"Last Rites" to be published!

Exciting news to end the year! Hansen Publishing Group will be publishing my first play "Last Rites" as both a trade and script version! The book is due to be relased in May or June of this year. The trade version will be the play, a forward and many pictures of the bar thoughout the years as well as the work being done today creating the Waterfron South Theatre. The script version will be a smaller book to be used for future productions.

More to come as the weeks move forward look for information on the book at http://www.lastritesplay.com/

Remembering Jason Miller

Yesterday, December 1st, Chris Schimpf and I went up to Scranton, PA to be at the unveiling of a statue honoring Jason Miller, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of "That Championship Season" which SCTC produced last year. The bust was created by his friend the famous actor Paul Sorvino who was also there. I had the great fortune to know Jason and had a few nights in a few bars with him where we discussed writing, theatre, "The Exorcist" [which he starred as Faterh Karras] and many other things. Jason died a few years back in his early 60's suddenly at his favorite bar Farley's which we also visited yesterday. Jason was an incredibly talented man as well has haunted by his own many internal demons. To go up to see him honored by his hometown who loves him so much was quite emotional. After, we went to see a one man show "Go Irish! The Purgatory Diary of Jason Miller". The show was incredble and Bob Hughes who played Jason looked like his ghost. SCTC will be bringing this play down for all of us on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 1:30 PM for one show only. Reserve soon! Please join us in seeing a great play and honoring this tower of American playwriting, Jason Miller. Jason, may the angels always be with you!!!

Camden Named as 2nd Highest Crime city

An open letter the Editors of the newspapers of the Philadelphia/Camden area:

I wanted to comment on your article on Camden, NJ being named as the second most dangerous city in the country. Despite this terrible reality it seems that light needs to be shed on some positive news coming from the city as well.

The Waterfront South Theatre, a new 99 seat theatre in the Waterfront South section of the city is rising as we speak. Thanks to the Heart of Camden, Domenica Foundation and numerous other donors a new theatre is being born with steel now reaching to the sky. This facility will serve the people and children of the city with a space for inspiration, hope and light. It will also be the permanent home of the South Camden Theatre Company now producing its fourth season of professional theatre and presently housed in the basement theatre at Sacred Heart Church at Broadway and Ferry Avenue.

I know that the crime figures are an eye grabbing headline but I would also like it to be noted that thanks to countless volunteers in all parts of the city, Camden will get back on her feet. Join us by seeing a play or visiting the neighboring greenhouse or donating time or money. Camden can change if people in the surrounding area support the efforts that are presently in place. “The climb may be steep” as President-elect Obama said but we WILL reach the top of the peak.

Joseph M. Paprzycki
Producing Artistic Director
South Camden Theatre Company

The steel is rising

This past Friday I went by the theatre and saw a majestic sight. The steel that will serve as the bones of the theatre was rising from the ground. The concrete foundation was now receiving the bones of the theatre and......the internal of the structure could now be seen. It made me think of the last time construction occurred at the corner of 4th and Jasper in Camden. It was back in the 1860's when the original building [which turned into Walt's Cafe] was built. So much had changed since then. The wooden structure lasted until 2007 when Fr. Doyle brought the decaying building down with a back hoe and now, in 2008, the new skeleton is made of steel. I wonder if we also have hardened over the years. Hardened to the plight of a city gone awry with guns and drugs and poverty. This new rebirth, though, will prove to us all that our structure needs to be stronger as well. Strong enough to ensure that this theatre WILL rise and thrive and that the hardened structure of us all will see that Camden never returns to what it had become..... that hope and dreams will now have a permanent residence at the corner of 4th and Jasper. It is proper that it is Thanksgiving week. We should all give thanks for so much. But please, if you would, also give thanks for this rebirth as it will be the first of many, many more in Waterfront South!

YOUTH IN AMERICA AT RUTGERS

For the first time SCTC took one of our plays to the Walter K. Gordon Theatre at
Rutgers University in Camden. The shows went extremely well and we are
grateful to the staff and faculty at Rutgers (especially Graziella and
Stefan)and to all of the students who came out to see YIA. It was
fantastic to see members of the audience who never came to a SCTC play
before and we hope you will follow us back to our own theatre in
Waterfront South for more shows. We will be having our opening night on
our stage in the basement of Sacred Heart Church this Friday, October
17th at 8PM where will have a full two week run. Please come and see
these plays. You can go to our website at http://www.southcamdentheatre.org/ to
reserve seats. These plays show how difficult it is for young people
today to grow up in America and we hope you will support us. The
Rutgers response was incredible! Also, new ways for you to help us are
coming as well as the new theatre so keep an eye out for us!!

See you at Youth In America!

