Christopher Colucci News

Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 210th season with the uproarious Ken Ludwig's A COMEDY OF TENORS. Directed by and starring Frank Ferrante, this over-top-top comedy from Tony Winner Ken Ludwig begins previews on January 15th, opens on January 23rd, and runs through March 3rd on the Walnut's Mainstage.

Lantern Theater Company is thrilled to announce the world premiere of an original adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, commissioned and developed through the Lantern's New Play Program and co-created by Philadelphia-based artists Anthony Lawton, Christopher Colucci, and Thom Weaver. In this wonderfully clear and direct telling of Dickens' beloved novella, Lawton will bring the story boldly to life as only live theater can. Just in time for the holiday season, audiences of all ages are invited to come rediscover this story of a miser's miraculous redemption from a life of bitterness, greed, and isolation. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol runs Thursday, December 13, 2018, through Sunday, January 6, 2019, in the Black Box Theater at Drexel University's URBN Center Annex; a full schedule of performances is included in the fact sheet below. 

1812 Productions will present the American premiere of Tom Wells' comedy Broken Biscuits. Named for the boxes of broken cookies in every cupboard in England, Broken Biscuits premiered in Newcastle upon Tyne before touring the UK in 2016. Broken Biscuits stars a trio of young artists making their 1812 debuts, Amanda Jill Robinson, Leigha Kato, and Michael Macri. Broken Biscuits will play October 4th thru the 28th at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Street in Center City. Opening night will be Today, October 10th at 7:00pm.

1812 Productions will present the American premiere of Tom Wells' comedy Broken Biscuits. Named for the boxes of broken cookies in every cupboard in England, Broken Biscuits premiered in Newcastle upon Tyne before touring the UK in 2016. Broken Biscuits stars a trio of young artists making their 1812 debuts, Amanda Jill Robinson, Leigha Kato, and Michael Macri. Broken Biscuits will play October 4th thru the 28th at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Street in Center City. Opening night will be Wednesday, October 10th at 7:00pm.

Philadelphia Theatre Company kicks off the 2018-2019 season with the Pennsylvania premiere of Lynn Nottage's Sweat.

Philadelphia Theatre Company kicks off the 2018-2019 with the Pennsylvania premiere of Lynn Nottage's Sweat. This Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner explores Reading, Pennsylvania's shrinking industrial economy and shares the fear, tragedy and hopefulness of a community on the verge of inevitable change. The production will kick-off the first produced season under new Producing Artistic Director Paige Price. Justin Emeka makes his Philadelphia debut directing a cast filled with local stars and Barrymore Award winners who have extensive theatre, film and television credits. Sweat will run from October 12 to November 4, 2018 at Philadelphia Theatre Company's stage at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad Street. Opening Night is Wednesday, October 17th at 7:00pm. Tickets range from $25-$69 and are available in person at the box office, online at philatheatreco.org or by phone at 215-985-0420. Season subscriptions are also now available starting at $38.

Lantern Theater Company kicks off its 2018/19 season with the regional premiere of Hapgood by Tom Stoppard. Longtime Lantern artistic collaborator Peter DeLaurier will direct a cast that includes McKenna Kerrigan as MI5 spymaster Elizabeth Hapgood, with Damon Bonetti, Kirk Wendell Brown, Trevor William Fayle, Christopher Patrick Mullen, Adam Phelan, David Pica, William Zielinski, and young actors Charles LaMonaca and Will Zielinski, who will share the role of Hapgood's son Joe. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to request tickets for opening night on Wednesday, September 12 at 7 p.m. by contacting Anne Shuff at ashuff@lanterntheater.org. Performances run Thursday, September 6 through Sunday, October 14, 2018; a full schedule of performances and related special events is included in the fact sheet below.

1812 Productions will present the American premiere of Tom Wells' comedy Broken Biscuits. Named for the boxes of broken cookies in every cupboard in England, Broken Biscuits premiered in Newcastle upon Tyne before touring the UK in 2016. Broken Biscuits stars a trio of young artists making their 1812 debuts, Amanda Jill Robinson, Leigha Kato, and Michael Macri. Broken Biscuits will play October 4th thru the 28th at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Street in Center City. Opening night will be Wednesday, October 10th at 7:00pm.

