Steven Burk

Playhouse on the Square, in partnership with Art and Nancy Graesser and super sponsor Dr. Thomas Ratliff, is presenting the regional premiere addressing the generational shifts and pressures of family.

Playhouse Merced has always been a little Kooky. And if their last few seasons have shown anything, it's that the company does not mind an occasional move toward the darkness in its fall-time programming. For Halloween 2016, Merced welcomes "The Addams Family" (snap snap), an altogether ooky cast of characters.

A 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist fresh from off-Broadway, the regional premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn, by Gina Gionfriddoushers into the Next Stage at Theatre Memphis and runs April 3 - 19, 2105.

While watching the Next Stage production of Gina Gionfriddo's RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN at Theatre Memphis, I was reminded of John Van Druten's screenplay for the 1943 Warner Brothers film OLD ACQUAINTANCE. It was one of those 'women pictures' which provided thespic opportunities for the likes of actresses like Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins, who, in fact, were the lead players in this particular film. In their youth, the two women had been friends, but as their paths parted in life, the Davis character, brittle and alone, became a critically acclaimed (if financially challenged) author, while the Hopkins character, finally penning a bestseller (trash that it is, it rakes in the 'big bucks'), jealously desires what Davis has. I couldn't help thinking, if Gionfriddo's RAPTURE had fallen into the hands of a director like Vincent Sherman, I could see Davis as the 'Catherine Croll' character, who, despite national recognition and an evidently fulfilling career, begins to have doubts about her life choices. (If you've ever seen the famous car scene in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ALL ABOUT EVE, also starring Davis, you'll hear the character of stage actress 'Margo Channing' lament what a woman gives up when she devotes herself entirely to a career: I wonder if this very scene influenced Ms. Gionfriddo in her characterizations.) The other character, 'Gwen,' would obviously have been given over to Hopkins, who would have shone as the once promising woman who jettisoned her own burgeoning promise to marry 'Don Harper,' who once had been Catherine's intended (George Brent, anyone?).

Votes are cast; polls are closed; and results have been tabulated! This was our biggest year yet! After a record number of voters in more than 60 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is very excited to announce the 2014 Philadelphia winners! Thanks to all who voted, and huge congratulations to all the winners!

It's your last week to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 26th. Voting closes at the end of the year, in under one week!

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

For some months, I had been hearing strong, positive comments about a previous stage reading of actor/singer Justin Asher's original HAINT, and finally, tonight, after mounting publicity (including a spot on WKNO's Checking on the Arts and an article in The Commercial Appeal's GO MEMPHIS), I was able to attend the first, complete performance of the play, staged by New Moon Theatre at Theatre Works. Not since Jerre Dye's original CICADAS have I left a theatre in such a state of excitement; like Mr. Dye's play, which recently had a highly successful production in Chicago, this is a play born of a region and time - in this case, the isolated Ozarks of Arkansas in 1953.