A Play, A Pie, and A Pint at The Red Room-Society Hill Playhouse, 507 South Street. Last October we wrote about this wonderful company. For the month of March, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6:30PM to 7:30PM, they will be presenting four, one-act, one-hour plays served with a beverage and a pizza slice. This time around Tiny Dynamite, Inis Nua and Iron Age Theater Companies will jointly present a month of exciting plays. March 6-28: 800.838.3006
Act 11 Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Avenue, Ambler, PA. The Philly Premiere of “Time Stands Still” by Donald Margulies is directly from a Broadway hit drama. It follows a photojournalist and a foreign correspondent engaged in a partnership based on telling tough stories and making a difference in the world. The prospect of a quietly conventional life changes everything for this adventurous couple. Directed by Bud Martin, starring Susan McKey, Kevin Kelley, Megan McDermott and featuring Bruce Graham (yes he is the famous local writer!). February 14- March 11: 215.654.0200
Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe Street- Bristol, PA. “A Raw Space” by award winning Jon Marans premieres with direction by Susan Atkinson and an ensemble cast. What else could you call Keith Baker, Madi DiStefano, Jack Koenig and Annette Sanders? Two high powered couples, during a private design competition, became part of a cat-and-mouse game. In an elegant interplay between architectural design and the architecture of a marriage, a woman, her husband, her best friend and her best friend’s husband unknowingly participate in a game in which the stakes are careers and loves. To February 19: 215.785.0100.
Curtis Symphony Orchestra at The Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad Street (Verizon Hall). Prokofiev’s soaring wartime Symphony No. 5, Curtis Alumnus Leonard Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety and former Bernstein student Richard Danielpour’s Toward The Splendid City provide the glorious music for this program. Harth-Bedoya and Parameswaran conduct while Leon McCawley (’95) is the featured pianist. Sunday, February 12: 215.893.7902
Interact Theatre Company, 2030 Sansom Street. Forget the Occupy Wall Street Movement! “Microcrisis” written by Mike Lew answers the really big questions about the next global economic disaster. This regional premiere imagines a global lending scheme using the Nobel Prize winning concept of microcredit, which goes wild and ravages the world economy! A slick big-vision banker and crowds of innocent do-gooders try desperately to stay one step ahead of the game while keeping you laughing. This satire seems oddly relevant in light of our own economic situation. Directed by Seth Rozin – featuring Frank X, Hannah Gold, Dave Johnson, Bi Jean Ngo and Maia Desanti. To February 12: 215.568.8079
The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Walnut Street Theatre Studio 5, 825 Walnut Street. I.R.C. has been called the tiniest company with the longest name. It’s also the company most likely to present a play leaving you wishing for more, even though you’ve never seen or heard of it. In Nikolai Gogol’s “Marriage: An Utterly Improbably Occurrence In Two Acts” the business of marriage is the subject of a hilarious cosmic farce. The burning question is which suitor will win the girl’s heart and dowry. Directed by Tina Brock the cast includes I.R.C. regulars John D’Alonzo, Michael Dura, Tomas Dura, Kristen Egermeier, Ethan Lipkin, Sonja Robson and Tina Brock. February 8-26: Tickets at www.idiopathicridiculopathyconsortium.org
The Laugh Out Loud Theatre Company, at The Shubin Theatre – 407 Bainbridge Street. How’s this for a Valentine’s Day idea? Take someone you love, or like, to see “All I Ask Of You”. You’ll hear some of the most beautiful music that ever graced the Broadway stage or the silver screen. Beautiful voices from Philly and New York City will sing songs from Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady, Music Man, Oklahoma, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and South Pacific and more! February 9-19: To reserve tickets go to www.JDSentertainments.com
The Pennsylvania Ballet, at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad Street.” Pushing Boundaries: Forsythe & Neenan” is not only a dynamic program of three contemporary works but also the last chance to see Principal Dancer Riolama Lorenzo. After 15 years she will retire after the February 12 performance of ”Keep”. The first work, William Forsythe’s “The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude” premiered last February. Five dances interpret the last movement of Schubert’s 9th. The second work “Keep” by Matthew Neenan explores love and relationships through a passionate pas de deux. Neenan’s last work is “11:11”, set to six songs and performed by a cast of twenty. February 9-12: 215.893.1999
Peter Nero & The Philly Pops, @ The Kimmel Center-Broad & Spruce Streets. Nero and the Pops begin their 33rd season by celebrating award winning movie music with A Night at the Oscars. Epic scores from Academy Award winning and nominated movies will bring tears to your eyes, have you rolling with laughter, and/or arouse the fire in your heart in time for Valentine’s Day. Vocalists Jodi Benson is the voice of Ariel in the Oscar-winning film The Little Mermaid. She received a Tony Award and a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actress in Crazy For You. Sal Viviano is a Broadway star and film star having appeared in The Three Musketeers, Falsettos, Romance/Romance, City Of Angels, The Life, and The Full Monty. February 8-12: 215.893.1999
Theatre Exile, @ Studio X, 1340 S. 13th Street. “Knives In Hens”, a Philly Premiere by Scottish playwright David Harrower is a play filled with mystery and poetry. A young couple’s love is challenged by an outsider, plunging the three into an erotic love triangle. Exile’s new staging uses a non-traditional relationship between audience and performers to envelop theatergoers in a total dramatic experience. Directed by associate- artistic director Brenna Geffers, “Knives” features Ross Beschler, Emilie Krause, and Jered McLenigan. February 9-March 4: 215.218.4022
University of the Arts –Ira Brind School of Theater Arts at The Arts Bank Theater, 601 South Broad Street. Students and faculty will share the stage with a very special guest -Tony Award nominee Forrest McClendon in a concert performance of ”Big River.” In this adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, McClendon plays runaway slave Jim, Adam Hoyak, a UArts student, plays Huck Finn Ben Dibble( a faculty member) plays the Duke and Frank Anzalone (also a faculty member) directs. Set to an award winning bluegrass and country music score Huck, Tom, and Jim discover friendship and freedom on the Ohio River. February 23-25: 215.717.6450
Villanova Theatre, Vasey Hall – Lancaster & Ithan Avenues, Villanova, PA. If a work of art ever left you feeling awe-struck, irate, titillated, amused or confused you will love “Museum” by Tina Howe. Director Joanna Rotte parades nearly 50 colorful characters through an art exhibit. Art aficionados, culture snobs, unruly undergrads and one overworked security guard, are brought together on the final day of a group show at a major museum. We get to witness the inspired comedy of people looking at art even at the price of wreaking havoc on the exhibit. February 7-19: 610.519.7474
Walnut Street Theatre –Independence Studio On 3, 825 Walnut Street. Ethel Waters was one of our own. Tough, saucy and talented she made the transition from Chester, Pa. to New York night life by singing and dancing up a storm. She became the second Afro- American to be nominated for an Academy Award. This world premiere of “Ethel!” directed by Kenneth Roberson, written by and starring Broadway’s Terry Burrell is the story of a woman who came from nothing. With no official training Ethel Waters performed on both Harlem and Broadway stages and was at one time the highest paid performer on Broadway. Be prepared for a great story and songs like Dinah, Taking A Chance on Love and Stormy Weather. February 21-March 11: 215.574.3550
