Amy Fox, a Verona resident for more than 35 years, is directing “Sweat,” a play that opens at Montclair’s Studio Playhouse on Friday January 26. She’ll be joined in the show by fellow Veronans Kevin Ohlweiler, its fight choreographer and assistant stage manager, and Bill O’Brien, who plays the role of Stan, the affable bartender.
“Sweat” is a 2015 play by American playwright Lynn Nottage. Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, it tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat.
Fox has been directing at Studio Playhouse for about 13 years, and is its current president. The mother of three Verona High School graduates, who were all active in Spotlight Players, she was an active participant in the Spotlight Players Parents Association for years. Community theater and the arts are near and dear to her heart.
When not on stage, O’Brien is a paramedic supervisor at University Hospital in Newark. He and Fox have worked on several projects together at Studio Playhouse, including “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” “Other People’s Money,” “Twentieth Century,” and “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All To You.”
The show will run for three weekends beginning Friday, January 26, and closing on February 11. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets range from $22 to $25 and can be purchased at online. Group rates are available; contact the box office at 973-744-9752.
Studio Playhouse is located at 14 Alvin Place, Upper Montclair – next to the ACME supermarket. Visit https://studioplayhouse.org/ for additional information about the show.
