy Hobart (played by AEA member, Clark Gookin)
and Norman Cornell (played by AEA member, Bill Edwards) are two radical liberals
struggling to make a living working on their magazine, Fallout, which is dedicated to fighting
"the system" in America. Sophie Rauschmeyer (played by Misty Foster) is a former Olympic
swimmer who moves into the apartment next door.

Norman immediately falls in love with Sophie, but his feelings are not shared. Norman's obsession with Sophie
inspires Andy to hire her just to keep the magazine going. When Sophie falls in love with Andy, the magazine
and the men’s friendship are threatened. The situation ends happily as love and politics blend in a series of funny
happenings set forth with the masterly skill and inventiveness that are the hallmarks of playwright Neil Simon.

THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL opens with a preview performance at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, June 11; all
seats are $20.00. The play continues through Sunday, July 6. Opening Night is Friday, June 13. The
performance is followed by a “Meet the Artist Reception” and refreshments will be served. Tickets for all
Thursday evenings are also $20.00. Tickets for Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm and Sunday matinees
at 3 pm are $30 regular admission, $27 for senior citizens and $20 for students. The Sunday matinee on June
29 will be followed by a post-performance talk back with the actors and Artistic Director, Paul Meacham.
A pre-show outdoor cookout will be held prior to the performance on Friday, July 4 and is included in the
price of admission.

Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator service are available for patrons with special needs.
Reservations are recommended for all performances. For tickets, information, and special services, please
contact the Box Office at 973 875-2950. Main Street parking is limited and patrons are encouraged to use
the free municipal parking lot on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater.

Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web
at http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part by
a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER PRESENTS THE WIZARD OF VERSE
 
Sussex…Saturday, May 17 will be a busy day on Main Street in Sussex and throughout the borough. Tri-State Actors
Theater will begin its day with an outdoor table at the Borough wide yard sale on Saturday (and also, Sunday.) Young
performers, 13 to 18, are invited to audition for Tri-State Summer Intern program, Charlotte’s Web the Musical from
1:00 to 5:00 pm. And Tri-State ends the day hosting the Delaware Valley Opera at 8:00 pm. All events will be held at
the historic Crescent Theater, 74 Main St., Sussex.
  
The Delaware Valley Opera, under the new artistic leadership of Jim Blanton, has been presenting quality opera and
Broadway productions in the Delaware Valley region for over 20 years. Performing at the charming Tusten Theater in
Narrowsburg, NY, Seelig Theatre at the Sullivan County Community College and Ritz Theatre in Hawley, PA, the
company presents regionally and nationally known singers in its celebrated Summer Festival and in school and community
outreach programs.
 
The Wizard of Oz, Finian's Rainbow and Brother, Can You Spare a Dime ? are just a few of many familiar titles
presented in a program of Broadway and popular songs with lyrics by Yip Harburg. The distinguished area performers of
The Delaware Valley Opera include pianist and director Jim Blanton, mezzo soprano Carol Diefenbach, soprano Jody
Weatherstone and bass baritone Eric Barsness. Breathing new life into "hit" songs from the not-so-distant past, the
performers delight audiences young and old with Somewhere Over the Rainbow, It's Only a Paper Moon, April in Paris and
many more favorites by the master wordsmith. For those who find today's music a bit "shocking," Blanton's rendition of
Lydia, the Tattooed Lady proves that pushing the musical envelope did not begin with songs from the 1960's! Yip
Harburg’s prolific output spanned the 1930's into the 1970's. Collaborating with such composers as Harold Arlen
and Burton Lane, Harburg became famous in the Hollywood, Broadway and popular music realms. He lived not only in New
York and Beverly Hills, but resided for a while in nearby Deerpark, NY, where he wrote the lyrics to his first hit,
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? For more information on the Delaware Opera, call 845-252-3136.
 
Tickets for the Delaware Valley Opera at Tri-State are $20.00 each. The theater is wheel chair accessible. On
street parking for Saturday, May 17 may be limited due to yard sale. Patrons are encouraged to use the free municipal
parking lot on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater. Please call the Box Office at 973 875-2950 to order your
tickets or for additional information on Tri-State’s 2008 Season.

Examining a multi-faceted 'Glass Menagerie'

by Peter Filichia/Star-Ledger Staff

Friday April 18, 2008, 10:00 PM

The Glass Menagerie. Where: Tri-State Actors Theater, 74 Main St., Sussex. When: Through May 11.
Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. How much: $20 Thursdays, $30 all other performances.
Call (973) 875-2950 or visit tristateactorstheater.org.
  
No sooner does one fascinating production of "The Glass Menagerie" close than another one opens.
  
Fresh on the heels of Two River Theater Company's success with Tennessee Williams' 1944 classic,
the Tri-State Actors Theater of Sussex stages a production that also opts for something new.
  
One could be cynical and say the reason the play is so often chosen is that its one set and four characters
don't break the bank. But just as Robert Rechnitz at Two River showed he had a new idea in mind, so does
director Paul Meacham here.
  
 While Rechnitz had a new, proactive slant for Laura -- the physically and emotionally disabled young woman
whose life is passing her by -- Meacham is more interested in her brother Tom, the unhappy warehouse worker
who's yearning to break free of his home. Tom is the narrator of this "memory play," as he calls it. He draws us
into the story of his mother Amanda, who puts on a happy face much of the time, but is aware that "the future
becomes the present, the present becomes the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret."
 
Tom is mostly portrayed with shame in place as he begins narrating: He isn't proud of how he deals with his
destitute and demanding mother and his loving but fragile sister. However, actor Bill Edwards starts off blithely,
as if he were telling the story of a family he never knew.
  
That sounds as if it were a mistake, but Edwards and Meacham know what they're doing. In the final scene, the
actor reaches a day-of-reckoning moment when he can no longer sustain his cavalier approach. Many Lauras
have been close to nervous breakdowns in other "Glass Menageries"; here's one in which Tom shares her pain
and the danger of cracking.
 
Katie Tame's Laura shows more delicacy than usual, especially in the scene where she recalls hearing that the
boy she loved unrequitedly in high school became engaged. Though Tame is a young actress, she has the ability
to make her face look careworn beyond her years.
 
As Amanda, Mary Ann Hay expertly conveys the Southern belle charm that allows the audience to believe that,
yes, there was a time when no fewer than 17 men showed up at her door one afternoon. Usually, at play's end,
Amanda ferociously lashes out at Tom and doesn't care if she hurts Laura's feelings. Hay pauses before this
moment comes, and shows a mother's unconditional love instead.
 
Unfortunately, Gordon Gray, as the gentleman caller whom Tom brings home for Laura, comes off more as a
glad-hand, even a con-man who needs to be taken down a peg. Laura's better off without him.

Review: THE GLASS MENAGERIE
THE TIMES HERALD RECORD
by Marcus Kalipolites

Laura may be a crippled and shy young lady and mother Amanda may live the fantasy of being a sought-after
Southern belle who boasts about past gentlemen callers, but it falls on Tom to provide for this dysfunctional
family during the Great Depression. And so it is, that in playing the $65-a-month warehouse worker Tom, as
played by Bill Edwards, not only escapes his mother's constant criticism by going to the movies but, in the
end, he imitates his father's decision to desert the family as well. In Wednesday night's performance, Edwards
displayed commanding presence in capturing every nuance of his character's various moods.

While his taxed-to-the-limit character exhibits hate for a carping mother, an altogether different Tom shows
empathy for Laura. Sibling affection finds the two of them cheerfully sharing the re-creation of a magician's
kerchief trick. In returning the favor, Laura lovingly tucks a drunken Tom in bed.

Looming large in the mind of Edwards' character is the prospect of adventure. Fueled by movie addiction, he
"bubbles on the inside" to live a different life. Tom tells this to fellow worker and dinner guest Jim O'Connor —
who has been invited to the Wingfield residence by Tom after pressure by Amanda to find a "gentleman caller"
for Laura.

In playing Amanda, Mary Ann Hay creates with Southern accent a giddy character who prattles on and on about
all the beaus she had as a young woman. Dates with her own "gentlemen callers" are revisited as Amanda
glowingly whirls around the living room while showing off her flowery gown of yesteryear. Charm to impress a
guest, however, does not become a woman who otherwise screams at her son with fury enough to find Laura
cringing in fear.

In playing the clinging vine, Katie Tame creates a woman whose shy appearance, slightly hunched body and
limping movements all contribute to the picture of a student unable to continue typing courses in a business
school. But beyond insecurity, Tame's character also panics at the anguish of facing her secret high-school
crush before answering the doorbell but later beams exhilaration after being kissed by him.

Rounding out the polished cast is Gordon Gray, who easily fills the role of self-assured Jim, the high-school idol
of past successes in music, sports and girls.  Notwithstanding future promise, however, the boastful Jim continues
to work in the warehouse

Directed by Paul Meacham, this production shows off fine acting within a layout of modest furniture, period
costumes and occasional dance music emanating from the Paradise Lounge across the alley. Completing the
picture of inner-city life are a fire escape, apartment buildings on each side and above.

Bill Edwards as Tom Wingfield looks back at
his family, Katie Tame as Laura and MaryAnn Hay
as Amanda in Tri-State Actors Theater's season opener,
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. April 16
through May 11, 74 Main St., Sussex, New Jersey. 973 875-2950


TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER PRESENTS
THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Sussex, NJ...Tri-State Actors Theater opens its 21st anniversary season on Wednesday, April 16 with the
Tennessee Williams' THE GLASS MENAGERIE, directed by Artistic Director Paul Meacham, at the historic
Crescent Theater, 74 Main St., Sussex, NJ. Williams' masterpiece is one of the most haunting and delicate
plays of the American theater and introduced Williams as one of the preeminent American playwrights of the
20th century. This semi-autobiographical account of Williams' early days in 1930' s St. Louis is heartbreaking
yet often funny. As revealed in the opening lines of the play, The Glass Menagerie is told through the memory
of Tom Wingfield (Bill Edwards*), a restless soul trapped in a stifling factory job as the reluctant breadwinner for
a family abandoned by his father. His mother, Amanda (MaryAnn Hay*), once a grand Southern socialite,
struggles to regain her former glory through her children, while her painfully shy daughter Laura (Katie Tame*)
retreats from the world's harsh realities into her collection of tiny glass animals. The arrival of a "gentleman caller"
(Gordon Gray) could be a sign of hope ... or a disturbance that will shatter their fragile home. (Mr. Edwards, Ms.
Hay and Ms. Tame are all members of Actors' Equity Association.)

In an interview Tennessee Williams once stated, "I have always been interested in creating a character that
contains something crippled. They have a certain appearance of fragility, these neurotic people I write about,
but they are really strong." The Glass Menagerie was the playwright's first critical success when it opened in
Chicago in 1944 and premiered on Broadway in 1945. Following its New York premiere, the play won the New
York Drama Critics' Circle (Williams' first of four) and a Pulitzer Prize (Williams' first of two); it was revived on
Broadway in 1965 and again in 1983.

The Glass Menagerie opens with a preview performance at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, April 16; all seats are $15.00.
The play continues through Sunday, May 11. Opening Night is Friday, April 18. The performance is followed by
a "Meet the Artist Reception" and refreshments will be served.

Evening performances are Thursdays, April 24 and May 8; tickets are $20.00. Tickets for Friday and Saturday
evenings at 8 pm and Sunday matinees at 3 pm are $30 regular admission, $27 for senior citizens and $20 for
students. The matinee on Sunday, May 4 will be followed by a post-theater talk back with the actors and Artistic
Director, Paul Meacham, to examine the themes and issues of the play.

Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator service are available for patrons with special needs.
Reservations are recommended for all performances. For tickets, information, and special services, please
contact the Box Office at 973 875-2950. Main Street parking is limited and patrons are encouraged to use the
free municipal parking lot on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater.

Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web at
http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part by a
grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
   
STUART LITTLE RETURNS FOR FAMILY WEEK AT THE THEATRE
   
SUSSEX… The New Jersey Theatre Alliance and Tri-State Actors Theater will present
Tri-State’s Student Intern production of STUART LITTLE, the musical at 11:00 am and
2:00 pm on Saturday, March 8. The performances are part of the 11th Annual Family Week
at the Theatre, a yearly event that provides free and discounted theatre programming during
the second week of March. Performance tickets will be offered at one free child’s ticket (ages
3 to 11) with a paid regular ticket (ages 12 and over) at $10.00. Children’s tickets are $8.00.
Performances will be held at the historic Crescent Theater, 74 Main Street, Sussex.

The many adventures—both big and small—of Stuart Little are brought vividly to life in
this story theatre presentation of E.B. White's classic tale about a little mouse born
into a normal New York family. The story has been adapted for the stage by Joseph
Robinette, with music by Ronna White and lyrics by Joseph Robinette and Ronna White. The acting ensemble plays
"many human and animal roles in a series of delightful scenes that make up the marvelous maneuverings of a mild-
mannered mouse trying to survive in a "real people's world." From melodic ballads to exciting chorus numbers, the
score by England's Ronna Frank features such delightful songs as "Paddle Your Own Canoe," "Feed Him Up," "Size,"
"Stuart Little," "I'm Headed in the Right Direction" and "Nighttime in New York" (sung by a quartet of cats!).

Family Week at the Theatre is an annual statewide event offering free and discounted tickets to attendees, and
was developed to encourage families to attend professional theatre together by making the experience affordable,
educational and exciting. Across the state, in all 21 counties, young people will receive free tickets to over 100
performances and special events including free classes, workshops and backstage tours. Since its inception in
1998, the program has served over 45,000 people with professional theatre performances and activities. In honor
of its eleventh year, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance is expanding programming beyond one week to make this
the most accessible and enjoyable year to date. This year, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance invites residents to
experience the month of March in STAGES: Sharing Theatre Arts with Generations through Events Statewide.

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance provides a wide variety of programs and services for the state’s professional
theatres and the audiences who enjoy them. Family Week at the Theatre is a co-sponsored project of The New
Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts
and Discover Jersey Arts. Additional support has been provided by Appel Farm Arts and Music Center, Bank of
America, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, Fund for New Jersey Blind, The
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, The George Ohl, Jr. Trust, Johnson and
Johnson, The New Jersey Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the New Jersey Library Association, New
Jersey Monthly, New Jersey State Library, The Prudential Foundation and WNYC.

Reservations are necessary for all performances. For more information or to order tickets, call the box office at 973
875-2950. Tri-State Actors Theater is located at 74 Main Street, Sussex, New Jersey. To receive a full schedule of
events for Family Week at the Theatre (March 8-16, 2008) please call 1-800-THE-ARTS, or visit
http://www.familyweek.com. Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator service are available for patrons
with special needs. Main Street parking is limited and patrons are encouraged to use the free municipal parking lot
on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater. Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs
and services are available on the web at http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has
been made possible in part by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner
Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER ANNOUNCES 2008 SEASON
 
Sussex…As Tri-State Actors Theater launches into its twenty-first season in
2008, audiences can expect the best season in the theater’s history. Acting
classes for children, teens, and adults have already begun, our New Plays
Reading Series will present new challenging works throughout the season, the
theater’s special events will entertain audiences with a wealth of musical talent,
and our special matinee performances for students will bring young audiences the
best of American and classical drama. In order to insure that more area audiences
get to view Tri-State’s productions the run of each show will be extended from three "
to four weeks.
       
Sailing into its new season with a great story, Tri-State is reviving its acclaimed hit family show, STUART LITTLE, the
Musical, as part of the state-wide Family Week at the Theatre, for two performances only on Saturday, March 8.
The Tri-State Youth Company will again present this delightful tale of Stuart Little, the mouse son of the Little family,
with music and song.
     
April and May bring a great American playwright back to Tri-State in the production of Tennessee Williams’ THE GLASS
MENAGERIE. Praised world-wide as the quintessential family drama, THE GLASS MENAGERIE stars three veteran Tri-State
performers, Mary Ann Hay in the monumental role of Amanda, and Katie Tame as her fragile daughter, Laura. Because
this magnificent play is often studied in schools, special matinees for students have been added to the performance schedule.
Call 973-8785-2950 to reserve groups for these special matinees.
   
Tri-State will also present the incredible Delaware Valley Opera in May for one performance only on Saturday, May 17,
in their acclaimed salute to YIP HARBURG, the lyricist who gave the world the film THE WIZARD OF OZ with his
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow, ” "We're Off to See the Wizard," and more. Other popular hits include “It’s only a Paper
Moon,” and “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? " which became the anthem of the Great Depression. This program is
for age twelve and over.
 
The master of laughter, Neil Simon takes a bow at Tri-State in June and stays for July 4th with his delightful summer
farce, THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL. This fast moving, hilarious comedy, deals with two earnest young men struggling
to put out a "protest" magazine, and the all-American girl who moves in next door and manages to send both of them
into a romantic tail spin. Coming out of the conflicted years of the 60’s, love and politics blend delightfully in a bubbling
series of funny happenings, set forth with the masterly skill and inventiveness that are the hallmarks of Neil Simon.
 
July also heralds the Tri-state debut of one of the finest acoustic bands around: THE LOST RAMBLERS come to
Tri-State for the first time in a one-night stand on Saturday, July 12, that will prove to be the best night of Bluegrass
(and more!) that will leave audiences cheering for encores.
 
Tri-State’s Youth Acting Company returns in August to perform CHARLOTTE’S WEB with an all-new ensemble of
players. This exciting, musical version of CHARLOTTE’S WEB brings a new dimension to E.B. White's beloved
"classic. With music and lyrics by Charles Strouse (ANNIE, 'BYE, 'BYE BIRDIE) and book by Joseph Robinette
(national award-winning children's playwright) audiences will thrill to the very special experience of this rollicking
musical version featuring Wilbur the pig, Charlotte, Fern, and all the delightful characters.
 
New Play Readings and the final special event of the 2008 season fill the month of September. On September 27,
Tri-State welcomes back the incomparable guitarist, GLENN ZERVAS, with his ensemble of friends who accompany
his unique and inspiring guitar sounds.
 
October is “Ghosts and Ghouls” month at Tri-State, as the theater hosts the scariest ghost play ever presented—
THE WOMAN IN BLACK. A haunting tale of mystery and suspicion, HE WOMAN IN BLACK explores the chilling
past of Arthur Kipps. But as the characters delve further they begin to uncover incidents that cannot be directly
explained--chilling, scary fun! Audiences and critics alike have reveled in the terror of THE WOMAN IN BLACK.
It’s been called a “good old-fashioned ghost story that is virtually guaranteed to scare you . . .” and “a genuine,
copper-bottomed audience-pleaser [full of] spine-tingling, blood-curdling screams." One playgoer warned that
“You'll be sleeping with the light on and running away from shadows for months afterwards."
 
Season 2008 will draw to a close with Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL adapted by Christopher Schario,
a tradition at Tri-State. The month of December will be filled with fine family entertainment and holiday fun.
 
Tri-State Actors Theater is the foremost professional theatre company in Sussex County, northeast Pennsylvania,
and south central New York. It’s performances have been praised by many critics including those of the
STAR-LEDGER, THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD, the Morristown DAILY RECORD, and the NJ HERALD.
 
2008 Season Subscriptions, Flex Passes and individual tickets are now on sale. Advance ticket purchases are
recommended for all performances. Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator service are available
for patrons with special needs. For tickets, information, and special services, please contact the Box Office at
973 875-2950. Main Street parking is limited and patrons are encouraged to use the free municipal parking lot
on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater.
 
Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web at http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part by a
grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
"Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

TRI-STATE OFFERS A KINDER, GENTLER SCROOGE
Saturday, December 15, 2007    Star-Ledger Staff                           NEW JERSEY STAGE
BY PETER FILICHIA

Tiny Tim isn't so tiny in this version of "A Christmas Carol."

In fact, at the Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex, he looks as if he could be in
graduate school.

