STATE FAIR - Sponsored in part by Commerce Bank, N.A.

Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Book by Tom Briggs and Louis Mattioli  

Starring John Davidson 

TV, Stage & Screen star John Davidson re-creates his Broadway leading role as Abel Frake in Surflight's first production ever to play for 3 weeks.  Set against the colorful backdrop of an American heartland tradition, STATE FAIR travels with the Frake family as they leave behind the routine of the farm for three days of adventure at the annual Iowa State Fair. Mom and Pop have their hearts set on blue ribbons while their daughter and son find romance and heartbreak on the midway. Set to the magical strains of an Academy Award-winning score and augmented by other Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, STATE FAIR is the kind of warm-hearted family entertainment only Rodgers & Hammerstein could deliver! This amazing score includes It Might As Well Be Spring, It’s a Grand Night For Singing, All I Owe Ioway.   We’ll see you at the Fair!  

 

Plays June 16 (Wednesday)- July 3 (Saturday) at 8:00 PM; June 17 (Thursday), June 20 (Sunday), June 22 (Tuesday), June 27 (Sunday), June 29 (Tuesday) & July 1(Thursday) at 2:00 PM; Friday, June 18 special open-captioned performance at at 2:00PM; No 8:00 PM Performance on Sunday, June 20 or 27; No Performance Monday, June 21 & 28.  The open captioned performance is made possible by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey in cooperation with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

CATS  - Sponsored in part by Paws for Thought, Smithville , NJ

                                         and by Rover Dog Grooming, Straford, NJ

                                         and by Just Bead It, Beach Haven, Surf City, Stone Harbor

                     

 

Words and Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Based on "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T. S. Eliot  

 

This is the Surflight Premiere

 

The longest running production in Broadway history comes to Surflight!  This lyrical setting of T. S. Eliot’s whimsical collection of poetry first took London ’s West End and Broadway by storm in the early 1980’s.  The eponymous characters are larger-than-life felines inhabiting a metaphorical junkyard where one of them will be chosen for rebirth.  Among the candidates are the aging theatre cat, Gus; the criminal Macavity; rocker Rum Tum Tugger; and the once glamorous Grizabella, now but a faded Memory of her former self.  CATS transports its audience into a fantastical world that could only exist in the theatre, and is one of the most dazzlingly theatrical musicals ever created.  This compelling fable of hope and redemption is propelled by a score of extraordinary range and emotion.  Many performances are will sell out, so get your tickets early.   

 

Plays July 6 (Tuesday)- July 25(Sunday) at 8:00 PM; July 8 (Thursday), July 11 (Sunday), July 13 (Tuesday) & July 20 (Tuesday) & July 25 (Sunday) at 2:00 PM; No 8:00 PM Performance on Sunday, July 11 & 25;  No Performances on Monday, July 12 & July 19 

ANYTHING GOES - Sponsored in part by East Bay PC, Barnegat , NJ

                                                                            and by Memberworks.

Music and Lyrics by COLE PORTER

Original Book by P.G. WODEHOUSE , GUY BOLTON, HOWARD LINDSAY, & RUSSEL CROUSE

New Book by TIMOTHY CROUSE & JOHN WEIDMAN  

 

This is the age-old tale of Boy-Meets-Girl and the complications which ensue, and no musical puts it on stage better than ANYTHING GOES. This hilarious story is wrapped around one of Cole Porter's magical scores.  Terrific songs include It's De-Lovely, Friendship, I Get A Kick Out Of You, All Through The Night, Anything Goes, You're The Top and Blow, Gabriel, Blow, Let's Misbehave, Buddie Beware and Easy To Love. It's a wonder that all the romances are sorted out and disaster is averted aboard the magical ship where ANYTHING GOES!  

