Tonight is our 2 for $30 Thursday night! Buy one ticket at the regular $20 price and get your second ticket for half off!

A great date night!

And don't forget - tomorrow night (Friday) is the Artist Talk back session. Following the performance, the cast, crew and artists of Gallery 9, will be available to discuss their work.

Hope to see you there!

Private Eyes begins it's 2nd week of production tonight!

Add a little mystery back into your life with J CITY Theater
at 252 9th Street.

Hope to see you there!

What an amazing opening night! Thanks so much to our great audiences!

"The best show yet! This one is my favorite so far!"
Steven Santillian

We continue tonight and for the next two weeks, Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Tickets available at www.jcity.org

Remember - Free Artist reception today from 4pm to 6pm.

Come on down to meet the artists of Gallery 9's art exhibition and the actors of Private Eyes, then take advantage of the dinner and show package at either The Embankment or Hamilton Inn and then come on back for the show. A great Saturday of entertainment!

Opening night is tomorrow night! Come on down to J CITY Theater to see a great show!
Hope to see you there!

Opening is Friday - so be sure to get your tickets soon.

And don't forget our Dinner and A Show packages with local restaurants:


Option 1:
Just as in the past, The Embankment Restaurant is offering their $30.00 prix fixe meal (3 courses!) for those seeing the show later that night. Just tell your waiter you are seeing the show after the meal.

Option 2:
Hamilton Inn is offering 10% off your entire bill (that's right - not a typo: the entire bill) for those seeing the show later that night. Not to be combined with other specials.

Two great ways to support your local restaurants, see a great show, and save money!

J CITY Theater announces the opening of their new production: Private Eyes by Steven Dietz.

Private Eyes is a ?relationship thriller? - a comedy of suspicion in which nothing is quite what it seems. Matthew?s wife is having an affair with Adrian, a British theater director. Or perhaps the affair is part of the play being rehearsed. Or perhaps Matthew has imagined all of it simply to have something to report to Frank, his therapist. The audience bares witness to the characters? delicious deceptions and are ultimately the detectives - the real private eyes, who search for clues to Dietz?s laugh out loud comedy of surprise and misdirection.

With dialogue that snaps and crackles with biting humor, Dietz explores characters who continually try to tell the truth - but in the end learn the value of ?the comforting white lie?. Secrecy and deception hide the twin fevers of passion and suspicion. To borrow a phrase, Private Eyes is a ?riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma?.

?The cleverest and most artful piece presented at the 21st Humana Festival? - Village Voice

The show runs April 1st through 16th, Friday and Saturday the first week, and then Wednesday?s through Saturday?s for the remaining run.
Time: 8pm.
Tix: $20.00
Address: 252 9th Street

For additional information: www.jcity.org

We at the theater have used them quite a bit for our print jobs. Rich is a great guy and the quality of their work is amazing. I think Sam Pott from Nimbus Dance uses them too.

Clay
J CITY Theater

Tonight is your last chance to see A Tuna Christmas. A few tickets are left for this holiday tradition, so get yours now.

Someone in last night's audience said after the show:

"My neighbor told me this year was even funnier than last year...and they were right! I'm going to be laughing for days!"

Tickets are available at the door - or online at www.jcity.org

Bump.
Come see the show the Star Ledger calls "hilarious. With performances that light up the J City stage with high wattage!"

tonight through Saturday. 8pm

We're a hit!

Here's today's review of A Tuna Christmas in The Star Ledger!

The sign above the set is supposed to spell out ?Happy Holidays? in lights ? but more than half the bulbs have burned out.

No problem. The bright performances that Kellis Carroll and Clay Cockrell are giving in ?A Tuna Christmas? light up the J City Theater stage with their own high wattage.

?A Tuna Christmas? is the delightful holiday edition of ?Greater Tuna,? the 1982 surprise off-Broadway hit. Once again authors Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard joined forces to take a look at a lonely Lone Star State rural town. Tuna, Texas, is a dot on the map where everybody knows everybody else?s business ? for what else does anyone have to do with his time? That means that if you had an incontinence problem as a child, don?t expect anyone to forget it ? even when you?re old enough to be the town sheriff.

