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New Jersey Playwrights Contest
A Matter of Dreams by Judah SkoffWinner of the Eighth Annual NJPC - Play Series
April 12-15, 20-22 & 26-29, 2012
All performances at 8:00 pm,
except Sundays at 3:00 pm
Hunziker Black Box Theatre
Admission:
General admission $18 •
William Paterson University alumni, faculty, staff,
and seniors $10 • Students $10
Press Opening on 4/12/12: all tickets $10.00!
Author Reception follows the April 14th performance
Meet-the-Author session follows the April 15th matinee
Our dreams can scare or entice us. Our faith guides us through them to different paths and people. How they are handled in A MATTER OF DREAMS might surprise you. Set primarily in Hoboken, NJ, Adam, who has rejected his Jewish upbringing, and Claire, a mysterious woman, embark on a psychosexual journey into the darkest parts of their desires. This causes problems for Deena, Adam’s best friend, a “single Jewish woman,” who wants to live the Jewish life. Her relationship with Noah, a cultural snob who looks down on Hoboken, becomes emotionally devastating, forcing her to question her own belief in a Jewish family. Judah Skoff has won various awards, including, the National Playwriting Competition and two New Jersey Governor’s Awards in the Arts. His plays have been performed at the Abingdon Theatre, New York University and other venues. See the premiere of A MATTER OF DREAMS from this up and coming young playwright.
Daybreak Words and music by Bobby CroninWinner of the Eighth Annual NJPC - Musical Series
June 7-10, 15-17 and 22-24, 2012
All performances at 8:00 pm,
except Sundays at 3:00 pm
Hunziker Black Box Theatre
Admission:
General admission $22 •
William Paterson University alumni, faculty, staff,
and seniors $16 • Students $10
Press Opening on 6/7/12: all tickets $10.00!
Meet-the-Author session follows the June 22nd matinee
Author Reception follows the June 23rd performance
More people die by suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge than at any other site in the world. What would cause someone to contemplate jumping from its span or stopping someone from doing so? DAYBREAK is a non-traditional, coming-of-age musical journey, centered on the dark places people go when they feel lost, scared, broken, or alone. Follow two couples as we explore the mysteries that bind them, their relationships, family ties, expectations, dreams, patience and courage. Bobby Cronin, a three time ASCAP PLUS award recipient, is a NJ based composer/lyricist whose songs are "passionate and powerful in a take-no-prisoners way that will knock your socks off." - Cabaret Exchange. Catch DAYBREAK in its North American premiere this June, by the same people who brought you DISENCHANTED! last June.
About the Contest
The New Jersey Playwrights Contest (NJPC) supports the work of emerging New Jersey playwrights and composers by showcasing their work to the public through staged-readings and a full production of the winning play and musical. Unpublished scripts by New Jersey residents are solicited in the summer and through a rigorous process that includes the staged-reading series, one play and one musical are selected to receive a professionally designed and directed production the following spring semester.
All playwrights residing in the state of New Jersey are eligible to enter the NJPC. Students and members of the local community, who have the time and energy to commit to a production, are invited to participate in the process. Open auditions for the staged-readings are held in September/October and then again in December/January for the full productions. Casts vary widely depending upon the reading or show but often include undergraduates from a variety of majors, alumni and other members of the University community as well as local community actors or semi-professional performers. And occasionally professional actors are employed on an as needed basis. The artistic and technical staffs for all NJPC shows consist of fulltime and part-time theatre professionals working in the northern New Jersey area.
Previous winners of the annual NJPC are: NINE MONTHS, INSIDE OUT by S. W. Senek (2005), TUESDAY IN JERSEY WITH ANDY, by Dennis Russo (2006), END OF THE WORLD BUTTON, by S.W. Senek (2007), MARGOT FRANK: THE DIARY OF THE OTHER YOUNG GIRL, Book & Lyrics by Lori Mooney & Diana Rissetto, Music by Cooper Cerulo, Michael Sangiovanni & Warren Helms (2008), IT'S ALL ABOUT THE KIDS, by Caytha Jentis (2009), BUICK BECOMES ELECTRA OR THE TORRID ZONE, by Stanley Werse (2010) and DISENCHANTED!, by Dennis Giacino (2011).
This year's MUSICAL Finalists were: DAYBREAK, by Bobby Cronin; LIFE, LOVE AND HAPPINESS, by Matt Cusack; and WELCOME TO SHOOFLY, by Jonathan Lee and Justin Anthony Long.
This year's PLAY Finalists were: THE HARROWING, by Bobby Fischer; WHEN THE PHONES CAME TO LIBERTY CREEK, by Michael Bettencourt; and A MATTER OF DREAMS, by Judah Skoff,
The NJPC is coordinated by Edward Matthews and Shari Selke of the University Performing Arts Department, and is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
