Paper Mill Paper, The State Theatre of New Jersey, serves up Neil Simon's comedy of marriage and divorce and its aftertaste, The Dinner Party, Jan. 9-Feb. 10, marking the Jersey premiere of the Broadway hit comedy.

John Rando (Urinetown) recreates his Broadway staging with a new cast that includes Catherine Lloyd Burns, Meg Foster, Elizabeth Heflin, Michael Mastro (Side Man), Greg Mullavey ("Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman") and Steve Vinovich, who play ex-spouses invited to a mysterious dinner at a posh Paris restaurant. The comic, bittersweet play by New Yorker Simon (The Odd Couple, Brighton Beach Memoirs) is a bit of a departure: He wrote French characters in a French setting.

The post-Broadway staging is a co-production with Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami (it played there Oct. 30-Nov., 25, 2001 following the September closing of the play on Broadway). Official opening at Paper Mill, in Millburn, NJ, is Jan. 11. Designers are John Lee Beatty (his Broadway set), Maryann D. Smith (costumes) and Brian MacDevitt (lighting).

Tickets range $29-$59. For information, call (973) 376 4343.

* Visit papermill.org.