State Theatre New Jersey “Tootsie” Star Chats with Joel and Maryann in the Morning

In case you missed it, Joel and Maryann had a fun conversation this morning with New Jersey native Ashley Alexandra. Ashley plays Julie Nichols in Tootsie at State Theatre New Jersey next month. If you saw the 1982 movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Terri Garr, Bill Murray, and Jessica Lange, who played the role of Julie in the film. 

Ashley is also known for many other roles including her portrayal of Florinda in Into the Woods, Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors, and tours with singer-songwriter Tara Vaughan's She Rocks: The Women of Rock.

Ashley describes her character, "she is sweet, but I would say she's got a pretty good head on her shoulders. She is a lot stronger than I think she normally is in the movie. She's got a lot going on obviously but, she has an opinion and she is working on voicing it...so I really like the growth that she goes through throughout the show, you kind of watch her slowly stand up for herself throughout everything which is really great."

Check out Ashley's entire chat with Joel and Maryann in the Morning here...

You got to make a point to see the show Rolling Stone calls, “The laugh-out-loud funniest musical of the Broadway Season.” State Theatre New Jersey presents Tootsie in four performances, Friday, November 4th at 8 pm, two shows Saturday, November 5th at 2 pm and 8 pm, and Sunday, November 6th at 2 pm. Get tickets here.

Tootsie is a laugh-out-loud love letter to the theater that tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime. Featuring a hilarious Tony®-winning book by Robert Horn and an outrageously clever score by 2018 Tony®-winner David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), this New York Times Critic’s Pick is “a joyful delight” (The Washington Post) that’s “so packed with punchlines, it should be called a jokebox musical!” (Bloomberg). “In these turbulent times, when the world seems out of balance, we need a place to let the good times roll,” raves Rolling Stone. “TOOTSIE is it!”

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From a professor at Princeton University to a blonde socialite law student at Harvard University to a dog named Max getting the college experience to an all-acapella singing group to a genius working as a janitor at MIT, college movies can remind us of the ups and downs of earning a diploma.

The folks at Grand Canyon University did some research to find the most popular classic college movie in every state. They compiled a list of classic college movies and then sourced Google Trends data from the past five years to determine the popularity of each movie.

Here’s what they found in New Jersey:

The most searched classic college movie in New Jersey is Legally Blonde. This comedy and romance film was released in 2001! “Pitch Perfect” was the most searched classic college movie overall, followed by “Legally Blonde”, “Glory Road”, and “A Beautiful Mind”. The Northeast loved “Legally Blonde” the most. It could be because New Jersey and Pennsylvania are home to the most lawyers per resident. The South most searched for The Waterboy. Southerners take their college football seriously. places like Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas gross millions in football program revenue alone.

My favorite is multiple Academy award winner "A Beautiful Mind,' the article shares that "It is no surprise that [it] landed at the top in four states, including Connecticut, but NOT in New Jersey. The film is set primarily in Princeton, NJ.

You can find the most popular movies across the U.S. mapped here.

Here are some of the top movies that showed up in the survey...

This 2012 film released ten years ago this week "showcases cliques and conflict between acapella groups, which could especially resonate with millennials who struggled to get along with roommates and others during their time on campus." It stars Anna Kendrick who plays freshman Beca, an independent, aspiring DJ with no interest in college life. The movie also features Rebel Wilson and Elizabeth Banks.

"Adam Sandler and Kathy Bates star in “The Waterboy,” a comedy about a momma’s boy who discovers he has the talent to tackle, landing him a spot on the college football team." Sandler plays Bobby Boucher whose goal is the be the best waterboy he can be by creating the most delicious water ever.

This 2001 film was the number one selection in New Jersey. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Coolidge, Selma Blair, and Luke Wilson. This is just one of those movies for my wife and me. When it's on, we watch it.

Set at Notre Dame, this 1993 film is a true story about Rudy Ruettiger who defied all odds to attend the University of Notre Dame and play on the football team. It has a great cast with Sean Astin, John Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Charles S. Dutton, and Ned Beatty.

This film is loaded with inspirational messages typical of a Disney movie and is based on a true story. Starring Josh Lucas as Coach Don Haskins, he leads his team in a story about the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship. The movie also features a cameo of the real-life Don Haskins who plays a gas station attendant.

The is an awesome movie with an unbelievable acting performance by Russell Crowe who plays John Nash, a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician. The movie is set mainly in New Jersey at Princeton University. The movie also features Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Ed Harris, and once again, Josh Lucas.