Premiere Stages is the professional Equitytheater companyin residence at Kean University. Founded in 2004, Premiere Stages is committed to serving the cultural needs of northern and centralNew Jersey through the development and production of high-quality Equity theatre premieres, professional development and educational initiatives for the local and campus communities, and the support and cultivation of emerging playwrights and theatre artists. As a professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, Premiere Stages actively engages and enhances the specialized training programs at Kean, while embracing and serving a culturally diverse audience, underserved local youth, and a broad pool of gifted regionally based artists. Premiere sponsors the Premiere Play Festival, a source for developing new plays. The winner of the festival receives a full-scale production as part of Premiere's season. The second-place finisher receives a staged reading to contribute to its further development. Apart from the festival winner, Premiere produces new works by established playwrights as well as established plays such as the 2006 Pulitzer Prize winning play Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire. Premiere's presentation of Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods, by Tammy Ryan was produced in collaboration with the Kean Human Rights Institute and Newark's Darfur Rehabilitation Project. Premiere Stages is a member of Theatre Communications Group and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. The company received an Award of Excellence from the New Jersey Theatre Alliance in 2015.
Current season
Premiere Stages has announced their 2017 season, which includes 5 new works. The season will kickoff with free staged readings of Patricia Cotter's 1980 from June 16–18 in the Murphy Dunn Theatre. Four very different campaign workers advocate tirelessly for their long shot candidate, convinced he can change their country and their lives in Ms. Cotter's contemporary comedy about class, race and the politics of hope. Next is the first mainstage production of the season, the New Jersey Premiere of Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew from July 13–30 in the Zella Fry Theatre. In this compelling portrait of American workers struggling to hold onagainst the tide of technology, Faye, the matriarch of a small family of line workers, gives her all to keep her team employed in one of the last automotive stamping plants in Detroit. "We are honored to welcome Dominique back to Premiere," stated Premiere's Artistic Director John J. Wooten. "Skeleton Crew is an ideal fit for our season and we are excited to be sharing this richly topical play with our patrons. The emergence of Dominique as one of America's leading playwrights makes the project particularly special." The second mainstage production of the season, Foster Mom by Chris Cragin-Day from September 7–24 in the Zella Fry Theatre. Foster Mom is the winner of Premiere's 2017 Play Festival. A funny, surprising, and ultimately optimistic coming-of-age tale for adults, Foster Mom tells the story of Leslie, a fortysomething whose decision to foster a child is complicated by two factors: a skeptical mother and an unexpected romance. The season concludes this fall with free staged readings of Premiere's current commissions. Following a developmental reading at NJPAC this May, Premiere Stages will present a workshop of Nicole Pandolfo's Brick City from October 20–22 in the Miron Student Center at Kean University. Brick City is the recipient of a 2017 NJPAC Stage Exchange Commission, sponsored by NJPAC in partnership with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. In this topical and compelling new play, Jessie, a combative high school senior with a disability, and Darnell, the star player of his high school basketball team, find themselves together in extended study hall during the most important marking period in their lives. Finally, Premiere will present a free sneak preview of the 2017/2018 Liberty Live Commission, Martin Casella's Black Tom Island, November 17–19 in the Miron Student Center at Kean University. Based on an actual incident that took place in Jersey City in 1916, Black Tom Island explores the first documented terrorist attack on American soil through the lens of a fictionalized Slovak immigrant and his wife who may or may not be involved in the attack. The Liberty Live Commission is in partnership with the Liberty Hall Museum. Tickets to Premiere's mainstage productions range from $15 – $30, with deep discounts available for season packages, groups, seniors, and students.
