There’s mystery afoot in North Bergen. And comedy. And music. All three combined are taking place at the North Bergen Players Mini-Theater at 8411 Bergenline Ave. For six shows over two weekends, the North Bergen Players are performing the original play “The Mole,” written and directed by Players founder Maurena Luzzi.
Originally written at the request of a dinner theater in Hackensack, the play was expanded to a full-length stage performance with a cast of 16 performers from throughout the region. The story takes place in an Italian restaurant where a longtime customer, a detective, discovers evidence of a crime. Soon the FBI is involved and things get… complicated.
The North Bergen Players, located in the same building as the library, were established 30 years ago to provide affordable entertainment and opportunities for residents to perform acting and singing onstage.
The family that sings and commits crimes together
The members of the Players all use the same word to describe their troupe: it’s a family.
“It has changed my life a lot,” said Fort Lee resident Judy Rosenthal. “I love doing what I do up there. I’ve been wanting to do this all my life.”
Rosenthal is one of the newest members of the cast, but many of them go back years with the Players – even decades. Evelyn Martinez, who acts and handles lighting, first worked with Luzzi in 1994.
“I always went to the library and I saw this thing, a play group, community theater,” said Martinez, who wandered in off the street 20 years ago and met Luzzi. “She asked me if I was interested and we did ‘Breath of Spring.’ And we had a good time, we had laughs. It’s hard, but we all supported each other. There was no nitpicking. It was so much fun. It was family.”
Literally, in some cases. Years later, Martinez brought her daughter Brittany Conty to see Luzzi. Conty was interested in singing and Luzzi, in addition to heading the theater, offers voice lessons.
“I used to come here when I was little and watch my mom sing and act,” said Conty, who was “painfully shy” before getting involved with the Players. So has working with them increased her self-confidence? “Oh yeah! I’m doing songs I never thought I could do.”
Performances of the mystery-comedy “The Mole” take place on Oct. 17-19 and 24-26 at The North Bergen Players Mini-Theater, 8411 Bergenline Ave.
____________
“I hid in the back at first,” said Amanda. “I didn’t really like the acting part, I’m going to be honest. I liked singing a lot more. I didn’t sing until this year on this stage because I was too shy. But I just kind of got more comfortable here. Because I was here all the time.”
And the troupe has become – you guessed it – family.
Breaking the shell
Shernetta Harris from Hackensack is a member of the Bergen County Players who saw an ad in their newsletter and joined the troupe.
Nicolas and Paulina Raso, originally from Argentina and now living in Guttenberg, brought their son and daughter to learn acting from Luzzi a few years back and before long the entire family was involved. In addition to playing a family in “The Mole,” Nicolas strums a mean guitar and sings in the play.
“The Rasos are the ones that shocked me the most,” said Luzzi. “They are four different people than the ones that brought their son and daughter to see me. They’re terrific actors, they’re naturals.”
Joining Nicholas on guitar is Jenia Nemirovsky, who was walking by one day and saw a poster for one of Luzzi’s vocal workshops. “I always played music,” he said. “I have classical training on piano and I play guitar but I never did anything together in a group with other people. And I saw the voice workshop so I thought maybe I should try that and see what happens. And one thing led to another and I got pulled into the theater.”
Another previously shy performer, he came out of his shell through exposure to the troupe.
“There is no more shell,” corrected Rosenthal. “The shell broke.”
Helping the community
“I was kind of forced into this because I was born into it,” said Anna Miller, who just happens to be Luzzi’s granddaughter. “I just kind of came in because I would always help her with anything. So she kind of dragged me up there on stage. It’s still difficult for me. I’d rather be backstage. I’d rather be a silent partner.”
Miller plays a role in “The Mole” and is credited as stage manager. In fact, many of the cast double as crew, with Nicolas, an accomplished artist, creating the poster and several others building the set.
The play took about two months to produce, with multiple other projects taking place simultaneously, including a fundraiser for the Bergen Family Center and a vocal workshop performance.
“I have people that come in and out here all day long that get lessons free, because that’s what we offer,” said Luzzi. “I do it that way because I’m paying forward for what was done for me when I was in college. I had a scholarship and I had a teacher that gave me lessons sometimes three times a day. And what they have to pay is that they promise to do that for someone else.”
Alumni of the North Bergen Players have gone on to careers on television and Broadway. “This is a place that anybody can come and feel welcome,” said Miller. “We’re always looking for new faces, new talent. Anybody is welcome to come here and be part of what this place is.”
“It helps our community,” said Luzzi. “And this is thanks to the mayor. It was his idea to get me to do this. Because I used to do this in his school, in Horace Mann. My husband was a music teacher. And so [Mayor Nicholas Sacco, former principal of Horace Mann] asked me to do this for the town and it’s thanks to him that we’re doing this. For 30 years he keeps us going. And they told me it wouldn’t last more than three months.”
The tireless Luzzi, in addition to teaching voice and acting, directing plays, and generally promoting the arts in North Bergen, writes the bulk of their material. “She won’t stop,” said Martinez. “You have to take the pen away from her.”
Tickets for “The Mole” cost $15. “The same price they would pay for a movie,” said Luzzi. “And it’s live theater.”
The money goes into a trust for the theater. “The town does sponsor us but we are basically self-funded,” she said. “We use that money every time we need a new chair or need the piano tuned or need a sound system. We just renewed the sound system, which was in bad need because it’s 30 years since the last time we bought one, so we needed it. Somebody loaned us the lights but that’s my next project.”
Performances of “The Mole” take place on Oct. 17-19 and 24-26 at the North Bergen Players Mini-Theater, 8411 Bergenline Ave. For more information, call Maurena Luzzi at (201) 854-7074 or (201) 401-9722.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.