This Is The Week That Is

Ensemble Cast

1812 Productions presents their iconic political satire This Is That Week That Is through January 5, 2019. Customary humorous favorites – Patsy on the Stoop, The Man in the Lobby, Audience participation, and the News Desk are interspersed throughout the production and are grist for the traditional theatre-going audience member who looks forward to seeing this show year after year.  The writers and 6-member ensemble cast put a new spin on the annual revue of political highlights and headlines which changes daily. With a salute to well-known Broadway favorites- Traditions, Memories, and Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, cast members dress up in appropriate attire and sing and dance to hysterical satirical lyrics. Adding to the fun and hilarity of the evening, there are several moments when male cast members impersonate women in the news. Melania Trump and Elizabeth Warren were a hoot but Rob Tucker’s impersonation of Oprah had the audience laughing and screaming in appreciation. This Is the Week That Is is a delightful way to ring in your holiday season. For more information or tickets, call 215-592-9560 or visit online at www.1812productions.org.

The Heir Apparent

Chris Anthony, Adam Hammet &
Leonard C. Haas

The Lantern Theatre Company, located adjacent to St. Stephen’s Church, 10^th and Ludlow Streets, is presenting The Heir Apparent through December 16, 2018. Scenic Designer Lance Kniskern has provided an elegant set, befitting a wealthy codger (Leonard C. as Geronte) who appears to be on the wane. A beleaguered nephew (Chris Anthony) who needs to inherit his uncle’s fortune in order to rid himself of debt and marry his sweetheart is on hand to persuade his uncle to write a will in his favor. Servants Crispin (Dave Johnson) and Lisette (Lee Minora) want to wed as well but also need some money to do so. Mary Martello (Madame Argante) wants to ensure that her daughter Isabelle (Ruby Wolf) marries someone with money. Scruple (Adam Hammet) is the attorney with scruples, trying to ensure a will is written and signed properly. David Ives wrote The Heir Apparent in rhyming couplets, adapting it from a work by French playwright Jean-François Regnard. There is a dichotomy… Against a sophisticated background and well-gilded set, the dialogue is riddled with bathroom humor, and scatological gems. The play is both light-hearted and silly as characters plot to vie for Geronte’s fortune and the audience loves it. Plot after plot goes awry ensuring more excitement from the audience. For more information or tickets to this delightful romp, call 215-829-0395 or visit online at www.lanterntheater.org.

Matilda

Laura Giknis & Ian Merrill Peakes

The Walnut Street Theatre, located at 825 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa., is presenting Matilda The Musical through January 6^th, 2019 on its mainstage.  Winner of 7 Olivier Awards in London and 11 Tony nominations on Broadway, Matilda The Musical at the Walnut is taking  Philadelphia audiences by storm. Jemma Bleu Greenbaum portrayed Matilda in the opening night production. Her remarkable stage presence belies her years. Ellie Biron will portray Matilda on weekend and holiday nights. There are many moving parts to this tale of a child whose parents cannot appreciate the treasure they have in their midst, preferring to believe that a love of books is stupid. There is an ensemble of children who are in Matilda’s class, additional children who are Matilda’s age or younger, and an ensemble of older school children. Thanks to excellent choreography, these children enter and exit the stage seamlessly, gathering in groups small and large to sing and dance throughout the production. It is a joy to watch. Lyn Philistine and Christopher Sutton as Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood are over-the top dullard parents that you love to hate.  While she is portrayed as a dance enthusiast, it is Christopher Sutton who demonstrates incredible moves of his own. Laura Giknis (Miss Honey) is the personification of the perfect kindergarten teacher with a magical, lilting voice. Ian Merrill Peakes' performance as the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull has everyone in stitches. Not only are the lines inherently humorous, he vamps with the pit orchestra and demonstrates amazing feats of athleticism on the stage floor. There are many reasons to see Matilda The Musical, and none not to. For more information and tickets, call 215-574-3550, 800-892-2787, or visit online at WalnutStreetTheatre.org or Ticketmaster.

The Rivals

Emma Stratton, Erin Mackey &
Harriet Harris

The Bristol Riverside Theatre, located at 120 Radcliffe Street, Bristol, Pa., is presenting The World Premiere of the musical The Rivals through November 18, 2018. Broadway-bound, the production features an all-star ensemble cast with myriad experiences on Broadway. This is a delightful farce that is entertaining on many levels. It takes the audience on a journey with Lydia Languish (Erin Mackey) who wants to forego her fortune to marry for love but she must deal with her aunt, Mrs. Malaprop (Harriet Harris). The period costumes are marvelous. The scenery changes are clever both in their simplicity as well as the intricacy of their movement. Both the frequency and the tenor of the malapropisms uttered by Mrs. Malaprop are hysterical. The musical lyrics are often ludicrous, causing recurrent belly-laughs to erupt throughout the theatre. Mrs. Malaprop’s “A Young Lady Today” brought the house down as did Faulkland’s “I’m Not Too Sensitive.” There are, however, other beautiful solos and fantastic three and four-part harmonies throughout the production.  The dance routines and the actors’ athleticism on stage are a joy to watch. This is truly a brilliant production. For more information or tickets, call 215-785-0100 or visit online at brtstage.org.

