Unfinished Dickens Novel Comes to Life at Bergen
PARAMUS, N.J. – The Bergenstages theatre troupe will bring the musical comedy The Mystery of Edwin Drood to the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre in December. Located at Bergen Community College’s main campus in Paramus (400 Paramus Road), the theatre will play host to the performance featuring music, book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes and based on Charles Dickens’ final unfinished novel.
The whodunit invites the audience to solve its mystery by choosing the identity of the murderer. Directed by theatre professor Jim Bumgardner with music directed by performing arts professor Jessica Abrams, the play includes a “show-within-a-show” as the Music Hall Royale - a looney Victorian theatre company - presents Dickens’ brooding mystery. Musical numbers include “Perfect Strangers,” “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead,” “Off to The Races” and “Moonfall.”
Performances take place on Friday, December 6; Saturday, December 7; Thursday, December 12; Friday, December 13; and Saturday, December 14 at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances take place on Saturday, December 7 and Saturday, December 14 at 2 p.m. Audiences are invited to attend a special post-show audience talk-back immediately following the December 12 performance.
Tickets are $18 for general admission, $12 for seniors (ages 65+) and $5 for all students. For seats, visit tickets.bergen.edu or call (201) 447-7428.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
Photo Caption: Ethan Benell as John Jasper, Christine Dunning as Edwin Drood and Ashlyn Kurtzmann as Rosa Bud.