It's all part of the fun, though, in Christopher Schario's take on Dickens' famous
novel. Schario starts the show by having five people just sittin' around at Christmastime,
each in his own home, reading "A Christmas Carol." Then each breaks away from the
book and just plays the parts he likes. So tall and trim (and excellent) Philip Mutz can
portray Tiny Tim, because it's only in his imagination, anyway.

Interesting, isn't it, that none of the five sees himself as Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser extraordinaire? That's all right, because
Tri-State artistic director Paul Meacham is happy to take the role. Sussex audiences should be equally happy to have him,
because Meacham brings a great deal to the role that others around the state haven't found during this holiday season.

Many Scrooges wait until the end to show any humanity. Meacham doesn't, though Schario gives him a line that helps. When
his nephew Fred (a charming Clark Gookin) says that he got married because he fell in love, Meacham's Scrooge mutters,
"because you fell in love" in a way that he intends to be mocking -- but there's an unexpected softness in there, too, as if
Scrooge is suddenly remembering his own lost love. This gives him a head start on his ultimate atonement.

Meacham shows a wondrous delight when he's whisked back to the past (by the exquisite, erudite, and confident
Sarah Koestner). He makes a theatergoer believe that he's genuinely returned to days gone by, and very much in the
moment of remembering his less complicated life of years ago. How endearing he is during these moments.

Still, Meacham does err twice. Early on, in editorializing on the mental capacity of the poor, he twirls a finger around his ear
a few times to indicate that they're crazy. That gesture seems decidedly anachronistic for 19th century London.

Then, during the redemption scene, Meacham makes his biggest mistake. Though Scrooge is supposed to see that his life
of stinginess has been ill-spent, Meacham seems to be operating out of fear, that he'll straighten out and be generous only
because the punishment would be too terrible if he didn't. That's not the message of the show.

Perhaps Meacham simply overextended himself, because he functions as director, too. He's done an especially good job in
the breakup scene between Young Scrooge and Belle. Jenelle Sosa excels in showing a young woman who realizes, however
reluctantly, that she mustn't marry someone who's less interested in love and marriage than in shillings and pence. Philip
Mutz is appropriately clueless in not seeing what the problem is between them.

On the other hand, perhaps Meacham was just a bit too busy to notice that Clark Gookin was over the top as the Ghost of
Christmas Past. The place for a Christmas ham is on a table, and not on stage.

Be apprised that this is the shortest of the "A Christmas Carols" that New Jersey's professional theaters are currently offering.
It's less than 90 minutes, and that even includes a generous intermission. So if time is tight, and you'd prefer a theatrical
dessert to a full entree, here's the "A Christmas Carol" for you."

Sussex, N.J. — In the Tri-State Actors Theater production of "A Christmas Carol,"
written by Charles Dickens and adapted for stage by Christopher Schario, it's only
in the many locales of the story that you need to use your imagination. But that is
enough when you have a presentation overflowing with a talented and spirited cast,
colorful and authentic costumes and special effects in sound and sight.

This is an engaging show that features remarkable performances. While five of the
six actors carry multiple roles, the one exception is Paul Meacham, who not only
directs the well-done production but also stars as Scrooge. It would be difficult to
find a more resourceful interpretation of the mean-spirited and stingy owner of a
counting house in 19th-century London who hates Christmas and everything
associated with the celebration.

But before Scrooge can find redemption, he must suffer the anguish of reviewing bad choices he had made. Warning the
ill-willed man of his impending ordeal at the hands of three haunting spirits is Marley, his former partner deceased for
seven years. As Marley's Ghost, Bill Edwards is electrifying. Besides the fearsome appearance of frizzled hair and raggedy
clothes, the combination of clanging chains wrapped around him and thunderclaps overhead add to the horror of a scene
that shakes Scrooge to the core.

In altogether different roles, Edwards imbues Cratchit with servitude in dealing with his boss, warmth in caring for crippled
son Tiny Tim and duty in offering a toast for Scrooge.

While Sarah Koestner as an angry Mrs. Cratchit objects to the testimonial before changing her mind, in her role of
Christmas Past she tenderly leads Scrooge to places of his childhood, which includes the scene of a lonely boy reading
a book. Beyond playing Scrooge at school, Philip Mutz also creates a cheerful Tiny Tim and an upbeat Ghost of
Christmas Yet to Come.

Among the 24 characters, the role of Scrooge's nephew is played with a cheerful glow by Clark Gookin. The refusal by
Scrooge to donate money provides Jenelle Sosa as one of the two gentlewomen a benevolent voice for the poor.

The show also succeeds because of Patricia Meacham's authentic costumes, Jacqueline Perry's efficient set design and
Steven Silvia's profound sound effects.

If you go ...What: "A Christmas Carol" Where: Tri-State Actors Theater, 74 Fountain Square, Sussex, N.J. When: 3 p.m.
Dec. 16, 23, 30; 7 p.m. Dec. 21-22, 27-29 Tickets: $17-$27 Call: 973-875-2950

TIMES HERALD-RECORD
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
'Price' is right in Sussex
By Cynthia Topps
For the Times Herald-Record

Sussex, N.J. -- It is difficult to believe that Arthur Miller’s "The Price," which was
written in 1968, would speak to a modern audience.  How could a play about two
estranged brothers getting together to dispense with their deceased parents’ possessions
be relevant 40 years later?  Still, [to] people searching for self-awareness, one's
place in society, and the balance between happiness and success in one's life [the play]
feels as modern today as it must have in 1968.
     Tri-State Actors Theater and director Paul Meacham are presenting this piece with a
competent and often brilliant cast.  The play is set in 1968 in the attic of a condemned
New York City apartment, beautifully crafted and designed by Paul Meacham and Jacqueline Perry.  This is a place
full of bittersweet memories for members of the Franz family who were ruined by the 1929 Wall Street crash.  Victor
(Randall McCann) is meeting his wife Esther (Tara Bowles), and an estate appraiser, Gregory Solomon (P. Brendan
Mulvey), to dispose of his parent’s belongings.
     From the outset, Victor is on edge, clearly reluctant to sell the “stuff” without his brother's permission, although
they have been estranged for 15 years.  When Walter (Paul Falzone) arrives just as Victor and Solomon are finalizing
the sale, a confrontation ensues that pulls in all four characters and reveals the reasons for the estrangement.
     In the role of Victor, McCann seems every bit the no-nonsense, distrustful policeman.   He carefully questions
each character as to motives and the truth of the words spoken.  McCann is skillful at winning sympathy with his
portrayal and not going too far and turning Victor into a victim.
     Bowles' portrayal of Esther is at times too controlled and slightly disconnected.  In her Act 1 appearance,
Bowles’ lack of warmth with her husband makes her seem self-centered and materialistic.  Her Act 2
appearance is more spirited and aware, especially when she vigorously comes to her husband’s defense.
      As Walter, the successful brother, Falzone is appropriately polished.  He is superb when he describes his
recent breakdown and subsequent soul-searching journey.  His attempts to forge reconciliation with his brother
are believable. The price that each paid--Walter sacrificing family for career with Victor sacrificing career
for family--has profoundly impacted each.  When McCann and Falzone come head to head, sparks fly.
     With all this angst, Gregory Solomon, the 89-year-old appraiser, brings wisdom, eccentricity and comic relief. 
He laments that modern society knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.  Mulvey is a delight to
watch in this role.  He plays this character as if born to it.
      If “Death of a Salesman” or “The Crucible” is the only Miller you have ever sampled, it may be time to treat
your theatrical taste buds to something different.  This production is the right brew and it’s worth “The Price.”

TRI-STATE PRESENTS ARTHUR MILLER’S THE PRICE

Sussex…Tri-State Actors Theater will present one of Arthur Miller’s most powerful plays, the touching and thought-
provoking drama, THE PRICE. First performance will be a Preview on Thursday, October 25 and the play runs through
Sunday, November 11 at the historic Crescent Theater, Main St., Sussex, NJ.
     When THE PRICE opened on Broadway on February 7, 1968, Clive Barnes of the New York Times called the play
“one of the most engrossing and entertaining plays that Miller has ever written,” and to expect a great evening of
theatre as “…it does, I think, emphatically deliver the goods.”
     The play takes place in the attic of a once prosperous Manhattan brownstone, soon to be pulled down in the
cause of progress. The apartment is a floor to ceiling clutter of furniture and family memorabilia. The play follows
Victor and Walter, two estranged brothers who reluctantly meet to dispose of their father’s belongings after his death.
After the 1929 stock market collapse left his father ruined, Victor dropped out of college to earn a living and support
the family. Now a policeman, Victor resents his wealthy brother Walter, whom Victor feels benefited from his sacrifice.
While trying to put a price tag on their family’s belongings, they discover that there are some things that are truly
priceless – brotherhood, love, and justice.
     Taking on the roles of the two brothers are Randall McCann who will play the tough New York City policeman
Victor, and Paul Falzone as the wealthy doctor Walter. P. Brendan Mulvey takes on the role of the appraiser,
Gregory Solomon. Tara Bowles plays the role of Victor’s wife, Esther. Actors Paul Falzone and P. Brendan Mulvey
are both members of Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.
   The artistic team for The Price includes director and set designer, Paul Meacham, Tri-State’s founder and artistic
director; sound designer and Technical Staff member, Steven A. Silvia; costume coordinator, Patricia Meacham;
and Stage Manager, Lara Terrell, returning to Tri-State under her first Equity contract.
    The Price runs from October 25 through November 11. Opening Night is Friday, October 26. The performance is
followed by a “Meet the Artist Reception” and refreshments will be served.  Evening performances are Thursday
through Saturday at 8PM; matinee performances are Sundays at 3PM. Tickets are: $18 on Thursdays (preview -
$17), $27 regular/$25 seniors and $17 students on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. The performance on Sunday,
November 11 will be Closed Captioned for the hearing impaired. Large print programs, wheelchair access and
elevator service are available for patrons with special needs. Reservations are recommended for all performances.
For tickets, information, and special services, please contact the Box Office at 973 875-2950.  Main Street parking
is limited and patrons are encouraged to use the free municipal parking lot on Harrison Street, directly behind the
theater.
     Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are available on the web at http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been made possible in part by a grant
from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment
for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

From the TIMES HERALD-RECORD
Play review: 'Stuart Little'

By James F. Cotter

August 04, 2007

     Sussex, N.J. -- "I'm Headed in the Right Direction" sings the
mouse Stuart Little at the climax of "Stuart Little," a musical based on the children's book by E.B. White.
The story has been artfully adapted for the stage by Joseph Robinette with music by Ronna Frank and lyrics
by Robinette and Frank. Indeed, Stuart is headed in the right direction after a happy home life in the Littles'
Manhattan apartment where he was born and brought up with sensitivity and affection by his human parents.
When he finally decides to go out into the world to make his own fortune and to find the bird that
has been the love of his life, we know that Stuart has chosen the right path for himself.

     Tri-State Actors Theatre is presenting a revival of "Stuart Little" with the Student Intern Company
directed by Paul Meacham. The 11 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 are terrific as they take on
myriad human and animal roles, led by the ever resourceful, mild-mannered supermouse Stuart. Emma
Della makes Stuart a true hero, confident yet modest, threatened but optimistic. With Stuart's mouse
hat, the performer shivers and quakes, then races off to a fresh adventure, sailing boats, chased by
dogs, thrown onto an East River garbage barge, and, of course, negotiating with cats.

     As Stuart's housemate, the cat Snowbell, Allison Ann Dethmers claws the air and agrees in a duet,
"Natural Enemies," that pets need to be friends. One of the highlights of the show is a quartet sung by cats
about the joys of "Nighttime in New York.

     As Stuart's Mom and Dad, Alexa Ross and Josh Ernst are caringly comic when they agree to avoid the
m-word whenever addressing their tiny son, while Jonathon Dragon hits the right notes as brother George
who treats Stuart as a younger sibling in need of guidance. Amanda Martino has a funny scene as a dentist,
Dr. Carey, who befriends Stuart while extracting a tooth from a frantic patient played by Dallas Haines.
As the bird Margalo, Raquel Warehime flutters her wings and looks beautiful as she joins in the title duet,
"Stuart Little," while Amanda Autore as the ritzy Harriet Ames shares a frustrated date with the wandering hero.
Alexis Alemy is a helpful shopkeeper and Jackie Torres a desperate school superintendent whom Stuart
encounters in the search through the Big Apple for his true identity.

     Jim Blanton accompanies the cast at the keyboard while also acting as the accomplished musical
director. Choreographer Melissa Pisarri creates some marvelous dance sequences, and scenic artist Jackie
Perry uses alphabet blocks spelling out the hero's name in an imaginative variety of ways. The pastel-colored
costumes, logolike skyline and lighting by Courtney O'Rourke all add up to making this show a delightful
experience for young and old alike.

Tasty 'Tuna' in Sussex
TIMES HERALD-RECORD
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
PLAY REVIEWS

Tasty 'Tuna' in Sussex
By Cynthia O. Topps

Sussex, N.J.—There exists in the theater world something called the “Tuna
Trilogy.”  These are three plays written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed
Howard concerning the inhabitants of a fictional town in Texas called Tuna. 
They are titled “Greater Tuna,” “a Tuna Christmas,” and Red, White and Tuna.” 
The most popular of the three is “Greater Tuna,” which is being produced by Tri-
State Actors Theater in Sussex, NJ.

The play does not have a plot or a story line.  It is closer to a series of comedy
sketches that are linked together by news reports given on local radio station
OKKK.  Two performers portray 10 Tuna citizens each.  The humor comes not
only from the rapid and clever way they transform from person to person but also
from the absurdity of those characters as portrayed. Bill Edwards and Scotty
Watson inhabit Tri-State’s “Tuna” with high energy and brilliant comic timing.  Both
are equally gifted and well cast by director Paul Meacham.

Edwards is particularly fine in his portrayal of the three Bumiller children: Jody, Stanley, and Charlene.  He
morphs from Jody, a young boy obsessed with dogs, to Stanley, his stuttering juvenile delinquent brother to
Charlene, their obese, frustrated sister.  As Petey Fisk, the lisping president of the Tuna humane Society,
Edwards is hilarious while valiantly trying to save ducks, whales, snails, llamas, and shrimp. Watson is as
accomplished as Edwards.  His Rev. Spikes was comical as he worked himself into a lathered funeral eulogy
peppered with every pithy saying imaginable.  Watson is wonderfully skillful at playing Pearl Burras, a sadistic
dog-poisoning old woman, and Bertha Bumiller, the mother of the Bumiller terror trio.

The costumers Patricia Meacham and Nicole Lee Smith deserve kudos for their colorful, appropriate costumes.
But a standing ovation should go to the dressers Jane Cunningham and Alisone Alcordo, who have to change
the actors with rapid-fire precision.  The only glitches of the night were Charlene’s pants and Arles Struvie’s
mustache. Neither wanted to stay on Bill Edwards, but the actors used these mishaps for moments of improvis-
ational fun.  After struggling with his mustache, Edwards remarked that he had to wear a fake mustache after
his wife had ripped off his real one.

So if you are looking for a night out filled with laughter and chaos, go see “Greater Tuna.” Edwards and
Watson are adept at working the audience, which adds to the fun and flavor of your evening.

Play review: 'Twelfth Night'           
THE TIMES RECORD HERALD

Olivia and Maria tease the "man," Cesario,
who is really the woman, Viola, in Tri-State's
"Twelfth Night."
From.left are Katie Tame as Olivia,
Jenelle Sosa as Maria, and
Celia Montgomery as Cesario/Viola

By Lisa Hewel
For the Times Herald-Record
May 01, 2007

Sussex, N.J. — What do you get when you combine a pair of separated
siblings, a few cases of mistaken identity, a cross-dressing female, a modicum of madness, and the
absurdity of love? No, it's not an upcoming episode of "Desperate Housewives," but rather one of William
Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, "Twelfth Night" or "What You Will." Director Paul Meacham's
rousing rendition of the Bard's work is being staged by Tri-State Actors Theater, an Equity professional
regional theater in Sussex, N.J. 

Shakespeare's play, written around 1601, tells the story of Viola and Sebastian, a brother and sister
who are separated by a shipwreck and therefore think the other dead. Alone in a foreign country, Viola
disguises herself to become Cesario, a page to the Count Orsino.  Orsino is in love with the lady Olivia,
who does not love Orsino. The count sends Cesario to woo Olivia. As fate would have it, Olivia falls in love
with the cross-dressing confidante. To complicate the plot even further, an idiotic nobleman, Sir Andrew
Aguecheek, and a pompous servant, Malvolio, find themselves the objects of a scheme by Olivia's oft-
inebriated uncle, Sir Toby Belch, who leads the men to believe Olivia loves each.  Sebastian returns,
more calamity and laughs ensue, and almost everyone lives happily ever after.

As Viola/Cesario, Celia Montgomery plays the perfect protagonist. While in the midst of conflict, she is
cunning and confident; when caught in the lover's triangle, she is appropriately nervous as she avoids
revealing her gender and her love for Orsino. Andrew Danish as Orsino does well as the lovesick nobleman.
He is at times fittingly foolish, and at other times apparently confused by his growing interest in Cesario.
Katie Tame is a beautiful and bold, yet cruel and cool Olivia. She appears to have great fun being the object
of so many men's affections.

The scenes with Craig Dudley as Sir Toby Belch, Bill Edwards as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Clark Gookin
as Feste, are worth the price of admission alone. The trio provides much of the comic relief, and work well
together being plain old fools.  Kevin Shinnick as the puritanical butler Malvolio is as strait-laced as can be,
and then as silly as a schoolgirl when he is the object of an unkind practical joke.  Jenelle Sosa as Maria,
a young woman in Olivia's employ, is smart and sassy, and basks in the glory of pulling off her own practical
joke and then getting her man, too.  Freeman Borden as Sebastian is at first a little too stiff for his part, but is
quite funny when not realizing he is the unwitting object in a case of mistaken identity.  The remaining
ensemble cast — Jason Shane as Curio, Ben Schaub as Valentine, Ted Odell as the sea captain and priest,
and Daniel Mian as Antonio — help to keep the humor in high gear.

Original bluesy-type music by Vince Di Mura adds the right air of absurdity.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007                                          BY PETER FILICHIA  Star-Ledger Staff "
Laissez les bons temps rouler!"["Let the good times roll!"] is
certainly the current policy at Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex.
Artistic director Paul Meacham has taken "Twelfth Night," William
Shakespeare's 1601 hit, and transposed it to 1910 New Orleans.
The good times indeed roll, along with plenty of actors who roll
around the stage in one of the Bard's rowdiest comedies.

  

Celia Montgomery & Katie Tame

Jenelle Sosa, Kevin Shinnick
and Craig Dudley

This is supposed to be the story of Viola and Sebastian, fraternal twins who are separated in a shipwreck. She
quickly decides she'd have better job opportunities if she pretended to be a man. He, of course, doesn't need
that ruse. Both cause a great deal of mistaken identity en route to being reunited and falling in love with a soulmate.
But Shakespeare indulged in plenty of time-killing scenes with some low-class drunks. Do the math: The often-
intoxicated Sir Toby Belch has 152 lines -- exactly the number that Viola and Sebastian have combined.

So there are plenty of scenes where Belch is bobbing and weaving about, placing all his energies into
maintaining a sober look. His equally besotted buddy, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, joins in the liquid debauchery.
Given the situation, Meacham has gone all out to make it wild 'n' rollicking, putting all these rakes onstage --
though he avoids the obvious in having Belch belch. Craig Dudley does the part proud. Think of W.C. Fields
with a pretentious British accent. Bill Edwards, an expert at physical comedy, playfully plays Aguecheek.
When depicting a drunk, he tries to convince others that his cane is a mere walking stick, though it's a
necessity to keep him propped up.

Clark Gookin shows Feste the jester chooses to get high on life. He's very winning, almost to the finish line,
when Meacham assigns him the show's concluding song. Alas, Gookin doesn't have the voice for it, and
grasps for notes as if he were trying to catch mosquitoes in his bare hands.