To replicate Tuna?s population of 568 would be too immense for even the richest Broadway budget. So Carroll and Cockrell simply play many of its prominent residents: young and old, male and female.

Although both are successful throughout, Cockrell seems to have the most fun in portraying Didi Snavely, the shop owner who purveys ?weapons for the home, the car and the workplace.? Or does he prefer Vera Carp, the woman who?s convinced that she?s the big fish in Tuna?

Carroll enjoys his stint as Bertha Bumiller, the head of the local censorship bureau that isn?t sure it?ll approve every word of the upcoming community theater production of ?A Christmas Carol.?

The actors frequently rush off-stage to change costumes ? and they get laughs each time they return, acknowledging not just their speed, but their outrageous new outfits.

When Cockrell must play a woman, he automatically becomes what is euphemistically known as a ?big girl.? One of the great mysteries of the season must be how women?s clothes could be found to fit him. While we?re at it: Where did those poinsettia-appliqu?d high heel shoes come from?

And what about those wigs, which are ? to borrow a lyric from a musical that celebrates a nearby state ? as high as an elephant?s eye?

The two-hour show is briskly done thanks to director Sandy Cockrell, Clay?s wife, who knows how to get all the juice from the comedy. She gets laughs from the tiniest details: When her two actors play older women, they don?t just plop into chairs when they sit down ? given their age and aches, it?s a slow-motion adventure.

And yet, one of the most fascinating aspects of ?A Tuna Christmas? is that the authors don?t spend all their time mocking the town or its inhabitants. They have a good deal of sympathy for the poor souls who can?t extricate themselves from this cultural wasteland, and for those who won?t be having a Merry Christmas.

Better still, the playwrights take care to show that there are solid brains in these people?s heads, and that many are capable of speaking in a most poetic way. In fact, Tuna could easily be described as ?Simile City,? given how often its inhabitants make comparisons. ?He?s as useless as ice-trays in hell? is quickly followed by ?She screamed like white trash at a tent meeting.? And who could forget, ?She looked like death chewing on a cracker??

Well, the word ?simile? does contain the word ?smile.? And smile is what theatergoers will do at ?A Tuna Christmas? ? that is, when they?re not roaring at Cockrell, Carroll and their outsize creations.

A Tuna Christmas

Where: J City Theater, 252 Ninth St. at Hamilton Park, Jersey City

When: Tonight through Saturday at 8 p.m.

How much: $20. Call (800) 838-3006 or visit jcity.org.

Final four performances of A Tuna Christmas are this Wednesday through Saturday - 8pm. Final show will be December 11th!

Tickets are still available so get yours now!

Here are what audiences are saying:

"I laughed so hard my sides are still hurting."
"I can't stop smiling! What a great way to start the holiday season!"
"Once again - J CITY does an excellent job! We had a blast!"
"Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Tuna!"

Hope to see you there!

Location: 252 9th Street Jersey City.
Tix: $20.00
More info: www.jcity.org

What an amazing opening night! A packed house! Our biggest opening night ever.

Looking forward to a great run!

Clay
J CITY Theater

Opening night is TONIGHT!!!!!!

Hope to see you there!

Tomorrow is opening for A Tuna Christmas - and I wanted to let everyone know about our dinner and show packages with local restaurants:

Option 1:
Just as in the past, The Embankment Restaurant is offering their $30.00 prix fixe meal (3 courses!) for those seeing the show later that night. Just tell your waiter you are seeing the show after the meal.

Option 2:
Hamilton Inn is offering 10% off your entire bill (that's right - not a typo: the entire bill) for those seeing the show later that night. Not to be combined with other specials.

Two great ways to support your local restaurants, see a great show, and save money!

Tuna Rides again! But it will be gone before you know it - get your tickets now!


On Wednesday, December 1st, J CITY Theater opens their annual holiday spectacular: A TUNA CHRISTMAS.

"A Tuna Christmas" is a marathon Christmas comedy of Southern Madness. The Christmas yard display contest is heating up in the small town of Tuna, Texas as neighbor fights neighbor for the most outrageous display of lights, Santas, Baby Jesus' and Rudolphs. This year however, there is a Christmas Phantom on the loose, spreading vandalism and chaos.

