Season's Stagings: What Philly theater has in store for the holidays
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
And it's not all for the kiddies, either.
The Cabaret Administration presents its "The Nutcracker" burlesque for grownups this December.
N. Kuruna
N. Kuruna
Philadelphia’s theaters reach out to families and the offbeat crowd with big productions during the holiday season, staging both traditional and new fare that, while not always referencing Christmas, celebrate its themes.
Malvern’s People’s Light & Theatre Company leads the way with a new musical panto, Arthur and the Tale of the Red Dragon (through Jan. 11, peopleslight.org), written by choreographer Samantha Bellomo and director Pete Pryor, with music by Michael Ogborn, featuring the hilarious Mark Lazar as the Dame of the Lake as well as Barrymore Award-winner Liz Filios. This unique take on the traditional British holiday musical comedy form has become an annual must-see.
The Arden Theatre Company puts an equally stunning array of talent and resources on stage for its big children’s production with Charles Way’s new telling of Beauty and the Beast (Nov. 26-Feb. 1, ardentheatre.org) — not the Disney musical, but an adventurous staging by New Paradise Laboratories’ Whit MacLaughlin. The Arden’s family-friendly version of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations has been extended on the upstairs Arcadia Stage through Dec. 21.
Quintessence Theatre Group is starting its own tradition with Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Dec. 10-Jan. 4, quintessencetheatre.org) after the success of last year’s The Wind in the Willows, and Enchantment Theatre Company revives its puppet and dance version of The Snow Queen (Dec. 13-Jan. 4, enchantmenttheatre.org). The Walnut Street Theatre’s Mary Poppins (through Jan. 4, walnutstreettheatre.org) offers another familiar family delight.
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a staple for three area pro-fessional theaters: as an hour-long musical at the Walnut Street Theatre (Nov. 29-Dec. 21), in Nagle Jackson’s superb adaptation at Hedgerow Theatre for the 22nd consecutive year (Dec. 5-28, hedgerowtheatre.org), and in McCarter Center’s big-stage version (Dec. 5-28, mccarter.org).
Other shows this season are aimed at adults. The Cabaret Administration’s The Nutcracker (Dec. 19-21, cabaretadministration.com) is director-designer Anna Frangiosa’s burlesque-inspired music and dance version that revels in the dark sensuality of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original 1816 short story, not the sanitized Tchaikovsky ballet. FringeArts presents the Pig Iron Theatre Company offshoot Team Sunshine Performance Corporation’s The Sincerity Project (Dec. 4-13, fringearts.com), described as an “anti-play” about authenticity that features a 10-person choir, feats of strength and a bit of nudity.
Ambler’s Act II Playhouse premieres a new music-comedy cabaret, Making Spirits Bright (Dec. 9-28, act2.org), led by artistic director Tony Braithwaite. Flashpoint Theatre Company revives its popular staging of David Sedaris’ autobiographical essay The Santaland Diaries (Dec. 10-21, flashpointtheatre.org) with Keith Connallen as Crumpet the Macy’s Elf, and the Society Hill Playhouse hosts Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice (Dec. 12-21, societyhillplayhouse.org), a stage version of several other Christmas misadventures.
Souderton’s Montgomery Theater continues Greetings! (through Dec. 7, montgomerytheater.org), Tom Dudzick’s comedy about a mixed-religion couple who have a supernatural holiday experience.
1812 Productions gets into the spirit with Improvukkah: Improv for the Holidays (Dec. 15-16, 1812productions.org), hosted by Tom Shotkin’s “Uncle Shotsie,” and also runs a fresh production of its annual political comedy hit This Is the Week That Is (Nov. 28-Dec. 31, 1812productions.org), featuring Scott Greer and Aimé Kelly.
Other shows that don’t reference the holidays but are sure to be crowd-pleasers include the Media Theatre’s big Les Misérables (through Jan. 11, mediatheatre.org) and the Renaissance Music Theatre Company revival of the Cole Porter musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate in an intimate, scaled-down adaptation (through Dec. 13, kiss-me-kate.brownpapertickets.com). The Philadelphia Theatre Company’s Outside Mulligar (Nov. 28-Dec. 28, philadelphiatheatrecompany.org) is Doubt: A Parable playwright John Patrick Shanley’s Tony Award-nominated new comedy, starring local greats David Howey and Anthony Lawton.
