Next Up at Penguin Rep Theatre: “Ken Ludwig’s DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE”

Penguin Rep Theatre, under the leadership of Joe Brancato, founding Artistic Director, and Andrew M. Horn, Executive Director, presents Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise, a new play by the Tony Award-winning author of Lend Me a Tenor and Crazy for You, directed by Stephen Nachamie, beginning Friday, July 26, in Stony Point, New York.

Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise follows the sold-out runs of The Sabbath Girl and Centennial Casting and will be performed through Sunday, August 18. The show is a co-production with Shadowland Stages of Ellenville, New York.

When two strangers – a military doctor in Oregon and an aspiring actress in New York – meet by letter during World War II, a true-life love story begins. Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig recounts his parents’ courtship in his newest play signed, sealed and delivered straight from the heart.

The Washington Post called the play “an affecting love letter to unlikely romance” and “a poignant, funny tribute to the enduring power of human connection.” The Sullivan County Democrat dubbed it “the type of show that makes you believe in happy endings.”

Author Ken Ludwig may well be the most performed playwright of his generation. He has had six productions on Broadway and eight in London’s West End. His 34 plays and musicals are staged throughout the United States and around the world every night of the year. They have been produced in over 20 languages in more than 30 countries, and many have become standards of the American repertoire. His first play, Lend Me a Tenor, was produced on Broadway and in London by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. Crazy For You was on Broadway for five years, on the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. Since its European premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2022, Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express has had hundreds of international productions. His other plays include Moon Over Buffalo; Leading Ladies; Baskerville; Sherwood; Twentieth Century; A Fox on the Fairway; A Comedy of Tenors; The Game’s Afoot; Shakespeare in Hollywood; and Moriarty.

Director Nachamie returns to Penguin Rep where he directed Rounding Third, My Name is Asher Lev, Becoming Dr. Ruth, Buyer and Cellar, and Souvenir. On Broadway, he was associate director of She Loves Me.

The cast, under Mr. Nachamie’s direction, includes Alexandra Fortin as Louise (Regional: Lend Me a Tenor, Importance of Being Earnest, Hedda Gabler, Steel Magnolias, The Diary of Anne Frank), and Michael Liebhauser as Jack (Regional: The Da Vinci Code, The Legend of Georgia McBride, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Antony and Cleopatra).

Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Christian Fleming (set and costumes) design Dear Louise, Keith A. Truax (lights), Jeffrey Knapp (sound), and Dana R. Weintraub (props). Ann Barkin is the stage manager.

Performances are scheduled at Penguin’s home facility, a repurposed 1880s barn in historic Stony Point (Rockland County), New York. “The converted barn, circa 1880, has never been more inviting” (The New York Times). Says Mr. Horn, “It’s theatre so close you can feel it, with comfortable upholstered seats and no seat more than 30 feet from the stage.” The theatre is air-conditioned and handicap accessible, features assistive hearing devices, and has plenty of free parking.

Performances will take place: Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. (August 1, August 8, August 15), Friday matinees at 2:00 p.m. (July 26, August 2), Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m. (July 26, August 9, August 16), Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (July 27, August 3, August 10, August 17), and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. (July 28, August 4, August 11, August 18).

There will be a reception following the official opening on Sunday, July 28; a tasting catered by The Filling Station of West Haverstraw before the early show on Saturday, August 3; and a discussion following the performance on Friday, August 9. Tickets are priced at $49. 

To order tickets or for further information, visit Penguin Rep’s website at WWW.PENGUINREP.ORG or call 845-786-2873.

ABOUT PENGUIN REP THEATRE

Penguin Rep Theatre (Penguin Players, Ltd.), based in historic Stony Point (Rockland County), New York, is a nonprofit professional theatre company now in its 46th year of operation.

More than 40 years later, Penguin Rep – the theatre Brancato started with Francine Newman-McCarthy and runs with executive director Andrew M. Horn – has grown from a summer theatre to become one of the lower Hudson Valley’s most enduring cultural institutions, reaching tens of thousands of theatergoers each year at its home, in New York City and beyond – with its work moving to Off Broadway and to stages across the country and around the world.

Since its founding, Penguin has presented more than 200 productions – 150 directed by Brancato himself – for more than 400,000 people from the lower Hudson Valley and beyond. And Mr. Brancato has brought together award-winning professional actors – David Canary, Michael Cullen, Tim De Kay, Gregg Edelman, Michael Esper, Barbara Feldon, Tovah Feldshuh, Beth Fowler, Deborah Hedwall, Celeste Holm, Richard Kline, Andrew McCarthy, Lizbeth Mackay, Michele Pawk, and Karen Ziemba, among others – to star in new and noteworthy plays by such playwrights as Lee Blessing, Ronald Harwood, Allan Knee, Arthur Laurents, Warren Leight, Jon Marans, William Mastrosimone, Lainie Robertson, James Sherman and Elizabeth Swados.

As it launches its 46th season, Penguin Rep Theatre, dubbed “the gutsiest little theatre” by The New York Times, continues to present a cultural experience that is unique in the region: professional productions of new plays at affordable prices.

Penguin Rep Theatre’s 2024 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Penguin Rep gratefully acknowledges the support of the County of Rockland, Town of Stony Point, Rockland County Tourism, Chazen Foundation, Jacques and Margot W. Kohn Foundation, Orange & Rockland Utilities, Shubert Foundation, Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust, and Joan Weingarten and Bob Donnalley Gift Fund.