Flashpoint Theatre Company to Close First Summer Season with HERRINGBONE, 7/10-27

Flashpoint Theatre Company finishes its 10th Anniversary Season with Tom Cone, Skip Kennon, and Ellen Fitzhugh's one-man musical Herringbone. Flashpoint's first musical will run July 10-July 27. Its Opening Night is Saturday, July 12 at 8 p.m. All performances take place at the Off-Broad Street Theatre at First Baptist Church, 1636 Sansom Street. Tickets cost $25. Discount tickets for students and seniors are $22. Tickets are available at www.flashpointtheatre.org.

Ten-time Barrymore Award nominee and F. Otto Haas Award winner Ben Dibble, stars in Herringbone. He plays 10 characters in this one-man theatrical tour de force. In this quirky musical, George Herringbone is a unique kind of vaudeville star. He has the looks, he has the voice, and he has the moves. He also has a little help, which is more than he and his family bargained for. This harrowing vaudevillian ghost story explores the true price of fame.

"This may be the most challenging role I have ever attempted. I play the narrator of my own Depression-era coming-of-age story in which I play ten characters, all of whom talk to each other constantly, while singing and dancing. It is a romp of a show and a truly intimate and entertaining look at the price of fame," said Dibble. "I have performed solo cabarets before, but never attempted a piece this virtuosic and physically exhausting. I hope part of the joy will be in seeing one guy really give you a unique story in an intimate space."

The background for the show comes from Flashpoint Theatre Company's Artistic Director Thom Weaver's family. Weaver's great grandparents were Billy and Vi Randall, who toured the country as Vaudeville performers. The creative team has used a suitcase of archives and old photos from Weaver's family as part of Herringbone's dramaturgical research.

"It's only fitting that a season this ambitious finishes with our first-ever musical. It's an eerie, funny, and powerful piece, and Ben Dibble is poised to show Philadelphia something they've never seen before," said Weaver. "And for me, given my family's relationship to vaudeville, it's a particularly special moment to celebrate that history. I hope Vi and Billy Randall are proud."

This show is directed by Bill Fennelly. Fennelly is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Drexel University's Westphal College of Media Arts and Design. His work has been seen on Broadway, Off Broadway, and regionally. Bill has been the Resident Director for the Broadway National Tour of the award-winning The Lion King, and was Associate Director for the world premiere of The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm, which moved to Broadway. The set and lights are designed by Weaver. TONY Award Winner Rob Kaplowitz is designing sound. Kathleen Geldard is the costume designer. She recently designed Tribes at the Studio Theatre in Washington D.C. Barrymore Award winner Dan Kazemi is the Music Director. Melissa Erlick is the Stage Manager and Amanda Jensen is the Production Manager.

Flashpoint Theatre Company produces socially provocative and emotionally resonant works of new and contemporary theatre in the greater Philadelphia area, while giving voice to a diverse group of emerging artists.

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