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| Assassins at The Arden Theatre, Philadelphia PA |
Nearing the end of one of its busiest years – one filled with expansion and awards – Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre celebrates its 25th anniversary season on Monday, November 5 with a spectacular one night only concert focusing on the theater’s musicals, its true calling card. The evening features a host of the Arden’s biggest stars singing their signature hits from the venue’s most acclaimed shows.
The Arden’s 25th anniversary season has started off strong – Mark St. Germain’s two-man dramedy Freud’s Last Session (October 25-December 23, 2012), followed up by the Arden’s Children’s Theater event Cinderella (November 28, 2012-January 27, 2013) then Samuel Beckett’s avant-garde drama Endgame (January 17- March 10, 2013). Two of the Arden’s shows this season are heralded musicals – Brian Yorkey’s Next to Normal and the up-and-coming A Little Night Music with music and lyrics by the esteemed Stephen Sondheim (May 23-June 30, 2013).
Records show that during the Arden’s quarter-century history, the theatre has produced 30 musicals, nominated for 18 Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, winning six times for its first run of A Little Night Music along with a presentation of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd; the original world premieres of Baby Case and The Flea and the Professor; as well as Winesburg, Ohio and Caroline, or Change.
That’s the reason for the November 5 concert. If you’re going to celebrate the Arden, do it with song. With Eric Ebbenga (piano), Andrew Nelson (bass) and Mark Cristofaro (drums) behind them, Philly’s most heralded actors who’ve appeared on the Arden’s stages - Jeffrey Coon, Ben Dibble, Liz Filios, Kristine Fraelich, Ann Robinson Frey, Joilet F. Harris, Mary Martello, Michael Ogborn, Linda Pierson, Ann Pinto and this year’s F. Otta Haas award winning performer Steve Pacek will execute tunes from some of the Arden’s most celebrated musicals. That list includes A Little Night Music, Baby Case, Candide, Caroline, or Change, Into the Woods, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, Sunday in the Park with George and Violet.
Additional performers will be announced before the show’s start. No matter what that cast is singing, the night is all about the Arden and its contributions to Philly’s theater landscape, a space that grows larger in 2013 as it moves into its currently-under-construction space at the new Hamilton Family Arts Center at 62 N. 2nd Street, a home for educational spaces and additional productions. Proceeds from the November 5 event go toward that development.
The Arden Theatre Company
40 N. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215.922.1122
Photo courtesy The Arden Theater Company
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2012 10:55 AM
