Performing Arts

theater

• ANNA BELLA EEMA Playwright Lisa D'Amour's vision of mother/daughter love includes trailer park vampires, a girl made of mud, police chases and the occasional stirring musical number. Directed by Lisa Jo Epstein. Runs through Oct. 11, $15-$20, Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom St., 215-407-0556.

 

 

• BAD SEED Directed by Christopher Wunder, the Old Academy Players present this tale of a "perfect" daughter. Unfortunately, her loving parents slowly discover, to their horror, that she is an amoral killer who will do anything to get her way. What are little girls made of? Extreme creepiness. Runs through Sep. 28, $12, Old Academy Players, 3544 Indian Queen Lane, 215-843-1109.

 

 

• BIRTH Karen Brody's take on pregnancy and childbirth is a collection of interviews exploring eight mothers' thoughts on having kids in today's America. Think "Vagina Monologues," but less angry. Sat, Sept. 20, 7pm; Sun, Sept. 21, 2pm, $15, Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., 215-573-3234.

 

 

• CANDIDE After a few decades, Leonard Bernstein's musical based off of Voltaireís philosophical comedy gets dusted off and updated with a new version by John Caird. Directed by Terrence J. Nolan. Runs through Oct. 12, $29-$48, Arden Theatre Co., 40 N. 2nd St., 215-922-1122.

 

 

• CLOUD TECTONICS This piece by Oscar nominee José Rivera is a Los Angeles love story set during a cataclysmic storm. The plot gets progressively stranger and more mystical as the characters (played by Mason Gross MFAs) meditate on love, sex, etc. Directed by Michelle Seaton. Runs through Sep. 27, $15-$25, Mason Gross Performing Arts Center, 85 George St., New Brunswick, NJ, 732-932-7511.

 

 

• DRIVING MISS DAISY Before Miss Daisy graced the silver screen, her stage version won playwright Alfred Uhry the Pulitzer Prize. Director Peter Reynolds, a Barrymore Emerging Artist. Runs through Oct. 5, $12-$30, Hedgerow Theatre, 164 W. Rose Valley Rd., Media, 610-565-4211.

 

 

• FIRST PERSON ARTS' STORY SLAM — BELONGING Ever felt like you belonged somewhere? Or perhaps like the weird kid who no one would ever love? Come share. Tue, Sep. 23, 7:30-10pm, $5-$10, L'Etage, 6th & Bainbridge sts., 215-592-0656.

 

 

• THE HOTHOUSE One of the early works by Nobel-prize winning playwright Harold Pinter, this dark comedy explores a state institution from the point of view of its more-than-slightly unhinged staff. Directed by Kathryn MacMillan. Runs through Oct. 12, $20-$35, St. Stephen's Theater, 10th & Ludlow sts., 215-829-0395.

 

 

• KISS ME, KATE The Arden Club presents Cole Porter's classic of a musical-within-a-musical, updating "Taming of the Shrew" for the modern (or, at least, 20th-century) era. To fully enjoy both the story and songs, it would be wise to brush up your Shakespeare. Directed by Jeff DiSabatino and James Fuerst. Runs through Sep. 20, $9-$18, Arden Gild Hall, 2126 the Highway, Arden, DE, 302-475-3126.

 

 

• LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT Winner of the Pulitzer for Drama, this work by Eugene O'Neill recounts a single summer day in the lives of one family. O'Neill's autobiographical work shows just how dysfunctional families can be — in the 1950s, at least. Directed by Robert Hedley. Runs through Oct. 5, $5-$24, Vasey Hall, Villanova University, Villanova, 610-519-7474.

 

 

• PHANTOM Long overshadowed by a somewhat more famous production, "Phantom" (without that "of the Opera" at the end) is an alternative to the bombastic style of Weber that preserves the atmosphere of the original novel. More grit, less melodrama. Directed by Chris Alberts. Runs through Oct. 5, $32-$55, the New Candlelight Theatre, 2208 Millers Rd., Ardentown, DE, 302-475-2313.

 

 

• PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS West Chester University's theater department begins it season with this surreal comedy about love, fetishes and psychoanalysis in which the lead character faces a dilemma surrounding his inability to have sex without being near his father's argyle socks. Directed by Bob Bytnar. Runs through Sep. 28, $8-$12, West Chester University Performing Arts Center, 817 High St., West Chester, 610-436-2533.

 

 

• REEFER MADNESS Presented by 11th Hour Theatre Co. and the Montgomery Theater, this musical is based on the melodramatic cautionary film "Reefer Madness," which indicated that smoking the "Demon Weed" led to sexual deviance, violent crime, teen pregnancy, insanity, and eventually death. Runs through Oct. 4, $16-$33, Montgomery Theatre, 124 Main St., 215-723-9984.

 

 

• ROCK 'N' ROLL The latest gem from Tony favorite Tom Stoppard explores what happens when love, politics, and poetry meet in the Eastern Bloc. Director Blanka Zizka worked with fellow Czech native Stoppard on the script, so expect some extra treats. Runs through Oct. 26, $44-$60, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824.

 

 

• SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL A large ensemble cast directed by Darrin Peters brings the stories and characters of Dr. Seuss to life. Written by Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and "co-conceived" by ex-Python Eric Idle, this musical adaptation is good clean fun. Runs through Sep. 27, $10-$22, Players Club of Swarthmore, Rt. 320 & Fairview Rd., Swarthmore, 610-328-4271.

 

 

• SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM A revue of early songs by one of musical theater's giants (with contributions from a few others, including Leonard Bernstein,) this production by the Stagecrafters features an assortment of familiar tunes, so feel free to sing along. Directed by Steve Pollack and assisted by Joe Krupa and Elizabeth Knecht. Runs through Sep. 28, $15-$20, Stagecrafters Theater, 8130 Germantown Ave., 215-247-8881.

 

 

• THE SPITFIRE GRILL A musical by James Valcq, "Spitfire Grill" follows a young traveler's efforts to fit in at a restaurant in a small Wisconsin town. Director Keith Baker's production will feature a folk and bluegrass score. Runs through Oct. 12, $34-$42, Bristol Riverside Theatre, Radcliffe & Market sts., Bristol, 215-785-0100.

 

 

• STATE FAIR Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical is unapologetically, well, a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical: Set at the Iowa state fair, this love story includes numbers such as "It Might As Well Be Spring," "You Never Had it So Good" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing." Indeed. Runs through Oct. 19, $10-$70, Walnut Street Theatre, 9th & Walnut sts., 215-574-3550.

 

 

• STONES IN HIS POCKETS An award-winning Irish piece, this satire features only two actors in a panoply of roles, laying out the story of a big-budget movie being filmed in a small Irish village. Directed by William Roudebush. Runs through Sep. 27, $25-$30, Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, 215-654-0200.

 

 

• WOYZECK The final tragedy by playwright Georg Buchner, "Woyzeck" is a forerunner of German expressionism, as well as an exploration of the effects of war and "medicine" on a young soldier's life and psyche. A comment on social issues and the suffering of the working class that remains eerily applicable today. Directed by Brenna Geffers. Runs through Sep. 26, $28, the German Society of Pennsylvania, 611 Spring Garden St., 215-552-8773.

  cabaret

• MARCOVICCI SINGS RODGERS & HART Cabaret chanteuse Andrea Marcovicci makes her Philadelphia debut with an assortment of Rodgers & Hart tunes as part of the Prince Music Theatre's Morgan's Cabaret series. Runs through Sep. 28, $41-$54, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., 215-569-9700.