THE BROKEN HOLLOW BANSHEE to Debut At Old Academy Players

As part of its 2023-2024 Season, The Old Academy Players will present the Philadelphia stage premiere of The Broken Hollow Banshee, written and directed by OAP member Rob Rosiello. The show was first produced as a four-part radio thriller in October 2021 for R5 Productions. That same year it returned as a special radio broadcast over Halloween Weekend for WTSR, the student run radio station at The College of New Jersey, where the playwright attended and studied as an undergraduate.

The Broken Hollow Banshee takes place in 1955, when Ivy Pembroke learns she has inherited a family estate in Broken Hollow, Pennsylvania. Upon her arrival into town, Ivy discovers the ruins of a once grand mansion and the tale of a Banshee that has plagued her family for generations. Ivy Pembroke quickly learns that whispered myth is a chilling reality as the Banshee proves to be more than legend, and is determined to claim the final member of the Pembroke Clan.

Rob's directing credits include: Agnes of God, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, The Children's Hour, A Song I Forgot to Sing, The Laramie Project, Suddenly Last Summer, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and Love! Valour! Compassion! As a playwright, his stage productions include: A Song I Forgot to Sing, Vernal Rites, Cold Stun, and numerous short plays that include Love Between the Dryer Sheets and Honky Tonk Queen. His play Priceless was adapted as a radio thriller for R5 Productions in the Fall of 2020. Rob was a member of the Barrymore Award winning ensemble of Angels in America Part II: Perestroika, has taught theatre and film at Montgomery County Community College and served as a teaching assistant in playwriting at Primary Stage Off-Broadway Theater in NYC. While living in NYC, he also had the great fortune of producing the National Tour for the Winner of the first five seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race on behalf of Logo TV and Absolut Vodka.

The cast of Banshee includes: Jessi Russell as Carrie Belle Pembroke, Joshua Tull as Silas Pembroke, et al, Nyiema Lunsford as Ivy Pembroke, Sandra Hartman as Sister Mary Lucretia, et al, Stephanie Rogers as Gladys Crenshaw, et al, and Tim Andersson as Darius Benn. The show's producers are Annie Hnatko and Steve Hnatko (Company, The Fantasticks). Sound Design and Original Music Composition are by Jim McIntosh (Vernal Rites) and the Set Design is by T. Mark Cole (Agnes of God and Suddenly Last Summer).

The Broken Hollow Banshee will run November 3- 19, 2023; Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm

Old Academy Players is located at 3544 Indian Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA. Parking for all performances is free.

Ticket prices are: $20 per adult; $10 for Students under 25 with valid ID; group rate (15 or more) $17 each. Tickets can be purchased online at www.OldAcademyPlayers.org. Reservations and more information can be obtained by calling the Box Office at 215-843-1109.

The Old Academy Players has provided continuous community theater entertainment since 1923 and is a non-profit community theater in East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Constructed in 1819, the Old Academy building has been the OAP home since 1932. Old Academy Players is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. Most notable alumni include Tony Award-nominated actor Robert Prosky and Hollywood icon, Grace Kelly. Support is provided by the "Philadelphia Cultural Fund".

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