The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson Charles Dickens & Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord

Brian McCann, Gregory Isaac &
Andrew Criss

What happens when we die?  Scott Carter gives us something to ponder in The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, &  Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord which is being presented at the Lantern Theater, 10^th and Ludlow Streets through July 2, 2017. We are given an opportunity to witness Charles Dickens, Thomas Jefferson & Count Leo Tolstoy, each cleverly dressed in clothes of their own time period, enter and subsequently be locked into a single room after their demise. The world’s greatest thinkers try to determine what they have in common that might have caused them to be sealed in the room together. Andrew Criss portrays Count Leo Tolstoy, Gregory Isaac portrays Thomas Jefferson and Brian McCann portrays Charles Dickens as they have a battle of wits.  All three have written a new Gospel but none of them can agree on the wisdom of the other’s content. They dispute the importance of spirit vs., words, vs. reason. There doesn’t appear to be anything all three can agree on beyond the fact that there will be no escape from the room until there is an agreement. After a period of prolonged pacing and pondering, each sits back down and begins a rewrite, the projected images of which appear on the walls behind them. The individual writings appear to lead to collective epiphanies. While this is billed as a new comedy by Scott Carter, the audience does not find much to make them laugh but  certainly finds much to contemplate . For more information or tickets, call 215-829-0395, visit online at www.lanterntheater.org  or visit the Lantern Box Office at 10^th and Ludlow Streets

PIFA 2018

DETAILS FOR 2018 PIFA

Festival To Take Place June 1-10, 2018

The Kimmel Center Recognized as the only U.S.- Based

Member of European Artist Network In Situ

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts announced that the Biannual Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) will take place June 1-10, 2018. Anne Ewers, Kimmel Center’s President & CEO also announced the Kimmel’s exclusive membership in In Situ – a network of European presenters specializing in art in public spaces. The Kimmel Center is the only U.S. member, and its affiliation allows the Kimmel Center to bring unique European performances to Philadelphia.  The centerpiece of PIFA 2018 will be the return of Transe Express, The French performance troupe that PIFA lovers will remember from their amazing spectacle during the 2011 Festival when more than 200,000 visitors packed the Avenue of the Arts to witness the ‘jaw-dropping sensation’ The group will bring the World Premiere of Crystal Palace- a 30-foot human chandelier with more than 50 live performers and dancers. Crystal Palace will be a full, 90 minute performance that artistically recreates the history of dance – from The Waltz and Tango to the Charleston, the Swing and Disco – through air acrobats and integrated dance groups. There is still time to view The People’s Tower In Situ in Dilworth Park. This 88-foot community built cardboard tower will be on display until Sunday at 7:00 p.m. when the community is invited to come tear it down.

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

James Lecesne

Rarely do you hear cries of “Bravo” ring throughout the theater at the end of a performance. Such accolades were cheered for several minutes after James Lecesne finished performing his one-man show at Philadelphia Theatre’s Company’s Suzanne Roberts Theatre, Broad and Lombard Streets. There are only a few more days left to see The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelksey which is scheduled to run through June 4, 2017. If you hadn’t planned on catching this production, perhaps, you should change your plans to include seeing it. James Lecesne not only wrote The Absolute Brightness… but also brilliantly depicts the nearly dozen characters in this piece, from a teenaged girl to her beauty-shop mom to the police detective trying to solve the mystery of what happened to Leonard Pelkey.  At once humorous, inciteful, and sometimes sad, the interviews conducted by the detective Lecesne portrays are unbelievably realistic as he does a quick turn and becomes another persona with a different voice, facial expression and mannerism. His performance is mesmerizing. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-985-0420 or visiting www.philatheatreco.org.