MY UNCLE SAM Announced At Cannonball Festival!

All the way from Chicago, Marc Frost of Theater Unspeakable is bringing a true labor of love dedicated to his vaudevillian ancestor and to all those who dreamed before us. This year, My Uncle Sam is coming to Cannonball Festival, an official hub of Philly Fringe. My Uncle Sam which follows the life of a remarkable Russian Jewish immigrant who became an international vaudeville star in the early 1900s and was present at some of the most pivotal parts of the early nineteenth century, opens Wednesday, September 24th at 6:30PM at Maas Building Studio (1320 N 5th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122).

Born in Russia in 1891, Sami Silverstein joined a wave of turn-of-the-century immigrants who came to America seeking a better life. After a near-death experience as an aviator, he returned to his love of building bicycles which eventually landed him on a vaudeville stage as Sam Barton of the Barton Bros. act. Marriage, family and an international career all come careening towards a spectacular yet tragic ending as he dies backstage at Radio City Music Hall in New York on the eve of World War II. Written and performed by Marc Frost, directed by Jeremy Aluma, and based on a true story, My Uncle Sam combines tongue-in-cheek humor and a dash of derring-do, and this one-person show recreates an era of great ingenuity, triumph and heartbreak.

The show first began development when Marc learned from his grandmother that he had a great-great uncle who had been an international vaudeville star. Marc met with some of Uncle Sam Barton's family including his two children Lloyd and Marilyn Barton who provided oral history memories and two of Sam's grandchildren including Jeff Barton and Arlene Jacobelli who provided ample research documents. The show underwent development starting in 2019 under the direction of Jeremy Aluma, former Executive Director of the Alliance for Jewish Theater.

Tickets to My Uncle Sam are currently on sale by visiting phillyfringe.org. General admission is $25 with limited Pay-What-You Can tickets available. More information on My Uncle Sam can be found at theaterunspeakable.com.

Theater Unspeakable presents My Uncle Sam

9/24, 6:30PM

9/25, 8:00PM

9/26, 5:00PM

Maas Building Studio, 1320 N 5th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122

Ticket price: $25

Tickets available at phillyfringe.org

Marc Frost is an actor, deviser, educator, producer and Chicago native who has performed and produced work in Brazil, Ireland, Spain, the USA and the UK. He created Theater Unspeakable and co- founded Physical Theater Festival Chicago, an international physical theater festival. He currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago and Roosevelt University. Marc was proudly raised in Highland Park, IL.

Jeremy Aluma is an award-winning, Jewish-American theatre director and producer of Iraqi descent. Aluma was the Executive Director of Alliance for Jewish Theatre in 2020 & 2021. He founded the internationally touring clown troupe, Four Clowns and served as Artistic Director during the first seven years. He continues to teach at The Clown School and received an MFA in Directing at The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Theater Unspeakable is an award-winning, touring theater company. Founded by Marc Frost in 2010, every year the Chicago-based company tours its shows to hundreds and thousands of young people and families around the country at venues including Lincoln Center Education (NY) and Kennedy Center (DC). The company's style strives to create live theater at its most imaginative and engaging.

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