WORLD OF JEWTOPIA Heads to Kimmel Center for Christmas; Broadway to Follow?

World of Jewtopia, the Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson play, will be making it's Philadelphia debut at the Perelman Theatre at the Kimmel Center from December 24 - December 27.  According to the show's official billing by the Kimmel Center, this will be the last production prior to a Broadway 2010 opening.  No official announcement on a Broadway run has been made.

World of Jewtopia, is a synthesis of their original show, Jewtopia, with scenes from their book, "Jewtopia: The Chosen Book for the Chosen People."

The real story behind Jewtopia, however, is about its creators, Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson. The two struggling actor/writers met in 2001 while doing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles. In a tale straight out of the Hollywood storybooks, the two unknowns decided to write, produce and star in their own play in an attempt to get noticed. Putting it all on the line, Fogel and Wolfson racked their credits cards to the tune of $80,000 and opened JEWTOPIA on May 8th, 2003 in Los Angeles. Beating the odds, the show found an instant following and by it's second week was sold out months ahead of time.

After 300 straight sold out performances in Los Angeles, Fogel and Wolfson partnered with veteran Broadway producer Bill Franzblau to bring JEWTOPIA to New York . Opening in New York just 6 weeks after it's final Los Angeles performance, the show made the transfer with a smashing success. JEWTOPIA opened to sold out audiences and recouped it's $625,000 capitalization in just 20 weeks

The Off-Broadway production opened in New York on October 21, 2004 (previews began September 28, 2004) following a 16-month sold-out run at West Hollywood's Coast Playhouse where it still holds the record as Los Angeles' longest-running comedy. At the conclusion of its Off-Broadway run, Jewtopia played 1,079 performances, making it the longest running comedy in Off-Broadway history.

In addition to New York and L.A., productions have played in Chicago, South Florida, Tampa, Atlanta, Sarasota, Rochester, Toronto, and Connecticut totaling over 500,000 audience members.

The show seems to have the credentials to give it a good go on Broadway.  If in fact it is headed to the Rialto, only time will tell if the show can surpass it's undeniable regional appeal.

Along with the recent publication of "Jewtopia, The Chosen Book for the Chosen People," Fogel and Wolfson are currently working on their film inspired by Jewtopia, titled "O'Connell and Lipschitz Lose their Religion."

World of Jewtopia runs Thursday, December 24 - Sunday, December 27 at the Kimmel Center. Performance times are Thursday, 7:30pm; Friday and Saturday, 3pm & 8pm; and Sunday at 2pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.kimmelcenter.org.