Bergen County Players’ 2025-26 Season
BCP is excited to kick off its 93rd season in September with an ambitious, joyous, and playful year of audience-pleasing musicals and innovative plays for its 93rd season.
Mainstage Productions
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Music & Lyrics by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Book by Douglas McGrath
Directed by Alyson Cohn
September 13 – October 11
Fridays/Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
Based on the life of Carole King, one of the most successful songwriters in history with more than 75 million records sold, this nostalgic and captivating musical, nominated for seven Tony Awards (including Best Musical), ran on Broadway for nearly seven years (and over 2,400 performances) to international acclaim. Featuring some of King’s classic songs (“So Far Away”, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, “You’ve Got a Friend”) along with hits she created made famous by others (“Up on the Roof”, “One Fine Day”, “Take Good Care of My Baby”), the story depicts King’s journey from young songwriter to a solo artist, highlighting her creative evolution and the challenges she faced.
“It’s about the music…that reaches us on a level we cannot verbalize. It’s a heart and gut thing where we are at the center of our own selves. And at the center of all that music is Ms. King.” (NY THEATRE GUIDE)
The Game’s Afoot
Written by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Glenn Woertz
October 25 – November 15
Fridays/Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
It is December 1936, and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is murdered, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous.
Ken Ludwig, creator of Lend Me a Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo, “provides everything you love about live theatre: extravagant characters with underlying motives, a mystery thriller with many characters who could “have done it”, superb comic timing, an eerie atmosphere conveyed through creative lighting and sound, authentic costumes, dramatic irony, and a clearly articulated Sherlock Holmes style.” (BROADWAY WORLD)
SPIN: The Rumpelstiltskin Musical
Created by Neil Fishman and Harvey Edelman
Directed by Bunny Mateosian
December 6 – December 21
Fridays at 7:30pm
Saturdays/Sundays at 1:00pm and 3:30pm
The story takes place in a Nice Little Kingdom, and ignites when a foolish miller brags that his daughter, Jane, can spin straw into gold. Since she cannot perform such a miracle, Jane desperately enlists the powers of a magical being…Rumpelstiltskin… in exchange for a promise with dire consequences. A fun, fractured fairy tale for the entire family.
SEASCAPE
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Dottie Fischer
January 10 – January 18
Fridays/Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
On a deserted stretch of beach, a middle-aged couple relaxes after a picnic lunch and converse idly about home, family, and their life together. They are suddenly joined by two sea creatures, a pair of lizards from the depths of the ocean, with whom they engage in a fascinating dialogue. The emotional and intellectual reverberations of this bizarre conversation will linger in the heart and the mind long after the curtain falls. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Award nominations, this ‘Limited Mainstage Production’ will run for just five performances.
PLAY ON!
Written by Rick Abbott
Directed by Lynne Lupfer
February 7 – February 28
Fridays/Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
The hilarious story of a community theatre group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance, in which anything that can go wrong, does.
Clocking in at a brisk two hours, “Rick Abbott’s brilliant dialogue allows the audience to laugh right along with the actors as things continue to fall apart.” (BROADWAY WORLD)
THE CAKE
Written by Bekah Brunstetter
Directed by Carol Fisher
March 14 – April 11
Fridays/Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
(no performance on 4/3 and 4/5)
In this touching and topical dramatic comedy, a vivacious, conservative North Carolina baker Della faces a crisis of conscience when Jen – whom she loves like a daughter – asks her to bake a cake for Jen’s lesbian wedding.
“The hot-button topic, inspired by a real-life case that went to the Supreme Court, sounds like a recipe for theatrical controversy. Especially when it presents a largely sympathetic portrait of its central character. So the biggest surprise about The Cake is how sweetly inoffensive it is.” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)
THE 39 STEPS
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock and the novel by John Buchan
Directed by Steve Bell
May 2 – May 31
Fridays/Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
(no performance on 5/10 or 5/22-5/24)
London, 1935. The rather dull Richard Hannay encounters a woman who claims to be a spy. When she is suddenly murdered, Richard finds himself the focus of a nationwide manhunt led by a mysterious organization called ‘The 39 Steps’. This film noir gem is a hilarious comedy full of dazzling, inventive stagecraft and virtuoso performances that will have you rolling in the aisles until the death-defying, climatic finale.
Combine a film masterpiece by Alfred Hitchcock with a juicy spy novel and add a large splash of Monty Python humor. The result? A fast-paced whodunit with four versatile actors portraying more than 150 roles!
Second Stage Productions
It’s A Wonderful Life
Adapted by Thomas Carey Gsell
From the Lux Radio Theatre
December 13 – December 14
Saturday/Sunday at 7:30pm
Don’t miss this unique “mash-up” compilation of the movie written by Philip Van Doren Stern and the radio play by Lux Radio Theatre. No matter the source, you’ll swoon over this staged holiday favorite with its story of love and redemption.
Kodachrome
Written by Adam Szymkowicz
June 6 – June 7
Saturday at 2:00pm and 8:00pm
Sunday at 2:00pm
This delightful one-act comedy is very much in the vein of Our Town as it tracks multiple characters throughout the small town of Colchester. “The characters’ struggles, hopes, and fears will likely feel familiar, because they’re your struggles, hopes, and fears as well. It’s tender and poignant and awkward and funny all at the same time – you know, just like life.” (BROADWAY WORLD)