Some scholars consider "Twelfth Night" the world's first musical, given that it contains six songs. Composer
Vince DiMura provides lovely ballads and sprightly up-tempo songs. However, none sounds particularly
right for 1910 New Orleans -- especially when contrasted with the Scott Joplin tunes used as incidental
music.

Any gender-bending Shakespearean comedy must be at least somewhat convincing in having characters
mistake Viola for Sebastian, and vice-versa. Celia Montgomery and Freeman Borden do look a bit alike,
thanks to the (bad) blond wig worn by the latter. Too bad Montgomery can't sustain a deep speaking voice --
and that Borden can't shave a little closer. He's acceptable in the acting department, though, and there's some
nice chemistry with his lady love, Olivia. She's played by Katie Tame, who must have seen "Sex and the City"
on every channel, for she's channeling Sarah Jessica Parker.

Two others stand out in the 14-member cast. One is Jenella Sosa as the maid Maria, who starts out disapproving
of the drunks, but gets down and dirty to join them in trickery. The victim? Malvolio, delightfully portrayed by
Kevin Shinnick, the career sycophant who goes from workaholic to lustaholic. To see him try to smile -- he seems
to have forgotten how to do it -- is one of the show's highlights. Audiences have eight chances to see "Twelfth Night"
in the next -- yes -- 12 nights.
Peter Filichia may be reached at pfilichia@starledger.com or (973) 392-5995.

The Illustrious Theatre Company, in residence at the Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery, opens its fifth season with
Neil Simon's outrageous romantic comedy, Last of the Red Hot Lovers.  The company will also continue its unique
collaboration with Sussex County's professional theatre company, Tri-State Actors Theater by presenting a third weekend
at Tri-State's theatre in Sussex..  Last of the Red Hot Lovers opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 1969 starring
James Coco, Linda Lavin, Doris Roberts, and Marcia Rodd. It won the 1970 Tony Award for Best Play and went on to
play 706 performances.  In this charming play Barney Cashman, a middle-aged married nebbish, wants to join the sexual
revolution of the late 60's before it's too late.  Joe Barra of Pine Bush will portray Barney in ITC's production, with Victoria Ford,
Cindy Rea, and Mary Lee Shorr portraying the three women who come into Barney's life.

Simon, one of America's most famous and prolific playwrights, got his break writing comedy for Sid Caesar's live TV
comedy Show of Shows in the 1950s where he worked along side Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbert, and Carl
Reiner.  He is the only playwright to have four productions running on Broadway simultaneously.  His first Broadway hit
was Come Blow Your Horn followed by numerous others including Barefoot in the Park, Plaza Suite, Rumors,
The Odd Couple, and his autobiographical trilogy Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound.

Performances at the Winery are February 23, 24, 25 and March 2, 3 and 4.  Curtain time on Fridays and Saturdays is
8 PM and Sundays at 7:30 PM.  Seating, which is cabaret style, begins at 6:15 on Friday and Saturday and 5:45 on
Sunday for those planning to enjoy a dinner from the winery's Pané Café and Bakery; dinner reservation times are
required when purchasing tickets for the play.  Tickets are now available at the Winery, by phone (845-258-4858), or
through the winery's web site (www.wvwinery.com.  Go to Marketplace, then Tickets).  Ticket prices are $18, or $16
for seniors and children (12 and under).  Advanced purchase is recommended, and required for dinner reservations. 
The Warwick Valley Winery is located at 114 Little York Rd. in Warwick, just off County Route 1 in the Pine Island region.

The final two performances at Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex will be Friday, March 9 and Saturday, March
10 at 8:00 PM.  Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the theatre at 973-875-2950.  The historic Crescent
Theatre is located at 74 Fountain Square in downtown Sussex, NJ.
 

06/16/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Odd couple coaches clash in 'Rounding Third'

BY WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD

"Rounding Third" has made the rounds in New Jersey, and now it has come around
again. The logistics of Richard Dresser's humorous morality tale -- which requires only
two actors and simple staging -- make it a popular work in regional and community
theater. And its gentle comedy-with-a-message, dressed up as a baseball story, has
proven to be a hit with audiences. Now it has, as Dizzy Dean used to say, "slud" into
Sussex, where Tri-State Actor's Theater takes a turn at the plate.

Seeing it for the second time (Centenary Stage Company fielded it two seasons back),
I finally figured out what nagged me about the play the first time around. Once I did, I was able to better enjoy
Dresser's compelling characters. It also helps that artistic director Paul Meacham has a good feel for the material
and coaxes strong performances from his cast.

The always-enjoyable David Volin and Bill Edwards star, respectively, as Don and Michael, an odd couple of
Little League coaches in contemporary Anywhere USA. Don (never "Donald") is a stereotypical type-A former
jock coach, preaching a win-at-all-costs philosophy at his peewee platoon. Michael (not "Mike") is more the
sensitive Yuppie-type, balancing his desire to share-bond with his son while taking business calls on his cell.

The coaches get to know each other during a pre-draft meeting at the local tavern, where Don guzzles longnecks
and figures since Mikey isn't drinking, he must have a "problem -- not that it's your fault, it's a disease." Michael
has problems, all right, but alcohol is not among them. As the story plays out, Don will learn about many of them,
starting with the troubling news that neither Michael nor his son knows beans about baseball. Don has his share
of problems as well, and doesn't need Michael's baggage messing up the one thing he's got going for him. Life
has obviously passed Don by, to the point where his entire self-worth is tied up in the team's win-loss record.

"Rule No. 1, winning is fun," he tells the kids on opening day. "I hope this isn't new information." Don has a lot of
Rules No. 1, starting with showing up for practice on time, a rule that Michael breaks. "Assistant coach Mike has
helped us out by demonstrating what not to do," Don tells the team before calling one of a series of mandatory
coach's meetings, where the conflict escalates.

Eventually and inevitably, the men form an uneasy friendship and help each other check their respective baggage.
Dresser's character development is a bit predictable, so don't expect any startling revelations. But the characters,
in the hands of two good actors and steered by Meacham's skillful direction, never cross the line to caricature,
giving the production a solid foundation of realism.

Volin's comedic abilities have been showcased on many a stage in New Jersey, including turns here as Bottom
in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and as one of the mad players in "The Compleat Wrks of Willm Shakspr
(Abridged)." He's still funny, but also builds a strong and surprisingly sympathetic character study. Edwards
brings an endearing, nervous energy to his character. Oddly, while Dresser based Michael on his own experience
as a Little League coach, he is the least interesting of the two, and is saddled with some dialogue and mannerisms
that repeat in pattern long after we get the message -- Michael's a geek. Fortunately, Edwards has obviously found
his own inner geek and revels in the moment, making it easier for the rest of us to spend some time with him.

The biggest problem with "Rounding Third" is while it doesn't purport to be a baseball play, it is set in the mythical
Field of Dreams, which many Americans cannot visit without experiencing the romantic, nostalgic, almost religious
aura of America's pastime. Dresser just doesn't have a feel for that and, at times, the play drags the ballfield
around like a lead weight. But once you accept the limitations, as I finally did midway through the second act,
and focus on the characters, "Rounding Third" comes up a winner.

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 AN UPBEAT BASEBALL COMEDY "ROUNDING THIRD" 

Sussex…Just in time for baseball season, Tri-State Actors Theater presents the touchingly comic “odd couple”
story, ROUNDING THIRD by Richard Dresser. Two Little League coaches
- a tough, win-at-any-cost veteran coach and his new assistant -
are “baseball dads” with dramatically different philosophies. “Rounding Third”
runs June 7 through June 25 at the historic Crescent Theater, 74 Main St., Sussex. 

The new little league season is just around the corner and Don, played by
David Volin, a seasoned head coach with a reputation of winning, has lost his
like-minded assistant head coach to the Babe Ruth league. Enter new assistant
head coach Michael Johnson, played by Bill Edwards, a father who wants to spend
more quality time with his son and believes in just having fun. For Don, however,
winning is the fun of baseball and with the help of his son’s all-star pitching he is determined to do so despite
having to field Michael’s not-so-gifted son. Rounding Third is the story of these two coaches trying to find a way
to relate their two very different coaching styles over the course of the season. It is through these often hysterical
struggles that we begin to see that Rounding Third not only explores what it means to win on the field, but what it
means to win off it as well. Actors David Volin and Bill Edwards are both members of Actors Equity Assoc., the
union of professional actors and stage managers. 

Playwright Richard Dresser began writing Rounding Third when his son's Little League coach suggested
that a slower player fake an injury as part of the team's strategy for winning. "I was horrified," Dresser wrote in
an Introduction to the play. "Is this how our children are being trained to deal with competition? How many
future Enrons are brewing on our Little League fields and in our school gyms under the watchful eyes of
over-zealous coaches? What about building character and encouraging fair play? Or are such notions
laughable in this country at this point in history? At that moment I knew that I had to write Rounding Third."

Rounding Third begins with an Open Dress Rehearsal on Wednesday, June 7. Admission is free and
tickets will be available at the door. The run opens with a preview performance on Thursday, June 8; all tickets
are $17.00. Ticket prices for Friday and Saturday evenings are $27.00 and $25.00 for seniors 60 and over and
students. Regular Thursday evening and Sunday matinee tickets are $25.00, $23.00 for seniors and
students. Evening performances begin at 8:00 pm and Sunday matinees begin at 3:00 pm. Reservations
are recommended for all performances. Large print programs, wheelchair access and elevator service are
available for patrons with special needs. For tickets, information, and special services, please contact the
Box Office at 973 875-2950.  Main Street parking is limited and patrons are encouraged to use the free
municipal parking lot on Harrison Street, directly behind the theater.

Additional information about Tri-State Actors Theater and its programs and services are
available on the web at http://www.tristateactorstheater.org. Funding for Tri-State Actors Theater has been
made possible in part by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a
Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   MAY 22, 2006
MYSTERY NIGHT AT THE INN

  Sussex…Tri-State Actors Theater’s Spring Fundraiser combines dinner and a show at the Sussex Inn,
Main St., Sussex on Sunday, June 4 at 4:00 pm. Tri-State Trustees take center stage in their own original
murder mystery.

       A terrific audience participation event, Mystery Night attendees will assist investigators Bill Edwards
(Rounding Third, June 8-25) and Freddie Maas (Passion of Dracula) who are on the scene to help solve
the crime. A series of fictitious colorful local characters, suspenseful and hilarious activities provide clues to
crack the case.

       Tickets for Mystery Night at the Inn are $50.00 per person. Admission includes a buffet dinner, salad,
beverages and gratuity. There will be a cash bar. During the evening, several art pieces, dinner and theater
tickets, and other items will be auctioned.

For reservations and tickets, please call the Box Office at 973 875-2950. A portion of the ticket price is tax
deductible and will be acknowledged to all ticket buyers. Information about Tri-State and our 2006 season
is also available on the Internet at www.tristateactorstheater.org.

04/21/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Gwendolyn Walker captures spirit
of Patsy Cline in Tri-State production

BY WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD

Jukebox musicals are all the rage on Broadway. Elvis, John Lennon and the Beach Boys bombed, but Billy Joel,
Abba and Frankie Valli are charting high.

With all those hitmakers rubbing shoulders in Manhattan, there's no room for the big voice, and tender story, of
Patsy Cline. Fortunately, she's found a home in Sussex, where Tri-State Actors Theater has revived its own
enjoyable revival of "Always ... Patsy Cline."

A near-capacity crowd packed the historic Crescent Theatre Friday night to welcome back Equity professionals
Gwendolyn Walker and Suzanne Hayes, stars of Tri-State' popular 2003 production of Ted Swindley's 1997 tribute
to the late country star.

Walker and her opera-trained voice inhabit the spirit of Cline with gusto, while Hayes provides the narrative hook
as Louise Seger, the single Texas mom whose real-life relationship with her favorite singer wraps the story in a
blanket of warm Southern hospitality.

For those not steeped in country-Western lore, Cline rose to fame in the late 1950s. Her powerful and dramatic
voice pushed songs like "Walking after Midnight" and "Crazy" from the country to the pop charts, but her career
was tragically cut short when she died in a plane crash in 1963.

Her story gained notoriety in the 1980s, when Oscar-winner Jessica Lange starred as Cline in the film "Sweet
Dreams." A few years later, singer K.D. Lang jump-started her career with an album of Cline songs produced by
Cline's famed producer, Owen Bradley.

Swindley's show is Cline's story, seen through the eyes of an obsessed fan who found comfort in a voice she
first heard on Arthur Godfrey's TV show.

"That's how I always wanted to sing," Louise exclaims, with Hayes curling her words around an authentic
Mason-Dixon accent.

Louise also tells us her story, happy to be rid of her no-good husband, even with the burden of two little ones to
support. She works, oddly enough, as an electronics technician. "We cain't all be hairdressers," she explains
cheerfully.

When Louise learns that Cline will be in town for a concert, she's first in line to greet her. The red and white stage
of the honky tonk serves as the main setting for the story. No matter that the multi-level stage looks more uptown
than down-home. It functions well enough for the show. A center entry at the top level provides for a few stagy
entrances, while the six musicians work the flanks.

Louise bonds with Patsy like a big sister, and brings her home after the show for bacon, eggs and more bonding,
which at times, in Paul Meacham's direction, seems on the verge of intimacy. But then, the mood changes with
more talk of children missed, followed by some lullabies and spirituals that, while not part of Cline's regular
songbook, tug at the heartstrings.

It's all as sweet as creamed corn and Hayes successfully gives the audience another character to care about.
But the unmistakable lure of "Always ... Patsy Cline" is Walker belting out the big-voiced ballads, one after
another, with convincing and genuine enthusiasm. More importantly, without resorting to pure mimicry, she does
Cline, and the songs, justice. Trying to capture Cline's soaring blend of torch and twang is like trying to play guitar
like Jimi Hendrix -- you better be good, or you're going to embarrass yourself. Walker at times borrows Cline's
quivering vibrato, but on other occasions, she's not afraid to hit and sustain notes that were probably beyond
Cline's range. Listen for one of these at the very end of "Lovesick Blues," which also ends Act 1, and you'll know
you're in the presence of a singer who deserves to be heard.

The band, which includes a fiddler and a pedal steel guitar player, is improbably led by 19-year-old Jessica Arnold,
a music major at Seton Hall. The Bodacious Bobs tackle a tough score of 28 songs. The good news is that by the
time you read this, they'll undoubtedly be even better. Let's hope fans keep filling the Crescent to cheer them on.

New Jersey Theatre Alliance 9th annual Family Week at the Theatre

Sussex…The New Jersey Theatre Alliance and Tri-State Actors Theater will present Youth Stages’ production
of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on Saturday, March 4, 2006 at 11:00am and 2:00pm. These performances
are part of the 9th annual Family Week at the Theatre, an annual event that provides free theatre performances
for children during the first week of March.  This performance will be offered at one child admitted free for every
adult ticket purchased

In this unique adaptation of the classic tale, all the roles are played by two performers... with some audience
participation. This imaginative and whimsical interpretation, stars Laurie Hardy and Joey Rizzolo. Their dynamic
acting, accentuated by simple costumes and set, allows young people to create Narnia in their imaginations.
Youth Stages, LLC is proud to bring this heroic tale of love, faith, courage and giving, a tale in which good
triumphs over evil, to yet another generation of children.  Recommended for grades K through 6.

Family Week at the Theatre is an annual statewide festival offering free and discounted tickets to young people
and their families and has been developed to encourage families to attend professional theatre together by making
 the experience affordable, educational and exciting.  Across the state, in all 21 counties, young people (ages 5 –
18) will receive free tickets to over 100 performances and special events including free classes, workshops and
backstage tours.  Since its inception in 1998, the program has served over 45,000 young people and their
parents with professional theatre performances and activities

While this performance is offered free of charge for children, there is a admission charge of $10.00 for adults and
reservations are necessary.  For more information or to make a reservation, call the box office at (973) 875-2950. 
Tri-State Actors Theater is located at the Historic Crescent Theater at 74 Main Street in Sussex.  To receive a full
schedule of events for Family Week at the Theatre (March 4-12, 2006), please call 1-800-THE-ARTS or visit www.
familyweek.com.

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance is the statewide consortium of professional theatres and exists to promote and
develop professional theatre in the Garden State.  Family Week at the Theatre is made possible by the generous
support of The New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts.  Additional support has been provided by AT&T, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation,
The Edward W. and Stella C. Van Houten Memorial Fund, The HMS Foundation, The Prudential Foundation,
Target Stores, Kings Super Markets, PSE&G and The Karma Foundation. American Airlines is the official airline
of The New Jersey Theatre Alliance.                              

09/23/05 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom    
Storytellers in 'The Weir' need better material to match their talent
BY WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD

It's often said that great orators can entertain you just by reading the phone book.
It's the same with great storytellers. They don't need great stories to show their
audience a good time.

There's a bunch of good storytellers currently at the Crescent Theater in Sussex,
where Tri-State Actors Theater is staging Conor McPherson's "The Weir." Too bad
they don't have better material to work with.

McPherson, an Irish playwright, won several awards in 1997 for this drama about
a group of interesting characters swapping ghost stories in a rural Irish pub. Unfortunately, as these kinds of stories
go, they are as thin as widow's lace. There's a hint of creepiness here and there, but they lack the sort of imagination,
tension and clever twists that make you want to repeat them at the next campfire.

Even the author seems to acknowledge this. One storyteller finishes by saying, "That's it. That's the story."That's a
bad sign if there ever was one.

At least his setup is sound enough -- a small band of boozy locals, all men, are joined by a slightly mysterious woman
who just bought a house in their isolated neighborhood. Valerie (Brooke Lucas) is a bit reserved but pleasant and willing
to fit in with the crowd. She's just looking for a little peace and quiet. "You're in the right place," says Jack (John Little),
a garage owner who appears to be the oldest of the clan. "You're going to have a peace-and-quiet overload around here."

The pub owner, Brendan (Chris Harcum), is suspicious about the motives of local businessman and real estate broker
Finbar (Bob Senkewicz), who sold Valerie the home and is now shepherding her around town. Finbar is married and
Brendan doesn't go for any shenanigans in his establishment other than drinking, smoking and cussing, which are all
here in abundance.

But "The Weir" steers clear of romantic scandal and turns down a darker path when it is revealed that Valerie has
bought the local haunted house. As the whiskey and stout start to loosen tongues, the stories begin to flow freely.
Jack talks about the house being built on a "fairy road." Finbar goes next and is razzed by his mates for
misidentifying a Ouija board as a "Luigi board."

Jim (Dan Matisa) tells a grimmer tale, but Valerie, after sitting in the background for most of the 90-minute, one-
act affair, trumps them all with a stirring and emotional work of non-fiction that explains her presence in town.
Valerie's story is gripping, but more thanks to Lucas'delivery than McPherson's wordsmithing. The same goes in
spades for the stories that precede it.

Little, seen last year on this stage as Dr. Seward in "The Passion of Dracula," is a strong presence, although,
like most of the cast, his brogue needs some polishing. Harcum has a nice blend of intensity and laid-back
charm, while Matisa is also convincing as the socially awkward yet dignified Jim.

Senkewicz, who frequents the Tri-State stage, looks less like an Irishman than anyone director Paul Meacham
could have found, but he still makes a difficult character work. And Lucas, one of two non-Equity actors in the
cast (Senkewicz is the other), comes out of nowhere to knock you out with her climactic monologue.

I wouldn't want to read "The Weir," but no one's asking me to. Then again, I don't really enjoy reading Shakespeare,
but seeing it onstage is another matter entirely. So skip the script, take a seat and enjoy.

07/22/05 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom

MANZELLI COVERS ENTIRE MENU IN TRI-STATE'S 'FULLY COMMITTED'

By William Westhoven, Special to the Daily Record

Ever want to smack one of those obnoxious people on the phone who insist you'll have
to wait for an appointment or reservation? Well, contrary to popular opinion, especially
when you're experiencing reservation rage, they're not all sadists like the David Spade
character on those Capital One commercials.

