Mary Tuomanen News

Contradict This! A Birthday Funeral for Heroes will take place as part of Stonewall 50 at La MaMa, a month-long celebration of World Pride with exciting voices from around the globe and down the block, featuring multiple generations of queer performers as they pose questions, honor legacies and ignite the present.

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) announces the 2019 line up for the annual EAST TO EDINBURGH festival. EAST TO EDINBURGH begins on Tuesday, July 9 for a limited engagement through Sunday, July 28. The performance schedule varies. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets to each EAST TO EDINBURGH show are $15 ($12 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call the 59E59 Box Office at 646-892-7999 or visit www.59e59.org. 

Cake, coffin, gavel, choir, composers, live musical trolling! On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the much lauded homo-poet Walt Whitman's birth, a group of Philly queers and misfits known as The Bearded Ladies Cabaret gathers to put this ancestor and his legacy on trial. Should Whitman be canceled? Can he be? Come with friends, complaints, heroes and villains alike. All are welcome. Presented by La MaMa, the New York premiere performances will take place in the Ellen Stewart Theater (June 20 - 29).

The Arden Theatre Company has announced its full 2019-20 subscription season. The lineup includes the previously announced musicals RAGTIME and ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, Tennessee Williams' A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, plus the world premiere Philadelphia playwright Lorene Cary's MY GENERAL TUBMAN. The seven-show season includes a work by MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING star Nia Vardalos based on a book by Cheryl Strayed, plus two productions in the intimate Bob & Selma Horan Studio Theatre.

For Whitman's 200th birthday, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret are throwing a birthday funeral unlike anything that the queer poet ever experienced. Part of the 'Whitman at 200' celebration, CONTRADICT THIS! A BIRTHDAY FUNERAL FOR HEROES, directed by The Bearded Ladies' Artistic Director and Founder John Jarboe, comes to Cherry Street Pier (121 N. Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia) from May 28 to June 2, 2019. Reviewing press are invited to the May 31 show at 7:30PM.

Cake, coffin, gavel, choir, composers, live musical trolling! On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the much lauded homo poet Walt Whitman's birth, a group of Philly queers and misfits known as The Bearded Ladies Cabaret gathers to put this ancestor and his legacy on trial.

Treasure Island is playing on the Arcadia Stage and has already extended their run through June 9th. Geared to children 8 and up, this charming story is full of fun for the adult kids too!

Let your imagination set sail! Audiences of all ages are invited to 'walk the plank' at Arden Theatre Company this spring as they present a unique twist on the swashbuckling tale TREASURE ISLAND. Single tickets for the production, which runs April 3 through June 2 on Arden's Arcadia Stage, are currently on sale.

Delaware Theatre Company proudly presents a new adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan by Chelsea Marcantel. This fiercely feminist retelling of a timeless classic runs February 6 24, 2019. Tickets are on sale now starting at $25 and can be purchased online at DelawareTheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at (302) 594-1100.

For the first ten minutes of Completeness at Theatre Exile, I was bored out of my mind. "Oh god, these next two hours are going to suck," I thought. Despite my initial distaste, as the play unraveled I was faced with a beautiful presentation of the universal human experience.

Theatre Exile opens its 2018/2019 season with Itamar Moses's Completeness. Elliot builds a computer program to help Molly with her research project, and the variables in their evolving relationship shift as rapidly as the terms of their experiment. This incredibly seductive and ridiculously intelligent comedy by 2018 Tony Award-winner Itamar Moses explores the chemistry between smart, damaged people and what happens when they lose control of the science.

The power grid is gone (d'oh!), and disaster has plunged the world into darkness. In the aftermath, a group of survivors gather in the dead of winter, trying to brave their new reality by recounting an episode of The Simpsons. Under the direction of Yury Urnov, The Wilma Theater's HotHouse Company tackles Anne Washburn's wickedly smart dark comedy that charts life after lights, October 23 through November 11.

Whether from disease, 19th century #MeToo-style abuse, or unrequited love, Opera Philadelphia's (OP) Festival O18 opening weekend showed us three ways that central female characters lost their grip on reality. While I considered only one of them a total success, audience openness to sometimes-demanding material made it clear that the company has found a formula that strikes at the hearts of opera-goers, new and old.

People's Light kicks off its 2018/2019 Season with Such Things as Vampires, a highly theatrical folk-punk twist on the Dracula tale. Infused with lilting ballads, rock anthems, and melodious love songs, this concert-theatre event is an irreverent, bloody, and wickedly fun retelling of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic masterpiece. Such Things as Vampires runs September 20 - October 31 on the Steinbright Stage in Malvern. Tickets range from $30-$50.

Theatre Philadelphia, the region's marketing and leadership organization for theatre, proudly announces the 2018 nominees for the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre. Celebrating the rich, diverse professional theatre scene in the Greater Philadelphia region, the Barrymore Ceremony will be held on Monday, November 5th at 7pm at the Bok Building at 1901 S. 9th Street in South Philadelphia. Guests will continue the festivities with an after-party Celebration at the same location. Tickets for artists, supporters, and the general public are now on sale at www.theatrephiladelphia.org.

Arden Theatre Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is proud to announce that they have received 18 2018 Barrymore Award Nominations for Excellence in Theatre.

Theatre Exile is proud to deliver three plays that will leave audiences entertained and exhilarated. Completeness by Tony Award winner Itamar Moses has been called "Fearless … and frequently funny." The Guardian said seeing An Oak Tree by Tim Crouch is "...like watching your own heart being mugged." The New York Times calledAmong the Dead by Hansol Jung "smart and stinging." The plays with their innovative storytelling will enliven the stage and the lobby after the show. 

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) announces the 2018 line up for the annual EAST TO EDINBURGH festival. EAST TO EDINBURGH begins on Tuesday, July 10 for a limited engagement through Sunday,  July 29. The performance schedule varies.  Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues).

Arden Theatre Company closes its 30th Anniversary Season with the Tony Award-winning musical FUN HOME now on stage through June 17, 2018, on the Arden's F. Otto Haas Stage at 40 N. 2nd Street in Philadelphia. Honorary Producers are David and Christina Fryman.

Arden Theatre Company's production of Fun Home is moving, memorable and masterful. It is an emotionally resonant and profound story with exciting staging and production. The Arden's Fun Home is more than just an enjoyable night at the theatre; it is an impactful and relatable story about love, loss and finding meaning that will change the way audiences perceive theatre.