Season 2

Actress, director and educator Penelope Reed sits down for an interview with us, and shares fascinating memories of her long career in Philadelphia area theater.

Fires were a real danger in 19th Century theater, and some Philadelphia theaters were burned down and rebuilt multiple times. [Note: This is a repeat of our Episode 12, first released in June 2021]

A great actor of the English stage came to Philadelphia in 1811. In a very real way, he's still here . . First released in May of 2021, we bring out this great story once again!

The final episode of our trilogy. Queen Beclch rages violently on the TLA stage - and in the boardroom, there's trouble brewing for director Andre Gregory!

Our story continues, with productions of the '65-'66 second season of Philadelphia's first scrappy non-profit resident theater company - at its home on South Street.

Announcements, Corrections, Answers to questions from our listeners - and some exciting personal news!

The founding of Philadelphia's first major resident theater company: The Theatre of the Living Arts.

Could the first publicly funded and owned city theater in the country survive in the maelstrom of Philadelphia city politics?

An interview and audio tour of the historic Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, with the Walnut's Producing Artistic Director, Bernard Havard.

During the Great Depression years of the 1930s, some touring Broadway shows got into trouble in Philadelphia. "The People's Mayor" S. Davis Wilson had his limits when it came to what he would allow in the city's theaters.

In the 1920s, Philadelphia theater censorship controversies were usually about what women were wearing - or rather were NOT wearing - on the city's stages.

In 1911, actress Sarah Bernhardt's production of La Samaritaine met with fervent opposition from Philadelphia clergymen. In 1912, a production of 'Playboy of the Western World' caused an audience riot!

The last installment of the saga of Oscar Hammerstein in the "Opera Wars" - and the story of the grand Philadelphia theater he left behind.

February 1909: The opera "Salome" at Oscar Hammerstein's new Philadelphia Opera House needed to be stopped, as a matter of public decency, declared hundreds of clergymen and civic leaders.

We meet Manhattan opera and vaudeville impresario Oscar Hammerstein, and we learn how his "Opera War" with the rival Metropolitan Opera Company spread all the way to Philadelphia!

1906: A coalition of African American men attempt to stop Thomas Dixon Jr.'s play The Clansman from being performed in Philadelphia. After leading a public protest in front of the Walnut Street Theatre, the whole matter ends ...

Seven short and light vignettes from the history of Philadelphia Theater - all of which took place in the city during the Holidays, from various theatrical seasons over the past 150 years. A gift to all of you listeners and …

We continue our story about Thomas Dixon Jr. and his 1905 play The Clansman with an examination of the early life of this formidable man. We learn the root causes of his political obsessions - and about his need to …

The story of Thomas Dixon's play "The Clansman" in Philadelphia. We begin in the streets outside the Walnut Street Theatre, as a large crowd of the city's Black citizens have gathered in protest . . .

An exploration of performances by Indigenous People in theaters of the City of Philadelphia in the 19th Century. [Episode originally released in November of 2021]

The mob is gathering in the street outside the Chestnut Street Theatre, while inside the rehearsals for the scandalous play The Quaker City go on! Will it all end in a deadly riot? The suspense is building . .

George Lippard's novel "The Quaker City, or the Monks of Monk Hall" is made into a new play. The excitement about it builds in Philadelphia, just as the national election of 1844 roils the city.

We set the scene for the 1844 battle over the play at Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Theater, entitled "The Quaker City, or the Monks of Monk Hall," by George Lippard. How and why this production came about will be the story …

A quick announcement about our upcoming season of new episodes . . . Spoiler Alert: There will be lots of drama. And conflict!