Here's another surprise - their workaday world makes for some pretty funny theater, at least
at Tri-State Actor's Theater in Sussex, where the blue plate special is Becky Mode's
"Fully Committed."

Mode, a former writer for "The Cosby Show," has drawn on experiences from the early phase of her career, when
she made ends meet by working in a typically trendy Manhattan restaurant ("fully committed" is a pretentious
euphemism for "booked solid").                                                               

"Fully Committed" represents her all-too-common situation with Sam Peliczowski, a young actor from South Bend,
Ind., who is paying his dues by suffering as a reservation booker for a preposterously posh Big Apple trattoria
frequented by celebs, sheiks and chic socialites.

We neither see the restaurant nor hear its name. All we are privy to is the dank, dingy underbelly of the glittery
restaurant scene. Sam does his business in the restaurant's windowless basement, which is strewn with storage,
laundry, clunky file cabinets and other clutter (scenic artist Jacqueline Perry's set is detailed and gloriously
unattractive). His only connections to the real - and surreal - world are two telephones. One he feverishly works
with multiple lines and a headset. The other has a large red light bulb, which blinks ominously when Sam's boss,
a stressed-out chef, demands his attention.

John Manzelli, an affable everyman sort, deftly embodies every character, hopping from one side of the
conversation to the other with a swift change of voice, posture and manner. In addition to the chef, who holds
the phone tightly clenched in front of his face, there are many customers who keep calling their way back into
the action. They include a snooty rich woman who keeps making impossible demands and a mobster who wants
a waiter to croon "The Lady is a Tramp" for his mother. Staff members range from Jean Claude, the useless
maitre d', to Bob, a fellow reservation booker whose car is stuck on the Long Island Expressway.

Then there's Sam's aging dad, a widower who keeps hoping his son can get home for Christmas. Whenever Dad's
on the line, Manzelli swings his chair around to use it as a walker.

Sam's holiday schedule becomes one of several plot lines that cut through the shtick and eventually point the play
to a clever and positive climax. The ending comes as surprise after a long day of disasters, including a bungled
visit from Zagat's.

Of course, performing artists aren't the only people whose dreams are waylaid by necessary day jobs. So Sam's
predicament is accessible to a large audience, certainly a bigger one than Tri-State's Crescent Theater can hold.

Perhaps that's why, more than a week into its limited run, "Fully Committed" was still filling a respectable number
of seats. This is a good sign for Tri-State, which, like many theaters, has been feeling a pinch at the box office over
the last year or so. In fact, artistic director Paul Meacham said before Saturday night's performance that one reason
"Fully Committed" replaced "Proof" on the 2005 schedule was because this one-man show was less expensive to
produce.

So much the better for North Jersey theater patrons, who have had myriad productions of "Proof" to choose from.
Instead, they can look forward to this fresh bit of fun, because "Fully Committed" is a choice entrée. Manzelli
resists the urge to indulge himself by plowing through the 40-plus characters (some of which appear only for
seconds) with a Red Bull-rush of comic hysteria. Instead, he inhabits them with stylishly subtle panache. His
fluid delivery and smooth segues give you a chance to digest the characters along with the comedy.

Sure, Robin Williams could have you rolling in the aisles with this material, but Manzelli's method, wisely
cultivated by Meacham's direction, makes it a night at the theater instead of a night at the improv.
William Westhoven can be reached at (973) 428-6200.

'Grace and Glorie' mixes pathos, humor   
By William Westhoven, Special to the Daily Record

Playwright Tom Ziegler probably didn't target the Sandwich Generation as the
audience for "Grace and Glorie," an enjoyable dramatic comedy currently being
staged at Tri-State Actor's Theater in Sussex.This moving two-woman play about
a 90-year-old illiterate farmer and a transplanted New Yorker in the Blue Ridge
Mountains of Virginia offers many pleasures and a couple of useful life lessons.
                                                                                                                            
Ziegler, director Paul Meacham and his small cast go beyond the easy work of
clashing cultures and  bravely explore the more difficult frontier of life and death.  

 Too bad that Ziegler bails out at the end, wrapping things up with a frustratingly sentimental climax, but we all know
that sometimes the journey is more rewarding than the destination. And for those of us Sandwich Kids who have
experienced he joys and frustrations of caregiving for elderly parents, there's an added poignancy that touches
home.     

As the play begins, Grace (Anne Barclay) is back in her ramshackle Virginia home after a long stay at the hospital,
where her doctors told her that cancer would claim her life within a matter of weeks. At her front door is Glorie
(Clodagh Bowyer), a 40-something hospice volunteer who's come bearing soup, medicine and pamphlets on how
to care for the terminally ill. "Whatever you're selling, I'm long past needing," the crusty Grace tells Glorie. But
Glorie, poorly outfitted in a designer dress and heels, is determined. She's recently moved to the area with her
husband, a lawyer with a rich law firm where the privileged wives are expected to help out the less fortunate citizens
of their rural community.

"You help people die for a living?" Grace asks.

"No. I'm a volunteer," says Glorie.

"You volunteer to help people die?" Grace asks. "Is that some kind of Yankee custom?"

It's a clever exchange and, to Ziegler's credit, he doesn't paint Grace as a stereotypical backwoods savant who
never went to school but seems to know more about life than anyone else. She's smart enough to know what
hospice volunteers do, and she's clever enough to crack wise about it, but she really doesn't know much more
about life than she needs to get by.

Glorie is a bit more predictable. She's an ambitious, educated Manhattan Yuppie who is as lost in Grace's
modest kitchen as Eva Gabor was in Hooterville. She even needs instructions to use the sink pump and
guidance in the culinary art of boiling an egg.

Even more predictably, the two gradually bond, with the predictable bumps along the way. But the two actresses
have a nice chemistry and Ziegler provides them with some genuinely clever dialogue. Glorie, frustrated with
Grace's irascible resistance to her efforts, complains that the other two patients she was assigned to "were
quiet, cooperative and happy to take their drugs."Grace labels Glorie as a snob, but encourages her to say
what's really on her mind. "I'm a redneck," Grace says. "Even worse, I'm a backwoods redneck."

The story intensifies when Glorie reveals the nature of her interest in death and dying. The loss of a child is the
oot of her problems, which Grace intuitively realizes are more serious than they seem.

The statuesque Bowyer towers over the diminutive, 77-year-old Barclay, who is a bit too energetic to play 90
years old. She also speaks with a rapid, halting cadence that at first seems like she's muffing lines, but remains
consistent enough to convince you that's her interpretation of the character. Bowyer has a tendency to shout her
lines and doesn't have Barclay's instinct for comedy, but she's terrific when she needs to be, rising to the
occasion during the more dramatic moments.

Meacham has prepared both ladies well for their demanding roles and has them working on a realistic set,
complete with a working pump and a wood stove that backs up smoke when Glorie forgets to open the flue.

Well-selected rural inspirationals ("holy roller music," as Grace calls it) complete the setting.

Again, the ending saps "Grace and Glorie" of its potential impact, but it worked for the majority of the opening
night audience. I'll encourage you to go and decide for yourself.

William Westhoven can be reached at (973) 428-6200.

04/08/05 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom

 
Tri-State produces appealing 'Midsummer Night's Dream'    

By William Westhoven, Special to the Daily Record

Pounding rainstorms had flooded rivers and valleys throughout the mid-Atlantic.
The Catholic faithful were at home or at church, mourning the passing of Pope
John Paul II. And sports fans were glued to their televisions watching the Final
Four. It was a rough night to be selling Shakespeare.

But the small band of buyers who came out Saturday for the opening night of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at
Tri-State Actor's Theater in Sussex got their money's worth. Artistic director Paul Meacham has assembled an
appealing cast for this visually eclectic production, which uses modern fashion and music, and some imaginative
set design, to create an appropriately dreamy atmosphere.

And there's the story, one of Shakespeare's most popular and accessible works and always a great vehicle to
introduce young adults to the Bard. Leave the little ones at home - Meacham does not hide the bawdier aspects
of this tale of love, lust, scheming fairies and bad actors. But teens will identify with the clothes and the attitudes
of the young lovers who look like they just stepped out of one of those screwy Old Navy ads. Swathed largely in
colors swiped from a bag of Skittles, they stand in rainbow contrast to the forest setting, which is effectively
established by camouflage netting. Slits in the netting allow the fairies to pop in and out of the action as if they
are appearing, or disappearing, out of thin air.

The story, though, is faithful to its origin. Athenian maiden Hermia (Jennifer Klein) rebels against her father's
directive to marry Demetrius (Wayne Hu). She's in love with Lysander (David B. Sochet), and he, her. Besides,
her best friend, Helena (Felicia Bertch), has her heart set on Demetrius, even though he won't give her a second
look.

Meanwhile in the forest, fairy king Oberon (Mark Light-Orr) is feuding with his queen, Titania (Suzanne Hays),
and recruits his mischievous aide, Puck (Michael Nathanson), to drug her with a flower potion that will make her
fall in love with the first living creature she sees. That "creature" turns out to be Nick Bottom (David Volin), the
hammiest of a troupe of talent-challenged thespians preparing a play for the Duke. But not before Puck casts
another spell giving Bottom the head of a donkey.

Oberon also takes pity on Helena's unrequited love and orders Puck to whip some extra flower power on
Demetrius, but Puck misfires and doses Lysander instead. Lysander then wakes to see Helena first, which
shifts the comedy into high gear.

Many of the actors play multiple roles as the plots weave their way through the enchanted forest. For me, the
favored thread has always been the young lovers, with Hermia and Helena as the key roles. And here, Meacham
has struck casting gold. Klein and Bertch are not among the six Equity professionals in the cast, but their work
together is terrific. Klein plays Hermia like a whiny, spunky Jersey girl who's more embarrassed by her father's
prehistoric demands than she is worried about the capital punishment she risks for disobeying.

Klein is good, but Bertch is a revelation in her New Jersey stage debut. With long brunette hair and round,
expressive eyes, she has the looks of a model, but isn't afraid to squish and sour her pretty face as she
expresses her envy for the "prettier" Hermia. She's a gifted physical actress, funny and fearless, with a dazzling
gift for motormouthing that won the audience over in her first scene.

This is a genuine breakthrough performance, and you can bet your Nick Bottom dollar that she's got a brilliant
future ahead of her.

Volin, as usual, stands out among the pros. He's one of the better comic actors on the local scene, and Bottom
is one of those parts that comic actors love to play.

Nathanson lays it on a little thick as Puck, mincing one minute and snorting like a chauvinist pig the next, but
his energy and enthusiasm serve the story well.

All in all, a bad night, but a good start, for the beginning of Tri-State's new season.

William Westhoven can be reached at (973) 428-6200.

 

By William Westhoven, Special to the Daily Record

Looking for a different way to celebrate Halloween? You can bloody well have a
good time at Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex, where "The Passion of Dracula"
is haunting the historic Crescent Theater.

There are several stage versions of Bram Stoker's legendary tale, but this is the
only one that originated in the Garden State. Bob Hall and David Richmond developed "The Passion of Dracula,"
which premiered in 1976 at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. George Street founder Eric Krebs brought
}it to the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre in 1977, where it ran for two years. It later played on London's West End.

Tri-State founder and artistic director Paul Meacham (who performed in the original George Street production)
brought in Hall to direct this revival, which drags here and there but definitely has its moments. Despite a tight
budget, the company still manages to offer a few nifty special effects and create an appropriately chilling
atmosphere.

The show is billed as a tongue-in-cheek adaptation, but Hall doesn't invest a lot of effort into the humor.
There are passing references to the writings of Sigmund Freud, William Blake and Christopher Marlowe, and
a suggestion that the work of Dickens is a lot darker than it is given credit for.

The playwrights also take a few jabs at yellow journalists and the English public school system, but for the most
part, the jokes were buried with the rest of the undead.

Fortunately, there's enough action, heavy breathing and fear to keep you interested and occasionally pull you to
the edge of your seat.

The entire play takes place in one setting: the study of the manor home on the campus of an insane asylum in
England in 1911. There, Dr. Cedric Seward (John Little) is fretting over the condition of his lovely niece,
Wilhelmina (Cori Lynn Campbell), who is experiencing unexplained spells of anemia and delusion.

Fearing the worst, Seward brings in a specialist, the noted professor Van Helsing (Neal Arluck), who smells
trouble when he learns that the mysterious Transylvanian Count Dracula (Vincent Lamberti) has moved into the
fixer-upper castle next door.

Meanwhile, the lusty Dr. Helga Van Zandt (Mary Ann Hay) is studying a patient named Renfield (Brian Maslow),
}who snacks on bugs, escapes at will and probably drinks too much coffee. Jumping around the study like a
}poorly trained puppy, Renfield also seems to be under the spell of a master whose name must never be
}mentioned.

There's also a handsome young reporter from the London Globe (Jared Reinmuth) who arrives in the middle of
}the night to document a series of local murders and woo the winsome Willie.

Over the course of three acts, Van Helsing gradually convinces the rest of the men that Dracula is responsible
}for the epidemic of evil-doing and arms the posse with guns, crosses and enough garlic to keep Emeril in
business for decades.

With a few minor exceptions, the cast is competent and appealing. Arluck's Van Helsing appears to be a bit
}of a nebbish, especially compared to Hugh Jackman's action-hero makeover of the increasingly famous vampire-
}hunter. But he's still brave enough to stand up to dark lord and whup him upside the head with full might of the
}Most High.

Reinmuth and Campbell have a nice chemistry, while Maslow is a lively and limber Renfield. Lamberti casts a
large and formidable shadow as Dracula and has the requisite dark, handsome looks to spare.

Those who are familiar with the story won't gain any additional insight into the character, and if you are looking
}for musical numbers, as you can find in the current Broadway production, you're out of luck. But if you're a fan
of Dracula and things that go bump in the night, you will most likely leave the theater with a chill and a smile.

That goes double for the 8 p.m. performance on Halloween, when the audience is invited to participate in a
costume contest right after the final curtain. Advance reservations are recommended for that special night.

Cndnsd Shkspr nchnts     

Acrobatic trio gleefully sends up Bard's plays
Friday, August 20, 2004
BY PETER FILICHIA
Star-Ledger Staff

Three spectacular actors are performing "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)"
on a stage -- or is it a trampoline?

At the Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex, Ian August, Eben Gordon and David Volin are
jumping around and bouncing so high that the flooring beneath them seems to give way.
Audiences will seize up with laughter when they see this terrific trio in action.

The show almost appears to be a mini-version of Cirque du Soleil. The only difference is that once these zanies leap
in the air, they're not afraid to fall on the floor. If they get through the run without breaking a bone, it'll be a minor
miracle.

Since the show's debut in 1987, many have done this two-hour spoof of all the Bard's comedies, tragedies and
histories. Few have succeeded as well as this triumvirate, under Paul Meacham's expert direction.

On a smartly designed set by Liz Proepper -- meant to evoke Shakespeare's Globe Theater -- there's the funny-
faced August, the cute Gordon and the professorial Volin. They treat "Titus Andronicus," one of the Bard's
bloodiest, as a cooking show. All the histories are summarized as a football game. ("Richard the second;
Richard the third; Henry the sixth one, two and, three -- hike!")

The language isn't always Shakespeare's. ("Second base for second dates," chides a demure Gordon, when
playing Juliet.) But once in a while, an actual Shakespearean quotation squirms its way into the show, such as
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Certainly this script
by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield proves that there are many more things than Shakespeare ever
could have imagined while penning his plays.

But he very well might have been the first to laugh at what the writers and performers have accomplished, especially
in the second act, which is entirely devoted to "Hamlet." August has a wonderfully doddering old-man walk as
Polonius. As Ophelia, Gordon out-screams Estelle Parsons in "Bonnie and Clyde." Volin, as Hamlet, does well
with "To be or ..." -- though he has a bit more trouble remembering "not to be."

And how much of a Bard-brain does an audience member need to be? To quote the show, "One doesn't need to
know Shakespeare from Shinola." August, Gordon and Volin make their audience wish that Shakespeare had
written more plays.

Shakespeare is surely rolling in his grave as "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr
(Abridged)" rocks the house at Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex.

The house did, indeed, shake during Saturday night's well-attended performance. And
it's nice to see a full house at Tri-State, whose productions are usually worthy of a much
larger audience than they attract.

Then again, this wildly funny comedy, which renders all of Shakespeare's plays into
one two-hour laugh fest, has proven to be a popular ticket all over the world since it was created by Jess Winfield,
Adam Long and Daniel Singer for the Reduced Shakespeare Company in 1996.

The play is fun as long as it's done right, which it has been here.

Ian August, Eben Gordon and David Volin tackle the unenviable task of making light comedy out of the
Bard's heavy body of work. The first two have done this sort of thing before on this very stage. As a duo
back in May, they killed in the manic "The Big Bang - The Musical," each playing dozens of roles during a
comedy that attempted to dramatize the complete history of civilization.

This production is not quite as precisely choreographed as "The Big Bang," and not as consistently funny.
But in many ways it's more fun, both for the cast and the audience, as the show brings the two parties together
through the magic of audience participation. Never mind trying to sit in the back row; everybody gets involved
before the evening is over.

The actors play themselves and use their own names, although each is actually playing a character with a
scripted personality. Volin starts out as the scholarly narrator, pipe in hand, at least until his lack of expertise
is revealed. August is the affable, eager, semi-straight man, while Gordon is the excitable one who gets all the
female parts and frequently loses his focus.

On a set that is part Globe Theatre, part Coney Island, all three continually rush on and off stage, changing
costumes and parts as often as the U.S. wins Olympic medals.

The costumes are as ridiculous as the irreverent presentations of revered classics such as "Romeo and Juliet"
(Gordon has to fend off August's busy hands), "Titus Andronicus" (the bloody tragedy is reinterpreted as a
cooking show), "Othello" (as a rap song) and "Hamlet" ("performed" several times at several speeds and once
in reverse).

Along the way, Gordon flees from the theater in a fit of panic and August is left to tell a bad joke as Volin
chases after him, while Volin also has to deal with a misaimed spotlight. Some of the silliness works, and some
of it doesn't, but the pace is so fast that you never have long to wait before something comes along to tickle
your fancy.

Of course, none of this can work without a tremendous amount of talent. Volin's sly and slightly more restrained
humor complements the proven commodity that Gordon and August bring to the table.

All three also flash a gift for improvisation, mostly during the audience participation portions of the evening. On
Saturday night during the second act, which is largely devoted to "Hamlet," a woman from the audience was
recruited to play the shrieking Ophelia. Taking her instructions a little too literally, she screamed once too often
and threw the entire sketch off, but the boys' reaction quickly turned a potential negative into a hilarious positive.

While the show sometimes teeters on the edge of good taste, it never quite crosses the line. Still, there's enough
nudge-nudge, wink-wink humor to make you think twice about bringing younger children, although most of them
have probably seen more adult humor on the Fox Network.

A sketch comedy show like "Saturday Night Live" could do worse than to add any of these versatile and
capable performers to their company. You may have seen "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)"
before, and you'll surely get the chance to see it again, but you don't want to miss this particular group of
lunatics doing to Shakespeare what Chuck Berry did to Beethoven.

Tri-State Actors Theater, a non-profit, professional theater company founded in 1988, is a member of the New
Jersey Theater Alliance. THE COMPLEAT WORKS OF WLLM SHKSPR (abridged) is co-sponsored by Sussex
Bank (www.sussexbank.com). Funding for this season has been made available in part by a grant from The
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, as administered by the Sussex
County Arts and Heritage Council.

Family conflict, drama lift ‘Rain in the Hollows’

By William Westhoven

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD

Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex knows a thing or two about counter- programming.
 While your television is infested with summer reruns and movie studios continue their
obsession with sequels, Tri-State is taking a different approach to attract your
entertainment dollar.

How does a brand-new, original drama sound right about now?

 Since its presentation at Tri-State’s New Play Reading Series in 2002, Sean O’Leary’s
“Rain in the Hollows” has been produced at a few new-play festivals.  But Tri-State’s current production can stake
claim as a bona fide world premiere.

