Avon-by-the-Sea Student Stars in Pulitzer & Tony-nominated "A View of the Mountains" at NJ Rep

15 year old Avon-by-the-Sea resident Jon Erik Nielsen stars as “Andrey” in the Pulitzer and Tony-nominated "A View of the Mountains" by Lee Blessing.

Blessing is the head of the graduate playwriting program at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

Jon Erik Nielsen is a Red Bank Regional High School 10th Grader and drama major in his school's Visual and Performing Arts Academy. His previous credits include: Protean in “Imaginary Invalid”, The Boy in “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Timmy in “Inherit the Wind” at Holmdel Community Theater.  He acted as ASM for Holmdel's productions of “Rounding Third” and “Little Women”. 

His drama training includes: Two River Theater's "Playback" program and the Stella Adler Workshop in NYC. Jon Erik is also a well-rounded musician who enjoys singing, songwriting, and playing guitar, piano and bass. 

The world premiere of Lee Blessing’s “A View of the Mountains”, directed by Evan Bergman, begins April 24 and will run through May 25 at New Jersey Repertory Company located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch. The play explores how the current extreme political polarization in our society has come home to roost and threatens not only our nation, but the intimate ties that bind families. 

John Honeyman is a former arms negotiator who represented the U.S. in the early 1980’s and held secret meetings with his Russian counterpart to defuse the explosive tensions that divided the two nuclear super-powers. The fate of the entire world hung in the balance as the men sought to build a bridge based on mutual trust over the turbulent waters of suspicion and paranoia that separated the two nations.

It is now thirty years later and Honeyman is retired, remarried, and living an idyllic life in his country home along the Hudson when his estranged son, the junior Senator from Tennessee, arrives for a visit. Will Branch detests his father and his legacy, and feels that he was soft with the pragmatic and ruthless Russians and that his efforts on behalf of his country irreparably hurt the U.S. in the long-run. In turn, Honeyman loathes his son’s radical right-wing politics and fears his ascendancy that makes him a promising candidate for the Vice-Presidency. Their coerced meeting is not a joyful reunion, rather one filled with threats, animosity, ultimatums and long–buried family secrets. 

Opening night is Saturday, April 26 at 8:00pm, followed by a reception. Previews are Thursday, April 24 at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, Friday, April 25 at 2:00pm and 8:00pm and Saturday, April 26 at 3:00pm. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays at 8:00pm; Saturdays at 3:00pm and 8:00pm; and Sundays at 2:00pm.  Tickets are $42; Previews are $35; Opening night with reception is $60. Discounts are available for seniors, students, and groups of 10 or more. 

NJ Rep is a year-round, professional, non-profit theater located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch only minutes from the Jersey Shore. Free on-site parking is available and there is easy access from NJ Transit (North Jersey Coast Line) and Academy Buses.

Contact the NJ Rep Box Office at 732-229-3166 or visit www.njrep.org to reserve your seats online. Follow NJ Rep on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Tumblr. 

For more information and publicity photos, contact Adele Sammarco, Director of Marketing and Communications, at 732-229-3166 ext. 103 or email adele@njrep.org.

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Support for NJ Rep is provided in part by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Stone Foundation of New Jersey, Edgerton Foundation, Monmouth Arts’ ArtHelps Project, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Investors Bank Foundation, OceanFirst Foundation, Dramatists Guild Fund, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, JENNJOE Fund of the Community Foundation, the Darien Family Fund of the Ayco Charitable Foundation, Jersey Shore Theatre Club for Education, the Jewish Communal Fund, the Community Foundation of New Jersey, Actors Equity Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the American Theatre Wing. NJ Rep is a member of the National New Play Network, The New Jersey Theater Alliance, TCG, and the Monmouth and Long Branch Arts Councils.