CABARET to Open Arden Theatre Company's 2017-18 Lineup; Children's Season Announced!

Arden Theatre Company announced today that the musical CABARET will open their 30th Anniversary Season and the 2017/18 20th Anniversary Arden Children's Theatre Season.

The 30th Anniversary Mainstage Season will open with the Tony-Award winning musical CABARET, directed by Arden Associate Artistic Director Matthew Decker. Decker won the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical for the past two years for his work on the Arden's The Stinky Cheese Man and for Into the Woods at Theatre Horizon. For CABARET, the Arden will transform the F. Otto Haas Stage into the Kit Kat Klub with the use of tables and a functional bar.

Says Decker, "I am elated to be directing CABARET as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary Season. CABARET is one of the great American musicals that examines the vivid and tempestuous cultural life of 1929 Berlin before the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazi party. The great impact of this piece lies in Kander and Ebb's glorious score and the vital and important question at its core: why do we continue to allow destructive powers to gain control of society?"

Previously announced for the 2017/18 30th Anniversary Mainstage Season are the world premiere of TOUCHTONES by Michael Hollinger and Robert Maggio, Toni Morrison's THE BLUEST EYE, adapted by Lydia R. Diamond, and Henrik Ibsen's classic, A DOLL'S HOUSE. One additional Mainstage production will be announced in June.

2017/18 is not only the 30th Anniversary Season for Arden Theatre Company, but it is also the 20th Anniversary Season of Arden Children's Theatre. It will kick off with a rousing production of PETER PAN,directed by Whit McLaughlin.

Producing Artistic Director Terrence J. Nolen says, "Whit is a genius at directing work for children and family audiences. He has done more to develop our approach to Children's Theatre than any other director, and it is fitting that we welcome him back for our 20th Anniversary Season of Arden Children's Theatre."

The Arden Children's Theatre season will also include a world premiere adaptation of SNOW WHITE, written and directed by Greg Banks.

Says Nolen, "We are thrilled to have Greg Banks here to direct his clever, two-person, adaption of SNOW WHITE. Others of Greg's works (Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, Robin Hood) have enjoyed successful runs at the Arden, but this is our first chance to work with him as a director. The show was commissioned by Minneapolis Children's Theatre, but will premiere at the Arden before its run in Minneapolis."

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2017/18 Season Shows Descriptions:

CABARET - JUST ANNOUNCED!

Book by Joe Masteroff

Based on the play by John Van Druten and Stories by Christopher Isherwood

Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Directed by Matthew Decker

9/21/17 - 10/22/17

F. Otto Haas Stage

Welcome to the Kit Kat Club, the hottest nightspot in 1929's seedy and sinful Berlin. American writer Cliff Bradshaw travels to Germany in search of inspiration and pleasure, and finds both in nightclub performer Sally Bowles. However, outside the club's doors, the Nazis' impending rise to power threatens to splinter their decadent lifestyle. Featuring one of Broadway's most memorable scores, Cabaret kicks off the Arden's 30th Anniversary Season with an immersive production that transforms the F. Otto Haas Stage into the Kit Kat Club. Right this way, your table's waiting...

TOUCHTONES - World Premiere!

Story by Michael Hollinger & Robert Maggio

Book & Lyrics by Michael Hollinger

Music by Robert Maggio

Directed by Emmanuelle Delpech

10/19/17 - 12/3/17

Arcadia Stage

It's 1999, the cusp of a new millennium, and technology promises fantasy, intimacy, and anonymity. "Welcome to TouchTones..." - a world of role-play, secret delights, and identities taken and mistaken. Directed by Emmanuelle Delpech, who staged this season's The Legend of Georgia McBride, TouchTones is a titillating new musical comedy about love, sex, and the voice at the other end of the line.

PETER PAN - JUST ANNOUNCED!

