10 Plays to Watch Out for This Fall

If summer’s impending end is starting to get you down, cheer up. Good things come in the fall—apple cider, colorful leaves, school buses, and—most important to this column—theater.

Fall is when stages at most theater groups, professional and community alike, start getting busy again, with dramas, comedies and musicals.

So as you finish your summer reading list (if you ever really started it), eat the last sweet corn of the season and enjoy those final beach days, look forward to what’s certain to be an exciting theatrical season. Here are 10 productions that look especially enticing—though only time, and the actual performances, will tell if they live up to their promise.

1. “All My Sons” at , Sept. 9 through Oct. 1. Ever feel today’s plays and movies aren't addressing the world we live in? Wondering where the stories about people trying to live their lives in this economy are? This story from Arthur Miller, about a son who discovers that his father gave up on his morals to make money, could be just as resonant today as it was when it premiered in 1947. BarnTheatre.org.
2. “E-Mail, 9/12” at , Sept. 10. This one-night only event is a presentation of an original play by Hillsborough resident Midge Guerrera. The play is influenced by Guerrera’s experiences following 9/11, when she found herself sharing stories and thoughts about that tragic day via e-mail with friends and family. The play features stories, some fictional, some based on fact, and may include stories submitted by Hillsborough residents. The play is also being performed in Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Donations will be accepted. SVPTheatre.org.
3. “Newsies” at the , Sept. 15 through Oct. 16. Disney’s 1992 movie “Newsies” wasn’t a box office hit and got awful reviews, so why get excited about the musical adaptation coming to Paper Mill Playhouse? Because it features music by Alan Menken and a book by Harvey Fierstein. The show will also see Kara Lindsay—who did a terrific job playing Laura in “Little House on the Prairie: The Musical” a few years ago—return to the Paper Mill stage. PaperMill.org.
4. “The Last Days of Mickey and Jean” at the Bickford Theatre, Sept. 22 through Oct. 19. This co-production between the , and Old Castle Theatre Company in Bennington, Vt., will mark the New Jersey premiere of the newest play by Richard Dresser, author of “Rounding Third.” According to the Bickford, the play is about a retired mobster and his girlfriend who end up in “hilarious” situations and discover secrets about each other. The show got good reviews during its August run in Bennington, so a night of laughter just might be in the works. Click here to go the Bickford’s website for information.
5. “The Wars of the Roses: Henry VI, Part I” at Brundage Park Playhouse, Sept. 30 through Oct. 9. Talk about ambitious! This adaptation by The Shakespeare Initiative combines “Henry VI Part I” with the first three acts of “Part II.” The Initiative promises drama on par with “Game of Thrones” in this story of power, battles and politics as Henry tries to maintain the power achieved by his father. BrundageParkPlayhouse.org. 
6. “Bug” at , Oct. 14 through 23. This play from Tracy Letts (“August: Osage County”) is about a waitress hiding from an abusive ex-husband and whose son was kidnapped 10 years ago. She struggles with alcohol and drugs until a paranoid gulf war veteran enters her life. The Players describe the play as “raw and fun,” so you’ve got to wonder how that fits in with such heavy subject matter. Maybe it has something to do with the bugs. ChathamPlayers.org.
7. “The Cocktail Hour” at Chester Theatre Group, Nov. 4 to 20. This comedy by A.R. Gurney premiered in New York in 1988, got good reviews, and won a few Tonys, but isn’t often performed. It takes place in the 1970s as a playwright returns to his home in upstate New York, seeking his family’s permission to produce a play he’s written about them. The drama happens during the family’s cocktail hour, a very formal affair, which becomes particularly interesting on this evening. ChesterTheatreGroup.org.
8. “An Act of Will” at Dover Little Theatre, Nov. 11 through 20. It's not easy for a community group to stage a world premier. It’s so much easier to draw audiences with the tried and true, so offering a stage to a new work is gutsy. According to the theater, this play by Grace Wessbecher is about a Fay Johansen, a sculptor who takes in her teenaged niece, whose grandmother has died and whose father has left her. She’s not eating and losing weight at a troubling rate and it’s up Fay the save the girl. DoverLittleTheatre.org.
9. Babes in Toyland at the Growing Stage Theatre of New Jersey, Nov. 25 through Dec. 18. The children’s theater group in Netcong is marking its 30th anniversary season and this original adaptation looks like a great way to introduce kids to theater. Perry Arthur Kroeger and Growing Stage Artistic Director Stephen L. Fredericks wrote the book, while Victor Herbert, Glen Macdonough and Kroeger wrote the music. The Christmas story features characters like Bo Peep, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum and the Three Little Pigs as Mother Goose is threatened with eviction during the holidays. GrowingStage.com.
10. A Christmas Carol at the , Dec. 1 through Jan.1. There’ll be no shortage of Scrooges on area stages at holiday time but the one at the Shakespeare Theatre in Madison should be one to treasure. The adaptation is by Neil Bartlett and is faithful to the story and spirit of Dickens’ story. The Shakespeare Theatre first staged it in 2007. It was a must-see then and is certain to be again this time around. ShakespeareNJ.org.