Patrick Mulcahy News

The opening production of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's 20th season, South Pacific, features several historic firsts

Even as it celebrates 20 years of producing Shakespeare and classical theatre, the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival announces a multitude of firsts

The sensational musical that won a fleet of awards when it opened in 1949 and again in its recent Broadway revival, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific will open the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's 2011 summer season.

A bold vision created the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival 20 years ago; an equally bold vision transforms the summer 2011 season.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival finished its season in the black for the fifth consecutive year, with help from individual patrons stepping in to fill gaps due to recession-related funding shifts.

With one of the most recognizable titles in the world, Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet is often obscured by its own renown. 'It's the play we all think we know,' says Patrick Mulcahy, PSF producing artistic director. 'We see a few productions that often fail to measure up to the play itself, maybe the Zefferilli film, and we think we're done with Romeo & Juliet,' he says. Yet, even after performing in three professional productions and teaching the play for 20 years, Mulcahy found himself surprised during auditions four months ago. 'There were a few moments where I heard lines I had never heard before, or got an insight from something an actor did that was new to me.

Romeo and Juliet and their zany Robot take Shakespeare's masterpiece and break-dance it down for kids in the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's Shakespeare for Kids. The production runs July 28-31 and August 3-7 at 10am at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.

With a sense of humor equal to their sense of adventure, Robin Hood and his Merry Men pursue villains and victories in the Sherwood Forest in a lively new adaptation on stage at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival June 4 through August 7.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's season culminates in a fresh and lively evening of songs, scenes, Shakespeare and more in a Finale Cabaret, playing one night only on Sunday, August 1st, at 7:30pm on the Main Stage - and Dee Roscioli, who recently starred as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway, will also perform.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's season culminates in a fresh and lively evening of songs, scenes, Shakespeare and more in a Finale Cabaret, playing one night only on Sunday, August 1st, at 7:30pm on the Main Stage - and Dee Roscioli, who recently starred as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway, will also perform.

Romeo and Juliet and their zany Robot take Shakespeare's masterpiece and break-dance it down for kids in the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's Shakespeare for Kids. The production runs July 28-31 and August 3-7 at 10am at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.

'A small play confronting profound ideas,' Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger comes to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival for one night only, Monday, July 26, at 7:30pm on the Main Stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.

With one of the most recognizable titles in the world, Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet is often obscured by its own renown. 'It's the play we all think we know,' says Patrick Mulcahy, PSF producing artistic director. 'We see a few productions that often fail to measure up to the play itself, maybe the Zefferilli film, and we think we're done with Romeo & Juliet,' he says. Yet, even after performing in three professional productions and teaching the play for 20 years, Mulcahy found himself surprised during auditions four months ago. 'There were a few moments where I heard lines I had never heard before, or got an insight from something an actor did that was new to me.

Romeo and Juliet and their zany Robot take Shakespeare's masterpiece and break-dance it down for kids in the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's Shakespeare for Kids. The production runs July 28-31 and August 3-7 at 10am at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.

'A small play confronting profound ideas,' Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger comes to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival for one night only, Monday, July 26, at 7:30pm on the Main Stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.

Outrageous situations lead to hilarious complications in the legendary musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opening on the Main Stage at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Friday, June 25. With previews June 23 and 24, Forum continues through July 11. Ticket prices range from $25 to $53.

With one of the most recognizable titles in the world, Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet is often obscured by its own renown. 'It's the play we all think we know,' says Patrick Mulcahy, PSF producing artistic director. 'We see a few productions that often fail to measure up to the play itself, maybe the Zefferilli film, and we think we're done with Romeo & Juliet,' he says. Yet, even after performing in three professional productions and teaching the play for 20 years, Mulcahy found himself surprised during auditions four months ago. 'There were a few moments where I heard lines I had never heard before, or got an insight from something an actor did that was new to me.

The Irish play that led to riots in the streets of Dublin when it debuted 103 years ago and became a comic masterpiece, The Playboy of the Western World, opens the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's 19th season. With previews June 16 and 17, the play opens June 18 in the Schubert Theatre and continues through July 3.

An imaginative parable becomes theatrical magic in The Screwtape Letters at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival for one night only, Monday, June 28 at 7:30pm on the Main Stage.

Outrageous situations lead to hilarious complications in the legendary musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opening on the Main Stage at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Friday, June 25. With previews June 23 and 24, Forum continues through July 11. Ticket prices range from $25 to $53.