New Jersey Repertory Company celebrations the works of Edna Ferber this weekend at their new West End Arts Center in Long Branch. The festival is Five by Ferber running May 31 – June 3, 2018. A variety of events are scheduled including lectures and readings.
Edna Ferber, of such classics as Show Boat, Giant, and So Big, will be honored in a lecture by her great niece, biographer, and executor to the Edna Feber Estate, Julie Gilbert. Additionally, there will readings of five new short plays adapted from Edna Ferber’s short stories. Finally, a concert reading of a long-lost play by Horton Foote takes place on Sunday.
The Schedule for Five by Ferber includes:
Thursday, May 31 at 8pm – The Story Behind Showboat – as told by Ferber’s great niece, Julie Gilbert, who was named after Julie in Show Boat. Gilbert will share personal family stories behind Show Boat and screen clips from all three film versions of this wonderful classic.
Friday, June 1 at 8pm – Salon readings of three brand new plays adapted from Ferber’s short stories:
- That’s Marriage by Marisa Smith – Orville and Theresa’s marriage is tested at the breakfast table one morning in Ferber’s timeless take on an age-old problem. Can this marriage be saved? And will Theresa ever serve Orville another egg.
- The Sudden Sixties by D.W. Gregory – When Hannah Winter loses her footing in a hotel lobby, the gentleman who helps her up, turns out to be the boyfriend she left behind 40 years earlier. Now, after nearly a lifetime, Hannah is in the mood to rebel.
- Mother Knows Best by Julie Gilbert – Fanny Seldon, a domineering mother forces her daughter, Sally, to choose a career over her one chance at love.
Saturday, June 2 at 8pm – Salon readings of two brand new plays adapted from Ferber’s short stories:
- You’re Not The Type by Julie Weinberg – It’s 1940 and the great depression is over, but not for Vivian Lande. After years of starring roles, she desperately seeks her comeback, but even her faithful agent can’t resuscitate her waning career.
- Every Other Thursday book, music, lyrics by Sheilah Rae and Debra Barsha – The time is 1927. Helmi is a Finnish maid working for the Mawson family of New York’s upper West Side. Her day off is every other Thursday. What she does on every other Thursday is her secret and hers alone, much to the consternation of the people she works for.
Sunday, June 3 at 4pm – The festival finale is a concert reading of Selina Peake, based on Ferber’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, So Big. This newly-discovered play was written by Pulitzer-Award winning playwright, Horton Foote, and will be heard by audiences for the very first time. This one-time reading is presented by permission of the Horton Foote Estate and the Edna Ferber Estate.
Additional Information about Five By Ferber
Tickets: $25 per day ($20 for subscribers) – Festival Pass: To all events $75 ($70 for subscribers).
Location: West End Arts Center, 132 West End Avenue in Long Branch. Free on-site parking.
Website for more information and tickets: njrep.org