Plays & Players to Present 3rd Annual Honey Bee Cabaret, 6/22

The 3rd Annual Honey Bee Cabaret will celebrate over 100 seasons of great acting at Plays & Players. The fundraiser benefits, in part, the Melissa Lynch Foundation, announcing a new yearly award for an emerging female theater artist. It all takes place on June 22, 2014.

A yearly celebration of art, theater and life, in memory of local actress Melissa Lynch, the Honey Bee Cabaret is a wine and cheese reception, silent auction and performance featuring P&P regulars doing the highlights of Plays & Players seasons from the past 100 years and the future.

Performing in the Third Floor Skinner Studio at Plays & Players on 1714 Delancey Place from 7pm to 9pm will be P & P favorite actors Andre Brown, Corinna Burns, Andrew Carroll, Heather Cole, Katie Croyle, Peter Danzig, Eric Scotolati, Isa St. Clair, Tanya O'Neill, Steve Wright and special guest stars John Clancy (co-founder of the New York International Fringe Festival) and Nancy Walsh, performing songs, monologues and scenes from Season One to One Hundred and Three of the historic Rittenhouse theater.

Proceeds, in part, benefit the Melissa Lynch Foundation, named after a brilliant Philadelphia actress, who support Philadelphia theater artists through generous donations. The show runs 7pm-9pm. Tickets only $25 at www.playsandplayers.org or by calling 866-811-4111.

For this year's performance, from the very early years of Plays & Players, see Maurice Baring's comedic look at Shakespeare's process in The Rehearsal. From there the performance will look at hysterical moments from Tonight at 8:30, Noel Coward's set of song and dance one-acts originally written as a vehicle for himself and the legendary Gertrude Lawrence. Complimenting that is a scene from Kaufman and Hart's Pulitzer-prize winning farce You Can't Take It With You. On a darker note, a scene will be presented from Tennessee Williams' The Sweet Bird of Youth, a twisted look at our obsession with power and the fragility of youth. Rounding out the evening are musical numbers from Camelot and The Fantasticks, a reunion of the cast of William Shakespeare's Land of the Dead, Plays & Players hit show from five years ago, an encore performance from Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, the final play of the 2013-14 season and scenes from the upcoming repertory production of Homebody/My Name is Rachel Corrie in 2014-15. As always, the evening will end with a performance in honor of Melissa Lynch.

More of an after-party person? For only $10, join us at our popular Third Floor Quig's Pub at 9pm following the show hosted by the talented actors who work the Plays & Players' Membership Club: Keith Conallen, Colleen Corcoran, Rob Cutler, Jamison Foreman, Dan Higbee, Will Harrell, and Lizzie Spellman, along with some special guest star appearances! Tips benefit the Melissa Lynch Foundation and a raffle towards a Plays & Players Membership and Quig's Pub Bar Tab benefits Plays & Players.

Want something more for a little something more? How about an all access pass for $60! Come to the Honey Bee Cabaret and After Party, and join us earlier in the day for a behind-the-scenes historical tour of Plays & Players from 3:30pm-4:45pm by Operations Manager, Andrew Beal and Managing Director, Rachel Dukeman, and appetizers and merriment hosted by Plays & Players members and Philadelphia theater patrons, Eileen O'Brien and Sam Hopkins in their lovely 17th street home from 5pm-6:30pm.

Proceeds will benefit in part the implementation of a new yearly award, sponsored by the Melissa Lynch Foundation, to an emerging female theater artist whose talent and passion for their work is a benefit to the Philadelphia stage. Additionally, Plays & Players EAR (Emerging Artists in Residence) program, which has nurtured the artistic and personal growth of local actors including Andrew Carroll, Jenna Horton, and Sarah Schol in recent years, will be co-sponsored by the foundation and benefit from the event for a second year. Don't miss this opportunity to support a theater and a foundation who support actors in their professional journeys!

Full Schedule:

3:30pm-4:45pm - Historic Theater tour at 1714 Delancey Place (must have All-Access Pass)

5:00pm-6:30pm - Private party for All-Access ticket holders hosted by Philadelphia theater patrons Eileen O'Brien and Sam Hopkins.

7:00pm-9:00pm - Honey Bee Cabaret (tickets, $25)

9:00pm-10:30pm - After Party hosted at Quig's Pub (tickets, $10)

If you cannot attend but want to support the efforts of Plays & Players, go to www.playsandplayers.org or 215-735-0630 to donate to the work of this historic organization and historic building.

Why We Honor Melissa Lynch: "Melissa Lynch wasn't here long -- she died in a car accident on December 30 [2010] at the age of 27 -- but no one would ever call her a visitor to this life. She grabbed it, embraced it, and, on occasion, frog-marched it where she wanted it to go.

"A prolific actress -- she appeared in more than 17 productions in Philadelphia -- the Mayfair native was poised on the brink of her best year ever. She was engaged to be married on June 18 to William Seiler, a man, friends say, 'she adored.' She had roles in four major plays, including one in which she was to play 8 different characters. Directors had started calling her. Even when she played smaller parts, reviewers couldn't help taking note of her performances. In fact, said a college friend, Rebecca Godlove, 'she could have a nonspeaking role in a play and still get noticed. In college, she played a mute child in a play and got rave reviews.

"Critics called her 'dazzling,' 'sparkling' and 'luminous,' descriptions echoed by those who knew her, a powerful reminder of why actors have come to be called 'stars.' But a reminder, too, that there are those among us who harbor an unquenchable inner light." -Denise Foley, IrishPhiladelphia.com

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