Philadelphia Spotlight: September 2005

September marks the opening of many area theater’s seasons, but it’s particular cause for rejoicing in Philadelphia, where lovers of the theater have been starved this summer. Fear not, nourishment has arrived — and it’s particularly tasty.

The Walnut Street Theatre opens its season with the rarely-produced musical Finian’s Rainbow (previews begin September 6). The 1947 show was a shocker in its day, taking on the issue of racial injustice, but in recent years, the book has seemed dated and problematic. Director Malcolm Black, who helmed the Walnut’s delightful staging last year of The Constant Wife, directs Christopher Sutton as Og, the show’s magical leprechaun, and Broadway’s Jennifer Hope Willis as the lovely Sharon. This Rainbow looks to be another winner for the resurgent company.

Coming off a super-successful season (which included the hit revival of Sweeney Todd), the Arden Theatre Company is presenting Joe Orton’s subversive farce Loot, helmed by guest director Douglas C. Wager (previews begin September 8). Loot concerns a group of bank robbers who stash their heist in their mother’s coffin. From this strange scenario Orton presents a biting social-satire and a gleeful ode to anarchy.

Another well-respected area institution, the Wilma Theater has gained permission from Doug Wright to produce his Pulitzer Prize-winning solo play I Am My Own Wife with two actors. In this production directed by Blanka Zizka, Kevin Bergen will play Wright (a character in his own drama), while Floyd King will play Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who managed to survive under two of the world’s most oppressive regimes, along with 30 other characters. Previews begin on September 20.

September is also time for the ninth annual Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, which together feature nearly 200 productions in cutting-edge theater, dance, and music.Over the years, the Fringe has featured shows with somewhat bizarre premises, but perhaps none more so than Tom Wilson Weinberg’s musical The Teachings of Chairman Rick (The William Way Center, September 14-17). This sure-to-be-provocative piece features the words of Senator Rick Santorum as he pontificates issues including gay marriage, stem cell research, and Terri Schiavo.

For the first time in its history, the Prince Music Theater launches their season at the Philly Fringe festival — but their first production of the season is no standard musical. Instead, it’s the east coast premiere of Vox Lumiere’s multi-media interpretation of the silent film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (September 8-17). The film is viewed on three screens while the company performs an original rock score. Lumiere, which is something of a sensation in their native France, has enjoyed success with comparable treatments of the films Intolerance, Metropolis, and Phantom of the Opera.

Although the vast majority of the shows at the Live Arts and Fringe have adult themes, kids don’t need to be left out of the festival experience. One show catering to the little ones is the Valley Forge Children’s Theatre production of Wiley and the Hairy Man at the African-American Museum (September 3-11). In the eerie swamps and bogs of America’s Deep South, young Wiley must outwit a very scary and unusually hairy man three times in order to save both himself and his mother.

Another kid-friendly offering at the Fringe is Jeffrey Benoit’s Chariot of the Sun (the Actor’s Center, September 6-17). This fast-paced introduction to Greek mythology is performed by Barrymore-winning actor Seth Reichgott and employs a combination of masks, mime, poetry, and lots of audience participation in recalling the ancient stories of Phaethon, Pandora, and Odysseus’ escape from the Cyclops.