Coming Up! - 'IPHIGENIA' and 'HOPE & GRAVITY'

My summer months have been anything but quiet, and my 2017-'18 season continues to get clearer and clearer as it quickly approaches.  

I'm already in the thick of rehearsals for Philadelphia Artists' Collective's fall production of IPHIGENIA AT AULIS, the 2,500 year old Greek tragedy by Euripides. Dan Hodge, one of P.A.C.'s founders, is directing.  I've admired his work in various capacities around the city since I got here, and I'm really happy to finally be spending some time in the same room with him on IPHIGENIA.

The show is being produced in conjunction with FringeArts as apart of the annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and will be performed on board the U.S.S. Olympia at the Independence Seaport Museum, underneath the Ben Franklin Bridge.  It's my first Greek play, and I'll be trying my hand (and left foot?) as "Achilles".

--> IPHIGENIA AT AULIS will run from September 7th - 22nd, 2017

ALSO:
I've been cast in 1812 Productions' spring staging of HOPE & GRAVITY, a comedy by Michael Hollinger about the curious ways that nine people's lives intersect when an elevator crashes in an urban high-rise.  Jennifer Childs will direct the five person ensemble, and the show will run at 1812's home, the historic Plays & Players Theatre in Center City.

--> HOPE & GRAVITY will run April 26th - May 20th, 2018

And, yes, I'm still on target to appear at Professor Higgins in Quintessence Theatre Group's holiday production of MY FAIR LADY.  That show will, I'm sure, be right on top of me before I know it.  I am still thrilled and appropriately daunted at the prospect.  I'll soon be growing very re-accustomed to Leigha Kato's very talented face, as she prepares what I'm sure will be a star turn as Eliza Doolittle.

--> MY FAIR LADY will run from November 15th - December 17th, 2017 at the Sedgwick Theater in the Mount Airy Neighborhood of northwest Philly.  

SAINT JOAN - Reviews & Photos

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly two weeks since we opened SAINT JOAN, as the ensemble has been deep in the work of teching and prepping DOCTOR FAUSTUS since the moment JOAN was fully on it's feet, but nevertheless, here we are.  Not only have the reviews been very kind to us, we also have some gorgeous production photos from Shawn May to entice you to see the show for yourself.  Here's a dose of both:

Jim Rutter, for the Philadelphia Inquirer, calls it, "a powerhouse, actor-driven production," and adds, "Leigha Kato's Joan inspires. [Her performance] is beyond compare, a singularity of passion and energy."

David Fox, for Philadelphia Magazine, lauds, "Rebecca Wright's staging reinforces the core sense of the play as an arena for vigorous philosophical debate," and adds, "The ensemble deserves congratulations, with special praise to Sean Close and Josh Carpenter (who are best at the Shavian banter), and Gregory Isaac, (whose performance as Peter Cauchon is heartbreaking in it's emotional directness)."

And Mark Cofta, for the Broad Street Review, notes that, "Brian Sidney Bembridge's powerful lighting sculpts the action," along with sound designer Adriano Shaplin's "artful" underscoring, and Nikki Delhomme's "bold" costumes, but concludes, "Most impressive about SAINT JOAN is how it relates to today's world, nearly a century after Shaw wrote it."

SAINT JOAN is scheduled to run through April 22nd, and is produced by the Quintessence Theatre Group at the historic Sedgwick Theatre.  Tickets range from $15-$34.

Leigha Kato as JOAN (Photo by Shawn May)

Andrew Betz as the Dauphin, Leigha Kato as Joan (Photo by Shawn May)

John Basiulis as the Inquisitor, Alan Brincks as Brother Martin, Gregory Isaac as Cauchon (Photo by Shawn May)

Aaron Kirkpatrick as LaHire, Josh Carpenter as Bluebeard, John Basiulis as The Archbishop