 

Plays July 27 (Tuesday)- August 8 (Sunday) at 8:00 PM ; July 29 (Thursday) & August 3 (Tuesday) at 2:00 PM ; No Performance on Monday, August 2 

 

BYE BYE BIRDIE - Sponsored in part by Migration Station - Backyard Wildlife Accessories & Gifts, Barnegat, NJ

Book by Michael Stewart, Music by Charles Strouse, Lyrics by Lee Adams

 

BYE BYE BIRDIE is one of the most captivating musical shows of all time.  A satire done with the fondest affection, BYE BYE BIRDIE tells the story of rock and roll singer Conrad Birdie (an Elvis type) who is about to be inducted into the army. Put on a Happy Face, One Boy, A Lot of Livin' to Do, Kids, Rosie and Spanish Rose are musical theatre classics.  BYE BYE BIRDIE was last seen on the Surflight Stage in 1982.  Don’t miss it this time around.  

 

Plays August 10 (Tuesday)- August 22 (Sunday) at 8:00 PM ; August 12 (Thursday) & August 17 (Tuesday) at 2:00 PM ; No Performance on Monday, August 16 

SHOWBOAT - Sponsored in part by The Magnolia House, Beach Haven 

Music by Jerome Kern, Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on the novel by Edna Ferber  

 

Since its premiere in 1927, SHOW BOAT has never stopped moving. For over seven decades this seminal musical has continued to evolve on a journey that has reflected the ongoing development of the lyric theater, confirming its status as the pivotal work bridging operetta and contemporary musical theater.  This epic musical spans 40 years in the lives of three generations of show folk, following theirs loves and heartbreaks, their ambitions and disappointments along the Mississippi River and in Chicago .  This fabulous score includes Make Believe, Ol' Man River , Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man, Bill,  Goodbye, My Lady Love, After the Ball and You Are Love.  Showboat docks at Surflight for the first time in 16 years.  Don’t miss it!  

 

Plays August 24 (Tuesday)- September 5 (Sunday) at 8:00 PM ; August 26 (Thursday) & August 31 (Tuesday) at 2:00 PM ; No Performance of Monday, August 30

MESHUGGAH-NUNS - This is the New Jersey Professional Premiere

By Dan Goggin

Sponsored in part by Travel Travel of Forked River

     Phone  609-693-1210   email margitstravel@yahoo.com

The NUNSENSE nuns are back, this time on the ocean.  While taking an all-expense-paid trip on the “Faith of All Nations” Cruise, many passengers, including the entertainers (the cast of Fiddler on the Roof) become seasick.  All except the actor playing Tevye, who gets together with our nuns and puts together some replacement entertainment.  The result: MESHUGGAH-NUNS!  Nunsense sold out many performances in 2003, so get your tickets early for what promises to be one of the funniest shows of the season.   

 

Plays September 8 ( Wednesday)- September 18 (Saturday) at 8:00 PM ; September 12, 15, 16 & 19 (Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday) at 2:00 PM ; Friday, September 10 at 10:00 AM ; No Performance on Monday & Tuesday, September 13 & 14 

FOREVER PLAID

Book by Stuart Ross, Lyrics by Various, Music by Various
Musical Continuity Supervision and Arrangements by James Raitt

 

One of the most popular and successful musicals in recent memory, this deliciously goofy show centers on four young, eager male singers killed in a car crash in the 1950’s on the way to their first big concert, and now miraculously revived for the posthumous chance to fulfill their dreams and perform the show that never was. Over 30 pop hits of the 50’s including Catch a Falling Star, Chain Gang, Cry, Day-O, Heart & Soul, Hot Diggity, Jamaica Farewell, Lady of Spain, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Moments to Remember, No, Not Much, Perfidia, Shangri-La, She Loves You, Temptation, and 3 Coins in The Fountain. Great harmony singing and hysterically funny comedy combine for you on the Surflight Stage.  

