Philadelphia Spotlight: July 2005

In Philadelphia, the Fourth of July is such a big deal that the city doesn’t take just a single day to celebrate, but an entire week. However, after all the mega-rock concerts, parades, speeches, and fireworks are finished, it’s back to business as usual for the area’s theaters — which means an intriguing assortment of new plays, revivals, and very special special events.

Nabbing the world premiere of Frank Wildhorn’s new musical Waiting for the Moon (July 16-31) is quite a coup for The Lenape Regional Arts Performing Arts Center’s artist director Vince Marini. This latest offering from the composer of Jekyll and Hyde and Dracula focuses on the glamorous lives of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (played by Tony Award winner Jarrod Emick and the lovely Lauren Kennedy). Wildhorn’s diverse score reportedly recalls the music of America’s classic old musicals.

The multi-cultural Contemporary Stage Company has recently attracted such Broadway stars as Lynn Redgrave (who won a Barrymore Award for their Collected Stories) and Tony Award winner Richard Easton. For the company’s upcoming production of Jan de Hartog’s classic comedy, The Fourposter (July 6-17), the Wilmington-based company’s 25 year-old artistic director Keith Powell has not only reset the play in Harlem, but he’s nabbed Keith David (a Tony nominee for Jelly’s Last Jam) and TV favorite Jasmine Guy for the roles originally made famous by Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.

Having taken time off from her playwriting career to pen the screenplay for Thirsty — an entry at the recent Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival — Gin Hobbs returns to the stage with Trojan Wars (July 6-21, 2nd Stage at the Adrienne). Once again for Hobbs, the subject is the female body — in this case the unwanted pregnancy of the once-carefree teenager Charlotte. Hobbs’ plays are always full of politically-incorrect and entirely disrespectful humor; but her humor is provocative and pointed. Presented by the area’s top women’s theater, the Eternal Spiral Project, the production is helmed by the talented director Deborah Seif, whose handling of Hobbs’ previous play Hands Across Veronica help make it one of the area’s hits of 2003.

When is the last time a theater ticket cost you only $2? Well just two bucks will get you in to Theatre Horizon’s new outdoor – and family-friendly — production of the smash hit musical Grease (July 7-15, Upper Merion Township Building Park). And since Philadelphia artists Erin Reilly and Mathew Decker are Horizon’s artistic directors, we’re guessing you might get far more than your money’s worth.

At the People’s Light & Theatre Company, you can not only view a smorgasbord of short plays from major playwrights, but also chow down on a smorgasbord of chicken, pork, salad and slaw. That’s the deal at 30 Fest, a one-day festival (July 24) where you can not only eat well, but also attend three shows in one night. This year’s offerings include Diana Son’s The Moon Please, famed Cuban playwright Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s extraordinary The Cuban Swimmer, A.R. Gurney’s terrific two-hander The Problem, and Donald Margulies’ timely July 7, 1994. Also part of the Festival is the company’s excellent production of the family comedy The O’Conner Girls on the mainstage.

Finally, you have an opportunity to see the next Great American Play before anyone else does, thanks to the first New Play Development Conference — which will culminate in a series of free public staged readings on July 29 and 30 at The Adrienne. The participating playwrights are Sheila Callaghan (We are Not These Hands), Jordan Harrison (Act a Lady), J.T. Rogers (The Overwhelming), and Lydia Stryk (On Clarion). They may not be household names yet, but all four have the promise to become major dramatists.