This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Up Close and Personal With "The King"

Playhouse 22's Black Box series continues this weekend.

The King is gone, but he’s not forgotten. At least not at Playhouse 22.

Opening on Friday, March 11, and running through Sunday, March 20, Playhouse 22 presents “All the Kings Women” by New Jersey playwright Luigi Jannuzzi.

The play, which will be performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., is a series of vignettes, monologues, and short scenes about women moving in to, out of, and around the life of the King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley.

Find out what's happening in East Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Walter Placzek, the show’s director, felt the piece would be a perfect part of Playhouse 22’s  “On the Edge” Black Box series, which presents lesser-known shows in a intimate fashion. “It’s a fast moving show,” said Placzek moments before Tuesday’s tech rehearsal. “I came across it in the Sam French catalogue and though it would be a great piece for this space.

“There’s a scene involving the woman who sold Elvis his first guitar, a segment with the secretaries at the White House the day Elvis went to see Nixon,” Placzek adds. And there is even material in this production that no audience has ever seen in any production of this piece. “I met (Jannuzzi), he lives in Hillsborough. So he said, ‘Hey, would you like a new monologue for part of Act 2?’ So that’s not in the published version.”

Find out what's happening in East Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Placzek said some of the biggest laughs he’s gotten out of the rehearsal process have been offstage, though, as he realized jut how little Jannuzzi had to fabricate to punch up the borderline insanity of the average obsessed Elvis fan.

“The very last scene takes place in the Graceland gift shop,” Placzek said. “And there’s this whole list of crazy items for sale there. You know, things like the Elvis retro magnetic alarm clock. I read it and I said, ‘Wow, how creative of him to come up with all this stuff.’ Turns out it’s all real.

“No one’s going to be bored, that’s for sure,” Placzek adds with a smile

Least of all the five actresses playing a combined total of 27 roles throughout the play. That cast of endurance artists includes local actresses Meaghan Aitkins, Danielle Manente, Alexandra Palmer, Maddie Patrick and Jessica Randell.

Audience members who have attended Playhouse 22 mainstage productions may be surprised by just how close to the action they find themselves this time. The “On the Edge” Black Box series eschews the theater’s normally expansive seating arrangements. Instead, temporary seating is placed on the stage itself, along three sides of the playing space, placing audience members only a few short feet away from the performers.

The production also enjoys one additional benefit of having been penned by a local. Jannuzzi will attend the performance on Sunday, March 13, and will stick around for a talkback with the audience afterwards.

General admission tickets are $12 and can be purchased online at www.Playhouse22.org, or by leaving a message at the theater’s box office line, 732-254-3939. Playhouse 22 is located at the East Brunswick Community Arts Center at 721 Cranbury Road.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?