Little Firehouse Theatre
298 Kinderkamack Road
Oradell, NJ 07649

  PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Marjory Lewis

BCP Public Relations
201-444-2521

publicity@bcplayers.org 

BERGEN COUNTY PLAYERS PRESENTS COMIC POTENTIAL -
A ROMANTIC COMEDY OF THE FUTURE
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(L to R):  Darren Carfano, Ron Siclari, Leigh Adel-Arnold, Bill Macchio, Joanne Guarnaccia, Michael Spadaccini
 

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(L to R): Leigh Adel-Arnold and Michael Spadaccini
 

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(L to R): Leigh Adel-Arnold, Joanne Guarnaccia, Michael Spadaccini, Bill Macchio
 

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(L to R): Leigh Adel-Arnold and Michael Spadaccini
 

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(L to R): Leigh Adel-Arnold and Bill Macchio
 
Photos courtesy of
Michael Smith

Oradell, NJ, April 13, 2010

Bergen County Players (BCP) will complete its 2009-2010 Mainstage season with the presentation of Comic Potential, a romantic comedy of the future written by Sir Alan Ayckbourn, one of the most prolific and widely performed of all living English-language playwrights and author of Communicating Doors and Table Manners.  Under the direction of Ray Yucis, Comic Potential will be performed at the Little Firehouse Theatre in Oradell from May 1st through 23rd, 2010, with shows at 8pm on Friday and Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.

Comic Potential is set in a TV studio in the foreseeable future, when low-cost androids have largely replaced actors.  An idealistic young screenwriter finds himself entranced by an almost-human leading lady/android with an unexpectedly quirky sense of humor.  Rather than have her memory wiped out, he kidnaps her, and, while on the run, they fall in love.  Comic Potential provides an amusing look at bad television, bad actors, the secret of slapstick humor and the robotic nature of being human.  Critic John Simon called it “one of the finest plays of all my theatergoing decades – a riotous farce, a tremulously exquisite love story [and] a superb satire on television and other human follies….”  He also said, “If you are going to see only one play in your life, make it this one.”

Director Ray Yucis’s directing credits at BCP include Moonlight and Magnolias, The Women, Brooklyn Boy and A Cheever Evening.  Recent directorial credits elsewhere include The Fantasticks, Black Comedy and As Bees in Honey Drown (Players Guild of Leonia), and Oklahoma!, Carousel and Annie Get Your Gun (SummerStage at Leonia).  As an actor, Ray has appeared on the BCP stage in Pack of Lies, The Actor’s Nightmare, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

Playing the young playwright is Michael Spadaccini of Old Tappan, recently seen in The Solid Gold Cadillac with BCP last fall.  Appearing as his lovely young android actress is Leigh Adel-Arnold of Teaneck, remembered by BCP audiences for her impressive performance as Sister James in last season’s production of Doubt.  Also featured will be Bill Macchio of Dumont as the perennially-tipsy TV director; Margie Druss-Fodor (Westwood) and Larissa Symbouras (Wood-Ridge) as his hard-working assistants; Joanne Guarnaccia (Englewood Cliffs) as his overbearing TV producer; and Ron Siclari (Oradell) as the eccentric owner of the television station.

Playing a multitude of supporting characters are ensemble members John Kiely (Allendale), Karin Wander (Harrington Park), Zach Tait (Garfield), Darren Carfano (New Milford), and Jeanmarie Garver-Gaydos (Hackensack).

The team behind the scenes includes Director Ray Yucis (Paterson), Producer Rhea Smith (Oradell), Assistant to the Director Linda Macchio (Dumont), and Stage Manager Geri Berhain (Hasbrouck Heights).  Set Design and Construction is by Michael Smith (Oradell), Décor by Lynne Lupfer (Tenafly), Lighting Design by Joe Lanteri (Little Ferry), Sound Design by Jim Higgins (Ridgewood), Costumes by Ruth Morley (Ridgewood), and Properties by Pat Bain (Englewood).  Cliff Dreispan (Fair Lawn) and Matthew O’Connor (New Milford) will serve as Lighting Operators, and Tim Larsen (Glen Rock) as Sound Operator.  Melissa Surow Hathaway (West Orange) will be in charge of Make-up; Marjory Lewis (Ridgewood), Publicity; Ron Siclari and Dan Siclari (Oradell), Crew; Michael Smith (Oradell), Photography; and Stephanie Bazzanella (Washington Twp.), Joanna Bell (Union City) and Shari Buchwald (Haworth), Programs.

 

TICKET AND SCHEDULE INFORMATION

  • All performances take place at The Little Firehouse Theatre at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, home to the Bergen County Players for 58 years.
  • Tickets for Comic Potential are $19 (Friday/Saturdays) and $16 (Sundays) and can be purchased online at www.bcplayers.org, by calling 201-261-4200 or by visiting the box office at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell during regular box office hours.  Visa, Master Card, and American Express are accepted.
  • An Audience Q & A (“Questions & Artists”) is scheduled for May 7th.  Admission is included in the cost of the ticket.
  • Those interested in Group Sales can call (201) 262-0515.
  • Student Rush tickets are available for $5 for students age 25 and under with valid ID, 30 minutes prior to curtain. One ticket per ID. Cash only. Students can also guarantee their seats in advance either online or through the box office for the special student price of just $14.
  • Parking is free at the Park Avenue municipal lot, across the street, one-half block north of the theater.

The Bergen County Players has grown tremendously from its roots as a small community theater when it was founded in 1932; today, nearly 300 volunteer members, working on and off stage, make possible the eight productions presented each season.  The company's professional alumni include Tony Award-nominated actress Beth Fowler (The Boy From Oz, Sweeney Todd), Tony Award-winning actor Robert Sean Leonard (FOX’s House, The Invention of Love), Tony Award-nominated director Robert Jess Roth (Beauty and the Beast, Lestat), and international best-selling suspense author Mary Higgins Clark, just to name a few.  In May 2001, Tony Award-winning playwright and composer Rupert Holmes (Curtains, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) collaborated with the Bergen County Players to premier his new play at the Little Firehouse Theatre, a comic mystery called Thumbs.

Further information can be found at www.bcplayers.org.

The Bergen County Players, Inc., is a non-Equity, non-profit community theatre company dedicated to presenting quality productions for the enrichment of the community.