Marilu Henner is back on stage in New Hope | Philly Theater Notes
Also in our weekly roundup of Philly theater news: Shakespeare in Clark Park and radio from outer space, courtesy of Applied Mechanics.
Jane M. Von Bergen rounds up news and notes from Philadelphia’s theater scene on Wednesdays.
Marilu Henner — the star of TV’s Taxi, seven Broadway shows, 23 Hallmark movies, and more — returns to the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope with her all-new club act, The Marilu Henner Show.
The show opens Thursday, July 29, and runs through Aug. 15. It sold out in New York earlier this month and will return to Feinstein’s/54 Below in October.
For Henner, who sits on the Playhouse’s board, it’s a bit of a homecoming. She first appeared at the Playhouse in 2013, costarring with Marsha Mason in The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, and later with Christopher Durang in his Tony-winning play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.
Directed by Bob Garrett, The Marilu Henner Show also features singer-dancers Julius Williams (Bucks County Playhouse’s Mamma Mia!) and Adam Vanek (the Playhouse’s Guys and Dolls), with Michael Orland (American Idol) leading the band.
Playing July 29-Aug. 15. Tickets start at $45. Details at 215-862-2121 or buckscountyplayhouse.org.
A two-year play, starting now
The first episode of Applied Mechanics’ ambitious multimedia project, Other Orbits, airs online through Saturday.
The two-year project aims to take its audience on a sci-fi visit to an epic, alternative planet inhabited by animals, mutants, and artificial intelligence beings. In Other Orbits, even the planet itself has a role.
The story will unspool between now and 2023 in nine episodes of radio broadcasts, role-playing games, time capsules in the mail, a record album, and finally a live performance.
The first installment, Episode One: PlaNet Radio, promises an opportunity to “overhear walrus gossip, bop to songs written by mushrooms, and catch up on historic planetary news,” in an eclectic radio-style broadcast. The second episode, a time-capsule release, is slated for September.
Other Orbits performers include Barrymore Award-winners Mary Tuomanen, Justin Jain, and Brett Ashley Robinson.
Through July 31 online. Tickets $15-$40. Details at appliedmechanics.us/shows.
One city, three takes on Shakespeare
There’s a reason the folks at Shakespeare in Clark Park chose this year to put on one of the bard’s most obscure plays. (If he even wrote all of it — but that’s another story.)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre is relatively unknown, so “there aren’t a lot of preconceived notions about the plot or characters,” said Kittson O’Neill, artistic director. “It has many different themes and ideas.”
That will leave things open to artistic interpretation as the company produces three versions of the work in three locations — first Clark Park in West Philly, then Harrowgate Park in that River Wards neighborhood, and then Vernon Park in Germantown.
Pericles involves pirates, a brothel, a shipwreck — all combined in a windswept adventure across three countries. The version in Clark Park (July 28-Aug. 1) hews closest to the original, but even then, it’s a circus — literally, with aerialists, jugglers, and puppets, directed by circus artist Kaitlin Chin, who’s also in the play. The set includes a three-story-high aerial rigging.
“Carly L. Bodnar, the director, really wanted to embrace the different worlds you travel in the play,” O’Neill said, so just as Pericles traveled on his adventures, audience and actors move around the park. They perform masked, as sounds spill out of speakers strategically and discreetly hidden among the trees.
In keeping with the company’s mission of community engagement, the audience gets to participate — creating the storm that causes the shipwreck, for instance. Clark Park neighbors will act as audience captains, helping things along. “It’s a little bit à la Rocky Horror Picture Show,” O’Neill said.
Productions in Harrowgate and Germantown aren’t simply variations with a few small tweaks. They are completely different shows, with neighbors workshopping the play to find the themes most relevant to them and then building new work based on those ideas. “It’s a marriage of community artists and professional artists,” O’Neill said.
They also have different titles — Germantown Plays Pericles in Vernon Park and Peril’s Island in Harrowgate.
“The whole point was to invite regular folks to enjoy each other’s company and embark on an adventure of giving their creativity,” O’Neill said. “One of the pleasures of performing is giving it away to the community.”
Free. Reservations recommended, donations welcome. Clark Park shows are 7 p.m. July 28-Aug. 1. (Bring your own chair or blanket.) Harrowgate shows are Aug. 13-15. Vernon Park shows are Aug. 27-29. Details at shakespeareinclarkpark.org.
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