February 5, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Lara Hoyt, Coordinator for Public Relations and Alumni Affairs
Rutgers Theater Company presents "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" New Brunswick, NJ – In “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train,” playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis poses complex questions about faith, morality and what it is to be human. That’s what makes it important to see. Its provocative, visceral language and true-life grit are what make it fun to watch.
“It’s a world we’re not normally privy to,” says Eric Ruffin, director of the Rutgers Theater Company production that opens March 2 at Philip J. Levin Theater. “We want to see this play for the same reasons we want to watch TV shows like ‘Oz’ and ‘The Wire.’ To walk with a serial killer and his logic, to hear from the often voiceless corrections officers, to know the inner mechanics of a judicial system—these are titillating experiences for the rest of us.”
When he was a child, Angel Cruz believed that Jesus hopped the 'A' train to save his life. Now, he is in 23-hour lockdown on Rikers Island, awaiting trial for shooting—and accidentally killing—a religious cult leader who got a grip on his best friend. His fellow inmate, Lucius, is a serial killer on death row who has found Christianity. He tries to convince Angel that God can save him; meanwhile, Angel’s lawyer says she can get him acquitted. What is the real way to salvation, and how is it defined?
Ruffin likens Angel’s experiences in prison to tests of faith. “He is battered by inmates, taunted by prison guards, and offered two different ‘spiritual’ paths,” says Ruffin. “Ultimately, he has to decide how to save himself.”
In “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train,” Guirgis charges people to take responsibility for their actions, Ruffin says. “I think it’s an incredibly important play for people to engage in,” he says. “It engages the audience in a critical debate: what is the meaning of integrity?”
Performances are March 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. and March 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for the general public, $20 for Rutgers alumni and employees and seniors and only $15 for students with valid ID. Philip J. Levin Theater is in the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center, 85 George Street (between Route 18 and Ryders Lane), on the Douglass campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
For more information on any Mason Gross event, visit www.masongross.rutgers.edu or call the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center ticket office at 732-932-7511.
About Rutgers Theater Company
Jason Cruz (Angel Cruz - BFA IV) was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. His Mason Gross credits include The House of Bernarda Alba (Pepe El Romano), Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick - Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare's Globe, London), Marisol (Lenny - BFA Project), and I'd Rather Be Falling (BFA Performance Ensemble). Jason also studied at Nassau Community College.
Maul Donté Davis (Valdez - BFA IV) was born in Detroit, Michigan. Mason Gross credits include: The Wall of Water, Much Ado About Nothing (Claudio - Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare's Globe, London), I'd Rather be Falling, and African Extravaganza. Other credits include: Everybody's Talkin', Crossing 8 Mile, The Me Nobody Knows, Crimes of the Heart, A Look Back.
Bjorn DuPaty (Lucius Jenkins – MFA II) is from Chicago, Illinois. Some of his Rutgers Theater Company credits have been William in Lobby Hero, Flip Johnson in Our Lady of 121st Street, and Chuck in Trash Bag Tourist.
Kate Geller (Mary Jane Hanrahan – MFA III) hails from Harrison, New York. She graduated with Honors in theater arts from Goucher College. Rutgers credits include The House of Bernarda Alba, Two Fools, and Much Ado About Nothing. She appeared at the NYC Fringe Festival in Imminent Indeed. She is a founding member of the Sketch/Improv Group Monkeys in the Atrium.
Jonathan Karp (Charlie D'Amico - MFA III) hails from Wantagh, New York. He received his BA in theater from SUNY New Paltz. Rutgers credits include Cloud 9, Death in Venice, As You Like It, Arkadelphia and Scapin. Professional credits include: Scapin, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Little Shop of Horrors and the motion picture The Stepford Wives.
Eric Ruffin (Director) Most recent directing credits include Nina Mercer's Gutta Beautiful at Woolly Mammoth Theater, Traci Scott Wilson's The Story for The Howard Players, Stephen Guirgis's Our Lady of 121st Street for The Rutgers Theatre Company, the New Jersey premiere of Suzan Lori-Park's Topdog/Underdog for Luna Stage, Gavin Lawrence's Cut Flowers at the Ira Aldridge Theater, Ain Gordon's Public Ghosts/ Private Stories at the George Street Playhouse, August Wilson's The Piano Lesson for The African Globe in Newark, and Athol Fugard's My Children! My Africa! at Luna Stage. Ruffin is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and a 1999 recipient of the New York Drama League Directing Fellowship. He has also been honored with a Shakespeare Theatre Acting Fellowship, and the Princess Grace Grant for Dance. Eric holds a BFA in theatre arts from Howard University and an MFA in directing from Rutgers University.
Kina Park (Scene Designer - MFAIII) received her BA in architecture from Korea University. Her Rutgers set design credits include: Stonewater Rapture, Ella, Arkadelphia, Anyone Can Love A Goldfish, Ashtray, Audrey, The Scams of Scapin and Cloud Nine. She recently worked as scenic design fellow for the Chautauqua Theater Company.
Anne E. Grosz (Costume Designer - MFA II) is from Falls Church, Virginia. She received her BA in theater from Mary Washington College. Her favorite design credits include Cloud Nine (Rutgers Theater Company), Man of La Mancha (Utah Festival Opera), Elizabeth Rex and Little Shop of Horrors (Kalamazoo Civic Theater), and Exit the King (Mary Washington College).
Laura L. Cornish (Lighting Designer – MFA III) is from Lawton, Michigan and received her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University. Professional credits include lighting designs for Rhythm Suites and Re: Technician’s Retro Introspective at the American Dance Festival. Rutgers credits include Proof, Audrey, The Scams of Scapin, and The Shape of Things.
Elizabeth Walsh (Sound Designer – BFA II) is from Hudson, New Hampshire. Her Mason Gross credits include production assistant for The Lonesome West and Cloud 9, and assistant sound designer for The House of Bernarda Alba. This past summer she was the stage manager at the Franklin Stock Company at Chapel Hall.
Marjorie A. Wood (Stage Manager – MFA II) hails from Nashville, Tennessee. She received her BFA from Abilene Christian University. Mason Gross productions include Stage Manager for Proof and Assistant Stage Manager for As You Like It. Other stage management credits include Scrooge and the Spirits, Into the Woods, Jr., Kiss Me, Kate!, Guys and Dolls, and Two Rooms .
The Mason Gross School of the Arts’ Department of Theater Arts combines rigorous studio class work with a demanding production schedule to provide students with in-depth training and practice in theater. The Rutgers Theater Company is the resident company of student actors, designers, directors, playwrights, stage managers and technicians whose work is guided by master teachers and accomplished professionals. These conservatory students are enrolled in the three-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs. The department also offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) theater major through the undergraduate colleges of Rutgers University. About Mason Gross School of the Arts Founded in 1976, Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and is home to the departments of dance, music, theater arts, and visual arts. Its faculty and alumni rosters include arts professionals recognized nationally and internationally. The school's enrollment of 625 undergraduates across four departments and 250 graduate students across three departments, combined with a faculty of 140, assures students the opportunity to work closely with accomplished artists within their fields.
About Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey A comprehensive research institution with more than 50,000 students on three main campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden, Rutgers comprises one of the major state university systems in the nation. Chartered in 1766 in New Brunswick as Queen's College, Rutgers is the eighth oldest institution of higher learning in the nation and now comprises 29 degree- granting divisions, including 16 offering graduate programs of study.
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