Centenary Stage Company Announces April Events

With spring right around the corner, Centenary Stage Company has exciting events planned. This April, CSC will be presenting the premiere of the new play, The English Bride, its annual Women's Playwrights Series, the Young Audience Series production of A Year with Frog and Toad, a week-long dance festival, and the finale of the 2012-2013 Family Fun Series a unique puppet show, The Lion's Whiskers.

CSC has the privilege of presenting a world premiere play written by a local playwright running April 5th through the 21st, The English Bride. A love affair, a bomb, an interrogation-who was using whom? Following a failed bombing attempt on an El Al flight out of London, the search for the truth becomes an elusive chase in the interrogation of the young Englishwoman and the Arab man with whom she has fallen in love. The English Bride is written by New Jersey playwright, Lucile Lichtblau, winner of the 2011 Susan Glaspell Award.
The annual Centenary Stage Company Women Playwrights Series returns with a line-up of new play readings and discussions on April10th, 17th and 24th at 7:30 pm. Started in 1992, this program supply's a working platform for women writing for theatre. The Series offers emerging playwrights a chance to work with professional directors and actors in a short rehearsal period, followed by a staged reading of the work in front of a live audience. Each presentation features refreshments for all, and lively "talk-backs" with the playwrights and cast following the performance.

Catskill Puppet Theatre will be wrapping up Centenary Stage Company's Family Fun Series sponsored by Fulton Bank on April 13th at 2 p.m. The Lion's Whiskers is a delightful musical adaptation of a traditional Ethiopian folktale featuring a charming cast of human characters and favorite African animals. The show features a multitude of masks and puppets ranging from three quarter life-sized to gigantic and is highlighted with shadow puppetry and original songs. Workshops will be available after the performance for children and their adults to learn some puppetry skills of their own.

Dance makes its way to the CSC stage this April. This annual dance festival at Centenary presents Umoja Dance Company, Moe-Tion Dance Theatre, Nimbus Dance Works and The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company. The multi-cultural Umoja Dance Company on April 21st at 4:30 p.m. is a fusion of contemporary, modern and West African dance. Moe-Tion Dance Theatre on April 25th at 7:30 p.m. is a New Jersey based company known for their diverse repertory and site-specific work. Nimbus Dance Works on April 26th at 8 p.m. is Jersey City's premiere dance company. They focus on high-level dance and innovative ways of involving communities and audiences. The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company on April 27th at 8 p.m. is acclaimed for their artistic excellence and range, as well as for their elegance and power, technical ability, versatility, and "inner fire."

CSC's Young Audience Series show, A Year with Frog and Toad (The Musical) remains true to the spirit of the original stories as it follows two great friends Frog and Toad. The performance will take place Saturday April 20th at 11 a.m. in the Little Theatre. Waking from hibernation in the spring, they proceed to plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, and go sledding, learning important life lessons including a most important one about friendship and rejoicing in the attributes that make each of us different and special.

The English Bride tickets range from $17.50 to $27.50 with discounts for students and seniors. Thursday night is Date Night with two for one rush tickets available at the door. Performances run from April 5th through the 21st and are 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. on Sundays with a Wednesday 10 a.m. matinees on April 17th and an evening performance on Wednesday April 10th at 7:30 pm with limited seating available. All performances are in the Edith Kutz Black Box Theatre in the Lackland Center at 715 Grand Avenue.
CSC's Women Playwrights Series is a free event, with reservations recommended. Dates are April 10th, 17th, and 24th at 7:30 p.m. The series will be held in the Sitnik Theatre in the Lackland Center.
Tickets for Catskill Puppet Theatre are $20 for adults, seniors and students and $17.50 for children under 12. The show will be in Sitnik Theatre in the Lackland Center on April 13th at 2 p.m. The workshop will be held after the show and is $18.50 a person, there is a limit of 50 people for the workshop.
Tickets for Dance Festival at Centenary shows range from $12.50 to $17.50. Umoja Dance Company is April 21st at 4:30 p.m. Moe-Tion Dance Theatre is April 25th at 7:30 p.m. Nimbus Dance Works is April 26th at 8 p.m. The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company is April 27th at 8 p.m. All performances will take place in the Sitnik Theatre in the Lackland Center.
A Year with Frog and Toad tickets are $12.50 for adults and $10.00 for children under 12. The performance is Saturday April 20th at 11 a.m. in the Little Theatre at 400 Jefferson Street.
The Centenary Stage Company is a not-for-profit professional equity theatre, in residence at Centenary College, dedicated to serving as cultural resource for audiences of the Skylands Region with professional music, theatre and dance events and arts education programs throughout the year. Performance at the Centenary Stage Company are made possible through the visionary support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, and CSC members, friends and sponsors, including Premier Sponsor Heath Village, Silver Sponsor Hackettstown Regional Medical Center and The Holiday Inn in Budd Lake, and Series sponsors, Fulton Bank, and Mamas & Café Baci.

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