Centenary Stage Company’s NEXTStage Repertory will present “Head Over Heels” as its spring musical to run April 21 through May 1 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the Centenary University campus, 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown.

With a book by Jeff Whitty, adapted by James Magruder, and music and lyrics by The Go-Go’s, “Head Over Heels” follows a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their kingdom from extinction. Songs include “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.”

The production of will be directed by Centenary Stage Company’s Lea Antolini-Lid, CSC’s Director of Young Audience Series and Producer of the NEXTStage Repertory Summer Series, as well as Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at Centenary.

The cast features Centenary University students Megan Moran, Ray Salerno, Emily Kurnides, Christina Polichetti, Serena Buchan, Amanda Ackerman, Kylah Wilson, Chris Hara, Zach Orr, Cody Jackson, James Brandes, Luis Rodriguez, Chris Rice, Kai Vialva, Amanda Tossman, Michaela Tiessen, Kayla Yepez, Ali Koch, Chloe Sharman, Claire Finegan, Audrey Jantzen, Olivia Tomlin, Kylie Smith, Natalie Kelson, Nasteja Roman, Jibril Shabazz-Scott, Jamir Freeman, Tyler McGeough, Osavbie Igeibor, and Connor McCrea.

NEXTstage Repertory is the all-student performance division of Centenary University’s Theatre Department. These productions feature current Centenary University students and alumni, and highlights the close partnership between the professionally producing Centenary Stage Company and the Centenary University Theatre Department.

Performances will be Thursdays, April 21 and 28 at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, April 22 and 29 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m.; Saturdays, April 23 and 30 at 8 p.m., and Sundays, April 24 and May 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $22.50 for adults and $10 for students and children 12 and younger. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased on-line at centenarystageco.org or by phone by calling the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979-0900.

The Buddha’s Wife Next Up For Women’s Series

Centenary Stage Company’s Women Playwrights Series continues Wednesday, April 20, with a reading of “The Buddha’s Wife” by Mary Poindexter McLaughlin at 7:30 p.m. in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown, on the campus of Centenary University.

Women Playwright Series readings are free to attend with donations welcome; advanced reservations are charged a $5 fee. The readings will also be live-streamed, free of charge, through the Centenary Stage Company website. For more information, go to centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company’s box office at (908) 979-0900.

Mary Poindexter McLaughlin holds a BA in English from Stanford University, where she was the recipient of Stanford’s Golden Grant Award for playwriting, and an MA in Theatre and Performance Studies from SUNY Buffalo. “The Buddha’s Wife” was winner of the 2019 Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women and named a Finalist in The Landing Theatre’s 2020 New American Voices Festival. Other plays have been performed in New York City, Buffalo, Connecticut, Colorado and Pennsylvania, where she was the Donna Award Runner-Up for Outstanding Playwright at the 2017 Pittsburgh New Works Festival for “Doing Time.” A published poet and essayist, (Stanford Magazine, Thrive Global) Mary co-wrote a memoir (Todd Norian’s Tantra Yoga: Journey to Unbreakable Wholeness) and is developing her most recent play: a full-length, Elizabethan epic, “Her Own Words,” that answers the question, “was Shakespeare a woman?”

“The Buddha’s Wife” chronicles the lives of the Princess Yasodhara and PhD Candidate Diane Brewster interweave seamlessly over 2500 years, telling a timeless story of romantic love, of motherhood, and of dreams-on-hold, revealing the very real world of challenges and choices women face throughout time, alongside revelations of the deeper meaning of love and friendship.

Centenary Stage Company’s Women Playwrights Series has featured the work of more than 80 emerging playwrights and has taken 19 plays to full production from the series. Led by program director Catherine Rust, the Women Playwrights Series offers playwrights the opportunity to work with professional actors and directors in a workshop rehearsal process. Talkbacks with the playwright and cast follow each presentation, and one play is selected each year as the winner of the Susan Glaspell Award and receives a full production in the following main-stage season with CSC.

This event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2022 Stages Festival, made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; New Jersey Historical Commission. www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages.

The Centenary Stage Company box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. and two hours prior to all performances. It is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center. CSC can also be found across social media platforms; Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter and Instagram. Like and follow to receive the latest in CSC news and special offers.

Centenary Stage Company remains committed to the health and safety of our community and adheres to all requirements set forth by the State of New Jersey. For more information regarding CSC COVID-19 policies and policy updates, visit centenarystageco.org/faq.

The 2021-22 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, the John and Margaret Post Foundation, and CSC corporate sponsors, including Platinum Season Sponsor The House of the Good Shepherd, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Medical Center Atlantic Health System, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), and Fulton Bank, Visions Federal Credit Union, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.