Header image: Mary Martello as Mama Rose in Gypsy. Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia. May 2017. Photo by Mark Garvin. Here are just A FEW samples of the MANY roles Ms. Martello has played on the stage. I have so many in my collection, but I'll ju…
Above: an illustration of the interior of the fairground's Horticultural Hall from Frank Leslie's Historical Register of the Centennial Exhibition. Above: the observation towers set up for people to gaze at the park from on high.Below: Two 'bird's …
ABOVE: The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin's 1939 photo of the balcony of the old Concordia Theatre on 4th and Callowhill Streets - after the building had been used for many years as a brewery bottling plant.BELOW: From a 2013 Inquirer article, the in…
August 21, 1995 - article in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Douglas J. Keating: "When the Arden Theatre Company left St. Stephen's Alley Performing Arts Center for its new home in Old City last month, Philadelphia gained a much-needed theater space…
ABOVE: Brian Anthony Wilson and Sandra Daley in August Wilson's King Hedley II at Philadelphia Theatre Company, directed by Seret Scott (2003). BELOW: Brian meeting playwright August Wilson in Atlanta (photo courtesy Brian Anthony Wilson): ___…
(Above) Bruce Graham performing in his play The Philly Fan - at the Hedgerow Theatre October 2023. The Philly Fan was originally written for Graham's friend, the late Tom McCarthy. Though created in 2004 during a period when local sports teams were…
Above, a portion of a 1982 newspaper story in the Daily News, about Carol Rocamora's first season running the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays. April 21, 1982: The Philadelphia Festival Theater for New Plays, founded almost single-handed…
Above - InterAct's inaugural staff and acting company outside the Annenberg Center on the Penn campus, summer 1988. Back Row (l to r): Terry Dixon, Seth Rozin, Judy Greenblatt, Terry Franceschi, Bob Stephenson, Luke Hardt. Second Row: Ed Shockley, B…
Top image: February 1977 - Tom Teti as Lenny Bruce in Julian Barry’s play Lenny at the Cobblestones Cabaret in Philadelphia. Below: July 1974 - (Left) George Collins as the character Brutus Jones in Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, the first pl…
Header Image: George Tynan Crowley (left), Ian Merrill Peaks (center) and Mark Alhadeff (right) sail out into the air, during Blanka Zizka's February 2000 production of Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love. (By the way, in our NEXT episode we will …
Header image, above: Blanka and Jiri Zizka at their new theater space on Sansom Street, 1983. Above and below: Production photos from the Wilma Project's Animal Farm, 1979 - adapted from George Orwell's 1945 novel. The figure in the mask represe…
September 11, 1985: "The Gospel at Colonus" had its first performance at the Zellerbach Theatre in Philadelphia. By the end of the show, the audience was on its feet, joining in with the performers. After clapping and singing along in joyful celebr…
Above: John Allen leads a movement class in the basement of Heritage House.When the John Allen and the Freedom Theatre first arrived at Heritage House in the fall of 1970, according to Inquirer reporter Bill Thompson,"the basement was a wreck - sixt…
Header image, above: Joe Canuso, Tom McCarthy, and Bruce Graham pose for a promotional article about The Philly Fan in the Inquirer in 2004 (photo by Vicki Valerio).Below, a feature article about Canuso that was printed in the Inquirer on April 1, 2…
Above: Sara Garonzik, during construction of the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 2007 (courtesy Philadelphia Theatre Company).Below: Photo from the Camden Courier-Press, October 23rd, 2007: "Sara Garonzik, producing artistic director of the Philadelphia T…
Above, Peter Schmitz speaking to the audience at the Museum of the American Revolution. Below, Michael Norris, the Executive Director of Carpenters Hall. Dr. Shawn David McGhee, speaking on the particular history of Cato: A Tragedy - and its perfor…
Above, the image of Linda Griffith (left) and Liz Stout (right) that appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News on April 16, 1973, announcing the formation of The Wilma Project.Once again I find myself pressed for time while composing a proper blog pos…
Above: Edward Piszek, the CEO of Mrs. Paul's Kitchens, Inc. and founder of The Copernicus Society of America, in front of the Philadelphia Bourse building on 5th and Chestnut Streets in June of 1976. Behind him are the cast of Americana Jubilee. Thi…
Above, a photo of Dick Shawn and Judi West in Scuba Duba - a production which played Paramus, NJ and Philadelphia PA in the summer of 1969. July 1, 1969: The ban on Scuba Duba was lifted. Philadelphians could go see Dick Shawn do his stuff at Playh…
Above: a recent photo of Gregory Poggi, taken when he was teaching at the University of Michigan.The image of Poggi that is the icon image for our podcast episode is from 1979. It was part of a larger photo that accompanied an article by Edgar Willi…
Above: Dr. Sidney Bloom, DDS, at work in his dental office in 1966, when he was already the Producer of the Drama Guild, then a community theater group. Four years later he would take the organization professional, and lead it to new heights.Below, …
Above, a 1967 artist's conception of the proposed Tomlinson Theater complex and adjacent buildings. Below, a photo of what the neighborhood looked liked before demolition and construction of the Annenberg School of Communications at Temple.October 1…
I really should have known about the subject of this blog post a long time ago!When I was originally recorded the chapter from 42nd Street back in the Fall of 2023, it was meant as a Bonus Episode for our Patreon members only. Six months later, in M…
Thank you all for following along this seasons with our stories about the Tryout Town Era in Philadelphia theater history!We close the episode with a reading from out upcoming book, also called Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia!From the fo…
