For the last 18 years, the North Bergen Players have been performing plays and musicals that are reproductions of other original work. But Maurena Luzzi, the executive director of the North Bergen Cultural Affairs and the driving force behind the North Bergen Players, wanted to do something different for their fall production.
What’s better than something original, written and director by Luzzi herself?
“Last year, I wrote the last play we did around the holidays, called ‘Promises Are Made To Be Broken,’ but that was a holiday show with Christmas songs thrown in,” Luzzi said. “Well, it went over well and the cast had a ball doing it. So they all talked me into writing something else.”
During some group workshops earlier this year, Luzzi tossed around some ideas she had for a show.
One featured the thoughts and ideas of an aging actress, recounting the tales of her life in theater. Luzzi called it “The Memoirs of Margaret Manning.”
“Someone asked me to write a few scenes with that idea in mind,” Luzzi said. “So I wrote the first few scenes and we went from there.”
The result was a full-length play that Luzzi calls both a comedy and a drama.
“It’s a dramedy,” she laughed. “I based it on things that actually happened in my life and other fictional things. I put it all together and this came out.”
The end result is the North Bergen Players’ fall production, which debuted Friday night and will continue through the weekend of Nov. 16 and will also be performed Friday through Sunday, Nov. 21 through Nov. 23.
The show will be performed at the North Bergen Players’ Theater, which is located at 8411 Bergenline Avenue, right directly next the North Bergen Free Public Library. The Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 p.m., with the Sunday matinee at 5 p.m.
The play evolves around the life of Margaret Manning, who is portrayed in different stages of her life by two actresses, North Bergen resident Gloria Goldman, who plays the aged Margaret Manning, and Vivienne Ximenez, who plays Manning in her younger days.
The two different Mannings are on stage together, with one part of the stage showing the older woman reflecting on her life and the younger Manning portraying the flashbacks.
“It’s a little challenging with the two Margaret Mannings being on the stage,” Luzzi said. “We have an excellent cast of actors and actresses who are working real hard.”
Ximenez, who aspires to become a professional actress, likes the opportunity that the North Bergen Players provides.
“It’s really a chance to stretch out the acting muscles,” Ximenez said. “Community theater is such a great experience. I really enjoy it and this is really great work. It’s a challenge for me, because I’m in almost every scene and I have to age 25 years on stage with different makeup.”
Ximenez made a personal sacrifice for the role.
“I couldn’t fit my hair into the wigs for the costumes, so I had to cut off about six inches of my hair,” Ximenez said. “But I love the scenes where I’m aging. It is difficult to create the illusion of the memories that Margaret Manning has, but I think we pull it off.”
“Vivienne is an excellent actress, and she’s great to work with,” Luzzi said. “It’s really a great cast.”
Also featured in the cast is North Bergen resident Mike Mideaker, who plays Margaret Manning’s love interest, Mark Canby. Eleven-year-old Gabriele Sampe is also in the production, playing the role of Nicole.
“She’s a terrific little kid who has been in every one of my drama classes since 1999,” Luzzi said. “I can’t say enough about the cast. They’re actually creating these characters and not doing what someone else had done before. It’s challenging to the actors, and I like that challenge.”
Luzzi also likes the fact that it’s her baby, written by her and directed by her.
“I love writing and I love creating,” Luzzi said. “It’s really a labor of love. I love the fact that we have actors who started out as children, like Mike and Phil Piccione (who portrays a variety of characters in the show), who are still with us. It really is a family affair.”
“Since we get along so well, it makes a hard show easy to do,” Ximenez said. “I really enjoy it and I think the people who come to see the show will enjoy it as well.”
Tickets for “The Memoirs of Margaret Manning” are priced at $10 each. The show will be performed at the North Bergen Players Theater, 8411 Bergenline Ave., for two weekends, Nov. 14 through Nov. 16 and Nov. 21 through Nov. 23. The Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 p.m. and the Sunday matinee is at 5 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (201) 854-6246 or (201) 854-7074.