Nice People Theatre Co Brings Have A Nice Life To Edinburgh Fringe From Philadelphia

Up-and-coming Philadelphia company, Nice People Theatre Company (NPTC), is remounting its first musical during the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe. This group-therapy-session comedy, Have A Nice Life by Conor Mitchell and Matthew Hurt, made its Philadelphia premiere in March, 2008 and due to popular demand, NPTC revived the show for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September, 2008. The show runs August 7-16th at George Square Theatre 2, George Square/Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9LH (venue 37). Shows will be everyday at 12:00 pm and there will be no show on Tuesday, August 11th. Preview tickets cost £6, weekday performances are £7.50, and weekend performances are £8.50. Tickets are available online at www.edfringe.com or by calling the Festival box office at +44 (0) 131 226 0026.

This real-time psychotherapy features seven characters, whose lives unravel when a newcomer joins the session. Group leader and therapist Patrick has issues of his own and is trying to keep everyone under control to make the 90 minutes productive. His subjects include: the gruff, alpha-male Frank; the other extreme -- momma's boy Chris; overly aggressive Barbara, opinionated Jean; the über-clingy Jackie; and Amy, the seemingly perfect newbie. The audience only meets the characters in the context of this sharp-witted group therapy session. Musically, the individual song styles mirror the characters' personalities and collectively, it is best described as an amalgam of Stephen Sondheim and Kurt Weill.

Have a Nice Life made its American premiere at the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival where Mitchell won the Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Music) award, and the show won Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Mitchell, who wrote both the music and lyrics for the show, is an upcoming writer from Northern Ireland who revived Have A Nice Life, his first musical theatre piece, at the festival. His other works include: Merry Christmas Betty Ford and Matilde. Hurt, another theatre artist from the United Kingdom, wrote the book.

Hurt and Mitchell revisited the book in preparation for Nice People Theatre Company's production. They spent time in Philadelphia during the original rehearsal process to work on changes and prepare the show for the Philadelphia stage and publishing.

Mitchell will make a special guest appearance to play the show's accompaniment for the final performances and Thomas Brady will join NPTC from London to accompany them on piano until Mitchell arrives. Nice People Theatre Company Artistic Advisor Bill Felty remains the director of the show and will join the company in Edinburgh.

Nice People Theatre Company Co-Artistic Directors, Nicole Blicher and Miriam White are also appearing as Amy and Barbara. Dorien Belle is appearing as Chris, Gregg Pica is appearing as Frank, Amy Acchione is appearing as Jackie, Megan Martinez is appearing as Jean, and Michael Newman is appearing as Patrick.

Blicher was thrilled with the company's chance to bring a new musical to Edinburgh. "This is overwhelmingly exciting for us. We have had so much attention as a young, hip theatre company in Philadelphia and when we were presented with the opportunity to share our work on an International level - well we were thrilled to say the least," she said. "What's more," said White, "We are so excited that Conor will be joining us to accompany the show for a few guest performances and we can't wait to show Edinburgh just how much fun this show has become!"
About Nice People Theatre Company: Nice People Theatre recognizes the importance of collaboration and that the process is equally as important as the final product. The company strives to work with "nice" people of diverse theatrical backgrounds. They are focused on intellectual, thought provoking, Philadelphia premieres that entertain, educate, and enrich the artistic fiber of the Philadelphia theatre community. Have a Nice Life will be the company's fifth production. Their previous show, Psalms of a Questionable Nature by Marisa Wegrzyn was a Philadelphia premiere that played at the Walnut Street Theater, Studio 5.

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