 

Plays September 22 (Wednesday)- October 2 (Saturday) at 8:00 PM ; September 23 & 26, 30 & October 3 (Thursday & Sunday) at 2:00 PM ; October 1 at 10:00 AM; No Performance on Monday & Tuesday, September 27 & 28

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU - Sponsored in part by 

                                                                       Lackland Self Storage

By George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart  

 

At first the Sycamores seem mad, but it is not long before we realize that if they are mad, the rest of the world is madder. In contrast to these delightful people are the unhappy Kirbys. The plot shows how Tony, attractive young son of the Kirbys, falls in love with Alice Sycamore and brings his parents to dine at the Sycamore home on the wrong evening.  In the end Mr. Kirby is converted to the happy madness of the Sycamores, particularly since he happens in during a visit by an ex-Grand Duchess, earning her living as a waitress. No mention has as yet been made of the strange activities of certain members of the household engaged in the manufacture of fireworks; nor of the printing press set up in the parlor; nor of Grandpa's interview with the tax collector when he tells him he doesn't believe in the income tax.  Don't miss one of the funniest plays of the 20th century.  

 

Plays October 6-9 at 8:00 PM ; October 7 & 10 at 2:00 ; October 8 at 10:00 AM

BILOXI BLUES - Sponsored in part by East Bay PC Barnegat , NJ

 By Neil Simon  

 

This is Chapter Two in the continuing saga of Eugene Morris Jerome, alter ego of the youthful Neil Simon. When we last met Eugene (Brighton Beach Memoirs at Surflight in 2003), he was coping with adolescence in the 1930’s in Brighton Beach , Brooklyn .  Here, he is young army recruit during the Second World War, going through his basic training, learning more about Life, and generally developing his Writer’s Sensibility at boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1943 still jotting down his memoirs. Eugene and five other assorted enlisted men suffer under a hard-nosed Drill Instructor., confront the daily ‘‘mess’’ served up in the mess hall, join together in a visit to a local prostitute and, generally, become adults. For the first time, Eugene confronts the degradation of anti-Semitism; and, for the first time, he falls in love. Then, his training over, it’s goodbye Biloxi.  

 

 

Plays October 13-16 at 8:00 PM ; October 14 & 17 at 2:00 PM ; October 15 at 10:00 AM

 

MAGIC IN THE MUSICSponsored in part by Commerce Bank, N.A.

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, Book and Magic by Dennis Bush  

 World Premiere! 

Surflight Theatre is proud to present its 2nd annual World Premiere Production.  Follow the redemption of a homeless woman as she learns life is worth living from the spirits who inhabit the abandoned building she has wandered into.  The score of over 20 Stephen Schwartz songs is sung and danced by the spirits as they also perform classic feats of magic including Levitation, Zig-Zag, Saw the Lady in Half, disappearance and reappearance of doves ,“lions”, and other things inanimate and alive.  Songs include Corner of the Sky, Lion Tamer, All For The Best, Meadowlark, Magic to Do, It’s an Art, & Spark of Creation.  

 

Plays October 22 (Friday)- October 30 (Saturday) at 8:00 PM ; October 24, 28 & 31 at 2:00 PM ; Friday, October 22 at 10:00 AM ; No Performance on Monday & Tuesday, October 25 & 26 

MIRACLE ON 34th STREET

A Play from a novel by Valentine Davies adapted by Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder, Will Severin and John Vreeke.   Original underscoring and music by Will Severin

 

When Kris Kringle is ousted from a retirement home for believing that he is Santa Claus, he gets a job as a Santa at Macy’s.  Customers immediately respond to him as he personifies the spirit of good will that transcends commercialism.  More and more people believe he is the real thing.  This new play with music is the definitive live-on stage adaptation of the movie that has become a holiday tradition for more that 55 years.  Some performances will sell out, so order early. 

 

 

Plays December 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18 at 7:30 PM ; December 4, 5, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18 & 19 at 2:00 PM ; December 3, 9, 10, & 16 at 10:00 AM