West Windsor residents and real-life sister and brother Cindy Sherbin Chait and Joe Sherbin appear in “Curtains” at Off-Broadstreet Theater in Hopewell through August 10. This is the first time they have shared the stage since they were both in “The Apple Tree” at Villagers Theater many years ago. “I am really enjoying this experience and the stage with Joe,” Cindy says. “It really adds another layer to the whole adventure to have someone there who I am so close to and with whom I feel so comfortable.”
The musical murder mystery begins during a pre-Broadway production in Boston. As the body count grows, the entire cast and crew are possible suspects. The show’s producer, Carmen Bernstein, played by Chait, decides that “the show must go on.” The show’s driving force, the bigger than life director, Christopher Belling, is played by Sherbin, who is makes his OBT debut. Chait returns to the OBT stage after more than a 20-year hiatus.
The show features music by John Kander and Fred Ebb and a book by Rupert Holmes. The show opened on Broadway in 2007 and received eight Tony award nominations, with David Hyde Pierce winning for best performance by a leading actor in a musical.
Raised in Highland Park, Sherbin graduated from Rutgers and studied piano at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has been teaching music and performing for the past 30 years.
After living in Red Bank for 15 years, he moved to West Windsor two years ago. “I am the uncle (and piano teacher) of two very musical kids,” says Sherbin.
His sister, also born and raised in Highland Park, graduated from Rutgers with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in acting; and a master’s in education. She taught elementary school in Red Bank and then at a private school in New York City.
Chait, a triple threat, is proficient in acting, dancing, and singing. She has studied acting in college as well as in New York City. She has danced since she was a young child, and one of her favorite classes in New York City was dancing for singers and actors. “My main forte is singing, and I still study in New York City,” she says.
Over the years she has performed as Sarah Brown in “Guys and Dolls,” Elaine in “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Cinderella’s Mother in “Into the Woods,” Eve in “The Apple Tree,” Muriel in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” and in the title role of “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Kelsey Theater. Chait has also been on stage in Plays-in-the-Park in Edison, Villagers Theater in Franklin, and the Mighty Oak Players in Monroe.
Her husband, David, works in finance in New York City. Her son, Josh, 10, is in fourth grade at Village School; and daughter, Kayla, 8, is in second grade at Dutch Neck School. Cindy is a board member of the Dutch Neck PTA.
“We moved to West Windsor when I was pregnant,” she says. “We fell in love with West Windsor because of nice backyards, a good school system, and the train to New York.”
Chait has only recently returned to the stage “post children.” Her first performance was in a Rogers and Hart revue in Monroe. “I was bitten by the bug again,” she says. “Being on stage is almost like an addiction, and I feel so much energy when performing.”
— Lynn Miller
Curtains, Off-Broadstreet Theater, 5 South Greenwood Avenue, Hopewell. Through August 10. $29.50 to $31.50 includes dessert. 609-466-2766 or www.off-broadstreet.com.
