Friday, October 31, 2014

GSP's Educational Touring Theatre, Brittany Sambogna in the Spotlight

Brittany Sambogna as Dee Dee in IRL

Brittany Sambogna, a member of George Street Playhouse's Educational Touring Theatre company, is profiled in this week’s issue of the Pascack Valley Community Life newspaper.

Sambogna, of Westwood, N.J., is a 2008 graduate of Westwood High School. She is one of four actors in the company who, along with a stage manager, travel to many schools throughout New Jersey to perform four issue-oriented productions that are seen by more than 40,000 students during the academic year.

A recent graduate of Montclair State University with a BFA in acting and a minor in musical theater, Sambogna’s previous credits include Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire and Insula – both of which earned her American College Theater Festival nominations. Other roles include Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress, Kate in Kiss Me Kate, and Sonia in Godspell.


Pascack Valley Community Life/NorthJersey.com: For Westwood actress, social issues are her stage


The Educational Touring Theatre is the centerpiece of George Street Playhouse's educational programming. The program commissions and produces first-class productions with relevant themes for young audiences, such as respect, cyber-bullying, conflict resolution, health and wellness, climate change and empathy. These plays are performed at schools with a four-person cast and stage manager, and are followed by a post-play discussion providing excellent starting points for engaging classroom conversations that can be used to fulfill New Jersey Common Core State Standards.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint, George Street Playhouse has become a nationally recognized theatre, providing an artistic home for established and emerging theatre artists. Kelly Ryman was appointed Managing Director in 2013. Founded in 1974, the Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway – including the Outer Critics’ Circle Best Musical Award-winning The Toxic Avenger; the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Drama League-nominated The Spitfire Grill; David Auburn’s Tony® and Pulitzer Prize-winning Proof, which was developed at GSP during a two-week workshop in 1999; and It Shoulda Been You, directed by David Hyde Pierce and starring Tyne Daly, which opens on Broadway in spring 2015 after a 2011 debut at GSP.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

GSP's Hit Musical Heads to Broadway for Spring 2015


It Shoulda Been You
Left to right: Richard Kline, Tyne Daly, Harriet Harris and Howard McGillin star in George Street Playhouse’s 2011 production of It Shoulda Been You. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

George Street Playhouse is thrilled to share the official news that our 2011 production of It Shoulda Been You will open on Broadway in the spring of 2015

Previews for the musical comedy, which drew sold-out crowds in New Brunswick and is the highest grossing show in George Street Playhouse history, will begin at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on March 17, 2015. The play will officially open April 14.

Tony Award winners Tyne Daly and Harriet Harris, along with Lisa Howard and Edward Hibbert will reprise their roles. David Hyde Pierce will once again direct, and the production will also include the same design team. 

With book and lyrics by Brian Hargrove, It Shoulda Been You features music by Barbara Anselmi, who came up with the concept for the show, and additional lyrics by Jill Abramovitz, Carla Rose Fisher, Michael Cooper, Ernie Lijoi and Will Randall.