Sarah Marcus

The Threepenny Opera ran at the Arden Theatre Company from September 30-November 7. Threepenny features a book by Bertol Brecht and music by Krut Weill - you've probably heard 'Mack the Knife' as it became a popular standard for crooners. Though the show is certainly a predecessor of the musical theater genre we know today, it is more a play with a variety of musical numbers.

Arden Theatre Company continues its 2010/11 season with Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera. The Arden's version of The Threepenny Opera was originally performed at London's Donmar Warehouse, which has a recent track-record of successful transfers to U.S. stages including Red and Frost/Nixon. 'These newly translated lyrics are the most true to Brecht's original version, highlighting the imagery and poetry of the songs,' says Terrence J. Nolen, the Arden's producing artistic director who will helm The Threepenny Opera. 'While the lyrics engage the audience, asking them to think, the score is certainly one of the most beautiful and complex in 20th century musical theatre.'

Arden Theatre Company concludes its 2009/10 season with the Pultizer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, directed by Terrence J. Nolen, the Arden's producing artistic director. Sunday in the Park marks the twelfth Sondheim production in the company's history and the first time the Arden will use Sondheim's complete original orchestrations, led by Barrymore Award-winning musical director Eric Ebbenga.

The production of Carousel currently playing at Plays and Players is an interesting adaptation by Benjamin F. Glazer of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical. Carousel is the story of the romance between mill girl Julie Jordan and carousel barker Billy Bigelow. Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel runs at Plays and Players now through June 12th.

Fiddler on the Roof is one of those shows that almost everyone has experienced as some point in their lives - be it the film or a production locally, in NYC or on the high school level. It is for this reason that I feel no need to summarize its plot. It is a great challenge to make such a classic show fresh. With the Walnut's current production, Bruce Lumpkin manages to do just that - balancing presenting the well-known, beloved material with thoughtful directorial choices.

It's a simple story - the young ingénue can't pay the rent, the evil landlord comes a calling, a wiser woman offers advice and the leading man offers to pay the rent. The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) presents five variations on this plot in the style of some of Broadway's best known musical theatre writers - Rodgers and Hammerstein (Corn), Stephen Sondheim (A Little Complex), Jerry Herman (Dear Abby), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Aspects of Junita), and Kander and Ebb (Speakeasy). To say more would ruin the hilarity.With its incredibly talented cast, hilarious writing and great tech, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) provides a lot of laughter and ultimately, a wonderful night at the theater.

Girls Night the Musical is the story of five friends in their forties celebrating a girls night. The story begins with narrator Sharon, who died at age 22, leaving behind a daughter, Candy Rose. She observes her four best friends as they get together to celebrate Candy Rose's engagement. These friends include Carol the party girl, Kate the designated driver, Liza the one with marital issues, and Anita who tells the truth, even at inappropriate moments. Sharon, the not so angelic angel, takes us through their pasts, explaining each woman's problems while the friends perform karaoke. The girls night that follows is full of secrets, confessions, drama, fun dancing, and great music.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie asks what will happen if you do just that. The short answer is that the mouse will continue asking for things, have a lot of fun, and in the process destroy your house. But along the way, this children's theater production currently playing on the Arden Theatre Company's Arcadia Stage teaches a good lesson about cause and effect. The play is based on the beloved children's book written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. On stage, two actors bring the story to life with all of its hilarious antics and the addition of physical comedy.

Romeo and Juliet is a classic that still rings true due to its commentaries on passion, violence, true love, regret, revenge, hatred, societal expectations, and fate. These themes brought to life by Shakespeare's beautiful language continue to ring true for theatergoers today. While all enter the theatre knowing the outcome, there's something for everyone to relate to here from crazy friends, overprotective/concerned parents, to first loves and everything in between. The greatest tragedy is found in the older generation's inability to put aside their feud, which is the cause of their children's untimely ends. The Acting Company/Guthrie Theatre Production of Romeo and Juliet features wonderful performances and interesting direction which together perfectly compliment the truth of Romeo's words, 'Here's much to do with hate, but more with love.'

