CURTIS OPERA THEATRE at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Broad & Spruce Sts. The Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concert marks the end of this season for the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. A gala party will precede the dramatic finale consisting of Russian masterworks i.e. Stravinsky’s fleeting Fireworks and Tchaikovsky’s gloriously impassioned Pathetique flank a modern classic, the U.S premiere of a Concerto Doppio (double concert) by Penderecki. Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Kensho Watanabe conduct. April 13: 215.893.1999.
EGO PO, Christ Church Neighborhood House, 2nd & Market Streets. Ego Po marks the end of their 20th season with “GINT” an adaptation of Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” directed by Lane Savadove (artistic director). This season, the company has ably demonstrated its ability to radically deconstruct Ibsen’s plays in unique and creative ways. For their next step Ibsen is moved from mountainous Norway to the mountains of Kentucky. Yes, Romulus Linney (Philly native and award winning writer) has re-imagined this fantasy as it might have happened in Appalachia! Mountain trolls become talking hogs, nature’s voices become mountain lights and the devil is now a hitchhiking hippie. A few of the well-known actors include Sean Lally, Cindy Spitko, Sarah Schol and Ed Swidey. April 30 to May 11: 267.673.1414.
THEATRE EXILE, Studio X, 13th & Reed Streets. “ANNAPURNA” is, of course, the name of a mountain almost impossibly difficult to climb. What an apt metaphor for the marriage and life of the two characters in the Philly premiere of Sharr White’s intimate play! Two of our favorite actors, Pearce Bunting and Catherine Slusar, ably directed by Joe Canuso, portray a husband and wife torn apart twenty years ago by an event he can’t remember and she can’t forget. Characteristically for the Theatre Exile team, we first meet our hero, almost naked, strapped to a portable oxygen tank, greeting his long missing wife at his trailer door. Reconciliation is in the air but so is the difficulty of scaling a mountain of unforgettable pain. April 17 to May 11: 215.218.4022.
WALNUT STREET THEATRE, 825 Walnut Street. INDEPENDENCE STUDIO ON 3. This small theatre is overflowing with goodies! Two excellent productions are using this small but user-friendly space. Here’s our report on the first group. We just saw their wonderful production of “THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE” written by Jim Cartwright and directed by Dan Olmstead. L.V. (LITTLE VOICE) is a painfully shy young girl who spends all of her time in her room singing along to her father’s old record collection. Ellie Mooney is a perfect choice for this role. She sings like an angel in every style from Patsy Cline to Judy Garland and more! Her mother (Denise Whelan) is as vulgar and loud as L.V. is shy and quiet. The next man in her life (played with delightful vigor by Tony Lawton) hears Little Voice and thinks he’s found his pot of gold. Every member of the cast is top notch. To April 13: 215.574.3550.
The next occupant of this space is a great musical comedy! It ran for thousands of performances off-b’way and has been a hit all over the world, in almost every language! “I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE” will remind you of the secret thoughts of lovers everywhere-yes the ones you thought about but never would admit to! The 4 person, dynamite cast of Fran Prisco, Ellie Mooney, Chris Sutton and Lyn Philistine is directed by Sutton. If you’ve loved & lost or were too afraid to try you’ll see a bit of yourself in this play-but please, as much as you’re tempted, don’t sing along (at least not loudly)! April 29 to June 29. 215.574.3550.
