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Act II Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin announced that he will remount Act II's popular musical, Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, in 2010 at Society Hill Playhouse. Martin, who directs the Act II Playhouse production, made the decision to produce Respect downtown for 12 weeks, Jan. 27 through April 18.
New performances of Dorothy Marcic's popular and high-energy musical - which recounts the journey of women in the 20th century through Top 40 songs - will take place on the main stage at Society Hill Playhouse on Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $40.00 for Wednesday and Thursday performances and $45.00 for Friday through Sunday shows - and are on sale by phone at 215-923-0210, online at www.comcasttix.com and at the Society Hill Playhouse Box Office at 507 S. 8th Street (near South Street). Special discounts for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 1-888-264-1788 toll free or 215-925-3769."Respect has had an incredible impact on our audience and is a clear indication of why this show has been a phenomenon and extended everywhere it has played," said Martin. "It makes perfect sense to move it to Society Hill, especially knowing that one of our Respect actresses, Lois Sach Binder, appeared in a similarly popular show, Menopause: The Musical at Society Hill for four years."
In addition to Binder, Respect stars Danielle G. Herbert, who received a Barrymore nomination for her role at Act II in The category of Best Actress in a Musical, and Jennifer Lorae. The role of narrator will be played by Eileen Matthews for the first four weeks of run; Cheryl Williams, who wowed toe-tapping audiences in Act II's production, will take over for the remaining eight weeks.Martin was thrilled that Dani received a nomination: "She is incredibly talented and took the songs she sings in the show - including ‘Hard-Hearted Hannah', ‘I Will Survive' and ‘Respect' - to a new level."Collin Maier returns as the high-energy Music Director of Respect, as does choreographer Carmela Guiteras Mayo. The production team also includes scenic designer Dirk Durossette, costume designer Wade Laboissonniere, lighting designer James Leitner, and sound designer/mix engineer Mark Valenzuela.
Respect first took the Act II stage on May 5 and closed a history-making 12-week run for the theatre on Aug. 2.The original version of Respect, inspired by Dorothy Marcic's book, Respect: Women and Popular Music, began in 1999 as a series of one-woman presentations and was developed into a full-scale musical theatre piece, presented for the first time in 2004. The show has been performed to sold-out crowds at several venues around the country, including West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, FL, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles.Respect is being presented by Society Hill Playhouse, in association with Bud Martin, Act II Playhouse and Philip Roger Roy.
