2005 Season
The Star-Ledger
names Life of Galileo as one of the year's 10 Best
The
Daily Record highlights Julius
Caesar, The Triumph of Love,
Les Liaisons Dangereuses and The Merry Wives of Windsor
The
Princeton Packet names Life of Galileo one
of the year's 12 best
The
Courier News declares the Shakespeare Theatre "New
Jersey's
most consistent source of quality professional productions"
Excerpted from The Star-Ledger
"Sharing the Wealth: Jersey's 10 best, from 10 different
theaters "
By Peter Filichia
December 27, 2005
 |
| Robbie Collier Sublett and Sherman
Howard in Life of Galileo, 2005. Photo by Gerry
Goodstein. |
Life of Galileo
(Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey). When the astronomer told
officials of the Roman Catholic Church that he had evidence
the earth moves around the sun, the cried, "Heresy!" They
believed in the opposite action because man -God's holiest
creation -is the center of the universe. The play me be more
than a half-century old, but the issues of church vs. state
and individual freedoms are still relevant.
Excerpted
from The Daily Record
"Our very own awards honor the theater's best"
By William Westhoven
January 1, 2006
 |
| Eric Hoffman, Chris Landis, David
Foubert and Joshua Herrigal in The Merry Wives of
Windsor, 2005 . Photo © Gerry Goodstein. |
The Merry
Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey).
Best Ensemble
(Comedy): The Merry Wives of Windsor at
the Shakespeare Theatre, which included noted scene stealers
James Michael Reilly, Eric Hoffmann and Ames Adamson, all
of whom had scenes stolen from them by David Foubert as the
foolish Frenchman, Doctor Caius.
Best Costumes: It was nice to see elaborate
period-appropriate Elizabethan costumes in The Merry Wives
of Windsor, which is so often transported to a different
time.
Best Night Out: It's BYOP (bring your own
picnic) to the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's annual
outdoor production at the Greek amphitheatre at the College
of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station. It's the kind of event
you plan the rest of your summer around.
 |
| Mandy Olsen, Greg Jackson and Bryan
Cogman in The Triumph of Love, 2005. Photo ©
Gerry Goodstein. |
The Triumph
of Love
(Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey).
Best Comedy: Honorable Mention: The Triumph
of Love, Shakespeare Theatre
Best Actress
in a Comedy: Mandy Olsen was the bright and sunny
straight girl to a cast of clowns in the Shakespeare Theatre's
outdoor comedy, The Triumph of Love.
Best Set:
Set designer Jesse Dreikosen's meditation garden for The
Triumph of Love was the envy of landscapers everywhere.
 |
| Gareth Saxe and Tamara Tunie in
Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 2005. Photo ©
Gerry Goodstein. |
Les Liaisons
Dangereuses
(Dangerous Liasons)
(Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey).
Best Actress in a Drama: Tamara Tunie took
time off from her Law and Order: SVU and As the
World Turns duties to play the deliciously evil La Marquise
de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons)
at the Shakespeare Theatre.
Best Supporting
Actress in a Drama: Elizabeth Shepherd, as Rosemonde,
was a moral oasis in a desert of decadence in Les Liaisons
Dangereuses.
Best Bad
Guy: Gareth Saxe as the immoral master manipulator
Le Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses,
who traded
indecencies with
his former lover and Best Bad Girl: Tamara
Tunie.
 |
| Brian Schilb, Jay Leibowitz, Sherman
Howard and Remy Auberjonois in Life of Galileo,
2005. Photo by Gerry Goodstein. |
Life of Galileo
(Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey).
Best Actor in a Drama: Sherman Howard triumphed
in the meaty role of the titular scientist, and target of
the Catholic Church, in Life of Galileo at the Shakespeare
Theatre.
 |
| Robert Cuccioli in Julius Caesar,
2005. Photo © Gerry Goodstein. |
Julius Caesar
(Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey).
Best Drama:
Julius Caesar at the Shakespeare Theatre was as powerful
as anyone could have hoped for.
Best Ensemble
(Drama): The bench was deep for Julius Caesar
at the Shakespeare Theatre, anchored by the reliable Robert
Cuccioli.
Best Director
(Drama): Brian B. Crowe filled the aisles with action,
and the stage with seasoned actors, for Julius Caesar.
Excerpted from The Princeton Packet
"The Twelve Days of Christmas"
By Stuart Duncan
December 28, 2005
Stuart Duncan named a dozen New
Jersey productions that he’d most like to see one more time,
if it were possible, including:
 |
| Sherman Howard and Robbie Collier
Sublett in Life of Galileo, 2005. Photo by Gerry
Goodstein. |
Life of Galileo
The Shakespeare
Theatre of New Jersey, Madison
The rarely performed Bertolt Brecht drama was given an eminently
approachable production at The Shakespeare Theatre of New
Jersey in Madison . The John Willett translation is brisk
but wordy (three hours), and director Joe Discher plus a superb
company had its work cut out for them. In the title role Sherman
Howard gave a towering performance, shading Galileo's talents
as astronomer, physicist, philosopher and mathematician beautifully
as he defined his unthinkable assertion that Earth was not
the center of the universe, but rather evolved around the
sun. In the process he turned the Renaissance, especially
the Vatican , upside down.
 |
| Elena Shaddow and Caralyn Kozlowski
in The Importance of Being Earnest, 2005. Photo
© Gerry Goodstein. |
Excerpted from The Courier News
"Despite some hangups, it was a strong year for New Jersey
theater"
By William Westhoven
January 1, 2006
Meanwhile, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey continued
to its reign as New Jersey's most consistent source of quality
professional productions, serving up Shakespeare (Julius
Caesar, with versatile leading man Robert Cuccioli as
Brutus, was the best of three), Brecht (Life of Galileo)
and Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest) with
equal flair.
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