 Founder and artistic director Paul Meacham awarded himself the honor of directing, and should give
himself a raise for a job well done.  “Rain in the Hollows” taps into the kind of family conflict that most of us can
identify with and has enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes.

 “Rain in the Hollows” takes place in the backwoods home of the Hukills, a typically poor family in rural
West Virginia.  The year is 1972, although poverty lends a sense of timelessness to the setting.

 The Hukills could have been the less fortunate neighbors of the Walton family.  The families have
common ground.  Like John-Boy, Rob Hukill (Kurt Elftmann) rose from the squalor to become a respected writer. 
Rob, though, left the holler behind and is now a staff writer for the Boston Globe.

 The Hukills also have some kindly neighbors, represented by newspaper editor and fire chief Sam Burton
(J.C. Hoyt), but the Walton parallel ends there.  Rob’s father died young and Rob’s older brother, Claudie, was a
maverick prone to trouble.  He was also the star of athlete at the local high school who led his team to the state
championship.  No one ever mentions what sport he played, which adds to the mystery of a character who is never
seen.

         A year or so earlier, Claudie became a local hero again when he saved a bunch of miners from a deadly
cave-in.  Since that time, however, Claudie’s been acting strangely and disappearing for weeks at a time.

 This troubling turn of events is one of the reasons Rob makes a long-overdue trip back home to visit his blind
mother (Anne Barclay), Claudie’s loyal wife, Pearl (Kendal Ridgeway) and Claudie’s daughter, Kit (Jane
Cunningham).

 Rob’s been helping with the bills for some time, adding to the lingering resentment he feels for his brother, a
favored son whose irresponsible behavior has always been rationalized by family and friends.  Even Rob’s blue-
blooded wife, Tierney (Cori Lynn Campbell), joins the family in spin-doctoring Claudie’s absence.

 As the story peels away, layer after layer, a steady rain continues to fall, threatening the holler with a flood of
biblical proportions.  At first, the storm merely serves as a dark backdrop to the action, but it later plays a
significant role in the moving climax, when Rob learns there may have been a noble method to his brother’s
madness.

 Elftmann’s edgy performance doesn’t generate much in the way of sympathy for his character, but that just
leaves room for the growth he experiences along the way.  The remaining characters are a more sympathetic
lot, and the fine performances from the entire cast help draw you in.  Barclay’s weathered face mirrors her
decades of proud struggle against poverty, and she’s so convincing as a sightless person that you’re relieved
to see her eyes sparkle during the curtain call.  Hoyt gives a folksy Hal Holbrook-ish quality to Sam, while
Campbell is convincing as the outsider of the group.

 “Rain in the Hollows” closes on Sunday, so you don’t have a lot of time, although Tri-State has plenty of seats.

THE STAR LEDGER  Review
 Nothing's sacred in 'Big Bang'
     Saturday, May 08, 2004
     BY PETER FILICHIA
     Star-Ledger Staff

That old expression that big things come in small packages?

05/14/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom

'Big Bang' is hilarious tour de force

By Williams Westhoven, Special to the Daily Record

A little musical with big ambitions is asking for your attention at Tri-State Actors Theater
in Sussex. And those of you who answer the call will be rewarded with the funniest thing
I've seen onstage in at least a year.

"The Big Bang" does more with one set and a cast of two than some Broadway musicals accomplish with brand-
name stars, a division of dancers and budgets exceeding the GNP of some countries.

Composer Jed Feuer and book-lyricist Boyd Graham starred as themselves when this madcap musical debuted,
and failed, off-Broadway. Fortunately, it found a new life in regional theaters out of town, as did their previous
work, a staging of the cult film "Eating Raoul."

At Tri-State, Feuer and Graham are played by Ian August and Eben Gordon, but the story is the same. They are
would-be theater moguls who hope to lure investors, who are represented by the audience, to back their new play.
The musical is called, appropriately enough, "The Big Bang," which ambitiously attempts to act out the entire
history of recorded time.

The production they envision will feature a cast of hundreds, thousands of costumes and, for some reason, 302
prosthetic devices. The show is 12 hours long and will demand a budget of $83.5 million.

But for the moment, the team of Feuer and Graham are a little cash-strapped, so they are forced to act out a
backer's version of the play by themselves in the living room of a borrowed apartment in Manhattan. The
apartment offers neither a backstage nor a backstage crew, so they are forced to improvise costumes, sets
and props using anything they can find lying around. The only luxury is a pianist (Jon Zatorski, a former Dover
High School band director).

Curtains are ripped from the wall to fashion costumes; lampshades and mantle clocks become hats; tables
and chairs become transportation devices. Two umbrellas become the infrastructure of a hoop skirt in a scene
depicting the Civil War era.

The inspired and hilarious ingenuity is trumped only by the energy, enthusiasm and talent of August and Gordon.
Both play more than a dozen characters, often in drag or in their skivvies. Their frequently humiliating costumes
are enough to get the audience howling, beginning with the enactment of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

But that is just the beginning of the side-splitting merriment as August and Gordon joke, sing, dance and pratfall
their way through the 90-minute show like a Monty Python tape on fast forward.

Bible stories give way to tales from the Nile, where a diva-like Queen Nefertiti complains about her boring
husband, King Notalotincommon. Moses, Caesar, Columbus and Hitler join the queen on a skewer before
the lights go down.

Most of the history is depicted through song, with some of the funniest lyrics you will ever hear in a single show.
Some of them get a little bawdy, while others will never win medals for political correctness. But it never gets too
nasty, so I doubt if too many will be offended. Nevertheless, leave the younger kids at home.

August and Gordon are utterly amazing from wire to wire. Gordon's dark, rubbery face and incredible vocal range
get quite a workout, while Gordon's boy-next-door smile gives the pair a Martin-and-Lewis quality. Alone, each is
obviously comfortable in the spotlight. Together, they can skip the small prizes and go for a Nobel in chemistry.

Director Jenn Womack supports their considerable talents and wisely exploits their fearlessness to go for every
laugh that can be found. As a group, they execute an extremely difficult production to precise perfection.

Tri-State may be a bit of a ride for many Morris County residents and, gas prices being the way they are,
everybody's keeping an eye on the odometer. But seriously, folks, this one is not to be missed, so gas up and
get up there. Carpool if you have to. There's plenty of room for everyone.

APRIL 9, 2004
'Diary of Anne Frank' makes a riveting drama
By William Westhoven, Special to the Daily Record

       Anne Frank would have been 75 years old this year.

       How sad that she died just before her 16th birthday, yet how wonderful it is that
we are blessed with her diary, a timeless testament to faith and hope forged in a
world of, in her own words, "chaos, suffering and death."

       A revised edition of that testament is now onstage at Tri-State Actors Theater 
in Sussex. Most of us already know the story of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl in
Holland who during World War II was forced into hiding along with seven other Jews
to escape the occupying Nazis. Anne's diary, given to her on her 13th birthday,
provides a first-person account of 25 months in hiding with her family, another family
and a neighborhood dentist.

We also know the tragic outcome. They were all captured by the Nazis just before the Allies liberated
Amsterdam. Anne and six other occupants of the "Secret Annex" die in concentration camps. Her father was
the only one of the group to survive.

Anne's diary was rescued and published in 1947. A play based on the diary debuted on Broadway in 1955.
A revised edition of the diary was published in 1995 and adapted two years later for the stage by Wendy
Kesselman. Her revisions make this production a must-see, even for those who are intimately familiar with the
story.

Director Ken Wiesinger and his cast, a mix of experienced amateurs and Equity professionals, take us on an
emotional roller coaster. Lighter moments of Anne's "adventure" give way to desperate drama. Minor conflicts
become unbearable as eight frightened people get on each other's nerves, then cower together when they hear
a siren or a bump in the night. The original adaptation had been whitewashed a bit, focusing on the innocent
observations of a 13-year-old girl. Kesselman allows some of Anne's more mature thoughts to emerge. She
describes the changes in her body in some detail, and admits her desire to be touched by Peter Van Daan,
the 16-year-old boy whose family shares the hiding place.

Anne also goes into more detail about her hatred for her mother, a phase in her life that gives way to love before
the story is over. There is also more emphasis on the need for them to hide because they are Jews. Peter says
he will likely change his name when they are free to avoid such conflicts in the future. Anne says she could never
turn her back on what she is.

 Brittany Knoll, a senior at Wallkill Valley Regional High School in Hardyston, bears an uncanny resemblance to
Anne and does some fine work in an extremely difficult role. She can be a bit shrill when excited, but that's a trait
not uncommon among younger teens, even, one would assume, Anne Frank. Knoll actually does her best work
with her eyes, in which you can clearly see all of Anne's wishes, hopes and fears.

The cast's professionals support Knoll's admirable apprentice work and anchor this strong production. David
Snizek stands tall as Anne's warm, dignified and courageous father, who gladly takes in other Jews who have no
where else to hide. Judy Rosenblatt as Anne's mother is the strong, silent cornerstone of the Frank family who
explodes when Mr. Van Daan is caught stealing bread.

Anne Connolly, as the slightly snooty Mrs. Van Daan, earns our compassion when she's forced to sell her
prized mink coat, then comforts her husband when he's shunned by the others. Neal Arluck gives us a few
laughs as the quirky Mr. Dussel, who is nervous enough without having to share a bedroom with relative strangers.

This moving and memorable production closes on Easter Sunday, so those who want to see it had better
move fast. You may already have plans for the holiday, but what theatrical experience would suit the occasion
better than this one? Anne Frank would have been 75 years old this year. Instead, she left us with the hope that
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."

  SEASON 2003--

In Praise of ALWAYS . . . PATSY CLINE and STONES IN HIS POCKETS--

"I attended today's performance of Stones in His Pockets, and I wanted to send my thanks for a wonderful
afternoon at the theater.  This is the second production I have attended, my first was Always Patsy Cline. 
I attend Broadway performances frequently and for many years I have had a season subscription to the
Papermill Playhouse.  Papermill's  productions are top notch, but I became tired of seeing the same musicals
over and over again.  Stones and Patsy Cline were two new pieces for me, and I was blown away by both.  I
kept reminding myself that I was not sitting in an NYC Broadway or Off-Broadway house, but I was sitting in
Sussex, NJ.  In both productions the acting has been top notch.   When I heard about this show, it was hard
for me to imagine that only two actors could play all the parts. Brian O'Halloran and Erik Singer were superb;
each actor flawlessly transitioned between characters.  I look forward to the 2004 season." 
                                                                          --an e mail  from a patron

SEASON 2000--

 "If you are a person to whom theater is nearly as necessary as water, food, and oxygen,
then I only need mention Tri-State Actors Theater, for you are well aware of the existence and 
excellence of this organization.

 If however, you are looking for live, local theater with an intimate ambiance, look no further
 than Tri-State Actors Theater producing at the tiny but very appealing Garris Center Theater in
Branchville.  I attended the June 1 performance of  ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW 
I LEARNEDIN KINDERGARTEN (based on Robert Fulghum's books) and it was, 
in a word, superb."

  98-99--

[Sussex] county's cultural development  . . . has amazed and delighted me. . . . I am 
especially excited by the discovery of Tri-State Actors Theater at the charming Garris Theater 
in Branchville.  . . . . The production [THREE TALL WOMEN] was superbly done . . .The
performances . . . professionally crafted."

"More of us need to support these events with our attendance not only for our gratification 
and soul-feeding, but for the continued growth of our community. I believe our children and
 grandchildren will be inspired by our example, and their own exposure to the arts."

"BRAVO!" (SEASON 2000)

--"Thanks toJeanne L. Austin and Jessica Cooke for absolutely wonderful
performances this night (5/12).  It's difficult to give a standing show of
appreciation when you have just  been emotionally pushed as far down in
the seat as you can go!"
                             --An email praising the production of COLLECTED STORIES

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAbsolutely wonderful"  (SEASON 2000)

 --"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAbsolutely wonderful performances by Amanda,Dominic,Kristin and Marc
and I will never ever look at a dog the same way again! Thanks to Gina and Jenna as stagehands 
that will remain with us as part of the show (applause for them). It was a wonderful season and last 
year's THREE TALL WOMEN will always synapse around my brain. We appreciate all your 
efforts and when  our friends . . .  said they enjoy these shows more than New York we agreed.
Thanks again to all.
            --An email praising the production of SYLVIA

Praising our holiday production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, a delighted patron writes:

 ". . . the performers were terrific, we were especially impressed with the production techniques
from the special effects, to the musical backgrounds, to the scene transitions, to the way the actors
moved seamlessly through the action."

Another patron writes:

 "It was wonderful to hear Dickens himself speaking, rather than some misguided attempt to
move the story into modern speak."

After seeing TAT's family-oriented TOM SAWYER, a Musical, a satisfied audience member wrote us:
 
"It was wonderful!  What a delightful group of actors you have assembled!  I was pleasantly
surprised by the excellence of these young people.  "Tom" and "Huck" were fantastic!  It was so
professional.  Next summer I intend to come back with my grandchildren. May these high-fidelity
performances continue!"

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WLLM SHKSPR, abridged  brought this E mail comment:

"I saw your play, The Complete Works of...  and I loved it! I wanted to see it again . . ."

The Crescent Theater, on Fountain Square in Sussex Borough, is a squarish brick affair backed up against a
hilllside behind a wooden gazebo and with a sign that reads "Tri-State Actors Theater"--its current tenant--
hanging from a wrought iron balcony.  Built in 1917 (though it has gone through a number of renovations since),
t fits pretty well architecturally with the rest of the town center.  Other than its age, that is, its appearance is
largely unremarkable; it seems an unlikely place to house what goes on inside, which is kind of amazing.

The current production of Marie Jones' play "Stones in His Pockets," which runs through August 31, is
a miracle of economy and talent.  Produced with a minimal set, first-rate talent and, to be sure, a
great script, the play succeeds on just about every front: the jokes work, the affecting scenes affect,
and that neat trick -- convincing the audience that the world presented them on something as
grotesquely artificial as a stage is somehow real -- is pulled off in fine fashion.

      The stage itself brought back fond memories of the black box theater at my college, where student
productions were staged on $100 budgets.  The difference here is that the lighting system is more advanced,
and the seats, which are set up on three sides of the stage, are far more comfortable.

      Director Brian Shnipper's set is perfectly minimalist: two chairs, a row of shoes running the entire width of
the stage, a matte painting of an Irish seacoast, and a sort of chest with a lid which serves, at different times,
as a table, a bar, abed, a church pew, and a coffin.  Most of the money collected at the box office clearly goes
to the talent.

      The cast is made up of exactly two wonderful actors, Brian O'Halloran (who "Clerks" fans -- the
movie and TV show -- will remember as Dante) and Erik Singer.  Jones' very clever script require them
each to play about a half-dozen characters of both sexes and various accents.  They change between
characters with quick shifts in body postures and mannerisms, and do it so effectively that it's hard to believe
these are the same two actors.

      O'Halloran and Singer play Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, two men from County Kerry who are extras in
the big Hollywood movie being shot in their small town.  Jake has just come home defeated from America, where
he wen chasing dreams of stardom, and Charlie keeps an action movie screenplay hopefully in his back pocket.

      These two characters hare the stage with Mickey, an old timer ("I'm famous, ya know -- I'm the last surviving
extra on 'The Quiet Man'"), Aisling (pronounced "Ashlin"), the snooty third assistant director, Sean, Jake's strung-
out cousin, Clem, the pompous British director, and Caroline Giovanni, the sexy American film star who can't
master that Irish accent.

      Caroline's character was probably the toughest to play, but O'Halloran does well in trying to avoid making
her into a caricature, as when she nails Jake when he tries to pass off a Seamus Heaney poem as his own
("There's no 'of' in that last line").

       When the Geraldine R. Dodge foundation awarded the theater a grant last month, artistic director
Paul Meacham spoke of the "absolute value of professional art in this rural area."  Having been there
now myself, I see what he meant.  Theater, when done well, can enlarge this mundane world of our
much more than any movie.  This is done well.  If you stay away, you do yourself a disservice.

                 By Debra Scacciaferro, Special to the
                 Daily Record

                            Sure and it was a hot August night. The kind that makes you think twice about  getting out of
your hammock. Ah, but it was a cool row of seats we were sharing on the opening night of Marie Jones' Irish
comedy "Stones in His Pockets," at the Crescent Theater in Sussex.

           This being the last main stage show of the Tri-State Actors Theater, and starring "Dogma" and "Clerks"
film and stage actor Brian O'Halloran (who made me laugh  my head off here in last season's production of "Art"),
I wasn't about to miss it.

           Two strapping young laddies, O'Halloran and his wonderful stage mate, Erik Singer, were fixing to whisk
the audience off on a comic breeze to a cool, quaint  farming village in County Kerry, Ireland. It was, if you get my
drift, the kind of  village where half the population is related to just about everyone, and the other half is perpetually
immigrating to the United States or London, and coming back  again. The local topics of conversation - lack of
work and loss of the old ways of  life - get a short reprieve, as the little village is invaded by an American film
company looking to make the Irish version of "Gone With the Wind." 

           Wouldn't you know it, O'Halloran and Singer were billed as playing all 15 different roles - just the two of
them. Luckily, it was veteran director Brian Shnipper of 12 Miles West and Luna Stage, who was taking on the job
of   keeping all those roles straight. So it had all the makings of a perfect summer night of theater.

            Pity that the play itself wasn't up to the standards of those two fine actors. Sure,  "Stones in His Pocket"
came highly recommended. It had won an Irish Times drama award a few years back, and two awards in London,
including an Olivier  for Best New Comedy. Perhaps it lost something in the translation to American  audiences -
or just to me.

           The story of culture clash between idiosyncratic village people and a crass Hollywood film crew started out
on a lighthearted note, with some good comic jabs. Yet, just as it was starting to flex its muscles, it veered
off erratically into  high drama.

           The second act slips into a social commentary on the rotten luck of the Irish, morphing into an unearned
"Big Emotional Moment" connected with the funeral of  the young and reckless Sean. The trouble is, since Sean's
two short scenes portrayed him as so thoroughly obnoxious, I had trouble feeling sad about his demise. The
playwright tries to use Sean as the pivotal turning point in the two main characters' lives, but it's a flimsy
construction that briefly flares into high energy before petering out into soap opera.

           In any event, the script provides a true tour-de-force vehicle for inspired actors - which O'Halloran
and Singer prove to be. You might find it a bit confusing at first  to figure out who's who. But thanks to the
actors' excellent ability to provide different inflections and body language, each one soon emerges as
an individual character. And their array of Irish, British and American accents is terrific.

           O'Halloran's main character is down-on-his-luck Charlie Conlon, who is evidently star-struck and welcomes
 the chance to earn a quick 40 pounds a day as an extra. He's got big dreams; he's desperate to get somebody
important to  read his screenplay. And whenever he can, he tries to sneak a second helping of dessert past the
commissary.

           Singer's main character, Jake Quinn, is more pragmatic and cynical. Back from a disappointing stay in
America, he's "on the dole and back living with me Ma." He needs the money, but is suspicious of the movie
business and its effect on the  locals, especially his coked-up cousin Sean, and 70-year-old Mickey, the last
surviving extra from the John Wayne film "The Quiet Man" (both of whom Singer also portrays).

           I can't say which was funnier, but O'Halloran is particularly deft when portraying the seductive,
chain-smoking, American movie star Caroline Giovanni - how  Singer keeps a straight face when "she" flirts
with Jake, I'll never know. Singer is  hysterical as the flouncing . . . assistant director ("Settle everyone")
and the irascible old Mickey, who clues the rest of them on the ins and outs of filmmaking ("They're
only bluffing," he cries, when the director threatens to fire them all if they  leave for the funeral. "Don't
worry. We're in the can.")

          Best of all are Charlie and Jake's comic scenes in the "film" as the two extras pose as peat
diggers, try to follow a non-existent galloping horse, and unsuccessfully try to cheer on the wedding
while in mourning for Sean.
These vignettes are worth the price of a ticket alone.

          "Stones in His Pockets" continues through Aug. 31 on Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays
at 3 p.m. Tickets cost $18 to $22.50 in the air-conditioned Crescent Theatre on Fountain Square and Main Street in
Sussex Borough, off Route 23.

           The professional company continues its New Play Reading Series on Aug. 25 at 8 p.m. with "For
 Some Reason Comma She Laughed" by J. Boyer. Admission is by donation. For more information on
this professional company and the season, check the Web site at www.tristateactorstheater.org.

                 Debra Scacciaferro can be reached at (973) 428-6200.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE SANTALAND DIARIES
Sussex---Holiday shopping got you down? Need a special gift for that Scrooge on your shopping list? Well,
Tri-State Actors Theater has just the answer with their presentation of David Sedaris’ THE SANTALAND
DIARIES. This “delightfully thorny account of working as a Yuletide elf at Macy’s” (The New York Times) will
have three evening performances - curtain up at 8:00 p.m. on December 19, 20, and 21 - at the Crescent Theater,
Main St. and Fountain Square, Sussex. Admission is $18.00, $15.00 for senior citizens and students.
 
THE SANTALAND DIARIES was originally presented by humorist David Sedaris in 1992 on National
Public Radio’s Morning Edition as a commentary on the collision of Christmas and commerce. Adapted for the
stage by Joe Mantello, director of the Broadway production of Love! Valor! Compassion!, THE SANTALAND
DIARIES is a bombastic one-man monologue, taking the audience on the full tour of Sedaris' elfin tenure.
Michael Gabiano, who played “Serge” earlier this season in TAT’s presentation of “ART”, returns as David/
Crumpet (David’s elf name). Ken Wiesinger, who directed “ART”, also returns to stage THE SANTALAND
DIARIES.  Full of wry insights, Sedaris comments on people and culture during the season that brings out
the best and worst in both. By the end of the evening, he has regaled all the Yuletide lunacy down to every last,
tacky strand of tinsel. 

THE SANTALAND DIARIES is a comedy suitable for audiences ages 12 and over. 

Seating in TAT’s “black box theater” is limited and reservations are recommended. Tickets may be purchased
with VISA or MC by calling 888 840-7889, on-line at www.tristateactorstheater.org, or at Baker’s Pharmacy,
Main St., Sussex. The performance on Saturday, December 21, will be followed by a “Raise the Roof” Fundraiser
and Reception. Refreshments will be served and the elves have promised a visit from Santa that evening.
Admission to the reception is a tax-deductible donation of $35.00 per person. All proceeds from the reception
will go towards the rehabilitation of the Crescent Theater. Happy Holidays!   #  #  #

Sussex...Tri-State Actors Theater premieres a stimulating and timely comic drama, THE VIEW FROM
HARRY'S BAR, authored by award-winning and acclaimed Canadian playwright, Tevia Abrams. Harry's Bar will
run June 11 through June 29 at the theater located at 74 Fountain Square and Main St., Sussex, NJ.
 Mr. Abrams has worked on Harry's Bar over the past year with the cooperation and developmental
support of Tri-State Actors Theater. TAT's presentation of new, never-before produced plays is an outgrowth of
its New Plays Reading Series begun in 2000. Mr. Abrams' play, ERICA'S LAST MISSION, first read by TAT
under the title THE SOUNDER SLEEP, was given its premiere production in TAT's 2001 Season and received
critical acclaim.

THE VIEW FROM HARRY’S BAR will have thirteen performances. Previews are Wednesday and
Thursday, June 11 and 12 at 8:00 PM; all tickets are $13. Opening Night is Friday, June 13 at 8:00 PM, all
tickets are $25. A Meet the Artists Opening Night Reception will follow the performance. In conjunction with
THE VIEW FROM HARRY’S BAR opening night premiere on June 11 - The Flying Pig Art Gallery, Kerr
Studios and Ward-Nasse Art, all located on Main St. in Sussex, will hold open public receptions from 7 until 11
pm. Performances continue Saturday, June 14 through Sunday, June 29. Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening
performances begin at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees are at 3:00 PM. Ticket prices range from $22.50 to $18.00.
Group rates are available. To order tickets by phone with VISA/MC or for directions and more information, call
973 875-2950 or visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org. Free parking is available in the Harrison
Street Municipal Parking Lot, directly behind the theater. 

06/20/03 - Posted 6:57:08 PM from the Daily Record newsroom                                                                       
"THE VIEW FROM HARRY'S BAR" 

"With a beer on tap, and a merry face, the world takes on a certain grace... and that's the
view from Harry's Bar." 

Tri-State Actors Theater in Sussex Borough is slowly building a reputation for
taking chances. Artistic director and founder of the only professional non-profit
theater group in Sussex County, Paul Meacham often tackles dramas and searing
comedies that turn our expectations about theater and human nature on their
head. 

This month's offering, the premiere of "The View From Harry's Bar" by Tevia Abrams, which continues through
June 29, certainly does that. Abrams' last play, "Erica's Last Mission," which was also developed through Tri-
State, tackled the issue of assisted suicide. Its unusual framework told the story of a marriage through the
confrontation between a man standing trial for murdering his terminally ill wife, and the lawyer who wants to
understand why he did it. 

In "The View From Harry's Bar," Abrams once again looks at the story of a love relationship through an even
more unconventional framework of political activism. Dolores, a Wall Street analyst with a penchant for collecting
obscure modern art, and her lover Paul, a hot shot computer programmer floating on the dot.com boom, are
suddenly downsized. 

Now part of the burgeoning "Nouveaux Poor," they are evicted from their posh apartment and conned into taking
one in a building their landlord has deliberately neglected. Unable to climb out of the unemployment hole, the
couple vent all of their frustrations on the landlord by staging a public rent strike, egged on by an old hippie friend
who's been reduced to working for a reality TV show. 

I really liked this play's unusual structure - stylized dialogue that breaks into chanted, rhythmic
monologues or duets set to the percussive talents of jazz drummer Jason Wildman. Scenes unfold
rapidly, like a vaudeville show or an evening of comic improvisation. 

Abrams borrowed these conventions from his Ph.D. research into the folk theater tradition of rural India. In his
notes in the playbill, Abrams writes, "I had the opportunity to follow itinerant theater troupes as they developed
popular and socially relevant entertainments with fast-paced comic dialogue, punctuated by lyrics chanted or
sung ..."  At first, this unconventional style seems odd. It's almost as if the actors are going to break into
song, then decide not to. Yet this half chant, half rap style resonates with the New York sensibilities
that Abrams is trying to conjure up - the coffee house scene where Beat poets of the 1950s and today's
more modern Poetry Slam authors perform in rhythmic cadences, and the bebop jazz rhythms of the
old Village Vanguard and piano bars. 

Not all the cast seems comfortable with the convention. Mark Irish and Lynn Laurence, who play the lovers,
seem to be holding back against the rhythms. David Volin as the alcoholic, hippie TV reporter is outrageous
and overly effusive, sometimes to the point of distraction. 

John Little as Amethyst, the manipulative landlord who has an answer and a seduction for every
occasion, and Kellie Roberts as Sadie, a black, up-from-welfare camera operator for the infotainment
news show, are far better: Little breezes through the lyrics as if he's tap dancing on top of the world;
Roberts gets the cadence of the mean streets into her role as a former welfare mom turned
camerawoman, scornful of the problems of a bunch of whining white folks.

"It's not like these people are really desperate, or on welfare or something," Sadie says. 

And that sums up the main problem with "The View From Harry's Bar." Abrams wanted to show the insecurity
and uncertainty of the American economy and society, yet this particular couple's fall from Eden just isn't that
compelling.  The two share shattered ideals, shattered fantasies, yes. But they haven't got much at stake in the
dissolution of the relationship. No children to worry about. No illness to contend with. No creditors knocking at
the door. No one repossessing their car, or breaking into their house. They aren't even married, so the parting is
easy. 

"Admit it," Dolores says, "our relationship was defined by our jobs." "Oh great," Paul says, "now you're applying
Wall Street analysis to human relationships." 

Even when they are evicted to a crummy building, they're not homeless. And yet, the landlord is made to bear
the brunt of their wrath against the system that promised them the world, then changed the rules. 

We see only the barest hint of their "fall." Dolores shrieks at seeing a cockroach, but the moment is purely
superficial. If one ran up her leg, or over her food, that would bring out the shudders in the audience. If the
neighbor Marie, played by Tri-State veteran Mary Ann Hay, had to borrow blankets to wrap her children in when
the landlord shuts off the heat, if Paul were accosted in a malfunctioning elevator, the situation might hit the
audience harder. Although the entire play is fast-paced and satirical, what's missing are those well-framed
moments where the couple realize they are trapped, lost and utterly unprepared for the way the real world
works. 

One scene that does work is when Dolores questions her own motives during the tango of seduction and
negotiation with the manipulative landlord. A little more of that kind of satirical introspection would help "The
View From Harry's Bar" hit home. 

Performances run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. at the theater on Main Street
and Fountain Square in Sussex Borough. The New Plays Reading Series, where Abrams' plays were developed,
will hold a reading on June 23 at 8 p.m. Admission is by donation. Free parking is behind the theater in the
Harrison Street Municipal Parking Lot. For more information, check the theater's Web site at
www.tristateactorstheater.org. 

Debra Scacciaferro can be reached at dscaccia@gannett.com or (973) 428-6662.

'MOCKINGBIRD' HAS SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT TO TRI-STATE STAGE
04/11/03 -
By Debra Scacciaferro, Daily Record 
"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" 

A lovely and evocative production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a terrific choice to open Tri-State Actors Theater's
first season in the company's new home in the Crescent Theater in Sussex.

Based on Harper Lee's famous coming-of-age novel about the workings and prejudices of a small Southern town,
this staged version is lovingly directed by Paul Meacham, the company's founder and artistic director. Every little
detail, from the red clay-streaked overalls the children wear, to the soft sounds of gospel music, to the coarse
sack of turnips farmer Cunningham brings in payment for legal services, evokes the sleepy bygone age. 

The production features excellent performances by Tri-State professional actors John Little as the widowed
lawyer Atticus Finch, and Mary Ann Hay as Miss Maudie, who also narrates most of the tale. That shift in
narration (in the book, the story is told through Scout's eyes) gives the story a broader, more mature focus.

Little is a fine, fine actor who brings warmth, intelligence, humor and a sense of wistful idealism to the role of
Finch. As Miss Maudie, Hay wields a sharp tongue and a wise heart that stands at odds with her neighbors'
ignorance and hypocrisy. She and Atticus are the major moral forces in the story, and this adaptation brings out
many of the novel's wisest insights.

"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is your conscience," Atticus tells his children, explaining why
he has taken on a controversial case defending a black laborer on a charge of rape. 

"We are the safest people in the world," Miss Maudie tells the children after the trial is over. "We are rarely called
upon to show our Christianity in any meaningful way." 

Jane Cunningham and Drew Cranisky, both sophomores at Wallkill Valley Regional High School, also give fine
performances as young siblings Scout and Jem Finch. 

Several supporting actors are truly standouts, starting with Pharah Jean-Philippe (of the New Jersey Repertory
Company), who brings a subtle touch of humor to the calm, no-nonsense black housekeeper Calpurnia, who is
mother and mentor to the motherless Scout and Jem.

Actor/director and singer Jonathan Dewberry as the Reverend Sykes leads the cast in several soaring gospel
tunes that add richness to several scenes. Off-Broadway actor Joanes Prosper brings great dignity and humility
to the role of accused black laborer Tom Robinson, whom Atticus Finch defends.

Brian Maslow, a graduate of the Mason Gross School of Arts, portrays "white trash" accuser Bob Ewell with a
stimulating blend of intimidation and insolence, yet also manages to reveal something of Ewell's deep insecurities
and mistrust. Comic actress Fran DeCesare adds lots of fun to the proceedings as Stefanie Crawford, the
flirtatious town gossip who's got her eye on Atticus Finch. 

Since "To Kill a Mockingbird" is required reading for most high school students, many youngsters will enjoy
seeing this fine adaptation. I attended a student matinee of mostly middle and high school students who were
totally engrossed in most of the action. However, mature themes of race, prejudice and violence are discussed
throughout the play, although never shown on stage, making this unsuitable for very young children. 

The company has done a wonderful renovation job on the old Crescent Theater, which is located in the center of
town, with free parking in the Harrison Street municipal parking lot behind the theater. It's a far cry from the
cramped Garrison Center in Branchville, where Tri-State used to perform. The u-shaped seating still surrounds
the stage on three sides, creating an airy theater setting with tiered rows of seats, excellent acoustics and good
sightlines.

The stage is twice as high and wide as the Garrison. This allowed scenic artist Paul Zahorosky and set designer
Meacham to create an impressive, two-story yellow clapboard house with green porch rails, shutters and a
multitude of front doors. Decked out with flowers and other props, the doors become a whole street of houses.
Replace with benches and a podium, it transforms into a court house. Meacham's fluid staging keeps scene
changes to a minimum, as the play flows nicely from one moment to the next. 

Tickets cost $22.50 and $20 for adults on Fridays and Saturdays, $20 and $18 on Thursdays and Sundays, with
a $2 discount for seniors and students. Performances run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays
at 3 p.m. through April 20. 

The company is set to produce a musical "Always ... Patsy Cline" in May, an original play "The View From
Harry's Bar" by Tevia Abrams in June, and an Irish play, "Stones in His Pockets" by Marie Jones, in August.
For more information or reservations, call Tri-State Actors Theatre at (888) 840-7889 or check the Web site at www.tristateactorstheater.org.
 Debra Scacciaferro can be reached at dscaccia@gannett.com or (973) 428-6662.

Branchville---Tri-State Actors Theater Season 2002 continues with a romantic comedy, TALLEY’S FOLLY,
playing May 15 through June 2, at the Garris Center Theater, Broad St., Branchville, NJ.

TALLEY’S FOLLY, written by one of America’s most gifted playwrights, Lanford Wilson, won the
Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.. Firmly rooted in reality, TALLEY’S FOLLY is a
summer romance between the love struck Matt Friedman, played by John Little, and the love lorn Sally Talley,
played by Mary Ann Hay. Mr. Little, of New York City, and Ms. Hay, of New York City and Highland Lakes, are
members of Actors’ Equity Association. TAT’s Artistic Director and founder, Paul Meacham, directs this
compact, but rich one-act play (a mere 97 minutes, as we’re told in the opening monologue).

Set in WW II in Lebanon, Missouri, the play opens on the fourth of July, 1944 at the old boathouse on
the Talley farm. Matt, a Jewish German immigrant, has driven from St. Louis to plead his love to Sally, a woman
on the verge of becoming a spinster. Matt refuses to accept Sally’s rebuffs and her fears that her family would
never approve of their marriage. Charming and indomitable, he gradually overcomes her defenses, telling her his
innermost secrets and learning hers as well. Both are lonely and yearning for love. In the end it is clear that they
are two kindred spirits who have truly found refuge and comfort in each other.

TALLEY’S FOLLY will have two preview performances, Wednesday and Thursday, May 15 and 16; all tickets are
$11. Opening night is Friday, May 17; all tickets are $25. The performance on Opening Night will be followed by
a Meet the Artists Reception and refreshments. Performances continue Saturday, May 18 through June 2.
Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees are at 3:00 PM. Ticket
prices on Friday and Saturday evenings are $20, $18 for senior citizens and students, and Sunday
matinees, $18, $15 for senior citizens and students.

To order tickets by phone with VISA/MC or for directions and more information, call toll free, 888 840-7889 or
visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org. Seating at the Garris Center is limited and advance
reservations are recommended. Seating is general admission; group rates are available. The Garris Center offers
wheelchair accessible ramps, entrances, and seating. Please call in advance to arrange seating.

Tri-State Actors Theater, a non-profit, professional theater company founded in 1988, is a member of the
New Jersey Theater Alliance. Funding for this season has been made available in part by the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through the
State/County Partnership Block Grant Program, as administered by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage
Council and by a generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. 

BRANCHVILLE-- Matt Friedman, a 42-year-old Jewish accountant from St. Louis, has driven to a farmhouse in
Lebanon, Mo., to pop the question. He waits in a dilapidated boathouse by the river for Sally Talley, the 30ish
woman he fell in love with during his one-week vacation last summer. It is early evening July 4, 1944. When Sally
arrives, she is wearing a new dress, but she seems to want Matt to leave, especially after he describes the
confrontation he just had with her family up at the house.

Matt, who admits that he is much better with numbers than with people, must unravel the mystery of Sally's life in
97 minutes, with no intermission, as he informs the audience before Sally arrives. And unravel he does--to the
delight of theatergoers at the Tri-State Actors Theater production of "Talley's Folly" at the Garris Center Theater in
Branchville.

Michael Forrest Kurtz, scenic and lighting designer, and Paul Zahorosky, scenic artist, have created a wonderful
version of the the folly of the title, complete with a small rowboat and oars. 

And John Little and Mary Ann Hay, both of whom were seen in TAT's production of "Beauty Queen of Leenane"
last season, do excellent jobs portraying characters reluctant to open themselves to another, yet not quite
resigned to spending the rest of their lives alone. Little carries most of the burden of telling the story of the couple's
meeting and courtship, and he easily switches from Friedman's European accent to Friedman's portrayal of a
Southern accent to Friedman's imitation of Humphrey Bogart, which Sally pretends not to recognize. Hay holds her
own, creating a Sally who is both an independent woman and a vulnerable one.

Much of the credit goes to playwright Lanford Wilson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for "Talley's Folly" in 1979. Wilson,
who was born in Lebanon, Mo., manages to deliver a lot of information to audience members without them feeling
that they are being told a story rather than watching two people interact.

And there's poetry in Matt's description of his family's persecution in Europe, which he turns into a fairy tale
--the only way he can tell it, he says to Sally.

The conclusion, which Matt attributes to an angel watching over them, could seem pat. But by that time, most of
the audience is cheering for Matt and Sally and is happy to share their happiness.

The production, directed by TAT artistic director Paul Meacham, continues through June 2.

Branchville --- Tri-State Actors Theater will present the first of its Monday Evening Special Events on May 20,
when it hosts a one-woman show, WE LIVE BY THE WHISTLE,  performed by Jeanne L. Austin and written
by Peter R. Nadolny.  Curtain time for WE LIVE BY THE WHISTLE is 8:00 pm at the Garris Center, 6 Broad St.,
Branchville, NJ. Tickets are $15, $13 for seniors (60 and over) and students.

   In 1998, HerStory Productions, a creative partnership of this husband and wife duo, was commissioned
by the Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Ogdensburg, NJ, to create a monodrama based on the lives of women
associated with the miners of the area. Mr. Nadolny wrote “We Live by the Whistle” drawing on information
derived from oral and written histories, as well as interviews with residents of the area. The fictitious characters
are based on actual occurrences. Each character has a different set of circumstances and a different attitude
toward the miner’s life, but they all lived “by the whistle” which sounded at regular intervals from dawn to dusk.
The play was first presented in 1999.

    Audiences are also invited to join TAT in the presentation of a new script, FISH OR CUT BAIT by John
Holleman of Nashville, TN, as TAT’s 3rd Annual New Plays Reading Series continues at 8:00 pm on Monday
evening, May 27, also at the Garris Center. FISH OR CUT BAIT places two antagonists on a desert island to
fend for themselves and learn something of life’s biggest lessons: survival. At once funny and dangerous, the
lounge act from a cruise ship and businessman with a superiority complex conjure up ways to stay alive and sane.

   Admission for the play reading series is by donation.

   TAT’s presentation of Lanford Wilson’s award-winning romantic comedy, TALLEY’S FOLLY,
continues at the Garris Center through June 2. For reservations and information, call toll free 888 840-7889 or
visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org.

Branchville---Tri-State Actors Theater’s third production for Season 2002 is the world premiere of a new drama,
ON THE SHOWROOM FLOOR, by JudyLee Oliva. Performances will be held June 12 through June 30, at the
Garris Center Theater, Broad St., Branchville, NJ.

