The auditoriums of the Freehold Regional High School District schools are alive with the sound of musicals. Upcoming performances include the following:
• Howell High School presents “Mary Poppins,” the story of the Banks family who live in a big house in London. The children, Jane and Michael, are out of control and are in need of a new nanny.
When a mysterious young woman named Mary Poppins appears at their doorstep, the family finds she is the answer to their prayers, but in the most peculiar way. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that “anything can happen if you let it.”
Performances of “Mary Poppins” will be held on Feb. 23, March 2 and March 3 at 7 p.m. A matinee performance will be held on Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. Following the matinee, there will be a pizza party with Poppins and Pals. Guests will see Mary Poppins fly above them. The pizza party is an additional $5.
• Freehold Township High School presents “The Pajama Game.” Conditions at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory are anything but peaceful as sparks fly between new superintendent, Sid Sorokin, and Babe Williams, leader of the union grievance committee. Their stormy relationship comes to a head when the workers strike for a pay increase, setting off not only a conflict between management and labor, but a battle of the sexes as well.
Performances of “The Pajama Game” will be held on March 1, March 2 and March 3 at 7 p.m. A matinee performance will also be held on March 3 at 1 p.m.
• Manalapan High School presents “The Little Mermaid.” Set under and above the high seas, “The Little Mermaid” tells the story of Ariel, an adventurous young mermaid who has a thing for disobeying the rules and following her heart.
Ariel’s fascination with the human world often leads her to the sea surface, a zone that is designated as “off-limits” by her father Triton, the sea king. One day while sneaking to the surface, Ariel witnesses a shipwreck and rescues Prince Eric, with
whom she becomes instantly smitten.
Furious at Triton’s inability to understand her love for the prince, Ariel runs away and strikes a deal with Ursula, the evil sea witch, to experience the life she dreams of on land.
Performances of “The Little Mermaid” will be held on March 1, March 2 and March 3 at 6:30 p.m. A matinee performance will also be held on March 3 at noon. Tickets may be purchased in advance at https://manalapan.booktix.com
• Colts Neck High School presents “The Wedding Singer.” It’s 1985 and rock star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer. He is the life of the party until his own fiancee leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own.
Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. The only trouble is that Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever.
“The Wedding Singer” will take audiences back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room.
Performances of “The Wedding Singer” will be held on March 16, March 23 and March 24 at 7 p.m. There will be a matinee performance at 1 p.m. March 17. Tickets may be purchased in advance at https://cnhsnj.booktix.com/
• Freehold High School presents “Once Upon a Mattress.” During a kingdom-wide search to find a princess fit for the hapless Prince Dauntless, in swims the less-than-regal Princess Winnifred the Woebegone.
Unrefined and undeniably charming, Winnifred is like no princess Dauntless has ever seen and his heart is captured. The truly terrible Queen Aggravain goes on a mission to come between her son and his soulmate in this retelling of the classic story of “The Princess
and the Pea.”
Performances of “Once Upon a Mattress” will be held on March 23 and March 24 at 7 p.m. A matinee performance will also be held at 1 p.m. March 24. Tickets can be purchased at https://fhsdac.booktix.com/
• Marlboro High School presents “1776,” which tells the story of John Adams, the original innovator behind America’s Declaration of Independence.
Adams teams up with Benjamin Franklin, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson to battle those in Congress who oppose the movement to declare independence from England. This production is told with a new voice from its female cast.
Performances of “1776” will be held on April 19 at 6:30 p.m. and on April 20 and April 21 at 7 p.m.