Fiddler on the Roof

male ensemble dancing in wedding  scene

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is presenting the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof  through   October 28, 2018 at the Academy of Music. In keeping with the underlying theme of “tradition” which runs throughout the production, Broadway Philadelphia’s opening night production of Fiddler was preceded by a Philadelphia tradition - the march of the Quaker City String Band parading down Broad Street from the Kimmel Center to the Academy of Music strumming highlights from the show. Fiddler on the Roof revamped is fresh and delightful. The simplicity of the sets is ingenious. Against a stark background, buildings are dropped from the ceiling to denote a new scene and free-standing doors fire up the imagination. In contrast, the dream sequence, is bedecked with outrageous costumes. It is simply brilliant with its special effects of billowing smoke and lightning. Yehezkel Lazarov gives an exceptionally strong performance as Tevya.  Maite Uzal,(Golde) shines in "Do you love me?". When the entire cast sings together, the result is rapturous. Additional highlights of the production are the extraordinary dance numbers of the male ensemble. Their routines are breathtaking. Fiddler on the Roof ends with a new beginning as the entire cast is onstage circling around in spectacular silhouette while the orchestra plays strands of the overture. For more information or tickets to perhaps the best musical of all time,call 215-893-1999, visit www.kimmelcenter.org or Kimmel Center Box Office.

Sweat

 Matteo Scammell, Rich  Hebert,
Walter DeShields & Kittson O'Neill

The Philadelphia Theatre Company, housed in the Suzanne Roberts Theatre at 480 S. Broad Street, is presenting the Pulitzer Prize winning drama, Sweat through November 4, 2018. Based on the hardships a blue-collar town faces when it loses a good percentage of its industry, Sweat gives an intimate look at several members of the community and what they have to do individually and collectively to try to stay afloat when jobs are lost and the choices put on the table are to quit or take a pay cut.  The brilliant nine-member ensemble cast, with their combined Barrymore awards and nominations, directing credits, major film spots and recurring TV roles, greatly contribute to the excellence of this production. The acting is superb. Another commanding cog in the wheel is the outstanding choreography of the intricate fight scene. Yet a third item that will have theatre-goers running out to get tickets for this performance is the multi-media approach employed by scenic and projection designer Christopher Ash. Although most of the action takes place in a bar, playwright Lynn Nottage weaves between the time periods of 2000 and 2008, setting up a mystery of sorts. The multi-media presentations of TV broadcasts and projection collages help to define the politics of the times in which the mystery occurs. For more information or tickets to this exciting production, call 215-985-0420, visit the box office or visit online at philatheatreco.org.

Broken Biscuit

Michael Macri,  Leigha Kato &
Amanda Jill Robinson

1812 Productions, Philadelphia’s all comedy theatre comedy, is presenting the American premiere of Broken Biscuits through October 28, 2018 at Plays & Players Theater, 17^th and Delancey Street. Written by Tom Wells, Broken Biscuits toured the UK in 2016. Set in a working class neighborhood of Yorkshire, England, three 16 year-old outcasts plan their last summer together before college. Megan (Amanda Jill Robinson) is fed up with being branded “the fat one”. Her friend Holly (Leigha Kato) is shy and Ben (Michael Macri) is gay. Megan decides the group will become “cool” by forming a band, even though none of them is a proficient musician. This piece is an excellent study of teenage leadership and how fragile it is. Ms. Robinson’s character portrays strong leadership skills. She is very persuasive to her reluctant friends and sets up a weekly band rehearsal in her shed. Ms. Kato’s Holly is like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. Shy in the beginning of the performance, her character blossoms near the end, singing a song she has written about a boy who comes to her cash register at work. Michael Macri’s character, Ben, comes to terms with his character’s sexuality. Megan does not react well to her friends’ independence. The set is very creative. The shed has a multitude of items hanging on its walls, some of which are useful to Megan and her friends; some of which are useful only to anyone storing tools in a shed. A poster with rip-off numbers indicates the passage of time. Characters leaving by the rear door of the shed and making quick costume changes indicate time passage as well. This is a first-rate production demonstrating the trials of coming of age. For more information or tickets, call 215-5923-9560 or visit www.1812productions.com