                  ON THE SHOWROOM FLOOR is set in the fall of the early 1980’s in Lubbock, Texas. The playwright
takes up back in forth in time, in and out of reality as she explores the consequences of a woman’s encounter with
a shattering event in her past, and how her death affects her family. The mother of the family has passed away, still
obsessed with an appalling episode from her past. Her car salesman husband and their three very different
daughters must now overcome the demons of this mother and wife to salvage some common bond with each other.
Jeanne L. Austin, Augusta, a member of Actors’ Equity Assoc., plays the mother “Irene.” Ms. Austin recently
performed her one-woman show recalling life in the local zinc mines, “We Live By The Whistle” at the Garris Theater.
John Little and Mary Ann Hay, who charmed TAT audiences with their performances as Matt and Sally in TAT’s
presentation of TALLEY’S FOLLY, are “HB,” the car salesman husband and father and “Diane,” the oldest of HB
and Irene’s daughters. Mr. Little, of New York City, and Ms. Hay, of New York City and Highland Lakes, are also
members of Actors’ Equity Assoc. Kendal Ridgeway and Dina Drew, both New Jersey actresses, will play the
two younger daughters, “JK” and “Holley.” Ms. Ridgeway performed in the New Jersey premiere of THE LARAMIE
PROJECT earlier this season at New Jersey Repertory Company. Ms. Drew can be seen regularly on Soap
Operas and just finished a one-woman show at the Producer’s Club in NY. TAT’s Artistic Director and founder,
Paul Meacham, directs.

     TAT presented Ms. Oliva’s script in March, 2000 as part of TAT’s first New Plays Reading Series.
Playwright, JudyLee Oliva, calls “the development of ON THE SHOWROOM FLOOR...typical of new plays
these days...After three staged readings and workshop productions, and five contest wins (OTSF recently won
first place in the National Writers Association/Playwriting Division Competition), and four years of working on
the text...I am anxious to finally see this play in a full production. The play is based, in part, on my family, but
the plot itself is fiction. The characters, however, are drawn directly from my family, with some liberties taken for
theatrical purpose.” Ms. Oliva, of Chikasaw descent, is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Native
Women Playwrights Archive, and the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.

      ON THE SHOWROOM FLOOR will have two preview performances, Wednesday and Thursday, June
12 and 13 at 8:00 PM; all tickets are $11. Opening night is Friday, June 14; all tickets are $25. The performance
on Opening Night will be followed by a Meet the Artists Reception and refreshments. Performances continue
Saturday, June 15 through June 30. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8:00 PM and Sunday
matinees are at 3:00 PM. Ticket prices on Friday and Saturday evenings are $20, $18 for senior citizens and
students, and Sunday matinees, $18, $15 for senior citizens and students.

    To order tickets by phone with VISA/MC or for directions and more information, call toll free, 
888 840-7889 or visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org. Seating at the Garris Center is limited
and advance reservations are recommended. Seating is general admission; group rates are available. The Garris
Center offers wheelchair accessible ramps, entrances, and seating. Please call in advance to arrange seating.
 Tri-State Actors Theater, a non-profit, professional theater company founded in 1988, is a member of the
New Jersey Theater Alliance. Funding for this season has been made available in part by the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through the
State/County Partnership Block Grant Program, as administered by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage
Council and by a generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. 

BRANCHVILLE -- JudyLee Oliva's new play "On the Showroom Floor," which opened last week at Tri-State Actors
Theater; takes us on a lyrical journey deep into the shadowy Southern recesses of family secrets.  And it's well-
worth the drive to the Garris Center theater in Sussex County to catch a performance before it closes on June 30.

First of all, there is the sheer poetry of Oliva's language to enjoy, infused with the languid cadences of her
hometown of Lubbock, Texas.  Oliva's Native American heritage (mixed blood Chickasaw) and her background as
an actress, educator and award-winning playwright and lyricist infuse her work with a unique voice.

Second, there is the joy of seeing a solid ensemble cast. It's led by three excellent Tri-State Veterans, Jeanne L.
Austin as the mother "Irene," John Little as car slaeman dad "HB," and Mary Ann Hay as oldest sister "Diane." 
They are matched by the exciting energy of two dynamic newcomers, Dina Drew as the flamboyant and rebellious
baby sister "Holley," and Kendal Ridgeway as the thoughtful, detached middle sister Jackie, otherwise know as
"JK."

Little, especially, turns in a heartbreaking performance as the bewildered HB, who can't accept that his wife is
trapped in an emotional limbo tied to an event she still lames him for.  his fishing scenes with JK, as they cast off
the side of an abandoned black Chevy, are beautifully nuanced as he turns to his daughter for help in puzzling out
the mysteries of his successes and failures.

Finally, there is the fascination of a brutally honest yet compassionate script that delves deeply into the questions
of family dynamics and filial obligations.

The sisters' relationships form the heart of the play.  They have played on the cellar doors.  Slept on the cellar
doors when their father stormed home in one of his jealous alcoholic rages.  Held cussing tournaments on the
cellar doors.  And even slid "perfect mud pies" down the cellar doors.  But they have never been able to unlock the
doors to see what's down there.

When their mother declares her intention to stoop the city from dismantling the storm cellar, since it lies
technically on city land, the sisters are forced to take sides between their parents.  When the truth of the cellar is
finally revealed, it is less exotic and more painful than any of their wildest assumptions.

By the end of the play, Oliva adroitly allows the sisters to shift those loyalties through a series of finely developed
revelations that turn the story on its head.

Tri-state's artistic director, Paul Meacham, nurtured this play through several readings before willinly committing to
this full production.  although he is limited by the tiny theater and even slimmer budget, Meacham's concise
staging and Michael Forrest Kurtz's spare set and lighting smoothly transport the actors back and forth through
time, and through the emotional landmines of emerging maturity.

There are several flaws--namely the father's fascination with musician buddy Holly, (which might confuse younger
audience members) and a disorienting early courtship scene between HB and Irene.  Still, "On the Showroom
Floor" is a delicate and compelling drama, laced with comic moments, as JK attempts to discover why her
parents are haunted by a secret that is connected to a locked storm cellar and the key that Mama keeps around
her neck.

But there are also some very funny scenes in HB's slick car showroom.  Many of the references about life take on
the parlance of carsalesman patter--especially one very funny scene in which the father touts the qualities of his
daughters as if he were auctioning them off.  Doors and windows tgake on metaphorical meanings.  A simple key
becomes a weapon of possession and control.

Performances of "On the Showroom Floor" continue Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with tickets at $20 for adults,
$18 for seniors and students, and Sundays at 3 p.mp., with tickets at $18 and $15.  Call (888) 840-7889, order
online at www.tristateactors theater.org, or e mail info@tristateactorstheater.org for reservations.

Hardyston---Tri-State Actors Theater will revive one of it’s first children’s theater presentations,
TARRADIDDLE TRAVELS by Flora Atkin, July 18 - 27, at Wallkill Valley Theater, WVRHS, Grumm Rd.,
Hardyston, NJ.

The players in TARRADIDDLE TRAVELS invite the audience to travel with them to different foreign
lands to find folk tales which they will bring to life through narration, dance, pantomime and simple musical
instruments. Four authentic folk tales - “Mouse Marriage” from Japan, “Spider Talk” from Ghana, “Cricket
Song” from Puerto Rico, and “Tiger Trap” from India are presented, each in a different dramatic form. The
audience is involved through participation and reaction to these lively tales. TARRADIDDLE TRAVELS was
created to appeal to children of all age-groups.

The presentation of TARRADIDDLE TRAVELS is a part of TAT’s Student Intern Training Program.
Students who have auditioned for the company learn theater by “doing.” TAT founder and Artistic Director, Paul
Meacham begins the interns’ training day with classes in movement, pantomime, voice and acting. Frank
Arvizzigno, a recent theater major graduate of DeSales University and former Wallkill Valley Regional HS
student, returns to work with TAT as Director of the Intern Program, under the mentorship of Mr. Meacham.

The cast of travelers include: Jane Cunningham of Ogdensburg,  Josh and Mitchell Gabe of  Hamburg, Brittany
Knoll of Franklin and Taryn Sasjack of Stockholm.

Performances will be held in the wheelchair accessible, air-conditioned Wallkill Valley Theater, WVRHS,
Grumm Rd., Hardyston, NJ. Performance dates and times are: Thursday through Saturday, July 18 through July 27,
at 10:30 am; also, at 7:00 pm on Friday, July 19 and 26; 2:00 pm on Saturday, July 20 and 27; and 10:30 am
on Wednesday, July 24. Tickets are $7 for ages 3 to 11 and $9 for ages 12 and over. 

Tickets can be purchased at the door on day of performance. Group rates are available. For ticket reservations
and more information, call toll free, 888 840-7889 or visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org. 

AT’s mainstage season closes with a comedy by Yasmina Reza, ART, playing July 31 through August
18 at the Garris Center Theater, Broad St., Branchville, NJ.

      Yasmina Reza’s play is essentially about the concepts of friendship and value, and the way in which the
two can cause conflict. Serge, played by Michael Gabiano, has purchased a work of art which has cost him
dearly. His friend, Marc, played by David Volin, finds it hard to believe that any friend of his would spend so
much money on what to him is merely a white canvas. Another friend, Yvan, play by Brian O’Halloran, tries to
calm the dispute between the two but in trying to appease both, ignites the quarrel which forces all three of them
to re-examine their friendship and the direction in which it is going. 

      Ben Brantley of the Theater Review wrote that “ART belongs to a tradition that once flourished on Broadway,
but is seldom present there these days: the sleek, pleasant comedy of manners with an intellectual veneer that
allows audiences to relax at the theater without feeling they’re wasting their time.” 

      The roles in ART are coveted by actors. TAT’s production brings together four talented artists who know
each other as friends and co-workers. Director Ken Wiesinger, who directed the NJ premiere of THE LARAMIE
PROJECT at the New Jersey Repertory Company earlier this season, has matched the characters of ART to
his actors like well fitting suits. Brian O’Halloran, of Parlin, NJ, remarked “Ken understands what an actor needs,
what I need. He has a great eye for the whole project.” Mr. O”Halloran, whose film credits include “Dogma,” “Mall
Rats” and “Clerks,” enjoys the actor’s medium of live theater, from first rehearsal to final performance. Michael
Gabiano, who is from New York City, finds “working at the Garris Center very comfortable, like going home. I
saw TAT’s last production and was impressed by this little gem of a theater.” David Volin, of Tenafly, NJ, was
seen here last season in ERICA’S LAST MISSION and ON THE VERGE. He commented that “having worked
and known these gentlemen before helps me as an actor to take the gloves off and allows a greater form of trust.
I don’t have to worry about a safety net, because I know them and they know me.” Mr. Gabiano and Mr. Volin
are both members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors.

    ART will have two preview performances, Wednesday and Thursday, July 31 and August 1 at 8:00 PM;
all tickets are $11. Opening night is Friday, August 2; all tickets are $25. The performance on Opening Night will
be followed by a Meet the Artists Reception and refreshments. Performances continue Saturday, August 3
through August 18. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees are at
3:00 PM. 

     Ticket prices on Friday and Saturday evenings are $20, $18 for senior citizens and students, and
Sunday matinees, $18, $15 for senior citizens and students.  To order tickets by phone with VISA/MC or for
directions and more information, call toll free, 888 840-7889 or visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.
org. 

     Seating at the Garris Center is limited and advance reservations are recommended. Seating is general
admission; group rates are available. The Garris Center offers wheelchair accessible ramps, entrances, and
seating. Please call in advance to arrange seating.

    Tri-State Actors Theater, a non-profit, professional theater company founded in 1988, is a member of the
New Jersey Theater Alliance. Funding for this season has been made available in part by the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through the
State/County Partnership Block Grant Program, as administered by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage
Council and by a generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Actor Brian O'Halloran, a Parlin, NJ resident, feels equally comfortable whether he is on-stage in front of a live
audience or in front of the camera. Brian is currently performing as Marc "the joker" in Tri-State Actors Theater's
presentation of Yasmina Reza's award winning comdey, ART, playing through August 18 at the Garris Center
Theater, Broad St., Branchville, NJ.

ART brings Brian to TAT and Sussex County for the first time. It is his second opportunity to work with director,
Ken Wiesinger.  He commented, "Working with Ken is a great experience. Ken understands what an actor
needs, what I need, for the proper motivation. He has a great eye for the whole production." Brian finds stage
work - the actors medium - enjoyable because he is able to work on and develop his stage character from the
play's first rehearsal to its final performance.  "The audience's response is an immediate indicator of how the
performance is going." The Garris Center's intimate seating puts audiences virtually at arm's length from the
performers.

Brian 's film credits include the role of Dante Hicks in "Clerks," Gil Hicks in "Mall Rats," Chasing Amy, Groupies,
Grant Hicks in "Dogma," Dante Hicks in "Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back," and Shawn in the soon to be
released "Drop Dead Roses." He finds film notoriety a great ice-breaker at auditions and is often asked for his
autograph.

ART plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sunday matinees at 3:00 pm through August 18 at the Garris
Center. Michael Gabiano and David Volin are also featured in TAT's production of ART. For tickets and
information, call TAT toll free at 888 840-7889 or visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org.

Sussex---Lon Chaney, Mutt and Jeff on the silver screen, local soloists Alice Linn, Madge Willson, and Ethel
Dennis singing to raise funds for the hospital. Do these names sound familiar? Then you might just remember the
days of vaudville and silent movies at the Crescent Theater in Sussex Borough. The Crescent Theater, after years
of sitting silently waiting, has a new tenant.

    On August 8th, the Mayor of Sussex Borough, Peter P. Horvath, and Tri-
State Actors Theater Board of Trustees President, Peter R. Nadolny, made
it official with the signing of a twenty-five year lease for the building on
Fountain Square.
 

    Over the past year Mayor Horvath, Borough Council members Kurt Brennan, Frank Dykstra, John
Pierce, Patti Riposta, Christine Sharlow and John Stendor, Tri-State Actors Theater (TAT) Board of
Trustees members, Artistic Director and Founder, Paul Meacham and legal council for both
organizations have worked together to reopen the Crescent Theater as a performing arts center. 

Mayor Horvath has pledged that the borough “will give you (TAT) all the cooperation you need.”

After years of performing season to season in rented theater space, TAT will have a permanent place to
hang their hats, and costumes, build scenery and props, hold acting classes, and have a business office.

Founded in 1988, TAT - a non-profit, professional theater company - has grown from a one-play student
performance and training program to a full professional season of dramas, musicals and comedies, and an intern
training program. TAT’s current season at Branchville’s Garris Center ends Sunday, August 18th with the award
winning comedy, ART, by Yasmina Reza and featuring Michael Gabiano, Brian O’Halloran and David Volin as
directed by Ken Wiesinger. 

 TAT’s mission is threefold: to present entertaining, professional productions of plays for children and
adults; to encourage and train young people in the theater as actors, designers, and technicians; and to
encourage and propagate a theater-going public in our region.

Artistic Director, Paul Meacham, expects “to have the theater ready for a performance by Christmas.” The first
phase of TAT’s move will include transforming the Sussex Community Center into a black box theater.
Performances and classes will be held in this space. Upstairs, the existing space will be cleaned, repaired,
rewired, painted and finally, additional seating and a stage will be installed.

Tri-State Actors Theater is looking forward to contributing to the entertainment and growth of Sussex
and the tri-state region.

SUSSEX FINALIZES THEATER LEASE
Non-Profit Actors Group Will Move To Former Borough Senior Center

from-- THE NEW JERSEY HERALD
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
by Kate Brex Herald Staff Writeer

Sussex--  The Borough Council Monday approved on second reading an ordinance which would bring
professional theater to its downtown.

 An agreement with Tri-State Actors Theater sealed a long-awaited deal with the borough to lease the Sussex
Community Theater [originally the Crescent Theater] to the non-profit organization at $1 per year for 25 years.
The nearly unanimous decision, 5-0, solidified the lease agreement with an exception.  According to the
agreement, the theater company must provide insurance coverage on the former senior citizens center. As of
Monday, that end of the bargain had not been completed, said Mike Garofalo, attorney for the acting company. 
Garofalo said the company currently has applications with two insurance carriers. "They are exercising their right
to inspect the building," he said.

Garofalo asked the council to adopt the ordinance, saying that a grant application must have  a lease attached. 
The group is anticipating a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust for renovations and restoration of the 1917
theater.  The council approved the lease without the mayor's signature.

"As soon as the insurance is forthcoming, I will sign the lease," said Horvath.

Councilman Frank Dykstra, who said of the deal, "It is a win-win situation," was concerned about the use of the
theater parking lot. "The whole spirit of the agreement was to use the parking lot," said Dykstra.

Acting borough administrator Jeff Card, who had met with theater artistic director Paul Meacham to discuss the
parking issue, said minor repairs to the lot could be made with little or no trouble, allowing the company to
proceed with the project. "The surface could be redone easily," he said. Card said the group wants to get the
theater up and running and address the parking lot later.

Borough attorney Megan Ward left the lease with an open end saying that 25 years is a  long time. By allowing
an open-ended lease, revisions are possible, she said.  Both Meacham and the council members agreed that the
move was mutually beneficial.

"I was at Sussex Family Day (on Saturday)," said Meacham.  "So many people came up to me and said they
were glad that we were going to join the borough."

TRI-STATE ACTORS THEATER LOOKS TO SUSSEX BOROUGH FOR A PERMANENT HOME,
BUT WILL REMAIN AT THE GARRIS CENTER IN BRANCHVILLE FOR SEASON 2002 --

THE NEW JERSEY HERALD, Tuesday, October 2, 2001  THEATER GROUP SEEKS HOME IN SUSSEX

By Kate Brex
Herald Staff Writer

 SUSSEX BOROUGH -- The now-defunct Sussex Community Center, former home of the borough's
senior citizen's center, was a stately vaudeville theater circa around 1900.  It may once again open its 
doors as a legitimate theater, if the Tri-State Actors Theater and borough officials can come to terms.
 
Paul Meacham, producing director of the theater company, asked the mayor and council Monday night 
for a prelininary letter of approval, which would state that borough officials support a non-profit theater 
in their town.

The mayor and council voted unanimously to offer Meacham and his company a letter stating that they 
would favorably support a theater company within the borough, noting that a more lasting commitment 
would be forthcoming after the necessary site and building inspections had been completed.

According to borough attorney Joseph Pojanowski, the senior center had been shut down due to leaks 
and water damage. 'The structure was not conducive to housing our senior citizens," he said.  The center
was no longer a  viable and healthy environment, he said.

Meacham said the theater company already had the financial backing of the Dodge Foundation, one of the 
largest funding organizations for the arts in New Jersey.  "We have been given a grant of $50,000 [a grant
over two seasons contingent upon meeting goals set by  he foundation and Tri-State] from them for our play
productions," he said.  "They believe in us and I  certainly think they would believe in a renovation project for
a once-thriving theater."  Meacham explained that [some] foundations exist specifically for the purpose of
refurbishing and renovating  old and historic theaters. He said that he has been in contact with several already,
but before he could go further, he needed official borough support.
 
Tri-State presently produces its plays at the Garris Center in Branchville and at Wallkill Valley Regional
High School in Hardyston. The group is a theater company in search of a permanent home and believes 
they have found it in the Sussex Community Center, Meacham said.

 According to Mayor Peter Horvath, Tri-State's willingness to lease the old theater building would be 
mutually beneficial.  It would further the borough's reclamation process started several years ago and
answer  the theater company's search for a permanent home, he said.
   
"It would benefit the businesses, restaurants, shops and galleries on Main Street," he said.  "The theater 
would be a welcome addition.  I am very excited about the prospect."

"It is a win-win situation," said Councilman Frank Dykstra."

