HAMILTON tickets on sale

TICKETS ON SALE

TUESDAY, JULY 9

TELECHARGE VERIFICATION REGISTRATION

AVAILABLE THROUGH THURSDAY JUNE 2

Registration verification process has been designed to separate real fans from scalpers. Registration begins now and will close on Thursday June 27 at 11:59 PM ET. Visit Telecharge.com/Hamilton to register.  Those who have registered will be notified by Telecharge via email on Wednesday July 3 if they have been selected for the opportunity to purchase tickets online .on Tuesday July 9. A limited number of tickets will also be available at the Forrest Theatre Box Office 1114 Walnut Street at 9:00 AM ET on Tuesday July 9. There is a maximum purchase of four (4) tickets per household.

HAMILTON is the story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s right hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the nation’s first Treasury Secretary. It features a score that blends hip hop, jazz, rap, R & B and Broadway.

To purchase tickets online:

        Visit Telecharge.com/Hamilton between June 24-27 to register

        Check your email Wednesday July 3 to see if you have been chosen to purchase

             tickets online July 9. Follow the instructions on the email.

To purchase tickets in person at the Forrest Theatre Box Office:

         Guests may begin lining up and receiving wristbands for in-person purchases at                               7:00 AM

             There will be a limited number of tickets sold.  Box office doors will open at 

              9:00 AM.           

          Wristbands will be color-coded and randomly assigned to 30 minute time slots                           throughout the day. Guests do not need to stay onsite but can return to the

     Forrest Theatre Box Office for their assigned time slot.

Please note: Registering does NOT guarantee you will be verified or can purchase tickets

    

Cirque Du Soleil CRYSTAL

hockey ramps

Cirque du Soleil CRYSTAL is appearing at the Wells Fargo Center through June 23, 2019 and will move to the PPL Center in Allentown from June 26-30. This is a Cirque show like none you have ever seen. Think of it as Cirque du Soleil meets the Ice Capades. Magnificent doesn’t begin to describe the set as the lights change it into so many different backgrounds and the ice covered floor with the trickery of lighting becomes first a cracked pond, then an underwater paradise. Crystal is bored with her everyday life and is swept away by her imagination. Falling through cracked ice she is free to imagine a whole new world at her disposal. She is given a pen which helps her write some of her scenarios. The scenes are numerous with each one more spectacular than the one before it. There is a juggler on skates who Crystal encourages and is joined by other skaters and jugglers.  Crystal’s stunt double Emma Stones appears on the trapeze so seamlessly that the audience might not even realize that it isn’t Lisa Mochizuki, the solo figure skater who is performing the amazing acrobatic feats. An acrobat balances upside down on a tower of chairs as they are handed to her one at a time. If that isn’t exciting enough, the chairs are  scuttled across the ice. Crystal joins ice hockey players as she skates onto the ice in a Flyers’ Jersey The ice hockey players skate up and down ramps that turn into an no-holds-barred electrifying pin-ball machine game. An absolutely gorgeous moment occurs when a pianist is playing a piano as it is wheeled  onto the ice with a violinist sitting atop and three couples in formal attire dance around the ice to the lovely music which is played. An aerialist descends from the ceiling as Crystal imagines her romantic moment with him. There are many other captivating moments. Don’t miss this mesmerizing performance. For information and tickets, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/crystal