Next up on Weston's exciting new Second Stage is the eight-time Tony Nominated comedy, A Doll's House, Part 2. Opening August 2 at Weston Playhouse at Walker Farm, this recent Broadway hit by Lucas Hnath spotlights Ibsen's famed 19th century heroine, Nora Helmer, as she returns to the place she once called home with an urgent request. One of the most highly sought offerings for regional theatres across the country, A Doll's House, Part 2 will have its Vermont Premiere in Weston.

People's Light proudly presents an inventive, intimate version of one of Shakespeare's most timeless plays. In Romeo & Juliet: A Requiem, the parents, Friar, and Nurse recreate the passion and recklessness of their star-crossed children to face their culpability and seek redemption.

Obie Award-winning playwright Christopher Chen brings the World Premiere of Passage to The Wilma Theater in collaboration with Wilma Artistic Director Blanka Zizka and the Wilma HotHouse Company of actors. Praised by The New Yorker for his ability to find "ingenious ways to pull the rug out from under the audience's feet," Chen's new play uses the theater's primal evocative powers to examine the most essential questions of our time. Passage begins on Wednesday, April 18th, 2018, and opens on Wednesday, April 25th, 2018. 

Gulfshore Playhouse, Naples' premier professional regional theatre, presents the world premiere of 'Miss Keller Has No Second Book' showing Saturday, March 31 through Sunday, April 15.

People's Light presents I Will Not Go Gently, the latest award-winning, one-woman show from Philadelphia's queen of comedy, Jennifer Childs. In the style of Anna Deavere Smith and Lily Tomlin, with original songs by Childs and Christopher Colucci, this outrageous tour de force introduces a cadre of colorful characters, like music maven Sierra Mist, who straddle the gap between past and future-deadly sincere, impossibly hopeful, and ready to rock. A comedic musical journey across the tricky terrain of middle age, I Will Not Go Gently storms across the Steinbright Stage in Malvern from March 21 through April 15, 2018.

Walnut Street Theatre's 2017-18 Independence Studio on 3 season continues with the hard-hitting and gripping A STEADY RAIN. Written by Keith Huff and directed by Fran Prisco, the production begins previews on February 20, opens February 22, and continues through March 25.

Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 209th season with Stephen Karam's Tony Award-winning play, THE HUMANS. Directed by Producing Artistic Director Bernard Havard, the play, which was the recipient of over 20 Best Play Awards in 2016, begins previews on January 16th, opens on January 24th, and runs through March 4th on the Walnut's Mainstage.

Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 209th season with Stephen Karam's Tony Award-winning play, THE HUMANS. Directed by Producing Artistic Director Bernard Havard, the play, which was the recipient of over 20 Best Play Awards in 2016, begins previews on January 16th, opens on January 24th, and runs through March 4th on the Walnut's Mainstage.

A stellar ensemble of People's Light veterans, including some of the most celebrated actors in Philadelphia, brings to life Paul Osborn's classic American comedy, Morning's at Seven. In a small, Midwestern town, four close-knit sisters and their husbands confront long-held secrets and simmering tensions that threaten to upend the status quo. Artistic Director Abigail Adams directs this charming tribute to family dysfunction in which the relationships are ultimately as universal as the humor (Los Angeles Times). Morning's at Seven plays on the Steinbright Stage in Malvern from January 10 through February 4, 2018.

Lantern Theater Company continues its 24th season with a world premiere production of The Craftsman by celebrated Philadelphia playwright Bruce Graham. Commissioned and developed through the Lantern's New Works Initiative, Graham's new play spins a darkly ironic tale of ambition, genius, and deception. M. Craig Getting will direct a cast that includes Mary Lee Bednarek, Dan Hodge, Anthony Lawton, Brian McCann, Paul L. Nolan, and Ian Merrill Peakes. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to attend opening night on Wednesday, November 15 at 7 p.m. A full schedule is included in the fact sheet below.

Lantern Theater Company will launch its 24th season with the regional premiere of Red Velvet, Lolita Chakrabarti's stirring play based on the true story of 19th century actor Ira Aldridge, who made history as the first African-American actor to portray Othello in 1833 London.

Theatre Philadelphia, the region's marketing and leadership organization for theatre, has announced the 2017 nominees for the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre.