Center Players Dessert Theater will present its next Signature Series show, a production of “Same Time, Next Year” at Center Playhouse, 35 South St., Freehold, from Feb. 14 through March 8.
“Same Time, Next Year,” written by Bernard Slade, is a 1975 romantic comedy that will be directed by Anthony Marinelli of Manalapan.
The play tells the story of Doris and George, who are married, but not to each other. They first meet in 1951 and begin an affair that spans 24 years, meeting at the same northern California cottage on the same weekend every year, according to a press release.
As time passes, their relationship develops into an emotional intimacy that grows deeper as the years go by. Everything else may change in their lives, but there is one thing that remains the same – their love for one another.
Vince Fay of Matawan and Donna Nicholle of Freehold will star in the production. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are priced at $26 to $28 and are available online at www.centerplayers.org or by calling 732-462-9093.
Marinelli has written and directed for theater and film. On stage, he produced and directed “Fool for Love” and “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” in New York City.
His one-act plays include “Acoustic Space” (Winner, Best Play, 2014 Strawberry One Act Festival), “Another Famous Dead Artist,” “Max & Domino,” “Visitors,” “Sartre Was Wrong” and “Missing Life,” according to the press release.
Marinelli’s film adaptation of “Acoustic Space” won Best Short in the 2018 Ridgewood
Guild International Film Festival and Best Original Screenplay in the 2016 Richmond International Film Festival.
Another short he directed, “Walt Whitman Never Paid For It,” won the Audience Choice Award at the Richmond International Film Festival in 2014. Both films are available on Amazon Prime.
At Center Players, Marinelli has directed productions of “Butterflies are Free,” “Play It Again, Sam” and “Chapter Two.” He is the co-founder of a post-production company, TwoPoint0, and the owner of AntHill Productions.
Following “Same Time, Next Year” a production of “California Suite” by Neil Simon will run from May 15 through June 14. Next will be an original musical, “Coyote” by Tim McCorry, running from July 17-26. Rounding out the season will be “Jitney” by August Wilson,
running from Aug. 21-30.