CATS

Brandon Michael Nase as
Old Deuteronomy &
North American Tour Company
of CATS

CATS is appearing at the Forrest Theatre through June 30^th as part of the Kimmel Center’s Broadway Philadelphia season. The North American tour comes on the heels of a successful Broadway revival 30 years after its immensely popular award-laden Broadway run. Some shows just shouldn’t stay off the stage for long and CATS is one of them. From the moment the house lights were lowered, the overture began, and twinkling lights blinked against a darkened backdrop emulating cats’ eyes perched throughout the darkness, I was hooked. The loose story line is that one special cat is chosen each year to be reborn. On this singular day, cats vie for the right to be proven worthy enough to be chosen. The musical numbers are, of course, marvelous. And not just Memory for which CATS is well known. The other 18 musical   numbers are “the cat’s meow” so to speak.. The dancing is the raison d’etre of the production. The choreography is excellent and the dancers are outstanding. They are lithe and agile and when they are prowling around on all fours, it is easy to forget that they are not actually cats. When all are dancing in a routine it is with a great deal of precision and exactitude. There are many jaw-dropping moments when cast members leap into the air and legs go jutting up with meticulousness. By pleasant contrast, The Old Gumbie Cat is a striking tap routine. Tony d’Aelio’s role as Mungojerie accompanying Rose Iannaccone’s Rumpelteazer is one of exquisite balance in a tumbling cat burglar routine. Thanks to the brilliance of the lighting, designer Natasha Katz, Tion Gaston’s Mr.Mistoffelees becomes truly magical. If you have seen CATS before, you will want to delight in the cats’ performances one more time.  If you have never seen it, don’t miss this opportunity to see this delight for your eyes and heaven for your feet. Tickets can be purchased by calling 212-239-6200, visiting telecharge.com, or the Forrest Theatre Box Office at 1114 Walnut Street. Group sales for 10 or more can be purchased by calling 866 302-0995 or visiting www.broadwayinbound.com. For more information, visit www.kimmelcenter.org.

Minors

Terran Scott, Mekhi Williams & Grace Tarves

The Lantern Theater Company, located at 10^th and Ludlow Streets, is presenting the world premiere of Minors, a new musical by Kittson O’Neil and Robert Kaplowitz. This is the inaugural work for the writing team and perhaps it was too ambitious for an initial piece. The concept is well developed – getting a peek into the dreadful “kids for cash” scandal in Luzerne Country, Pa. where a Judge sentenced teens to for-profit detention centers for minor infractions and received kick-backs in return. Most of the story is told through the lyrics of the 18 songs but the music is uneven at best. Either the music is too harsh and jarring or much of the cast is miscast and cannot properly sing the lyrics. The acting is well done and the story is well told but I have never before attended a musical in which the audience did not applaud to some degree after the numbers that were sung. Stark silence after after a big production is chilling. The exception was found in Act II with the song Money sung by Kelli (Terran Scott) after she was freed from probation, although the program interchanges the song she sings with Amber's  (Grace Tarves). Veteran actors Ben Dibble and Jennie Eisenhower had little difficulty with the scope of the music, but it should be tweaked a little more if this show is to be a success. For more information or tickets, call 215-829-0395 or visit www.lanterntheater.org.

The Improvised Shakespeare Company

Founded 14 years ago in Chicago in 2005 by Blaine Swen, The Improvised Shakespeare Company is an improv troupe with a unique hook. While many improv groups depend on the audience to help with a theme or a catch phrase for each of a variety of skits, The Improvised Shakespeare Company does an entire improvised 80 minute play, using elements from Shakespeare's plays based on a few words thrown out from the audience. The Company is composed of 7 cast members, five of whom are on stage in any production. Although every production is different because it is based on the words that the audience has given for the title, there will be similarities in all. Every show begins with a cast member reciting a prologue in rhyming couplets. Sometimes there will be songs in rhyme. Throughout the play there will be elements of Elizabethan Shakespeare. Characters might speak with “thee’s” and “thou’s”. There may be star-crossed lovers, a king, or a witch, some character or characters which can be readily identified as existing in a Shakespearean play. All the actors have performed Shakespeare on stage and have studied his language.  When asked how the  group has grown over the 14 years it has been together, Blaine replied that the productions were more of a parody in the beginning but members of the group began studying Shakespeare more seriously, working with professors, and taking vocabulary quizzes. All of this has made the metaphors they speak richer and more fun and their productions have become “ a love letter to Shakespeare.” Now based in La., the troupe is  on a national tour, and has performed in several venues, among them, the Denver Center for The Performing Arts Center, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and in SoHo London before their scheduled appearance in Philadelphia at the Perelman Theatre on Friday June 7 and Saturday June 8, 2019. For more information or tickets, call 215-893-1999 or visit www.kimmelcenter.org.