“Entirely Original Farcical Comedy"
Opens Professional Centenary Stage Company Season

Above: Centenary Stage Company Artistic Director Carl Wallnau is Cheviot Hill; also pictured (Left to right) Julie Fitzpatrick as Minnie, Melody Stone as Maggie and Amanda Baker as Belinda (Closer View Of Photo)

Above: left to right: Melody Stone as Maggie, Julie Fitzpatrick as Minnie and Amanda Baker as Belinda (closer view of photo)

“You are the tree upon which the fruit of my heart is growing!” man-about-town Cheviot Hill tells every girl that he meets, in this "completely original farcical comedy,” written by one–half of the musical comedy team, Gilbert and Sullivan. Directed by Centenary Stage Company Artistic Director, Carl Wallnau, Engaged, by W.S. Gilbert opens the professional CSC season. Following a successful London revival in 2002, the CSC production runs Oct 3 – 19 at the Centenary Theatre on the campus of Centenary College in Hackettstown.

"Wallnau makes it sing."
                    Peter Filichia (Full Review)
     Star Ledger Staff
     October 7, 2003

Written in 1877, Engaged is full of a delicious farcical wit, and some tart observations on how money makes the world go round. The play opens on the Scottish borders, where heiress Belinda Treherne finds her elopement halted by a train derailment, which has been cleverly arranged by a a congenial but crafty group of Scots from the local hamlet. The play ends in high society with Belinda, Minnie and a Scottish lassie all laying claim to playboy Cheviot Hill, who has the particular affliction of not being able to look at a woman without proposing to her. “At least you know your husband’s name,” cries one of the affianced ladies, who has carelessly mislaid her husband before she has been properly introduced to him. “Of course I do,” replies her friend, “It’s on all his pocket handkerchiefs.”

About The Playwright - W.S. Gilbert
W. S Gilbert is so often paired with Arthur Sullivan, that it is forgotten that he enjoyed a vital and thriving career long before their collaborations. He is often credited with providing the inspiration for Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, and indeed, the characters of Belinda and Minnie in Engaged carry on the same icily smiling feuding as Wilde’s Gwendolyn and Cecily would twenty years later. About it’s successful London revival in 2002, theatre critic Lyn Gardner exclaimed, “It has been a while since I have laughed out loud quite so frequently in the theatre!…[‘Engaged’] is such a superior bauble, coupled to such a mixture of absurd silliness and sly knowingness about human nature, that you can’t help falling for its charms.”

Directed by Carl Wallnau

The Cast
The CSC production of Engaged features these actors:

Above: Amanda Baker as Belinda (foreground), Steve Baron as Belvawney (kneeling), Melody Stone as Maggie, Mark Allen White as Angus (closer view of photo)

First Sundays Symposium Series
The First Sundays Symposium Series, offered on the first Sunday of each CSC production, will offer a paneled discussion on Oct 5, entitled “A State of Topsy Turvey: The World of W.S. Gilbert.” With an audience talk-back session and an opportunity to meet and talk with the Engaged cast, the symposium is free to the public, and will follow the 2:30 PM matinee performance.

Schedule
Engaged will be performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 2:30 PM, and Thursdays at 7:30 PM, with three additional matinee performances on Friday, Oct 3 @ 2:30 PM, Wed. Oct 8 @2:30, and Wed. Oct 15 @ 11 AM (Student Matinee).

Individual Ticket Prices

      Saturday
             General reserved - $20
             Senior & Students - $17.50
             Children under 12 -$15
 
      Matinees - $15
 
      All other performances
            
             General Admission - $17.50
             Seniors and Students - $15
             Children under 12 - $12.50
             Thursday evenings are “Family Night” with an earlier curtain,
                 and a two-for-one rush ticket price on the $17.50 ticket,
                 available at the door only, on the evening of the performance.

Subscription Values        (Review the Full Schedule) - Subscription Events)
Centenary Stage Company is often referred to as "the best deal in the state." This event can be purchased as a part of a discounted season subscription purchase. Centenary Stage Company offers several subscription plans for its season with the mission of making arts affordable for all. Patrons. You may choose:

How to Purchase Tickets
Individual Tickets (and Subscription Purchases, when available) can be purchased through our Secure Online Ordering System or by calling the Centenary Stage Company Box office at 908-979-0900. Tickets are also available at Greene's Beans Coffee Shop on High Street in Hackettstown.