Stephen J. Capestro Theatre
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| Address | 17 Pine St, Edison, NJ 08817 Edison USA |
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| Type | Opera House Local Productions Musicals |
Stephen J. Capestro Theatre is an outdoor theater in Edison, New Jersey, United States.
Three musicals are typically performed each summer. The audience brings their own lawn chairs to each performance. On a first-come, first-served basis, each person in the audience chooses where to place the chair in one of the designated areas on the sloped lawn facing the stage. The box office opens at 5:30 PM. On days with good weather, and during very popular family shows, a line can form at the box office very early in the morning. The musicals have a run of ten shows each. There are no Sunday performances. The shows start at 8:30 PM.
Plays-in-the-Park has been cited for the excellence of its theatrical productions, making it the pre-eminent Community Theater in Middlesex County. The lighting, scenic and costume designs of each show are generally based on the Broadway originals or National Touring Companies.
Plays-in-the-Park is not only a Summer Theater. During the Fall the backstage area is transformed into an intimate 150 seat "black box" performance space where the annual Children's Musical is presented. All ten performances (2 each Sunday or Saturday for 2 or 3 weekends) have been completely sold out and have even featured contests sponsored by the Home News Tribune.
December brings the traditional Winter Show at the State Theater in New Brunswick. These productions give the Plays-in-the-Park staff and designers an opportunity to work hand-in-hand with Union crews in a professional venue, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment.
Plays-in-the-Park is also runs a creative drama workshop opened to children grades 2 through 5, ages 8 to 11, called Kids-in-the-Park. It is housed in the mini-amphitheater in Warren Park, Woodbridge. Youngsters attend two different workshops, making the total attending each summer 250. At the end of each session a performance is given for an audience of parents and friends.
General admission for Plays-in-the-Park at the Stephen J. Capestro Theatre is $6.00. Seniors are $5.00. Kids are always admitted free. For these efforts, the theater received the Class One Award for 1991 of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council Dorothy Mullen Award and was the recipient of the National Association of Counties 1991 Achievement Award.