WALLS OF HOPE

Yesterday as I drove to the neighborhood for a rehearsal of our new play, "Youth In America", I happened to see five very large construction vehicles working on the new Waterfront South Theatre being built at the site of my grandfather's old saloon. I actually got to see the workers pouring concrete into the frames that would now be the foundation walls...the actual pieces that will hold up this new stage of dreams for theatre and hope for Waterfront South. It was especially fitting that at the same time the students of Sacred Heart Elementary School were being dismissed and walked out of school and into a street where such hope a rebirth were directly in front of them. They watched in awe as concrete filled the narrow frames from a large truck and , at the same time, saw their neighborhood being rebuilt in front of their very eyes. These walls will not only be holding up the theatre but also their future and dreams for a city that once again will be safe with the voices of school children in the late afternoon. There are plenty of opportunities for all to be involved either by sponsoring a seat in the new theatre or by contributing to SCTC. Please go to our new website at www.southcamdentheatre.org for instructions on how to donate. And...in the spirit that we all possess, the new website was created and generously donated by Bob Bingaman, owner of R Allan and Associates, who now also has been captivated by this project that is beyond all of us in its scope and vision. Please help if you can....to quote from Tony Kushner's epic play "Angels In America', "The great work begins".

Groundbreaking and groundwater......

We have finally begun the work of bringing the Waterfront South Theatre to life. As hope for the rebuilding of the neighborhood sprang forward, unfortunately so did groundwater that we did not anticipate. We are still working, but now more work must be done before the pouring of the foundation can happen. We hope the pouring will be happening very soon.

What has not been delayed, though, has been the rehearsal of our new play 'Youth In America". These plays produced seprately in NY and Philadelphia and as a full evening this past February at Rowan University show the disturbing situation that today's teenagers have growing up in modern America. It was incredibly well recieved and reviewed and we are truly excited to bring it to you to open our fourth season.

We are also excited to join with Rutgers University Camden in sharing the play with their students. We will do two shows at the Gordon Theatre on Ocotober 10th and 11th for the students and then a full two week run at our own home in Sacred Heart basement. Please come out to these plays and I urge you to bring younger members of your family.

While this is tough material and subject matter, the response from the students who have seen it has been powerful. These are THEIR stories and YIA gives them a chance to see their own generation onstage. For parents and older audience members these stories give us insight into a world much different from the one we grew up in.

Construction, LA, etc....

It's been a few busy weeks. First, we should be pouring concrete at the new theatre in the first week of August. We FINALLY received the permit and Pepe Piperno is raring to go!!! Look for work to start this week at the site with the pouring of the foundation happening next week. If you did not receive our Summer Newsletter via email please email me at joep@southcamdentheatre.org to receive it!

I also had the honor of being in Los Angeles last weekend for weekend performances of Howard Zinn's "Marx In Soho". I hope you got a chance to see this great play when we produced it twice over the past two years. Bob Weick , as always, was fantastic and the play is a true gem. I was there to finally meet Howard Zinn face to face as I have converted his great play into a screenplay with his blessing and approval. We are hoping to have a film made over the next year. Please e mail if you want more details. Thanks to producer [and Camden born and bred] Michael McAteer for his great production and hospitality.

We open in October with Youth in America. See you then!

Call for plays

SCTC is now seeking one act plays for its “And Justice For All – four plays about social and political injustice” festival to be produced in the spring of 2009. We seek plays that are two to four character, single set pieces that show injustice in America in a unique and telling way.

For consideration please send script and SASE to:

South Camden Theatre Company, Inc.
c/o 318 Hudson Street Gloucester City, NJ 08030
Attn: Joseph M. Paprzycki, Artistic Director
Deadline for submissions December 1, 2008.
A stipend will be paid.

Meeting Martin Sheen

On Friday, June 13th, I was especially honored to be invited by Msgr. Michael Doyle to join him and a small group as he was visited by the incredible actor and humanitarian, Martin Sheen. Martin (as he told us to call him) toured the church, greenhouse and oven area and then honored us all by going into the hole in the ground that was the basement of my grandfather's bar, Walt's Café, and do an incredible performance of a poem that he cherishes. We then sang, prayed and had an incredible dinner together where he told us stories about his career and life. I told him about "the play that is rebuilding a corner" and he was kind enough to take my play "Last Rites" with him on the plane home.

On the following Thursday you can imagine how shocked I was when he called my cell phone and we had a long conversation about the play, Camden and the future of the theatre. He gave me two wonderful critiques which have pushed me back into a rewrite (after 12 years). This is an incredible man and his generosity and advice will never be forgotten. He said to me "you now have a RESPONSIBILITY to write and to work at my craft".

I will remember these words always and I will fall back on them as I work into the future. Thank you Martin Sheen and a huge thank you to Fr. Doyle for making is all happen!

