A New Season Debut for Rockaway Theatre Company

By Dan Guarino

With each year raising the bar higher, Rockaway’s own Rockaway Theatre Company’s (RTC) “30-ish” season is set to begin with a full slate of music, drama and laughs. Even now, work on their first 2026 shows is already underway, as five professional quality productions await their turn to shine on RTC’s John Gilleece Theater stage at Fort Tilden.

Starting in March and running through December, RTC will present the musical “Man of La Mancha,” Arthur Miller’s drama “The Crucible,” the musical “Grease,” Oscar Wilde’s comic “The Importance of Being Ernest,” and a big and beautiful, specially written “30ish Anniversary Spectacular!”

RTC Season Subscriptions covering all five shows are now available at www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org at $110 for adults/$85 seniors. Tickets for all shows for the entire year will be available as of February 1.

Add RTC’s Young People’s Theatre Workshop’s current production of “Disney’s Dare To Dream” and “Annie Jr.,” opening on February 6, to their performance roster and it is clear that this Rockaway company is always in motion.

“The 2026 Season will be my third season as Artistic Director of the Rockaway Theatre Company,” RTC’s Frank Caiati said. “I’ve been involved in the RTC for 22 years now (yikes), and wear many different hats from designer, director, actor and teacher.”

An Artistic Director, he explains, “is responsible for leading the Executive Board, helping shape each season, guiding the direction of the company” and making sure all its component departments are communicating, working and collaborating effectively together.

Describing each of RTC’s new shows, Caiati notes, “‘Man of La Mancha’ is inspired by (the novel) ‘Don Quixote,’ and follows an aging idealist who refuses to abandon his dreams in a harsh, cynical world, celebrating the power of hope, honor, and the courage to pursue impossible ideals.”

“‘The Crucible’, set during the Salem witch trials, explores how fear, hysteria, and personal grudges can destroy a community, while examining integrity, guilt, and the consequences of mass paranoia.”

The musical “Grease” captures “teenage life in the 1950s, following Danny and Sandy as they navigate love, identity, and peer pressure in a high-energy, nostalgic musical filled with rock-and-roll spirit.”

Moving on to laughter, Caiati describes “The Importance of Being Earnest” as “Oscar Wilde’s witty comedy of manners about mistaken identities and double lives, satirizing social conventions, romance, and the absurdity of Victorian respectability.”

Finally, RTC will bring out all its creative resources to close out the season with a bang. “Our final show of the season will be a blockbuster-as this is…roughly…our 30th year as a company. We are creating a giant musical revue called, ‘The Big Beautiful 30-ish Anniversary Spectacular,’ which will be a new and original production.”

“I am writing this show,” along with RTC’s “John Panepinto, Susan Jasper and our musical director Jeffrey Arzberger. We hope that it is a send-up of what makes the RTC great as a theatre and as a community. It will have a huge cast of RTC favorites, a rockin’ band, and some really sharp comedy.”

In addition, RTC’s Young People’s Theatre Workshop teen’s full production of “Disney’s Dare To Dream Jr.” plays this Friday/Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. It’s Young-Stars’ “Annie Jr.” runs February 6-15.

It takes a dedicated team of volunteer hands behind the curtain, on stage and all the way out to the lobby to keep RTC’s wheels turning.

“Something our patrons probably don’t realize,” Caiati explains, is “RTC produces shows two-at-a-time. Meaning one show is in mid-rehearsal while another show is in pre-production and casting. Each show gets around a month of solo-time in the theatre before opening night. Our crew works really quickly. A show will close on a Sunday matinee and within 24 hours the set is gone, the props are rehoused in storage, and the costumes are returned to stock or to the rental house. In about 72 hours, the majority of the next set is built, new costumes are brought down from our costume collection, and a new cast moves into the dressing room. Generally, a musical will rehearse for about two months, with the cast having early music rehearsals (even) before starting staging and choreography. (Comedies/dramas) rehearse for about six weeks.”

As another show moves closer to opening, yet another will start auditions, etc. “All plays move into Tech a little over a week prior to opening night,” where lights, sound, microphones, and scenic transitions are added. “This is also when we bring in our photographer to take promotional photos, our videographer to take b-roll video, and we ensure that things are rolling smoothly in our ticketing and front of house departments. All of these components roll full-speed ahead up to the invited dress rehearsal the night before opening night, when our cast and production team get a test audience before the real thing.”

The result is a slew of high quality, professional productions, which many an exiting audience member has called, “Better than Broadway.”

Besides this, RTC also offers classes open to all, including a soon to be unveiled One-Act Playwrighting Workshop, starting on Sunday mornings in March, taught by accomplished author, playwright and professor Jonathan Kravetz. Workshops on acting, improv and dance will be announced soon.

“Right now, (our) future plans for the RTC center on continuing to elevate our professionalism across all areas—from audience-experience to performer, production, and overall artistic quality,” Caiati said.

Above all, Caiati’s message to the community is, “The RTC is your theatre! The audience is just as important, if not the most important component of what we do. Thank you so much to our longtime patrons and our season pass holders-we look forward to delivering another incredible season to you!”

“Incidentally, we hear all the time from Rockaway residents, and even Breezy Point residents, that they never knew we existed.

“Well, consider this your official invitation to visit us this season and join in the fun that around 9,000 audience members have every year in our theater!”

For behind-the-scenes show peaks and info check the Rockaway Theatre Company on Facebook.

Photo by Dan Guarino.