Our MissionOur mission is to produce a wide selection of high-quality staged productions, including musicals and plays, by calling on the area’s top performance talent from student performers and adult performers, to promote and foster interest in all aspects of community theater in our area, including adult and youth theater; to offer a learning opportunity to amateur and youth actors, singers, and production staff in our community; and to reach as broad and diverse an audience as possible.
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The Story of Stony Hill PlayersStony Hill was founded in 1946 by a small group of theater enthusiasts in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey who gathered in homes to read plays and poetry, as well as to share their theatrical experiences and aspirations. Stony Hill was incorporated on June 20, 1952. Stony Hill Players has been staging operas, dramatic plays and musical events ever since.
In 1951 a group under the Stony Hill umbrella made up of young performers was formed and named The Pebble Players. Pebble Players was brought back to life in 2009 – fulfilling a dream of Jayne Myers and Stony Hill Players. In 2018 the program expanded to include a junior musical and in 2024 Pebble Players put on its first college-level musical. Since its inception, Stony Hill Players has performed in a number of venues in Warren, Berkley Heights, New Providence, Summit and Short Hills. The Players moved to Warren in 1970 when they leased the old Union Village Methodist Church on Mountain Ave., converting the annex into a 132-seat theater. The Players' first Warren production was Cactus Flower which debuted on April 5, 1970 and thus began their longest residency at the Warren location. |
The Players offered two major productions each year, one in the spring and one in the fall. Each of the two productions usually ran for eight performances. The group's agreement with the church allowed it to use the old building as a playhouse in return for maintaining it. Although the Methodists had moved across the street to new quarters, they did not want to demolish the historic structure. During its time in Warren, the amateur group put on musicals such as Kiss Me, Kate, Pippin and Roar of the Greasepaint, and Smell of the Crowd. More serious productions included Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Dial M for Murder. In the spring of 1981, the Warren Fire Department closed the theater in the middle of its run of Seven Keys to Baldpate, citing fire code violations. Emergency repairs kept the theater open for a time but within a few years, the church building was sold and turned into a private residence, forcing the Stony Hill Players to new quarters in New Providence. In 2007, Stony Hill Players began their residency at the Oakes Memorial Center at 120 Morris Ave. in Summit, New Jersey where they currently reside. The Oakes Center was originally the Oakes Memorial Methodist Church and was converted to a theater and center for charities and support groups. |
Stony Hill Players Today
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Stony Hill Players produces five shows each season:
Our theater is accessible to audiences from surrounding towns. Due to our close proximity to Interstate Highways, trains and buses we draw from the wider Metro New York New Jersey area for our casts and audiences. |
Our funding comes almost exclusively from ticket sales and donations
from the community. To lend your support to Stony Hill Players,
please consider a donation to quality Community Theater.
from the community. To lend your support to Stony Hill Players,
please consider a donation to quality Community Theater.
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STONY HILL PLAYERS
The Oakes Memorial Center 120 Morris Avenue Summit, NJ 07901 |
CONTACT US
888-817-3013 General Inquiries: [email protected] Email Pebble Players: [email protected] Email Box Office: [email protected] |