With quick-change zaniness and quicksilver one-liners, two actors introduce us to 22 of the wildest citizens in Tuna, Texas.

J CITY?s annual production of A TUNA CHRISTMAS has become a not-to-be-missed holiday tradition in downtown Jersey City. Having grown each year, it has now reached the level of outrageous spectacle. And this year the big hair is bigger and the high heels are higher!

Beginning December 1st and ending December 11th.

Performances run Wednesdays through Saturdays - 8pm.
Location: 252 9th Street
Tix: $20.00
More info: www.jcity.org

Final 2 performances - tonight and tomorrow night.

A few tickets are still available!

www.jcity.org

Final 4 performances for State of the Union!
Last chance to see what the NY Times calls:
A very funny, very smart play. A real treat!

Final Performances: this Wednesday through Saturday 8pm

Tix: $20.00
Location: 252 9th Street.

More information and for ticket purchase: www.jcity.org

Hope to see you there!

And check out the great deals for Dinner and a Show with Hamilton Inn and The Embankment Restaurant!

NEW YORK TIMES - Theater Review
November 5, 2010

A Political Play From the ?40s, Very of the Moment
By ANITA GATES

?State of the Union? is a very funny, very smart play. And when it won the Pulitzer Prize, people must have thought: Oh, good. Now that all the manipulation and dishonesty in presidential politics have been exposed, things will change and the American government can go back to serving, and existing for the good of, the people.

That was in 1946. So there?s your first laugh of the evening.

?State of the Union,? by the renowned 20th-century playwriting team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, has never been revived on Broadway, so it?s a real treat that J City Theater has mounted a smoothly done production in its new space at St. Michael?s Church. One of the play?s great pleasures is how easy it would be to convince somebody ? by changing a few things here and there ? that it was written last month.

The first scene sets up the situation. ?We?ve got the Congress, and in ?48 we?ll have the White House,? says Jim Conover (Stu Richel), a political strategist. Three other people are seated around his desk: a young newspaper reporter, Spike MacManus (Kellis Carroll); Spike?s publisher, Kay Thorndyke (Wendy Weber Eaton); and an unsuspecting rich businessman, Grant Matthews (Kelly Cooper). Jim has decided that Grant should be the next Republican candidate for president.

There are a few small complications. Grant is having an affair with Kay. His wife, Mary (Sandy Cockrell, who also directed), is having a dalliance with a military man. But the real problem turns out to be that Grant enjoys telling the truth and thinks that a speech is a success if he gets a dozen glowing telegrams from local citizens and one outraged wire from a labor leader. Jim and Kay try to explain their relative significance.

But Mary is on her husband?s side. Although the Matthewses have been largely estranged, Mary has been brought back into the picture, trotting along on a multicity tour, to make Grant look like a happy family man. She begins falling in love with him again, when she sees him ?cockeyed drunk with sincerity.?

The first clue that this is a play from another era ? other than the suspenders and the old-fashioned telephones ? is how many characters there are. J City has double-cast in a few cases (Mr. Carroll, for example, plays a senator as well as the reporter), but at times there are 9 or 10 actors onstage at the same time.

The second clue is the constant drinking. When Mary decides to have a Sazerac or four at an important dinner party, she does indeed say some things she shouldn?t have, but no one suggests an intervention. In the 1940s, that?s just what people did when they drank a lot. And in this play everybody seems to drink a lot.

The party takes place at Grant and Mary?s apartment in New York. The program doesn?t credit a scenic designer, but whoever assembled the set did a clever job. The same tasteful sofas, desks and chairs serve as the furnishings in the Matthews apartment, Jim?s Washington home and an elegant hotel suite in Detroit.

The costumes, also uncredited, are well done, too. Both the men and the women look successful and pulled together in a midcentury way, although Ms. Cockrell?s ensemble in the last act looks suspiciously contemporary, and surely no one wore five-inch stilettos right after World War II.

