Assassins

 

The Arden Theatre Company kicks off their 36th Season with Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins. This Tony Award - Winning Musical begins September  21, 2023, with an Opening Night on September 27. It has already been extended to October 22, 2023. Original and humorous, Assassins  tells the story of Americans consumed by grievance and a desperate need to be heard.  Arden’s production of Assassins is the 16^th time they have presented a show by Sondheim. There is an all-star cast including but not limited to Scott Greer, Katherine Fried,  Darren Micael Hengst, Monica Horan and Christopher Patrick Mullen. The outstanding production design team includes Paige Hathaway- Scenic Design, Thom Weaver - Lighting Design,  Elizabeth Atkinson - Sound Design,  Jorge  Cousineau -Video Design, and Ryan Touhey – Music Director/Orchestrations. For more information or tickets, call 215- 922-1122; visit online at www.ardentheatre.org; or visit in person at the Arden box office at  the Arden Theatre Company at 40 N. 2^nd Street.

 

Tartuffe

        Frank X and Jered McLenigan

The Lantern Theater Company is producing Moliere’s Tartuffe, translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur, on the stage at St. Stephen’s Theater through October 8, 2023. What a delight! Meghan Jones’ scenic designs are masterful in their simplicity and their hint of grandeur with  a multitude of entrances and exits for the actors. Veteran actor Frank X doesn’t disappoint in his role of Orgon, head of the household.  He’s thoroughly besotted and under the spell of the falsely pious and malevolent Tartuffe. 3-time Barrymore Award winner Jered McLenigan  brilliantly portrays Tartuffe. With a slight shift  of body language and change of  the register of his voice, Tartuffe’s character fluctuates from supplicant  to bold leader back to coy charmer. His facial expressions are a marvel and the audience laughs in appreciation. The verse itself is cause for laughter on many occasions. Additionally, there are numerous instances of situational humor. Lee Minora’s  Dorine is hysterical when she sits on a step with a bag of popcorn to watch a  spat between Morgan Charece Hall’s Mariane and Dave Johnson’s Valere. For more information or tickets to this captivating romp, call 215-829-0395 or visit online at www.lanterntheater.org.

Elvis-A Musical Revolution

 

“Elvis- A Musical Revolution- kicks off Walnut Street Theatre’s 215^th Season on October 3^rd with the Press Opening Night on Wednesday, October 11, at 7:00 pm. Individual tickets and subscription tickets are on sale now. This exciting musical celebrates the icon who changed the history of music. It is packed with his greatest hits, including “Hound Dog” and “All Shook Up”. The production features a cast of 17 performers, both some Walnut Street regulars and some new to the WST stage. Lucas Pastrana will play Elvis Presley in his first appearance on a Walnut Street Stage. Jenna Pastuszek, playing both Priscilla Presley and an earlier girlfriend, makes her mainstage debut after having appeared  in Walnut’s Independence Studio on 3. Elvis’ mother Gladys is a Walnut Street veteran, Rebecca Robbins, most recently seen in last season’s holiday production of Cinderella. Elvis-A Musical Revolution begins October 3 and runs through November 5, 2023. For more information or tickets, call 215-574-3550, or visit only at WalnutStreetTheatre.org or Ticketmaster.com

 

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

 

The Arden Theatre, located at 40 N. 2^nd Street, is presenting the uproarious 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee through an extended June 25, 2023. An engaging ensemble cast is joined by 4 members of the audience who participate with the others onstage  in the Spelling Bee. Each member of the cast has his own method to help him cope with the stresses of the competition. They range from writing on the arm, quietly speaking into a hand, beating out the rhythm of the word on a chest, to using a “magic foot” to spell the word on the floor before spelling it aloud. This show is a riot, filled with situational humor. Teenage angst aside, every member of the cast has a story to tell and the stories are  brilliantly told in song. The Comfort Counselor (Henry Gainza) and the moderator Rona Lisa Peretti (Patricia Noonan) have their solo moments in Act 1 while the contestants have their solo moments in Act 2. The music is clever; the voices are superb; and the comedy is  often unexpected. This is a must-see show for the end of the theater season. For more information or tickets, visit www.ardentheatre.org.

 

 

Disney's The Lion King

 

Disney Theatrical Productions, along with the Kimmel Cultural Campus and the Shubert Organization, announces the 4-week return engagement of Disney’s The Lion King at the Academy of Music on the Kimmel Cultural Campus. After 25 years on Broadway, The Lion King continues to be one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. It has won numerous Tony awards in 1996, including, Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical. The Broadway score features Elton John and Tim Rice’s songs from The Lion King animated film, along with three new songs by John and Rice and additional South African material. Disney’s The Lion King can be seen from August 16 – September 10, 2023 at the Academy of Music. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999 or visiting online at www.kimmelculturalcampus.org. In-person tickets may be purchased daily from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the Academy of Music Box Office at 240  S . Broad Street.

Philadelphia Theatre Company's 2023-24 Season

 

The Philadelphia Theatre Company, located in the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 South Broad Street, will open its 2023-24 Season with Macbeth in Stride. This Philadelphia Premiere is presented in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company and is written and performed by Whitney White. Whitney examines what it means to be an ambitious Black woman through the lens of Lady Macbeth. This 90- minute rock musical uses pop, gospel and R & B to trace the arc of this Shakespearean woman while lifting up contemporary Black female power and desire. The show will run October 31- November 12, 2023, with an  opening night on Wednesday, November 1, at 7:00 pm.

The second show of the season is also a  Philadelphia Premiere. Cost of Living is the winner of a Pulitzer Prize and multiple Tony Award nominations. It traces two relationships: one between a wealthy graduate student with cerebral palsy and his female caregiver and the other between a woman recovering from a terrible accident and her ex-husband. It can be seen February 2- February 18, 2024 with the Opening Night on Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune

By four-time Tony Winner Terence McNally

This play has been on Broadway three separate times. It is a tale of middle-aged love and desire and takes place over the course of one night.

April 26 – May 19, 2024 with Opening Night Wednesday, May 1, 7:00 pm.

World Premiere

The Duat by Roger Q. Mason

The Duat is a psychological portrait of Cornelius Johnson, a FBI counterintelligence officer, in a battle for his very soul. Using speech, drumming and choreography, this one-person world premiere is a story of redemption.

Subscription tickets are now on sale. For tickets or more details, visit www.philatheatreco.org or call 215-985-0420.

 

 

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

The Kimmel Cultural Campus and the Shubert Organization will present the Philadelphia Premiere of the 10-timeTony Award winner, Moulin Rouge ! The Musical   from July 5 – 30, 2023. As part of the 2022-23 Broadway Philadelphia series, Moulin Rouge! The Musical tells the story of star-crossed lovers who fall in love at the Moulin Rouge, a cabaret in Paris. A well-known dance hall in the Roaring  Twenties, the venue became a theatre where  many French and International artists stepped into the limelight. The musical not only  includes songs from the 2001 film of the same name, but also mashups of hits from artists like Adele, Pink and Katy Perry.  Moulin Rouge !The Musical is currently playing on Broadway at the Al Hirschfield Theatre where it opened to rave reviews in 2019.

For more information or tickets, call 215-893-1993 or visit online at www.kimmelculturalcampus.org.  

In-person tickets can be purchased daily  from 10 a.m. - 6  p.m. at the Academy of Music Box Office located at 240 S. Broad Street.