Madison, Playwrights Theatre Celebrate 25 Years Together

celebrated its 25^th anniversary Saturday night with food, drink and entertainment for patrons and honored guests during a gala benefit at the in Madison.

Above and beyond the praise for the professional theater company’s mission of new-play development and arts education, the event also celebrated the borough’s commitment to the arts and the enrichment it receives in kind.

“Part of what makes a town special is a vibrant arts community,” said Artistic Director John Pietrowski in his opening remarks in the Municipal Court space of the historic and recently-renovated municipal building. “That’s what we have here in Madison, which is the only municipality in New Jersey with two groups cited by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts as a Major Arts Institution. I think that is a reflection to Madison’s commitment to the arts.”

The other three theaters similarly cited by the council—the (which celebrates its own 50^th anniversary in Madison next year), George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick and McCarter Theatre at Princeton University—accomplish their missions with significantly larger budgets and funding bases, which makes the support Playwrights receives from the community so much more critical to its survival.

Many of the people honored Saturday were and continue to be instrumental to the company’s success. They included Madison Borough Council Member Jeannie Tsukamoto and Madison President Lisa Ellis, who both spoke of the importance of arts in education, as did Dave Carver, for his years of leadership for Madison softball.

“One of the things I thought was so great was that the girls could take arts classes in the summer (at the theater’s former headquarters at Green Village School), then run down the hill and play ball,” Pietrowski said. “What could be better than that?”

Early supporters of Playwrights Theatre were recognized as well, including Madison resident Steve Wells and poet-playwright Arthur T. Wilson, who moved the crowd with a powerful reading of his poem, “Everywhere.”

Another honoree, former Madison Superintendent of Schools Lawrence Feinsod, now the executive superintendent of Essex County, also was honored but could not attend. Pietrowski said he was in France with his wife celebrating their 40^th anniversary “and he wanted to be able to celebrate a 41^st.”

Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden was honored in a different way. Professional actors gave a staged reading of her short play, “No Ordinary Work Day,” a snapshot memoir of 9/11 that paid tribute to Madison residents who died in the terrorist attacks both at the World Trade Center and on United Flight 93.

A was previously produced by Holden and broadcast on local cable and the RoseNet website. Holden and her husband, Richard, played themselves, while other borough officials, including former Mayor Jack Dunne, appeared as well.

“This was a completely different presentation of what I wrote,” Holden said after the reading. “But it was wonderful, beautifully done.”

Another “improbable playwright,” Assemblyman Jon M. Bramnick, enjoyed similar treatment of his short play, “An Accountant from Madison.” A longtime Playwrights supporter known for his sense of humor, Bramnick’s comedy followed the unlikely journey of a talent-challenged accountant who somehow nails a part in a Honda TV commercial.

The actors also read a “collaborative play” which was started by award-winning playwright Richard Dresser and completed, one line at a time, by those who attended the benefit.

Musical entertainment included local favorite Jerry Vezza, who played soft jazz on his keyboard during the cocktail hour in the lobby, and actress-educator Sahirah Johnson, who sang “What About the Children” by Yolanda Adams for the assembled audience.

The meeting room also was rocked by the cast of “Mom: A Rock Concert Musical,” which performed two songs from this production that premiered at the New York Fringe Festival but was developed and produced last year at Playwrights and is now going on tour, with hopes of advancing to Broadway.