FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT:
Sandra Conklin
201-261-4200
Publicity@bcplayers.org
Photos @ www.bcplayers.org
Oradell, NJ, April 25, 2019 - Bergen County Players (BCP) continues its 86th season with Neil Simon’s comedy, Rumors. The play is directed by Peter Colletto and will run May 4th through June 2nd. There will be no performances on Mother’s Day, May 12th or Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-26. Performances will take place at the Little Firehouse Theatre, 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell with curtain at 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 pm on Sundays. Tickets may be purchased online at www.bcplayers.org, by calling 201-261-4200 or by visiting the box office during regular box office hours.
Neil Simon, called the “Broadway Master of Comedy” by the New York Times, was both a critically and commercially successful playwright. In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Simon was nominated for seventeen Tony Awards, winning three. Simon wrote numerous screenplays as well as more than 30 Broadway plays; among his most famous are Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple.
In Rumors, Simon returned to laugh-out-loud comedy. This 1988 farce finds us at a dinner party in which the first guests discover the hostess missing and the host upstairs with a superficial gunshot wound. To prevent a scandal, the first couple hides this situation from the second, and they hide it from the third, all the way down the line. It is filled with half-prepared meals, car accidents, marital affairs, slapstick pratfalls, back spasms, mistaken identities and illogical alibis; and “that’s just Act One! These hilarious rumor-based circumstances provide an evening, according to the News Tribune, that is "loud, raucous, fast-paced, witty and pretty much over the top from curtain to curtain”.
BCP Life Member Peter Colletto directs the show. He has directed and acted in numerous productions since joining BCP, with his directorial credits including It's Only a Play, and dramas such as Speed the Plow and To Kill a Mockingbird.
The cast includes Jeanmarie Garver-Gaydos of River Edge, NJ (Chris Gorman), Jody Laufer of Fair Lawn, NJ (Ken Gorman), Sharon Podsada of Emerson, NJ (Claire Ganz), James Lugo of Congers, NY (Lenny Ganz), Ron Siclari of Oradell, NJ (Ernie Cusack), Joanne Misha of Montvale, NJ (Cookie Cusack), Larry Shagawat of Clifton, NJ (Glenn Cooper), Elaine D’Addezio of New Providence, NJ (Cassie Cooper), Andrew Lennon of Oradell, NJ (Officer Ben Welch) and Mary Clair Bongiovani of Lodi, NJ (Officer Connie Pudney).
The crew includes Peter Colletto (Director), Rhea Smith (Producer/Décor/Program Notes/Biographies), Michele Roth (Stage Manager), Michael Smith (Set Construction/Designer), Christine Francois (Assistant to Director), Allan Seward (Lighting Designer), Tim Larsen (Sound Designer), Cliff Dreispan (Sound Operator), Kathleen Ruland (Sound Operator), Sandra Conklin (Publicity), Jill Hendrickson (Lighting Operator), Jody Laufer (Set Construction), Barbra Murtha (Décor), David Luke (Crew), Randi Kestin (Crew) and Joyce Slous (Member-at-Large).
TICKET AND SCHEDULE INFORMATION
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 nine productions presented each season.
To schedule press interviews, photos, press comps, or for additional information, please contact Andrea Pieper by e-mail at publicity@bcplayers.org. Photos and press information are also available at www.bcplayers.org.