‘STOMP’ and ‘Pretty Woman: The Musical’ arrive in Philly
In Pretty Woman: The Musical, producer Kathleen Marshall says Vivian the prostitute “has such agency to change her life. There are powerful moments when she sets up the rules.”
Something — maybe it was performing for all the mission kids he helped bring to summer camp in the Poconos — compelled Joshua Cruz to try out for a spot on the “STOMP” crew five years ago.
Keep in mind that Cruz wasn’t a professional performer. Being hired by a group that plays main stages around the globe, dancing while drumming rhythms with hubcaps, brooms, and shopping carts was nowhere close to his realm of experience. At the time, he was a social worker employed by the Bowery Mission in New York, and on the side volunteered for the Helping Hand Rescue Mission in Philadelphia.
He didn’t know much about auditioning, so he sought a fresh perspective.
That would be fresh as in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will Smith. “I thought, ‘How would have the Fresh Prince have done it?’ His mannerisms, the way he moves, the way he dances. I’d grown up watching his show. I adopted a lot of what he does.” In fact, Cruz did a comic riff on one of Smith’s dances for the STOMP audition and earned the part.
For Cruz, home is Puerto Rico, but he feels a strong kinship with Philadelphia based on his emotional connection to Will Smith and his long-standing friendship with Adam Bruckner, a former KiXX soccer player who now runs the youth program at Helping Hand.
Cruz plans to visit Bruckner at the mission during STOMP’s run in Philadelphia through Jan. 2.
“I look forward to seeing him, going to the mission, doing something. For sure. That’s family over there.That’s like me going to New York and not seeing my mom and dad,” Cruz said. “They wouldn’t like it.”
Through Jan. 2, Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., Philadelphia. For tickets, information, www.kimmelculturalcampus.org or 215-893-1999. Audience members can bring science-related games, art supplies, sensory games, musical toys, gift cards, headsets, earbuds, and baby toys to donate to Taller Puertorriqueño’s Three Kings Celebration.
‘Pretty Woman’
Something about “Pretty Woman: The Musical,” the story of a wealthy businessman and a sex worker, and how their business dealings morph into a love match, never loses its appeal.
The version being offered at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Academy of Music has changed since the movie starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts came out in 1990. In it, says Kathleen Marshall (daughter of the late Garry Marshall, the movie’s producer), Vivian “has such agency to change her life. There are powerful moments when she sets up the rules.”
There’s an encounter with an attorney, for example, that the old Vivian wouldn’t have been able to handle but the new one in the play takes in stride, Marshall explained. Marshall is a producer of the Broadway tour, along with lead producer Paula Wagner. Jerry Mitchell directs.
Another element that appeals to Marshall is the mentoring aspect — not so much the prostitute and the businessman, but the relatively novice actor with a more seasoned pro. When the movie came out, Gere was a star and Roberts was a relative unknown. That kind of pairing, Marshall said, was always important to her father.
“I think there is something so great in continuing his legacy of launching new talent and keeping the established people working,” she said. “We should be excited to work with new talent and not be afraid to let people shine.”
In this production, Broadway veteran Adam Pascal, who played the Edward Lewis role on Broadway, is paired with Olivia Valli as Vivian. She’s the daughter of singer Frankie Valli and appeared in “Jersey Boys” as her own grandmother.
Marshall has her own family story of talent. Her father, who started his career writing for I Love Lucy, went on to become an extremely successful director and producer for television, movies, and the stage (Happy Days, The Princess Diaries). His sister was actor and director Penny Marshall. Kathleen Marshall’s brother Scott Marshall is a director, and her sister Lori Marshall is an actress.
Jan. 4 through Jan. 16 at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St., Philadelphia. For tickets, information kimmelculturalcampus.org or 215-893-1999. Masks and proof of vaccination for those older than 12, and a negative COVID-19 test for those younger.
Playhouse launches South Asian Artistic Initiative
Bucks County Playhouse has launched the South Asian Artistic Initiative, aimed at spotlighting and developing the work of artists of South Asian heritage. The playhouse’s producers, Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman, and Josh Fiedler, partnered with director, producer, and entrepreneur Kiran Merchant to create the initiative.
The Artistic Initiative will begin with the Playhouse’s first South Asian Playwrights Festival (South Asian playwrights can submit their works to the Playhouse through Feb. 28). The festival dates have yet to be announced. Award-winning playwright Rajiv Joseph (“Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo”), Christian Parker (former associate artistic director of the Atlantic Theater Company), Merchant, and Playhouse producers Goodman, Fraser, and Fiedler will select the finalists. Finalists will receive a stipend and mentoring. One of their plays will be chosen for future development.
“From the audience perspective, the festival has the ability to introduce diverse themes of subject matters into the Playhouse about this community while providing a valuable creative outlet for these artists,” Merchant said.
As part of the Artistic Initiative, the New Hope playhouse also plans panel discussions, readings, and screenings.
For information, www.buckscountyplayhouse.org/SAAI
Time’s short for Wilma’s HotHouse Shorts
For months during the pandemic, the Wilma Theater encouraged its resident artists, known as the HotHouse Company, to produce digital projects in the forms of sketch comedy, spoken word, and music. What emerged were the HotHouse Shorts, a half dozen presentations. There’s still time to catch them before they disappear on Dec. 31. In the “Lagniappe Project,” veteran performer Melanye Finister shares her mother’s recipe for Creole gumbo. “Expired,” conceived by Ross Beschler, Suli Holum, Matteo Scammell, Lindsay Smiling, and Brenna Geffers of Die-Cast, is less theater and more very interactive website, promising encounters with demons on a journey through the cyberspace underworld. Performances include“Code Black Planet,” developed by Anthony Martinez-Briggs, Brandon J. Pierce, and Taj Rauch. “The Rot” is a music video; “Hold Fast” meditates on the quarantine through dance, and two women wipe the sweat off the basketball court in a sketch titled “The Floor Wipers.”
Through Dec. 31. To access, wilmatheater.org/hothouse-shorts/ Free. Donations encouraged.