Plays-in-the-Park is a government-sponsored outdoor amphitheater located in Edison, New Jersey. Middlesex County’s Plays-in-the-Park has been in existence since 1963. Generally, three full-scale musical productions run in the summer, from June to August. In the fall, the theater is transformed into a black box where the annual children’s show takes place; the indoor children’s musical tradition began in 1992. In the winter, Plays-in-the-Park uses the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ to put on their final show of the season. Plays-in-the-Park has been using the State Theater for their annual production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat since 1994. History In 1963, community theater volunteers contacted the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders asking for financial support in their endeavor to find a space to produce shows in the summer months. With only enough funding budgeted to construct a storage shed, a compromise was met. In the summer, the shed would be used as a theater, and in the winter it would be used for storage. A grove in Roosevelt Park was chosen as the site, and Plays-in-the-Park opened in 1963. Since then, the theater has become an integral part of the community, especially during the summer months. It is now a permanent structure with dressing rooms and a scenic shop. However, on July 24, 1975, a garbage-can fire destroyed the theater during the run of Man of La Mancha. The next day reconstruction began, and mobile trailers were brought in to finish the run of the show and the rest of the season. A new amphitheater, the Stephen J. Capestro Theatre, was opened in 1978 thanks to funding from the County and the Green Acres Commission. The theater is staffed by working theater professionals and features some of the latest sound and lighting equipment. Since 1978, it is estimated that over one million people have attended Plays-in-the-Park performances. Performances 2020: Cancelled due to Coronavirus 2019: Evita, Newsies the musical, The Addams Family 2018: Fiddler on the Roof, Mamma Mia, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown 2017: Legally Blonde, West Side Story, Mary Poppins 2016: The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, South Pacific 2015: Oklahoma!, Young Frankenstein, Jesus Christ Superstar 2014: Sunset Boulevard, Shrek The Musical, Bye Bye Birdie 2013: Les Miserables, Spamalot, Xanadu 2012: My Fair Lady, Damn Yankees, Grease 2011: Annie, Hairspray, Godspell 2010: 1776, The Wedding Singer, High School Musical 1997: Guys and Dolls, The Pirates of