Curtain Crawl

Take a hot, sticky stroll through Philly's summer theater offerings.

by Mark Cofta

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Published: Jun 25, 2008

lee a. butz VAMPIRE THIS WEEKEND? Christopher Patrick Mullen plays every character in PA Shakespeare's Dracula, through June 29. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Conventional wisdom — and painful experience — holds that frolicking down the Shore trumps going to a play when the temperature rises. To battle Philadelphia's apparent "summer theater" oxymoron, area companies are taking risks in the hot months — and hoping you'll stick around to help them succeed.

Between now and the Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe festivals (Aug. 29 to Sept. 14), here's what's happening on area stages:

Shows currently running include Wit, the Margaret Edson Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winner produced by HATG (Hovering Above the Gutter) Theater. Veteran actress Susan Giddings is ideally cast as Professor Vivian Bearing, a flinty John Donne expert whose heart warms even as her body succumbs to cancer. Wit works very well at Second Stage, a 60-seat space that accentuates Bearing's asides to the audience. Giddings skillfully takes us on Vivian's journey to the inevitable with grace, humor and heart (Second Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-525-1551, hatgtheater.com).

Also playing through Sunday, June 29, is the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's engaging one-man adaptation Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Philly dynamo Matt Pfeiffer and performed by the inexhaustible Christopher Patrick Mullen, who bounds around Bob Phillips' busy set playing all the characters in an intimately spooky version of the mother of all vampire stories (DeSales University, Allentown, 610-282-WILL, pashakespeare.org).

PSF also opened Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (through July 6), directed by Barrymore Lifetime Achievement Award-winner James J. Christy and featuring Philly actors Erin Clare Hurley, Peter Pryor and Anthony Lawton in a girl-disguised-as-boy romantic comedy.

Ending this weekend: Souvenir, Media Theatre's touching and hilarious production featuring Ann Crumb as notorious would-be singer Florence Foster Jenkins at the Wilma Theater (265 S. Broad St., 215-564-7824, wilmatheater.org); By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea, a trio of one-acts by Terrence McNally, Joe Pintauro and Lanford Wilson at Plays & Players Theatre (1714 Delancey St., 215-735-0630, playsandplayers.org); the final performances of the Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival's Facing East, Carol Lynn Pearson's drama about a Mormon mom mourning her gay son, and My Left Breast, featuring Marcia Saunders in Susan Miller's autobiographical solo show about her struggles with cancer (both at Mum Puppettheatre, 115 Arch St., 215-922-1122, pgltf.org); and Act II Playhouse's musical comedy Married Alive! (56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, 215-654-0200, act2.org).

July sees the continuation of Walnut Street Theatre's long-running production of Les Miserables. It opened in May and plays through Aug. 3 (825 Walnut St., 215-574-3550, walnutstreettheatre.org). But theatergoers also have an impressive range of non-Miserable choices. Another Broadway behemoth, The Color Purple, visits the Academy through July 13 (1420 Locust St., 215-731-3333, kimmelcenter.org/broadway), and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew roams city and suburban parks July 10 to 29 courtesy of the Commonwealth Classic Theatre Co. (610-202-7878, commonwealthclassictheatre.org).

The Theatre Alliance's program for small companies, Spark, presents its fourth annual showcase, Going Against the Flow, July 16 to 20 at Plays & Players, featuring short plays from EgoPo, Flashpoint, Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Simpatico and other groups (215-413-7150, theatrealliance.org).

In the 'burbs, options for a night out include People's Light & Theatre's world première of Katie Forgette's Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, which teams the famous fictional sleuth with real-life contemporaries Oscar Wilde and Lillie Langtry (through July 13, 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, 610-644-3500, peopleslight.org); the plucky Montgomery Theater's comedy Molly Snyder, featuring well-known Philly actor Tony Braithwaite and the brilliant, ought-to-be-famous Leah Walton (through July 12, 124 Main St., Souderton, 215-723-9984, montgomerytheater.org); Working, the musical based on Studs Terkel's interviews celebrating American labor, presented by King of Prussia's professional summer company, Theatre Horizon (July 2-27, 450 Keebler Road, 610-283-2230, theatrehorizon.org); and Hedgerow's seventh annual production of Ray Cooney's door-slamming naughty farce There Goes the Bride (July 10-Aug. 31, 64 Rose Valley Road, Rose Valley, 610-565-4211, hedgerowtheatre.org).

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival pulls out the big guns in July, with their first King Lear running on their intimate thrust stage (July 9 to Aug. 3), while the equally daunting challenge of Edmund Rostand's Cyrano De Bergerac — with Philadelphia institution Greg Wood swashbuckling in the title role — on the main stage (July 16 to Aug. 3).

Dog Days

August's hazy heat drives all but the few, the brave and perhaps the foolhardy onto beaches or into rehearsal rooms for Fringe shows, but a few companies will crank their air conditioning and hope for audiences. Two play at the Adrienne: Peter Reynolds' gay-themed Mauckingbird Theatre Co. runs Shakespeare's R&J, Joe Calarco's all-male version of the tragic love story, on the main stage, Aug. 1 to 23 (2030 Sansom St., 215-923-8909, mauckingbirdtheatreco.org), while upstairs at Second Stage another young company, Last Minute Fusion, premières Robert DeFelice's dark satire (featuring terrorist clowns!) Lingering July 28 to Aug. 24 (954-235-4347, lastminuteproductions.org).

In the same building, in the Playground space, ComedySportz continues its year-round Saturday night audience-interactive improv shows at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Rumor has it that many of Philly's favorite comedic performers like Karen Getz, John Zak, Dave Jadico, Kelly Jennings and Brian McCann "summer" here, sharpening their skills sans scripts (877-98-LAUGH, comedysportzphilly.com).

Shakespeare in Clark Park's third free production in University City will be director Maria Möller's circa-1895 vision of the romantic comedy As You Like It, featuring Kristyn Chouiniere as the girl disguised as a boy disguised as a girl (July 30 to Aug. 3, 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue, 215-462-2115, shakespeareinclarkpark.org).

Last but not least, Monty Python's Spamalot returns to the Academy of Music Aug. 14 to 31. The 2005 Tony Award-winning Best Musical is the ultimate summer giggle, a silly compendium of classic Python gags and Broadway spoofs (215-731-3333, kimmelcenter.org/broadway).

(m_cofta@citypaper.net)

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