Adapted by Douglas Irvine from the books by J.M. Barrie

Directed by Whit MacLaughlin

11/22/17 - 1/28/18

F. Otto Haas Stage

Ever since J.M. Barrie's story first appeared in 1904, countless versions have been produced on stage and in film. Now, Arden Children's Theatre presents a brand-new production that celebrates the joy of storytelling and the power of imagination. Join Peter on his adventure to Neverland, a magical island where there are no parents, no school, and fairies and pirates rule! Introduce your children and grandchildren to the characters you loved from J.M. Barrie's timeless masterpiece: Wendy Darling, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, a horde of mischievous Lost Boys, Nana the dog, and - last but not least - a very hungry, ticking crocodile.

A DOLL'S HOUSE

By Henrik Ibsen

Directed by Terrence J. Nolen

1/11/18 - 2/25/18

Arcadia Stage

Nora and Torvald are living their dream life with the brightest of futures. And then a long-buried secret rises to the surface, and Nora must choose between outward perfection and inner truth. Still shockingly relevant, this revolutionary classic will be brought to life in the intimacy of the Arcadia Stage.

Toni Morrison's

THE BLUEST EYE

Adapted by Lydia R. Diamond

Directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges

3/1/18 - 4/8/18

F. Otto Haas Stage

Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl growing up in the 1940's, wants nothing more than to be loved. Confronting turmoil at home, she prays for Shirley Temple's blue eyes, believing their beauty is the only thing standing between her and the happiness of the white girls at school. Based on Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison's first novel, this powerful adaptation explores the destructive power of racism and the strength of a community attempting to embrace an era of change.

SNOW WHITE - World Premiere! - JUST ANNOUNCED!

Written and Directed by Greg Banks

3/4/17 - 5/27/18

Arcadia Stage

This is SNOW WHITE as you've never seen it before. A world premiere production of the classic tale that features a beautiful princess, her evil queen, a huntsman, one magic mirror, and the legendary seven dwarfs - all brought to life by TWO ACTORS! From the writer of the Arden's acclaimed productions of PINOCCHIO and THE JUNGLE BOOK comes this new play that features two virtuosic performers bringing a world to life before your eyes with the vibrant creativity and thrilling theatricality you've come to expect from Arden Children's Theatre.

TO BE ANNOUNCED

5/17/18 - 6/17/18

F. Otto Haas Stage

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Three and Five-Show Mainstage Subscriptions are now on sale for the 2017/18 Season and range in price from $93 - $200.

Arden Children's Theatre Subscriptions are now on sale for the 2017/18 Season and range in price from $26 - $50.

Call the Arden Box Office at 215.922.1122, order online at www.ardentheatre.org, or visit the box office at 40 N. 2nd Street in Old City, Philadelphia.

Founded in 1988, Arden Theatre Company is dedicated to bringing to life great stories by great storytellers-on the stage, in the classroom, and in the community. Five productions are staged each season as part of the Mainstage series and two productions through Arden Children's Theatre, the city's first resident professional children's theatre program. New work is produced through the Independence Foundation New Play Showcase. The Arden's Education Department includes: Arden for All (AFA), a theatre access and education program for underserved young people; Arden Drama School, the after-school, Saturday, and summer camp classes for students in grades pre K-12; Teen Arden, an immersive after-school access program for Philadelphia-area based teenagers; and the Arden Professional Apprentice Program, a nationally renowned comprehensive theatre management training program. The Hamilton Family Arts Center is the new facility dedicated to education programs and new play development.

The Arden has received numerous honors including 65 awards and 334 nominations from the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The Arden is a winner of four "Theatre Company of the Year" designations (Philadelphia Inquirer), six Philadelphia Magazine "Best of Philly" awards and three "Best of Philly Kids" awards, the City Paper's Reader's Choice Award and the prestigious "Great Friend to Kids Award" from the Please Touch Museum for Arden Children's Theatre work. For accessibility efforts, the Arden was named a "Keystone of Accessibility" by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Arden Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit 501(c)(3) theatre company and a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the League of Resident Theatres, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Old City Arts Association. The Arden also participates in The Barrymore Awards, a program of Theatre Philadelphia.

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