Ben Franklin News

The Marsh continues to offer a wide variety of new programming at 7:30pm nightly on MarshStream, its popular broadcast platform.

The York Theatre Company is presenting the 2020 Musical Theatre Training Program (MTTP) Summer Program Intensive, a special 4-week virtual journey nurturing the next generation of students and songwriters.

It's symptomatic of SPAMILTON's inconsistency: quite funny and thoughtful in one moment, down a rabbit hole the next. For every inspired sequence in which Lin-Manuel engages 'Stephen Sondheim as Ben Franklin' in a lengthy debate about the density of rhymes, there's a lazily written riff like 'not throwing away my pot' (an extended refrain that comes out of nowhere and exists only for the cheap laugh of a weed joke). Too many of the rhymes are moon-and-June; too many of the jokes are merely references in disguise; too many of the allusions are a crutch.

Chamber Music Society of Louisville has big plans for Beethoven's 250th Anniversary.

Created and produced by Ben Franklin, Jason Mejias, Joshua Dean and Mr. Gorgeous, this 'All-Male Cirquelesque Revue' is celebrating 8 years of playful and saucy extravaganzas celebrating the art of circus and burlesque. With a brand new show every month, 'The Boys' entertain the crowd through diverse aerial and ground performances with a wink, a smile and a lot of creativity. 'Boys' Night' is the place to be for both girls and boys looking for a humorous and slightly naughty evening out.

Need an evening that stretches your G-rated mind with a fun, supremely entertaining, ninety minute rib-tickling exercise? How about an evening free from national politics? Oddly, it is available in a show about the nation's founders and others. You will enjoy Spamilton, an American Parody literally on the stage at Starlight Theatre's reformatted Cohen Stage through Sunday November 17.

Two years ago, I revisited French Woods Festival of the Arts (which I attended from 1999 to 2002 as a camper/teen actor and then as an assistant director/stage manager) and BroadwayWorld kindly published an article I wrote about the experience. In light of my responsibilities at work (attorney by day, theater critic by night) and at home (including a hyperactive toddler and commuting daily between NY and NJ), I was not planning on visiting again this past summer, but that instantly changed when I learned that the camp was planning on presenting 1776 for the first time in nearly two decades - and with an all-female cast.

FCM Hospitality, the creators of Philadelphia's Parks on Tap series, is partnering with Delaware River Waterfront Corporation to bring a new beer garden to Race Street Pier during DRWC's Ghost Ship Philadelphia installation. River Beer Garden at Race Street Pier will feature beer selections from exclusive beer partner Mainstay Independent Brewing Company, along with delicious fall-themed food options that include Lost Bread Co.'s famous pretzel shortbread cookies. The festive outdoor space will also feature lighting, comfortable chairs, hammocks and seating for 100+ people. River Beer Garden at Race Street Pier will grand open this Friday, October 4 and remain open through Sunday, November 3, 2019. '

Old City District presents the sixth annual Old City Fest on Sunday, October 13, 2019, from 11:00am to 6:00pm, along N. 3rd Street (from Market to Race) and Arch Street (from 2nd to 4th). Activities will include a festival stage with live music, a runway fashion show, a family fun zone, pop-up street performances, and a wide array of food, beverages, art, craft and retail shopping, with 100+ Old City vendors participating. Admission is free, with food and drink pay-as-you-go. For more information, visit oldcitydistrict.org or call (215) 592-7929.

Fall Fest at Morgan's Pier returns for the fifth season, with four more weeks of great views and live entertainment, plus tons of seasonal surprises. Between now and October 26th, head to the waterfront as Morgan's Pier transforms into an autumn wonderland - complete with twinkling lights, fall decor, seasonal beers, fall cocktails, weekly special events and a new menu by Chef Jon Adair. New for this year, Morgan's will add on additional days of operation, offering al fresco dining and drinking five days a week, from Wednesday to Sunday. Also, new this year, Morgan's will be rain or shine as new clear walls have been installed that can roll away or roll out based on the weather of the day.

Concrete Timbre announces two performances of A/K/A Benj (Franklin's Women) at Brooklyn's Old Stone House on August 24 and 25, 2019.

Protests, prevaricating politicians, pandemonium -- 2019 echoes the turmoil of the 1960's, so it seems an appropriate time to resurrect some of the great songs of the era. Vagabond Productions presents Kate Loitz in 60's FOLK Revisited, with guitarist Lenny Ranallo, on the roof deck of the Davison Apartments in Center City.

Audible Inc. announces Grammy-nominated family entertainer, comedian, and musician Billy Kelly in his one-man a?oeThis Is A Family Show!a?? at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane, between MacDougal & 6th Avenue a?" one block south of W. 3rd Street) for two performances only.

Created and produced by Ben Franklin, Jason Mejias, Joshua Dean and Mr. Gorgeous, this "All-Male Cirquelesque Revue" is celebrating 8 years of playful and saucy extravaganzas celebrating the art of circus and burlesque.

Casting has been announced for Pittsburgh CLO's exclusive engagement of the hit musical comedy SPAMILTON: An American Parody at the Greer Cabaret Theater May 16 August 25, 2019. Don't miss this convulsively funny (NY Times) parody from the comic mastermind behind the long-running hit Forbidden Broadway. After tearing it up in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Spamilton: An American Parody will stage a singing, dancing, comedy revolution in Pittsburgh for a limited time only. The Huffington Post raves you don't have to see Hamilton to have side-splitting fun at Spamilton.

Don't miss all the original boys in the next edition of Boys Night! That's right, Joshua Dean, Ben Franklin, Mr Gorgeous and Jason Mejias are all back with the incredibly talented Eve Starr hosting! We'll be taking a break in June so make sure you come check us out this month!

Seven Performers enter, a Pianist is introduced. Set to the backdrop of the history of the Great White Way from past to present, and set to a gut punching-hilarious score based off of one of the greatest musicals to date Spamilton took off full speed ahead. From hilarious lyrics devised by the great minds behind Forbidden Broadway, and including a Lin-Manuel look a-like the audience experienced 90 minutes of unadulterated laughter, song, and dance.

Don't Tell Mama is pleased to host 1756 - Making America , a new musical by composer Jack Dallas.  Ben Franklin and wife Deborah, narrate this French and Indian War musical comedy.    Life and death are opposed as French pirates and marauding Indians threaten the American colonies.   A young military engineer is held hostage at Fort Pitt, New France.  His pretty slave girl falls in love with him and struggle to save him from hanging.  In 1756- Making America, a colony prepares a fight from terror and tyranny to procure life, liberty and happiness.  1756 - Making America is a 4 handed farce.