You probably won?t see this production of ?State of the Union? transferring to Broadway anytime soon, but J City, still a very young theater company, has done an admirable job.

Reminder, tonight after the show - there will be an Artist Talk Back session with Wine Reception sponsored by Henry's on the Hudson.

Hope to see you there!

Artist Talk Back Scheduled:

After the performance, this Friday Nov 5th, there will be an Artist Talk Back event - with reception catered by Henry's on the Hudson - free wine and hors-d'oeurves. This is a great chance to speak with the cast and crew of State of the Union and the artists featured in our gallery.

Once again, J CITY Theater has created a gallery in our lobby - curated by Hernando Rico Sanchez and Nelson Alvarez - featuring artwork that reflects the message of the production.

The current exhibition features the work of:
Lucio Fernandez
Daniel Equivia Zapata
Pablo Caviedes
Pablo Marin Ramirez
Renelio Marin


As a reminder:
Performances run Wednesdays through Saturdays - 8pm

Thanks,
Clay

What an amazing opening weekend!
Thanks to our great crowds - looking forward to our next show on Wednesday!

Clay

Tonight is opening night! Hope to see you there.

Opening night for State of the Union is this Friday, October 29th - 8Pm.

Also - J CITY has once again partnered with local restaurants to offer a dinner and show package.

Here are the details:

Option 1:
Just as in the past, The Embankment Restaurant is offering their $30.00 prix fixe meal (3 courses!) for those seeing the show later that night. Just tell your waiter you are seeing the show after the meal.

Option 2:
Hamilton Inn is offering 10% off your entire bill (that's right - not a typo: the entire bill) for those seeing the show later that night. Not to be combined with other specials.

Two great ways to support your local restaurants, see a great show, and save money!


Hope to see you there.
Clay
www.jcity.org

The largest and most ambitious production in J CITY Theater?s history, opens on October 29th.

STATE OF THE UNION - winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is the story of the political education of a presidential candidate.

?An entertaining romp!? - The Washington Post
?Hilarious. Delicious and witty!? - The Chicago Tribune

This masterpiece script races at break neck speed as a high stakes campaign teaches a political novice about the necessities of ethical flexibility and moral compromise. Grant Matthews? exploration of the highest office in the land will require him to choose between his formidable wife and his politically connected mistress. Back room dealings have never been so charged!

Addressing issues of race, immigration, big business, labor unions, and campaign finance reform, this 1946 script is as fresh and relevant as today?s Huffington Post.

A combination of ?Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? and ?The West Wing?.

In this season of mid-term elections - come refresh your belief in the American Dream with some old-school politics.

Dates: October 29th through November 13th
Friday and Saturday, first weekend
Wednesday through Saturday for 2nd
and 3rd weekend
Time: 8pm
Location: 252 9th Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302
Ticket price: $20.00

More info: www.jcity.org

J CITY Theater is proud to be a participant in the 2010 Jersey City Artist Studio Tour. We have transformed our unique space into a vibrant gallery featuring the work of three unique and very talented artists.

We welcome the work of :
Lucio Fernandez ? winner of the 2009 STAR award
Bonnie Gloris ? 3x3 Magazine ProShow winner
And
Peg McCreary ? winner of the Buckingham Prize for Expression of Music Through Art.

Many thanks to our curator Hernando Rico Sanchez for curating this exciting show. Everyone is invited to come see how the theater has been transformed into a dynamic gallery, and maybe even sit in on our rehearsals for our upcoming show: State of the Union.

Refreshments will be served.

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, October 2nd and 3rd.
Time: noon to 6pm.
Location: 252 9th Street, between Jersey Avenue and Erie
Street ? just off Hamilton Park in Jersey City.

Hope to see you there.
More info: www.jcity.org

Bump.
Auditions are tomorrow from 7pm to 9pm
at 252 9th Street.
Clay

J CITY Theater announces auditions for their upcoming production of State of The Union. The 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning play about the heat and passion of a Presidential Campaign.

