Shakespeare Theatre Celebrates Halloween With "Something Wicked This Way Comes"

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present the fifth annual Something Wicked This Way Comes – a popular one-night-only event – on Monday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

The event kicks off Halloween week and will be held at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave. in Madison. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online or by phone by calling the Box Office at 973-408-5600.

Titled from a line in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 90-minute delightfully bone-chilling evening, featuring esteemed actors from The Shakespeare Theatre company as well as guest artists.

“We are thrilled to present the fifth annual Something Wicked This Way Comes. Audiences can expect with a brand new line-up of classic ghost stories and tales of horror,” Artistic Director Bonnie J. Monte said.

Directed by Brian B. Crowe, Something Wicked This Way Comes is a ghoulish collage of dramatic readings from the classic canon of the macabre including Shakespeare, Poe, and Lovecraft.

“The stories come alive in front of an audience. We combine talented storytelling and haunting music to create a wonderfully spooky atmosphere,” Crowe said.

Composer, musician, and one of the world’s foremost theremin players, John Hoge, will provide the music for this unique evening. The theremin was one of the very first electronic instruments, and was invented in Russia in the early 1900s by Lev Termen. It is the only musical instrument played without physical contact.

The theremin was “discovered” by film composers in the first half of the 20th century, and its sound became an iconic signature of such scores as Spellbound and The Day the Earth Stood Still. It was eventually heard in hundreds of B movies. Now enjoying a resurgence in popularity, the theremin is used by rock bands and on the symphonic concert stage.

Hoge has performed with the New York Theremin Society and is the editor of ThereminWorld.com. He can be heard on Spellbound, the internet radio theremin show. He has played the theremin on stage in Looking for Limbo – part of the American Living Room Festival 2006 – and Theremin in the New York Fringe Festival 2007.

He has composed music and worked as sound designer for various theatres including The Public Theatre NYC, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Indiana Repertory Theater. For many years he worked as an organist and conductor in New York City churches.

About the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
One of the leading Shakespeare theatres in the nation, serving 100,000 adults and children annually, The Shakespeare Theatre is New Jersey’s largest professional theatre company dedicated solely to Shakespeare’s canon and other world classics. Through its distinguished productions and education programs, the company strives to illuminate the universal and lasting relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences.

The acclaimed Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is an independent, professional theatre company located on the Drew University campus. The Outdoor Stage is located on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth and the Theatre’s support and education facility is in Florham Park.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s programs are made possible, in part, by funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional major support is received from The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation, The Edward T. Cone Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and CTW Foundation, as well as contributions from numerous corporations, foundations, government agencies and individuals. The 2014 Outdoor Stage production of The Learned Ladies is sponsored by Bank of America.

Information courtesy of Rich Engler, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey