11th Hour Theatre Company Continues Next Step Concert Series with LIZZIE This Weekend

11th Hour Theatre Company continues its Next Step Concert Series with LIZZIE this weekend, November 23-25 at the Caplan Studio Theatre at the University of the Arts (211 South Broad Street). With music by Steve Cheslik-deMeyer and Alan Steven Hewitt, lyrics by Steve Cheslik-deMeyer and Tim Maner, and book by Tim Maner, Lizzie will be directed by Kate Galvan and feature 11th Hour veteran performers Alex Keiper, Cara Noel Antosca, Rachel Brennan, and Meredith Beck with Jamison Foreman leading the rock bank accompaniment.

Performances are tonight, November 23 at 8 PM; Sunday, November 24 at 3 PM; and Monday, November 25 at 7 PM. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $15 for students and industry, and are available at www.11thhourtheatrecompany.org or by calling 267-987-9865.

Lizzie Borden was a small-town Sunday school teacher who was accused of the gruesome 1892 axe murders of her father and step-mother, Andrew and Abby Borden. A lifelong resident of Fall River, Massachusetts, Lizzie was tried and acquitted of the killings of in 1893, and no one else was ever arrested for the crime. The dramatic elements of the story - a respected community member (Lizzie) as the prime suspect; a resentful relationship with the step-mother, compounded by acrimony over money; the brutal crime itself (chopped to death by a hatchet); rumors that the police bungled the investigation; and, significantly, coverage by the then-new nationwide press - contributed to the crime's mythic infamy.

"We are very excited to be introducing Philadelphians to this wonderfully fun fusion of theater and rock music," said Producing Artistic Director Michael Philip O'Brien. "This is a story of youth rebelling against their parents' value system and way of life to create themselves anew in a world where what matters is the present, not the past. Lizzie Borden is literally killing off the old to make room for the new. Using the contemporary idiom of rock as the inspiration for this musical, Lizzie sardonically shows how America's first axe-wielding murderess became a rock star."

The Next Step Concert Series continues with The Secret Garden (February 8-10), and Side Show (March 15-17).

11th Hour Theatre Company, now in residence at University of the Arts, is a dynamic, boutique company committed to producing high quality musical theatre that favors intimate, story-driven musicals over flashy, budget-busting spectacles. Now in its ninth season, the company has presented eight Philadelphia premieres and has received thirty-one Barrymore nominations and seven awards, including two consecutive awards for "Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical" (The Bomb-itty of Errors, The World Goes 'Round) and several individual artist awards.

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