05/03/01 BY PETER FILICHIA   STAR-LEDGER STAFF

At long last, Martin McDonagh's 1996 black comedy "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" is having its New Jersey
premiere. Not at one of our high-profile houses, but at the Tri-State Actors Theater in Branchville -- a company
that's proving that very good things come in very small packages. 

For "Beauty Queen" is receiving a beauty of a production under the direction of Paul Meacham, the founder
and artistic director of Tri-State, now in its second season. Because Meacham operates out of what was a
small Sussex County barn, he's got an ideal setting for this rustic comedy-drama. The 57-seat house makes
an audience feel the oppression of being cooped up with a most dysfunctional family. 

   Septuagenarian Irishwoman Mag Folan expects her 40-ish daughter Maureen to wait on  her hand and foot,
24/7. She believes it's her right and privilege to give order after order,  and that each will be faithfully followed,
while constantly carping about "me bad hand." 

  But McDonagh shows that the sour apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Maureen's the one who gave Mag that
bad hand. 

  Maureen is clearly frustrated, and that drives her to bring Pato Dooley into the house and to flaunt to Mag
that she's sleeping with him. Poor Pato is mortified to see mother and daughter go at it, but he still would like
to woo Maureen. How Mag handles that is a big part of the disturbing yet funny script. 

   As Mag, Anne Barclay has the right weathered and craggy look for this quiet monster, but captures her
malevolence, too. She cold-bloodedly throws Maureen's fanciest dress on the floor so that it will look worse for
wear to any would-be suitor. How Mag's eyes sparkle when she tells Maureen, "Seventy years old you'll be at
my wake," thrilled that she'll control the woman for many more years. 

   Mary Ann Hay is potent as Maureen. Her face has a careworn look that has come from overexhaustion -- or
is it just apathy? When Mag complains, her looks to the ceiling seem to be a plea to God to get her out of this
minimum-security prison. 

Hay gets the most out of her dialogue, especially when she tells Mag that she wouldn't mind bringing home a
murderer who'd kill them both -- if indeed she had the satisfaction of seeing him first slay her mother. Is she
genuinely mad? Hay keeps her audience guessing until the final curtain. 

John Little is delightfully goofy as Pato, a small-town roué who believes he's romantic hot stuff. But Little has
layered the performance to show that he's a genuine good guy -- certainly the only  noble character in the script.
One of his speeches, expressing his wanderlust, is a heartfelt highlight.

Then there's Pato's brother, Ray, who plays a pivotal role in the plot. John Kinsman portrays the angry young
man with a scrunched-up face that masks his utter boredom with the world. That expression can change to a
frighteningly evil grin when he takes out his lack of fulfillment by punching a table. Kinsman also exhibits
extraordinary comic timing in delivering his funny lines. 

"The Beauty Queen of Leenane" is so impressive that theatergoers would be well-advised to get seats before
it closes -- ironically enough, on Mother's Day. 

        The Beauty Queen of Leenane
                         © 2001 The Star-Ledger. 

THEATER - DAILY RECORD. May 4, 2001
BY DEBRA SCACCIAFERRO
BRANCHVILLE -

"The Beauty Queen of Leenane" by Martin McDonagh is a hard play to describe.  it's part comedy, part love
story, part cautionary tale, part ghost story.

Yet the production by the Tri-State Actors Theater in Branchville seems uncertain at time how to blend comedy
with the more ferocious elements of the play.

The play, awarded four Tony Awards in its 1998 Broadway production, is a wicked comedy about a mother/
daughter relationship from hell.  Tri-state Actors Theater production turns it into a claustrophobic and
catastrophic tale of an overprotective parent who clips her child's emotional wings, and unleashes a monster.

McDonagh takes Tennessee Williams' obssession with characters dependent on the "kindness of strangers"
one step further--in his play, Ireland itself is sadly dependent on strangers, leaving its small town citizens no
choice but to "beg a job" from England or America.  Gritty in language and ghoulish in his examination of the
human heart, McDonagh's crude humor mirrors the stunted lives of his characters.  Yet he also writes with great
poignancy and playfulness., capturing the yearnings of lonely lovers on the brink of a last chance at happiness.

Anne Barclay is Mag Folan, the controlling querulous old woman who connives to keep her eldest daughter
Maureen under her thumb by appearing more helpless than she really is.  Barclay nicely portrays Mag as a
chameleon, who adapts to each new perceived threat.  Underneath that wrinkled exterior, we get glimpses of
what drives her--a stubborn temper, cat-like cunning, fear of being alone and fear of her daughter's wrath.

Their dreary existence, in which the choice of biscuits is the highlight of the day, has nearly strangled the life out
of Maureen.  At 40, she's still a virgin and desperate for love--a trait Mary Ann hay captures quite convincingly. 
She is less convincing portraying Maureen's cold malevolence that erupts in the second act.

Into these women's lives comes an invitation to a "do" at the Dooleys' from Pato Dooley, who is back from his
job in London to see off his visiting American relatives.  the invitation is relucctantly delivered by Pato's dim-
witted younger broother, played as a lovable lout by John Kinsman, who delivers some of the play's funniest
lines.  his indolence and indifference becomes a crucial factor in the burgeoning romance between Maureen
and Pato.

John Little gives a vibrant and deeply touching performance as Pato.  The sweet lilt of his voice plays so nicely
against the harsh, flat tones of the emotionally wary women.

Maureen sees Pato as her salvation--someone who sees her with a different set of eyes, a different set of
expectations.  A man whose genuine kindness can turn aside  her jealously about his flirting with his American
cousins with the endearing statement, "How was I to know the beauty queen of Leenane was coming?"

And the morning after their night of love is hell.  Coming down from Maureen's room, Pato runs into Mag and
attempts to placate her with small talk and fresh porridge.  But Mag is dumbfounded, open-mouthed, agog, as
if watching a green-eyed monster.  It's a funny scene that quickly turns nasty, as maureen and Mag begin an
escalating duel of verbal assaults in front of an increasingly bewildered and embarrassed Pato.

The second act is one of twists and turns, of possibilities of escape, and the consequences of those possibilities.
In the ensuing cat-and-mouse game, mother and daughter vie for dominance, working up to a chilling showdown.

Perhaps because the Garris Center theater is so tiny--as one patron remarked, if the seats were any closer,
you'd be sitting on the actors' laps--Barclay and Hay and Kinsman seems to be shouting their lines in the first
scene.

Director Paul Meacham displays a heavy hand in his direction, sacrificing some of the humor in several mother
and daughter scenes, which would benefit from a lighter touch.  In a crucial second act scene, the action seems
awkward instead of deliberate, undercutting the horror.  Yet, elsewhere, such as the humorous verbal jousting
between Ray and Mam in the second act, he displays a more delicate control.

Still McDonagh's play is worth a look.  the ironic ending dredges up more questions than answers.  Driving home,
I was haunted by the plight of those characters.  maConagh's unsentimental tale ultimately challenges our blithe
assumptions about sanity, choice, the power of love and the meaning of the phrase "a fate worse than death."

THEATER
DAILY RECORD. JULY 6. 2001
BY DEBRA SCACCIAFERRO
BRANCHVILLE -

Canadian playwright Tevia Abrams packs a lot of issues -maybe too many -
into the world premiere of "Erica's Last Mission." 

But the play, which runs for only three more performances tonight through 
Sunday at the Tri-State Actors Theater at the Garris Center Theater in 
Branchville, is well worth seeing,

In one sense, "Erica's Last Mission" is a thoughtful and gripping portrait of a 
20th-century marriage.  The Kroners are an intellectual Canadian couple who 
have struggled for half a century to keep their marriage intact against their own 
worst failings of infidelity, emotional dead ends, deception and near
collapses. Their final test of courage comes in the form of a battle with a 
life-sapping illness. 

In a lesser sense, it is a social drama on the controversial notion of euthanasia or
mercy killing. The fact that Abrams throws into the mix an estranged daughter who 
joined a cult many years ago, and may now hold her father responsible for her 
mother's death, makes this an almost too rich stew.

But that is perhaps this play's only flaw. Otherwise, it is an intelligent and compassionate 
look at how ill-equipped most families are to cope with the suffering and death of a loved 
one -let alone the moral questions that surface under pressure from society's rules about dying.

Having experienced this issue personally -at my dad's  bedside after he lost a long battle with 
cancer in December, and as a cancer survivor myself-- I was pleased to see that Abrams 
and director Mary Clifford {herself a cancer survivor) did not sensationalize this play, but 
nailed just about every emotional milestone in the struggle, Abrams offers no definitive 
answers, but uses the questions to illuminate the larger issues about judgment, commitment 
and marriage.

 The cast of three is very fine indeed.  Jeanne L. Austin plays Erica Kroner, a proud and bitter 
wife who is determined to battle this unspecified illness (cancer, leukemia, or any of the 
progressively debilitating diseases).  At some point -a question that the play hinges on - 
she abandons her medical team and enlists a Jack Kervorkian- style doctor to help her 
end things more quickly.

 Paul Meacham, the artistic director of Tri-State Actors Theater, plays her husband, Stanley, 
a history professor whose emotional distance has often left his marriage tottering on the brink 
of divorce. With the decision out of his hands, he nevertheless struggles to make sense of it all 
as he awaits trial for murder.

 At first, he is not interested in the outcome, But David Volin, who is brilliant as the young and 
cynical lawyer whom Stanley's friends have hired to defend him, pounds away at - Stanley's defenses 
to uncover the truth.

 What is thrilling about "Erica's Last Mission" is not the legal battle between the lawyer and the 
Canadian Crown Prosecutor, of which we see only glimpses, but rather the emotional battle 
between a curious lawyer and a resigned defendant.

 Volin and Meacham are equally matched opponents, given to flashes of arrogance, anger and 
a  stubborn conviction of the righteousness of their position.

 But Stanley's weapons are silence, withdrawal and disconnection, while the lawyer's include 
relentless probing, connection and an ability to tap into Stanley's professional need to explain the 
past.

 All three actors give entirely believable and richly complex performances.  Meacham told me that 
several loved ones in his family have battled cancer in the past year. His scenes with Austin during 
her last moments are so finely wrought, you can feel his heart breaking with the strain. 

 Meacham who has been friends with Abrams since graduate school, has helped to nurture this play 
from a one-act version, read during Tri-State.s New Plays Reading Series of 2000, to its current 
form. Abrams first began writing it in 1993, inspired by a nightmare he had about suicide.

 Many people who might broaden their minds by seeing "Erica's Last Mission" probably won't go. 
But for those lucky enough to get tickets to the last few performances in the tiny Garris Center 
Theater, "Erica.s Last Mission" will ultimately provide a stirring and hopeful view of marriage.

 Tested by human frailties and seared by adversity, mar. riages that do not break often forge 
powerful bonds that can bolster a couple through death and bring the survivor out whole again 
on the other side.

Debra Scacciaferro  DAILY RECORD. July 6. 2001

Branchville---Tri-State Actors Theater Season 2001 continues with the world premiere of a new 
play, ERICA’S  LAST MISSION, by award-winning Canadian playwright, Tevia Abrams. ERICA’S 
LAST MISSION will be on stage at the Garris Center Theater, Broad St., Branchville, NJ from June 27 
through July 8.

Under the title A SOUNDER SLEEP, ERICA was a part of TAT’s first-ever play readings series last
season. ERICA’S LAST MISSION is the story of a man’s public and private struggles to come to terms with his
decision to assist his terminally ill wife in her suicide. For playwright, Tevia Abrams, the story started as a dream
on a hot summer’s night in 1993. Either inspired or desperate, Mr Abrams was driven to write a number of versions
of the script, coming to a final version just this year. First read in 1994 in Delhi, India with a cast of
seven, Mr. Abrams began working on the script again in 1996 in a series of workshops run by Milan Stitt, a
playwright and teacher. The play was whittled down to a one-act version and the cast was cut to three. In 1999, Mr.
Abrams returned to the task of finishing his script which led to it’s being given a public reading last season.  After
several more revisions, A SOUNDER SLEEP became ERICA’S LAST MISSION, a play in two acts, and was ready
for its premiere.

The three characters who inhabit the play are the Lawyer, Jason Maxwell, Erica Kroner, and Stanley
Kroner; played respectively by professional actors, David Volin of Tenafly, Jeanne L. Austin of Augusta, and
TAT Artistic Director, Paul Meacham. ERICA will be directed by TAT Associate Director, Mary Clifford of
Highland Lakes. Ms. Austin, Ms. Clifford, and Mr. Meacham, are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the
union of professional actors. 

 When asked why he chose to produce and act in ERICA’S LAST MISSION, Mr. Meacham responded, “Tevia
was so enthused by TAT’s reading of his script, I saw the possibility of producing it the next season as a full
production. The play’s issues are contemporary, and the clash of wills in the play among these three strong
characters is great theater. Plays are supposed to challenge us and shake us a bit, and ERICA’S LAST
MISSION is an earthquake that will rattle every preconceived notion we have about our life choices. Along with
entertaining audiences, I want to bring them plays that cause us to respond with both our hearts--and our heads.
ERICA does just that.”

ERICAS’S LAST MISSION will have two preview performances, Wednesday and Thursday, June 27 and 28, at
8:00 pm. Opening Night is Friday, June 29, at 8:00 pm. The performance on Opening Night will be followed by a
Meet the Artists Reception and refreshments. Performances continue Saturday, June 30, at 8:00 PM; Sunday,
July 1, at 3:00 PM; and the following weekend - Fri., Sat., and Sun., July 6, 7, 8. Tickets are $10.00 each for all
performances. Seating at the Garris Center is limited and advance reservations are recommended. Seating is
general admission. To order tickets by phone with VISA/MC or for directions and more information, call toll free,
888 840-7889 or visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org. The Garris Center offers wheelchair
accessible ramps, entrances, and seating.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Branchville---Tri-State Actors Theater Season 2001 closes with a “thoroughly serendipitous theatrical journey”
(Mel Gussow, The New York Times), ON THE VERGE or the Geography of Yearning, a comedy by playwright
Eric Overmyer, on stage at the Garris Center Theater, Broad St., Branchville, NJ from July 25 through August 12.

Blending the limber linguistics of Tom Stoppard with Thornton Wilder’s historic overview, Mr Overmyer
takes audiences on a mirthful safari that leads from darkest Africa to Terra Incognita, spinning into time travel.
Three “sister sojourners,” played by professional actors Jeanne L. Austin of Augusta as Mary, Kristin Reeves of
West Milford as Fanny, and Amanda Jones of Brooklyn, NY as Alexandra, each a prototypical Victorian lady
explorer equipped with dialogue as pithy as their helmets, thwack their machetes through the wilderness while
telling tales of past jaunts. These three intrepid trekkers encounter several characters along the way, all played
by David Volin of Tenafly, also a professional actor. Fanny and Alexandra decide to settle down in the year 1955.
Mary, still seeking adventure, pushes on. ON THE VERGE is filled with wit within the palaver. As one traveler
says, “I have seen the future and it is slang.” The author himself is an ecologist of language and a shrewd
observer of our quest to control our environment and, perhaps, the environment of others.

   ON THE VERGE will have two preview performances, Wednesday and Thursday, July 25 and 26, at
8:00 pm. All tickets are $10. Opening Night is Friday, July 27, at 8:00 pm. All tickets are $25. The performance
on Opening Night will be followed by a Meet the Artists Reception and refreshments. Performances continue
Saturday, July 28, at 8:00 PM; Sunday, July 29, at 3:00 PM; and the following two weekends - Fri., Sat., and
Sun., August 3, 4, 5, and 10, 11, 12. Ticket prices on Friday and Saturday evenings are $20, $15 for senior
citizens and students, and Sunday matinees are $15, $13 for senior citizens and students. Seating at the Garris
Center is limited and advance reservations are recommended. Seating is general admission. Group rates are
available. To order tickets by phone with VISA/MC or for directions and more information, call toll free, 888-840-
7889 or visit TAT on the web at www.tristateactorstheater.org. The Garris Center is air-conditioned and offers
wheelchair accessible ramps, entrances, and seating.

   Tri-State Actors Theater, a non-profit, professional theater company founded in 1988, is a member of the
New Jersey Theater Alliance. Funding for this season has been made available in part by the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through the
State/County Partnership Block Grant Program, as administered by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage
Council and by a generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Dynamic cast keeps 'On the Verge' afloat

BY DEBRA SCACCIAFERRO
DAILY RECORD

Eric Overmyer's "On the Verge," a highly fanciful tale of three women explorers navigating the future, is often
exhilarating in its nimble and humorous wordplay.  But it's definitely weird in concept and doesn't hang together
in execution.

Still, Tri-State Actors theater has made a humorous silk purse of a sow's ear by virtue of a dynamic cast of four,
solid direction by Paul Meacham, and an inventive set by Michael forrest Kurtz and Paul Zahorosky.

Jeanne L. Austin as the unflappable older Mary, Amanda Jones as the golden-haired, word-struck Alexandra and
Kristin Reeves as the proper-to-a-fault Fanny share this wacky expedition with humor, crisp pacing and a delightful
sense of irony.

(Anyone who can handle O vermyer's polysyllabic puns and torturous tongue-twisters like "I once saw the Dalai
Lama himself transmute buckets of gold coin into yellow yak butter" without bursting a bustle has my admiration.)

The play is at heart a moral tale--we are all standing "on the verge" of the future.  Some of us face changes as
intrepidly as Mary, confident in our abilities and endlessly curious about what's around the next corner.  Others of
us hand back, like conservative Fanny, resisting change, insisting that our prejudices are rooted in inviolable truths. 
Others, like Alexandra, embrace every new fad with equal fervor until they find their own comfortable niche.

  The play is also a satire on the changing social mores of 20th century women.  Three wealthy American female
explorers in 1888 embark on what is to be their final and most bewildering trek into Terra Incognita.

  This fantastical continent is represented by Kurtz and Zahorosky's set--the entire stage, floor and walls, painted
to resemble an old-world map.  thick ropoes strung across the back of the set mimic longitude and latitude, while
cleverly resembling everything from jungle undergrowth, rope bridges over sheer cliffs and tackle ropes to rappel
down snow-covered mountain-tops.

  David Volin, playing the eight odd "creatures" the women encounter in their quest, is a hoot from the moment he
oopens his mouth as the German-accented cannibal to his suave louge lizard at the Paradise Bar and Grill.  his
characters are mostly cartoon figures--I still can't figure out why he's playing a troll dressed in greaser garb, nor a
baby yeti who throws snowballs for several cheap laughs.  but as Madame Nhu, the fortune cookie spouting fortune
teller, he's bizarrely divine, my dear.

As I said, much of this play doesn't quite make sense, even in the odd world of Terr Incognita.  A lot of the
encounters seem trite, out of synch or more embarrassing than silly.

Engaging story

But the thread that holds the story together, about three women struggling to make sense of the changing world
around them, is ultimately engaging.

The women begin their journey with all the annoying characteristics of the patronizing Imperialist attitudes.  Mary
and Fanny argue for outdated and useless social conventions, as alexandra pushes them to embrace technology. 
There are arguments about trousers vs. petticoats (Mary insists she survived a bed of nails and quicksand
because she wore petticoats), photographs vs. hard evidence, and the shortcomings of "native" foods.  Each
tries to top the other with tall tales of their exploits, complete with Fanny's hysterically ear-splitting yodels.

The women are united, however, in their devotion for collecting specimens, using umbrellas for hacking jungle
undergrowth and dispatching crocodiles, their loathing of manioc and their condescending attitude toward Yettis
and cannibals.

When they start finding newspaper clippings about a man named "Nixon," and "osmosing" bewildering words
and phrases from the future, the play starts to flounder.

But all three actresses are so good, they keep the audience interested in finding out what will happen to them. 
Reeves, in particular, as a poignant moment when she realizes she will never return to her own time.  Jones is
so lovable, the absurdity of her final career choice--no, no, no; I',m not giving it away--seems somehow right.  But
it's austin who convinces us, with her dignity and her wisdom, that she will persevere into the future, intrepid to
the end.