Arden Theatre Company's presents If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, an adaptation of Laura Joffe Numeroff's beloved bestselling book, from April 14 - June 13, 2010 as part of Arden Children's Theatre.

Following their successful co-production of Little Shop of Horrors this fall/winter, 11th Hour Theatre Company is pleased to present the Philadelphia Premiere of Rooms: a rock romance. This musical will run April 9-May 2 at the Independence Black Box at the Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street. The show opens on Thursday, April 15. 11th Hour Theatre Company is only the second theatre in the country to be given the rights to present Rooms after its successful Off-Broadway run at New World Stages in 2009.

In this dark comedy, Szymkowicz takes a mirror to the world of online dating. Elliot has never had an online date show up while Susan has had far too many and would prefer not to discuss it. In Nerve, the pair navigates a premature declaration of love and far too much information about past relationships. With bits of modern dance, and a twisted Jiminy Cricket-like puppet, Nerve takes a wickedly comic look at the idea of falling into a relationship on the first date and a desperation that may or may not be love.

It's a professional relationship that leads to rocky romance; as the show's tagline reads, 'She longs to see every room in the world... He longs to stay in his...' ROOMS a rock romance begins when Monica, an ambitious singer/songwriter and Ian, a reclusive rocker, meet in Glasgow in the late 1970s. Their lives cross creatively and romantically, taking them around the world and on a journey that examines the tensions between love and dreams.

This spring two University of Pennsylvania students will perform in profession Philadelphia productions. An interview with Eileen Cella who will play Carrie in Carousel at Plays and Players and May Tepler will play Anita in Girls Night: the Musical at the Kimmel Center's Innovation Studio.

Henry IV, Part I plays at the Lantern Theater Company now through May 2nd. Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I, opens with political drama as the recently crowned King Henry finds himself in a world of governmental trouble. But he has other problems on his mind as his son, Prince Hal, takes to frequenting taverns with a sordid company of thieves, drunkards and whores. Hal's friend, the incredibly portly Sir. John Falstaff, is a scoundrel, but also an incredibly humorous man who fills a sort of fatherly role. Prince Hal finds his loyalty divided between his father and Falstaff, a tug of war made all the more interesting due to the casting of one actor in both roles. When King Henry's enemies declare war, Hal must make a choice to assume his responsibilities as heir apparent before civil war claims England.

Lantern Theater Company concludes its 2009/10 mainstage season with the rarely performed Henry IV, Part I. In the tradition of the Lantern's darkly comic, Barrymore Award-winning production of Richard III, this gripping, ripping plot from William Shakespeare's history canon features a cast of local actors and battles royale that will transport you to another time and place. Previews began April 1, opening night is Wednesday, April 7 at 7pm, and the closing performance is May 2, 2010.

Currently showing at the Walnut Street's Independence Studio on 3 is Graham Greene's hilarious Travels with My Aunt adapted for the stage by Giles Havergal.

Has America become too complacent in its acceptance of political figures and their decisions? Molly Ivins certainly thought so. The outspoken, sharp-tongued Texan journalist is immortalized in the play Red Hot Patriot, now enjoying its world premier at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre as part of Philadelphia Theatre Company's season.

Girls Night the Musical plays the Kimmel Center April 20 - May 23. Tickets on Sale now. "It's like 'Desperate Housewives'meets 'Mamma Mia!'" - Applause Magazine

Noel Coward's 1925 play, Fallen Angels, is still very much alive at the Walnut Street Theater. While they may be dressed in period fashion, main characters Jane and Julia would very easily fit into modern categories like 'frenemies' and desperate housewives. The three acts follow their antics spurred by jealousy, desire, assumptions and a whole lot of alcohol as they await his arrival.