Jersey City Professor Profiles Hudson Shakespeare Actors About How the Bard has Affected Their Lives.

In 2012, James Broderick, an Associate Professor of English at New Jersey City University (NJCU), encountered a new experience for him but not new to many parents, - driving his daughter to a participate in a ommunity theater production. Whether its soccer, a part time job, or theater, busy parents make time to take their kids to their various extracurricular activities. What usually doesn't happen is the parent is asked to become an active participant in the same activity.

James’ daughter was playing Miranda in a production of “The Tempest” at the St. James Players in Montclair and one day the director of the production asked James if he would interested in playing a part. Always dealing with a shortage of male actors, the director saw that James took an avid interest in his daughter’s activity and decided to strike. While he taught English and Journalism for years and spoke in front of crowds of students all the time, James had no acting experience and even less experience with Shakespeare’s language. Swallowing his fear, he proceeded to learn the small, but pivotal role of Gonzalo. Fear soon turned to sheer enjoyment as he discovered the play andt he Bard with his daughter.

Cover of Book

As James learned his part, he got to speak with the other adults in the cast and to his amazement found that many were like him, day professionals who also took time for a side career in theater. An author of several books, he thought about exploring the subject of people with day jobs doing Shakespeare in their spare time. What he found was a different animal.

These people didn’t just do this in their spare time but was at times a lifelong vocation supplemented by day jobs. Very often, the same “community theater” actors were the same doing small roles in local film and television. A community of often unsung, non-union professionals who were more than willing to share what theater and what Shakespeare meant to them.

In his search for actors to interview, James was turned on to Jon Ciccarelli, Managing Director of the Jersey City based Hudson Shakespeare Company (HSC). Begun by Jersey City native, L. Robert "Luther" Johnson, HSC has been touring Shakespeare to parks in Jersey City, Hoboken and several other venues in North Jersey for 23 years and Jon was more than happy to speak about the blood, sweat, tears and joys of producing Shakespeare  year in and year out.

Ciccarelli jokingly adds, “Jim Broderick, through no fault of his own, stumbled on to Shakespeare and found that he loved the material and that he wasn’t alone, a lot of us stumble into this. Its wonderful that regular Shakespeare practitioners, like ourselves, have a chance to share our experiences and insights into the material. Its important for the public to understand that there is a great deal of art going on and a lot of it is not only on TV or in so-called professional realm.”

Jon later tuned James on to several other former and present Hudson Shakespeare Company actors on how they first encountered the Bard, what influence his works have had on their careers and the challenges of maintaining day careers with their love of theater. The HSC actors featured are Angela Liao, Michael Hagins, Tom Cox, Noelle Fair and David Neal

The result was the basis for “Greatness Thrust Upon Them: Non-professional Actors and Directors Discuss Their Encounters With Shakespeare” , a new book that interviews not only Hudson Shakespeare Company actors but several actors from around the country about their insights, sacrifices, and delights in performing the Bard.The book is available on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback versions and appeals not only to the Shakespeare or theater afficiando but as inspirational accounts of everyday people pursing their dreams even if a full-time day job pays the bills. For further information call 973 449 7443.

The result was the basis for “Greatness Thrust Upon Them: Non-professional Actors and Directors Discuss Their Encounters With Shakespeare” , a new book that interviews not only Hudson Shakespeare Company actors but several actors from around the country about their insights, sacrifices, and delights in performing the Bard.The book is available on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback versions and appeals not only to the Shakespeare or theater afficiando but as inspirational accounts of everyday people pursing their dreams even if a full-time day job pays the bills. 

About the Author:

James Broderick James F. Broderick is a writer and an associate professor of English and Journalism at New Jersey City University.After starting his journalism career in rural Indiana, he worked at newspapers and online news services in Cincinnati, Suburban Chicago, New York City, and Jersey City, New Jersey. After receiving his master's degree from Brooklyn College and his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, he published his first book in 2003, PAGING NEW JERSEY, which the New Jersey Center for the Book named one of the 10 "Notable Non-Fiction Books of the Decade." His fifth non-fiction book, published in 2012, is NOW A TERRIFYING MOTION PICTURE! His suspense novel, STALKED, was published by Whiskey Creek Press in 2013. His book of interviews with actors across America, He lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his wife Miri, daughters Olivia and Maddy, and three rescue cats.

About Hudson Shakespeare Company:

HSC has been touring Shakespeare, modern and other classical titles to parks, theatres, courtrooms, libraries and other civic centers since 1992. The group's main stay is the Summer Shakespeare series where they perform in Hudson, Bergen, Passaic, and Union counties in New Jersey and in Stratford, CT. The group produces one play for each month of the summer and often chooses one to two lesser done plays either wholly in or in part by Shakespeare.