NEXTSTAGE REPERTORY OPENS 2020 WITH JOSE RIVERA’S MARISOL

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ -- Centenary Stage Company and Centenary University’s all student NEXTstage Repertory presents Jose Rivera’s Marisol. The production opens Thursday, February 6 and runs through Monday, February 10 in the Little Theatre located at 400 Jefferson St., Hackettstown, NJ, on the campus of Centenary University.

Winner of the 1993 Obie Award, Marisol is an apocalyptic urban fantasy which urges society to “wake up” and somehow find a way to recover the long-lost, much-needed compassion for our fellow man, as this is the only way to save our world.  The Village Voice has hailed Rivera’s play as “... angry, fearsome, fantastic, and poetically frenzied, without surrendering either its sanity or its mordant sense of humor…” and BackStage Magazine has said, “… Rivera’s dialogue is poetically powerful…”

Directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Stephen Davis, the cast and creative team of Marisol is comprised entirely of Centenary University students. Davis also serves as the Program Director for Centenary Stage Company’s Shakesperience: NJ and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Davis holds a BFA in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University, as well as an MFA in directing from USC, where he received the Two Thumbs Up Teaching Award for making a difference in the lives of students with learning disabilities.

While at Centenary, Davis has been honored with both the 2014 – 2015 Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award and the 2010 – 2011 United Methodist Exemplary Teaching Award. He teaches classes to all ages in Shakespeare, stage combat, theatrical makeup, acting, directing, playwriting, video production and movement for the theatre.

Centenary University’s NEXTstage Repertory is the all student performance division highlighting the close partnership between the professionally producing Centenary Stage Company and Centenary University’s Theatre Department.  Under the guidance and direction of Centenary University faculty and Centenary Stage Company staff, all NEXTstage Repertory productions immerse Centenary University students in every aspect of production. From performance to design, NEXTstage Repertory productions serve as a green house for cultivating the next generation of theatre artists by providing students with the opportunity for practical application while adhering to the professional standard of the Centenary Stage Company.

Two of Marisol’s cast members, Maxinne Spann and Sydney Fucito, are using this production as their thesis assignment, a requirement towards the completion of their BA in theatre arts at Centenary University. “Marisol has been with me since my freshman year, as it was part of my scene study class. To be able to be part of the play as a whole has changed my day-to-day outlook, how I view the world and how I see theatre as part of a greater reflection of society.” After the show closes Monday evening, Spann and Fucitio will begin the writing portion of their thesis, which will reflect the journey from rehearsal process through the completion of the run of the production.

Performances for Marisol by Jose Rivera will be held in The Little Theatre at 400 Jefferson Street Hackettstown, NJ on the campus of Centenary University.  Performances are Thursday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, February 7 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, February 8 at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, February 9 at 2:00 p.m. and Monday, February 10 at 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are $15.00 for adults, $10.00 for students and children under 12, and $5.00 for Centenary University students.

For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979-0900. The Centenary Stage Company box office is open Monday through Friday from 1-5 p.m. and two hours prior to every performance. The box office is in the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave., Hackettstown, NJ on the campus of Centenary University. Centenary Stage Company can also be found across social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Like and follow to receive the latest in CSC news and special offers.

The 2019-2020 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, Zonta Morristown Chapter and CSC corporate sponsors, including Season Sponsor The House of the Good Shepherd, Heath Village Retirement Community, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Medical Center with Atlantic Health System, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), and Fulton Bank, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.