There are two opportunities to audition:

Open Call: (anyone can come)
Thursday, September 16th, 7-9pm,
The Underground Theatre
252 9th Street - Jersey City, NJ

or
Invited auditions (please submit headshot or resume for review)
Friday, September 17th, 2-6pm, Chelsea Studios,
151 West 26th Street, NY, NY.
Please email submissions to clay@jcity.org


Please prepare a 2-minute language-driven monologue. Actors must be skilled in movement, comedy and the exploration of play within the dictates of a period piece.
Bring pix & resumes stapled together. Equity audition procedures are not in effect. No equity monitor provided. Producer runs all aspects of the audition.

One Equity Special Appearance Contract is available, $176.00 per week.
Non Equity Members will be given a travel stipend.

Rehearsals begin September 25th. Performances: October 29th - November 13th. All rehearsals and performances will be held in Jersey City.
Please do not audition if you are unavailable for rehearsals or performances.

J CITY Theater is an equal opportunity employer. All races, genders are strongly encouraged to audition.

CAST BREAKDOWN
GRANT MATTHEWS (40s-50s) successful businessman: gregarious, forthright & direct.
JAMES CONOVER (40s-50s) a politician's politician, wilding quiet power.
MARY MATTHEWS (cast)
KAY THORNDYKE (30s-40s) newspaper publisher, powerful, sensual.
SPIKE (30s-40s) newspaperman - the best in the business, knows everyone.
SAM PARRISH (40s-50s) businessman, leader & longtime friend of Grant)
Two Women & Two Men fulfilling other roles

Just a reminder.

Tonight is Jersey Shorts.
A FREE night of music and story telling.

Come on down to J CITY Theater - 252 9th Street.

Hope to see you there! 8pm to 10pm.

Sponsored by JERSEY CITY INDEPENDENT

JERSEY SHORTS is a wonderful evening of music and story telling. Modeled after National Public Radio?s ?Selected Shorts at Symphony Space?, J CITY brings together prominent local figures for readings of funny and inspiring short stories, and for good measure they throw in the best of the best of local musical acts. The resulting mix is a fantastic night of laughter and song. And it?s Free!

Scheduled readers are:
Paul Silverman
Nancy Sambul
Mia Scanga
Phil Rivo
Roxanne Clark
Rodney Reyes
Barbara Eden

Musical performances by:
Chrissy Roberts.
Glen Coleman
Jeff Humphrey
Steve Gelsi
and
Roland Ramos.

And ? J CITY?s art gallery will feature the breath taking work of Hernando Rico Sanchez. Art. Music. Story telling. Can?t beat that!

Come on down for a great night!
Here?s all the information:

Date: Friday September 10th.
Time: 8pm to 10pm
Location: 252 9th Street. Just off Hamilton Park.
Price: FREE

More info at www.jcity.org

Additions to the line up for Jersey Shorts:
Glen Coleman
Jeff Humphrey
Steve Gelsi
and
Roland Ramos.

It's going to be a great night of music and song - come on
over to 252 9th street!
Friday, September 10th. 8pm to 10pm.

And it's FREE!!

Clay

Hello Everyone,

J CITY Theater continues to celebrate their 5th Season with an upcoming FREE event: Jersey Shorts ? on Friday September 10th at 8pm.

Sponsored by JERSEY CITY INDEPENDENT

JERSEY SHORTS is a wonderful evening of music and story telling. Modeled after National Public Radio?s ?Selected Shorts at Symphony Space?, J CITY brings together prominent local figures for readings of funny and inspiring short stories, and for good measure they throw in the best of the best of local musical acts. The resulting mix is a fantastic night of laughter and song. And it?s Free!

Scheduled readers are:
Paul Silverman
Nancy Sambul
Mia Scanga
Phil Rivo
Roxanne Clark
Rodney Reyes
Barbara Eden

Musical performances will include the Angelic Voice of Chrissy Roberts.

And ? J CITY?s art gallery will feature the breath taking work of Hernando Rico Sanchez. Art. Music. Story telling. Can?t beat that!

Come on down for a great night!
Here?s all the information:

Date: Friday September 10th.
Time: 8pm to 10pm
Location: 252 9th Street. Just off Hamilton Park.
Price: FREE

More info at www.jcity.org