Comcast Newsmakers Interview - Joseph Paprzycki - April 2008

STANDING IN THE DUST OF MY GRANDFATHER’S SHOES

An incredible thing happened this morning. On a beautiful spring morning in April, about one hundred and fifty people came to a hole in the ground in the middle of Camden to celebrate. Yes…this hole, now filled with bricks, stones and broken sewer pipes would soon be known as the Waterfront South Theatre. People from all backgrounds, races and religions came as the ground was blessed, speeches were made, and all watched as the ghosts of the past returned to celebrate with the youth of the future as a new” temple of inspiration” was born.



As I stood in the hole and watched as the dust of generations covered my newly polished shoes, I thought out of the corner of my eye that I saw my grandparents. Walt, holding his familiar bar towel and Sue wearing her more than familiar apron were standing side by side in the blinding sunlight. I could see them smiling with pride as the corner that they used to raise four daughters and eight grandchildren again burst to life with the color of art and music. I also saw the ghosts of shipbuilders past, the men who built the ships that left port for war after endless war, standing guard around the perimeter of the building; watching with crooked smiles as their old neighborhood returned to life. I saw Sr. Peg Hynes grinning that wide Irish grin as she stood among the high school and elementary students who now , through this theatre, now have a newly found hope that their future can be as bright as the morning sun on this glorious April day. As Father Doyle blessed the ground one could hear the laughter of angels, as so many have already have, and continue to descend on this once forlorn corner. All will be made new again. “The stone that the builders rejected HAS become the cornerstone”.



I went to wipe the dust off of my shoes after the ceremony only to pause for a second……and then change my mind. This dust was my grandfather’s dust….these rocks were his rocks. All of us should always be proud to walk in our grandparent’s shoes wherever those shoes collected the dust of their lives.



Art will save us. Heal Camden!!!!!!

Schedule Change and Groundbreaking

As many of you may know, we must delay the opening of "The Old Settler" due to a health emergency with one of our actors. But the show will go on!

The new production dates are May 9th, 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th, and 18th, 2008. Performances will be held Friday and Saturday evenings at 8PM and Sunday at 1:30PM


Also note that the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Waterfront South Theatre will be held at 10AM on Friday, April 25th at the corner of 4th and Jasper Streets.

The celebration will include Msgr. Michael Doyle, Helene Pierson, Executive Director of Heart of Camden, Chief funder of the theatre Pepe Piperno, the Honorable Gwendolyn Faison, Mayor of Camden and the school children of Sacred Heart School. There will also be a special appearance by the talented students from Camden's High School for the Creative and Performing Arts!

Everyone is invited and encouraged to come commemorate this special occasion. Let us show the region that Camden WILL rise!!!! We hope to see you there.


Thank you for you continued support - Art Will Save Us!

Groundbreaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SCTC along with Heart of Camden will be celebrating the birth of the Waterfront South Theatre on Friday, April 25th at 10AM. We hoppe to be joined by the mayor of Camden, students from Sacred Heart School and the High School for Performing Arts and as many of you that can come out. Come join the celebration of the rebirth of Walt's Café as a theatre that will bring light and art to Camden for years to come!!!!! Also, "The Old Settler" our last play for the season is opening the same night at 8PM. Please join us for "South Camden Theatre Day" and be a part of the rebirth. Heal Camden!!!!!!

Plays at Rowan University

You can catch four one act plays of mine under the title "Youth In America" directed by Rob Klimowski February 14, 15 and 16th at Rowan University. "On the Wings of Sparrows" tells the story of Charlie Bishop, a fifteen year old who killed himself shortly after 9-11, "Drop Period", about parental pressure on their children to get into college via sports, "Furlough" which shows a soldier returning home early from Iraq and "Dressing For School" which goes into the minds of the Columbine killers.

Admission is by donation and you can find out more about it by going to Rowan's website HERE.

Theatre has been approved!!!!!!!!

Last Thursday evening, the Planning Board of the City of Camden gave final approval for the construction of the new Waterfront South Theatre to be built at the site of my grandparent's bar at the corner of 4th and Jasper Streets. We hope to break ground in March and begin our new season in the fall with a remounting of "Last Rites". Helene Pierson, the Director of Heart of Camden has been dynamic in this effort and is due so much gratitude. Also much thanks to Pepe Piperno, who, through the generosity of his Dominica Foundation, will now begin the building of our dream. I also want to acknowledge the huge contribution of Tom Ehrhardt, our attorney [and a Board Member] for South Camden Theatre Company who has donated so much of his valuable time and talent to this project.

Please come to see "That Championship Season", Jason Miller's Pulitzer Prize winning play which will run from February 1-17th and you can see and hear more about this exciting project and the rebirth of Camden and particularly Waterfront South!

HEAL CAMDEN!!!!!!! ART WILL SAVE US!!!!!!

Comcast Newsmakers Interview