POOR JUDGE Featuring the Music of Aimee Mann to Return to The Wilma Theater
The dance-theater cabaret explores love, ambition, and the dark side of the American success story told through Amiee Mann’s evocative catalog.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Dec. 12, 2025
Beginning January 13, Philadelphia-based theater company The Wilma Theater will celebrate the return of the Barrymore Award-winning production, Poor Judge – A Pig Iron Production, an exhilarating dance-theater cabaret set to the music of Grammy Award-winning artist Aimee Mann. Poor Judge returns for a limited run due to popular demand.
Dreamed up by legendary drag queen and Pig Iron Theatre Company (Pig Iron) Co-Founder Dito Van Reigersberg, the dance-theater cabaret explores love, ambition, and the dark side of the American success story told through Mann’s evocative catalog. The new production, directed by Eva Steinmetz, with musical direction and arrangements by Alex Bechtel, reunites the original supergroup cast of Philadelphia actor-musicians: Emily Bate, Bechtel, Josh Machiz, izzy sazak, Jackie Soro, van Reigersberg, and Justin Yoder. Poor Judge runs from January 13 to 25, with 14 performances presented in the Wilma’s 300-seat theater, followed by an on-demand streaming presentation available worldwide from February 2 to 22.
Poor Judge is a live music mixtape that’s part spy story, part woeful tale of heartbreak, and part Hollywood audition. Through vignette and song, the dance-cabaret offers glimpses of an inviting, seductive Los Angeles and its shadow: the frightening underbelly of the American Success Story. Be prepared for a night of lonely California highways, cinematic breakups, and sly acoustic re-imaginings of Aimee Mann’s award-winning songs. The production’s musical repertoire comprises 10 songs from the renowned singer-songwriter’s four-decade career, including the Academy Award-nominated single “Save Me” from Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film, Magnolia, “Goose Snow Cone” from the 2017 Grammy Award-winning album Mental Illness, and “I’ve Had It” from her debut solo album Whatever.
Pig Iron presented the world premiere of Poor Judge on the Wilma’s stage during the 2024 Fringe Festival, which immediately received rave reviews from critics, calling it “an unforgettable trip” (Philadelphia Inquirer). In 2025, Poor Judge went on to receive 9 Barrymore Award nominations and won three for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, Outstanding Media Design (Michael Long), and Outstanding Music Direction (Alex Bechtel). Mann herself has seen the show and come out in support of the production in an Instagram post she shared following the announcement of Poor Judge’s return in 2026.
The Wilma Theater, recipient of the 2024 Tony Award for Best Regional Theater, has long maintained a reputation as a hub for contemporary and bold art in Philadelphia. While it continues to present original and boundary-pushing art, the Wilma has partnered with companies like Pig Iron and Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company to extend that creative spirit beyond its own productions, further expanding its adventurous offerings for audiences.
“[Fellow Wilma Co-Artistic Directors] Lindsay Smiling, Yury Urnov, and I loved Poor Judge so much during its world premiere run last year, so the decision to bring it back was a no-brainer,” said Morgan Green, Co-Artistic Director of the Wilma. “Between the nostalgic Aimee Mann hits, the electric performances, and the rich visual design, this show leaves you feeling warm inside. We think that is what people need right now: a warm feeling of togetherness.”
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