Bloomfield's Fourth Wall Theater Announces "Broadway Barely Legal"

Risque titled show offers coming of age songs for all audiences.

On March 22, Bloomfield's 4th Wall Theatre will put on “Broadway Barely Legal: Are You Even Old Enough To Sing That?” The musical production features “coming of age” songs from Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals of the last two decades.  The one-night-only performance has become a highly anticipated part of 4th Wall’s season each year, and it will again feature members of the 4th Wall family of performers from the past and present.  According to an announcement by the theater, the evening will include a live auction and a post-performance reception. All proceeds will go toward future productions

• Videos (1)

‘Children of Eden’ at Westminster Arts Center

New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts students performed “Children of Eden” for a two-night run on Friday and Saturday nights.

  The young performers at the New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts  played to a sold-out crowd January 13 and 14 with the two-night production, “Children of Eden.”  The musical retelling of three Bible stories: “Adam and Eve”, “Cain and Able” and “Noah’s Ark” cast a new light on the age-old tales, bringing them alive for modern audiences. The crowd knew they were in for a great show from the start as the cast sang a remarkable rendition of “Let There Be,” led by Einar Gunn as “Father”. “The Spark of Creation” sung by Cindy Edwards as “Eve” was equally accomplished. Branden Mangan as “Older Cain” may have appeared unsure when he began “Lost in the Wilderness” but about halfway through his voice suddenly soared, eliciting applause from the …

• Photos (7)

A Christmas Carol: Family Theater at the Westminster Arts Center

The Yates Musical Theatre Company delighted an audience of children with a one-night showing of the classic tale

With Christmas about a week away, a small army of children got an early present in the form of a theatrical event: “A Christmas Carol” at the Westminster Arts Center. Of course, some of the rambunctious youngsters risked getting on Santa’s naughty list waiting for the show to start. But once the lights went down and the show began, the children took their seats and became quickly enraptured. Produced by the Yates Musical Theatre for Children, the production began with a musical introduction by keyboardist, Jim Campadonico. He ran through a medley of Christmas carols that got the whole audience singing or mouthing the words to the songs. The play itself was that seemingly age-old story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the miserable miser who forgoes …

• Photos (6)

‘Flop of Ages’ Raises Much Needed Funds for 4th Wall Theater Company

"Great Songs from Bad Shows" is the winning ticket for the local theater company's 15th season show

  Local theater company, 4th Wall, got a boost in fundraising with “Flop of Ages," a one-night-only show put together to help keep alive the company’s mission to expose their audience to interesting and challenging theater. According to artistic director, Kate Swan, the group has a fundraising goal of $15,000 for their 15th season. Swan said they are already two-thirds of the way to that goal with half the season to go. According to 4th Wall Business Manager Bruce McCandless, the concept for “Flop of Ages” was to rediscover (or in most cases discover) great music from unsuccessful musicals. He was inspired by the “Lost in Boston” music recording series which features songs that were cut from various musicals. “Flop of Ages” was split into …

• Photos (6)

The Montclair Operetta Club Returns with ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’

The Montclair Operetta Club (MOC) opens its 87th year with the rock opera, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Westminster Arts Center

The Montclair Operetta Club's Jesus Christ Superstar scored big with audiences this weekend, as the company brought the classic Andrew Lloyd Weber musical to the stage with a local cast that did it proud. Operetta Club President Richard O’Connor said Superstar was a last-minute, surprise addition to the fall theater line up.  “Our season was supposed to have been ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘Evita’," he admitted.  "I had a contract for the rights to ‘Anything Goes’ and . . . the next day in my email I had a rescission of those rights. So I lost our fall show."  Because local theatres cannot perform shows during their Broadway runs, Evita was also axed.  "After finding out that there was an “Evita” revival on the horizon, the original season was …

• Photos (9)

The Spitfire Grill Opens at the Westminster Arts Center

4th Wall Theater kicks off its 15th anniversary year with the musical, The Spitfire Grill.

“Chick flicks” get a bad name. The term, used to denote a “touchy-feely” movie with primarily females in the lead, usually means you’re in for a lot of women bonding and crying together. But what’s wrong with that? “Thelma & Louise”? “A League of Their Own”? “Terms of Endearment”? Some really excellent films can definitely be dubbed “chick flicks”. Kicking off their 15th anniversary, 4th Wall Theater would like you to add “The Spitfire Grill” to that list of great films. Only this one is on the stage. Adapted from the Lee David Zlotoff film of the same name, the story begins with Percy Talbott (Alexis Field) leaving prison and arriving in a small Midwest town called Gilead. She quickly gets a job working for Hannah Ferguson (Jodi Freeman …

• Photos (5)

ArtSpeak

‘Seussical the Musical’ Delights at the Westminster Arts Center

The NJSDA presents ‘Seussical the Musical’ at the Westminster Arts Center for some mid-summer fun.

With the theater near to capacity and the audience all abuzz, Corinna Sowers-Adler, director of the New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts production of “Seussical the Musical”, took the stage to remind everyone to “remember how to be a kid again.” When the lights came up on the Westminster Arts Center stage (which looked like pages right out of “Green Eggs and Ham”) a child named Jojo (Henry Gardner) opened a box and out popped the Cat in the Hat (Tyler Lynch). From that point forward the show never stopped. For anyone unfamiliar with the play, “Seussical the Musical” takes the children’s rhyming books of Dr. Seuss (nee Theodor Seuss Geisel) and combines them in a non-stop musical. The plot centers on young Jojo getting caught in the tiny …

• Photos (9)

ArtSpeak

‘A Man of No Importance’ Offers an Alternative to Summer Entertainment

A Man of No Importance plays at the Westminster Arts Center this June.

When superheroes have saturated the movie theaters and have even started swinging in and spinning webs on Broadway, where can one turn to find an alternative to typical summer fare? The 4th Wall Theater company answers that question and sates the hunger of New Jersey’s theater-goers with its production of “A Man of No Importance”. Playing until June 18th, this one is not to be missed. However, that recommendation comes with a caveat. This is not a “light” musical. If you are familiar with this play then you already know that it is an emotional mix of humor, pathos, and the bittersweet mess that is life. If you are not familiar with the story then I will try not to give away the twists and turns that stunned me upon my first viewing. In a …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (4)

Orlando Callegari, Jr.

2:19 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011

Thanks a lot. I had never seen the show before but I'm certainly glad I got the chance to.   more ›