What started as a venture by St. Peter’s College graduates in the early 1970s is now the oldest theater company in Jersey City.
The Attic Ensemble is marking its 40th season with four productions of high profile plays spanning from this past fall to next spring, staged at their home base in the Barrow Mansion in downtown Jersey City.
Auditions took place last week for their February production of August Wilson’s much heralded drama, “The Piano Lesson.” So far this season, the ensemble has mounted Sam Shepard’s “True West” and Christopher Hampton’s “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.”
Like most small theater companies, the Ensemble has a small but loyal volunteer staff that does everything from casting to cleaning up after performances. Their productions offer actors no pay but give them the opportunity to do interesting, meaty roles.
‘They are dedicated about the arts, and lit a fire under me.’ – Calvin Hart
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Judith Moss, the director of development and marketing who been involved with the company since 1986, said the Attic Ensemble survives due to the devotion of the people behind this once nomadic group. They moved into the Barrow Mansion in 1997 after their old home, a church on Union Street, closed.
“I think we have a good core of people who refuse to let it die ….we are almost a family,” Moss said. “It is also due to great support from our fans.”
Art Delo, the artistic director who has been with the company since 1974, sees other factors for Attic Ensemble’s longevity.
“We have always been known to do slightly different theater, don’t do scripted, commercial stuff,” Delo said.
In the future, Moss said she would like to see Attic Ensemble in its own home and its own theater.
Famous and unfamous alums
The Attic Ensemble since its inception in 1971 has staged over 140 productions in a variety of genres with such familiar titles as “The Sound of Music,” “The Lion in Winter,” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Amongst its alumni is veteran Broadway actor Ken Jennings, a Jersey City native who was in the original 1979 Broadway production of “Sweeney Todd” and most recently, “Urinetown.” Delo said Jennings is one of the founders of the Attic Ensemble, given its name because their first space reportedly was an attic of a Bayonne home.
But their productions have featured mostly working actors and amateurs from the metropolitan area, giving them a chance to show off their acting chops and shine in the spotlight.
In addition to the featured plays, the company also offers the Attic Junior Series for children and a fundraiser comedy night once a year, and a Christmas show done in local homeless shelters.
Joanne Smith has a day job at the Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation. But she also enjoys performing and has done so over the years with the Attic Ensemble, starting in 1974 when she won a part in “Butterflies Are Free.” She doesn’t do any more “main stage” work with the ensemble but instead does special productions with them when time permits.
“The Attic Ensemble are fun people, great people to be involved with, and yet serious about the work they do,” Smith said.
Echoing Smith’s sentiments is retired Jersey City police detective and professional actor Calvin Hart, who was auditioning last week for the part of Doaker in “The Piano Lesson.” Hart has performed in Attic Ensemble productions of “The Exonerated” and another August Wilson masterwork, “Fences.”
“They are dedicated about the arts and lit a fire under me,” Hart said. “I had no intention to do this but back in 1997, I did ‘Fences’ with them when they were at Union Street and it lit a fire.”
Hart has also appeared in movies such as “Freedomland.”
Others who didn’t want to be center stage have been able to do behind-the-scenes work to fulfill their interest in the theatrical arts. Yolanda Keahey, a volunteer for the past year, pursued her love of costuming with the Attic Ensemble for “True West” and “Rabbit Hole.”
“I like this. They give you so many opportunities; that’s why I stay,” Keahey said.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.