Stephen J. Capestro Theatre

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The Stephen J. Capestro Theatre in Roosevelt Park in the City of Edison, NJ, is a permanent 2,500-seat open-air amphitheater venue where, each summer, the Plays-In-The-Park community theater group performs musicals with full orchestras and full-scale productions. 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. When a summer show is running, it plays every night of the week at 8:30, except for Sundays and the Fourth of July. In the fall, a smaller scale children's production runs in a smaller theater located indoors behind the outdoor stage. 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 theater has produced three or four full-scale musicals each summer for 10 performances each, complete with large Union orchestras for 45 years. 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 a Children's Musical has been presented for what will be our 14th season. 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 and Tribune. December brings the traditional Winter Show at the State Theater in New Brunswick, now in its fourteenth season. 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. Last season's 9th edition of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" was the most successful thus far - so successful in fact that it will be brought back for a 13th return engagement during the 2007 holidays! Plays-in-the-Park is also well respected for its outstanding service to the Community. Each summer for the past 18 years the theater runs Kids-in-the-Park, a creative drama workshop opened to children grades 2 through 5, ages 8 to 11. 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. Plays-in-the-Park has been the introduction to theater for countless families; Children grow up inspired by the productions and with an appreciation for the Arts. Some eventually wind up on the stage, others take their families and children. The minimal $5.00 admission charge instituted a several years ago to offset costs makes theater-going a very affordable event. Kids are always admitted free, and there are discounts for seniors. 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. We continue to grow and experiment with new formats, constantly trying to improve the product and the experience itself. Recent seasons have brought major changes and improvements to our sound system, lighting equipment and seating policies.