John Barrymore Comes To Life At Bristol Riverside Theatre 10/11-30

Bristol Riverside Theatre opens its 25th Anniversary mainstage season with Barrymore by William Luce on October 11-30 about matinee idol John Barrymore. Directed by Jon Marans, the play stars BRT's Artistic Director Keith Baker in the title role with William Selby as the prompter.

Previews begin Tuesday, October 11 with opening night on Thursday, October 13. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday until October 30. Tickets start at $30, with discounts for students and groups. Tickets are available visiting brtstage.org or calling the BRT Box Office at 215-785-0100. Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, PA.
Barrymore tells the story of the greatest American Shakespearean actor of all time John Barrymore whose legendary escapades would eventually hasten his downfall. Keith Baker brings to life the charismatic actor whose notoriety and glory made him a Philadelphia legend.

Jon Marans (Director) returns to BRT where he last directed his play Old Wicked Songs, winning the Broadway World Philadelphia Awards for best production, director and actor, Keith Baker. He has also directed Old Wicked Songs at the Banyon Theater in Sarasota and at the Sembrich Opera Museum in Lake George, as well as The Sale at the Labyrinth Theater Intensive at Bennington College. For almost a decade he has been a private acting coach for numerous Broadway actors.

Keith Baker has appeared in BRT productions of Old Wicked Songs, Defiance, Proof, Hamlet, A Little Night Music, Arsenic and Old Lace, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Elsewhere, recently, he took over the role of Jeeves in the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn musical By Jeeves at the Goodspeed Opera House and appeared on TV in two episodes of Stella for Comedy Central. Baker has been nominated eleven times for the prestigious Carbonell Awards, for which he was twice the recipient for Best Actor. He has directed more than 40 productions for BRT including Chicago (nominated for six Barrymore Awards), The Balkan Women (winner of a Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play), The Dresser (nominated for a Barrymore Award for Best Director of a Play) and Dear World (nominated for three Barrymore Awards). Prior to coming to BRT, Baker was Artistic Director for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and the Florida Repertory Theatre.

William Selby has starred in the Boston, Detroit, Salt Lake City, San Diego and Washington DC companies of Forbidden Broadway, as well as several of the Off-Broadway editions. He has also appeared Off-Broadway in Nerds at New York Musical Theatre Festival, Forbidden Hollywood at Triad, and Juba at The Vineyard. Selby directed productions of Forbidden Broadway at Long Beach (which was nominated for a 2009 OVATION Award for Best Ensemble), in Chicago (which was nominated for a 2009 JEFF Award for Best Director) and in Detroit (nominated for a Wilde Award for Best Director).

Barrymore brings together a creative team of set designer Roman Tatarowicz, costume designer Linda Bee Stockton, lighting designer Deborah Constantine, and sound designer Michael Troncone.

The BRT mainstage season continues with Gypsy with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents starring Broadway powerhouse Tovah Feldshuh (December 6-January 15); the world premiere of A Raw Space by Jon Marans (January 31-February 19); Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling featuring an all-female cast of local favorites (March 20-April 8), and the mega-hit, award-winning musical Rent by Jonathan Larson (May 8-June 3).

Since 1986, BRT has brought consistently acclaimed professional theatre to Bucks County and maintained a long-term commitment to finding and developing new plays. The theatre is the recipient of over 66 Barrymore Award nominations for Excellence in Theatre, given annually by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. In addition to its mainstage productions, the theatre serves as a cultural hub for the community, with such programs as children's theatre, community concerts and exhibitions of local visual arts. Currently under the direction of Artistic Director Keith Baker, Founding Director Susan D. Atkinson, and Managing Director, Amy Kaissar, BRT enters its 25th anniversary season. For information, visit www.brtstage.org.