Now See This

Baby Case; Fathers and Sons; The Domestication of Women: A Housewares Party in Two Acts; Taking Steps

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Published: Mar 21, 2007

theater

One of the most exciting productions in Arden Theatre's history was the 2001 world premiere of Baby Case, with words and music by Michael Ogborn. The original cast is back for a reunion concert Monday night to benefit the Arden's new-work development fund. The dramatic musical about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping has a large ensemble that includes Scott Greer, Tony Braithwaite, Jeff Coon, Ben Dibble, Richard Ruiz and many other prominent Philly performers re-creating their original parts.

—Steve Cohen

Mon., March 26 at 7 p.m., $100-$250 (including pre-show reception at 5:30), Arden Theatre, 40 N. Second St., 215-922-8900, www.ardentheatre.org.

theater

What better way of exploring generational riffs than a showdown between a legendary cowboy and his illegitimate son? Thomas Babe's 1960s play, which takes place entirely inside a saloon, about Wild Bill Hickock is as much a Western as it is a drama about an older generation of outlaws losing its reign. Iron Age Theater delivers a believable world of six-shot pistols, beer barrels and period music, performed live by a pianist, guitarist and harmonica player.

—Mickey Jou

March 23-April 22, $20, The Montgomery County Cultural Center, 208 DeKalb St., Norristown, www.ironagetheatre.org.

theater

Find yourself identifying with your favorite kitchen appliance? Maybe it's your toaster, your mixer, your dishwasher? If you do, Straw Flower Productions' playwright Jackie Ruggiero Jacobson plans to humor your domesticated bliss by surrealistically viewing you and your lady friends' wacky obsession with home shopping networks like QVC. Performed as a five-person play (including Temple University professor Sharon Geller and UArts alumna Hannah Tsapatoris), The Domestication of Women is a liberating march to a wallet's freedom, with Jacobson unapologetically slashing consumer-driven females who may appear more complex than the average Martha Stewart.

—Amy Strauss

March 22-April 7, $15-20, Walnut Street Theatre: Studio 5, 825 Walnut St., 215-551-3376, www.strawflower.org.

theater

Roland Crabbe is oblivious to his wife Liz's misery — she's a pill-popping go-go dancer with delusions of high-class artistic sensibility. Taking Steps, a farce by award-winning Brit Sir Alan Ayckbourn, details these woes. With the Crabbes living in a dreadful haunted house, there are likely to be more skeletons than a pill habit in their closets.

—James Saul

March 23-April 29, Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., $10-$25, Hedgerow Theatre, 64 Rose Valley Road, Media, 610-565-4211, www.hedgerowtheatre.org.

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