A satire of one of the most beloved authors in British literature is premiering at PA Shakespeare Festival and Northampton Community College stages a classic musical about the ultimate stage mother.<\/p>\n
PSF\u2019s \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged\u201d opened June 24 and continues through July 12 on DeSales University\u2019s Center Valley Campus.<\/p>\n
NCC\u2019s Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series\u2019 \u201cGypsy\u201d opened June 24 and continues through July 5 on the college\u2019s Bethlehem Township campus.<\/p>\n
One of the four co-playwrights of the spoof of Jane Austen novels is Jessica Bedford, a professor of theater at DeSales University, who is directing the play in its Lehigh Valley premiere.<\/p>\n
The comedy that tackles Austen\u2019s books, including \u201cPride and Prejudice,\u201d \u201cSense and Sensibility\u201d and \u201cEmma,\u201d was written by Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast and Meghan Winch.<\/p>\n
Bedford says that MacMillan, who came up with the idea, was inspired by \u201cThe Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged,\u201d a comedy that presents most of Shakespeare\u2019s plays in 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
The women met when they worked together on Lauren Gunderson\u2019s \u201cThe Revolutionists\u201d in 2018 at Philadelphia\u2019s Theatre Horizon, and discovered they were all \u201cJaneites,\u201d avid fans of the works of Austen.<\/p>\n
MacMillan suggested they collaborate on \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d which premiered in 2019 at Tiny Dynamite, a Philadelphia theater company where she was artistic director.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to create a piece that revered Austen and showed others why they should revere her work, too,\u201d Bedford says.<\/p>\n
In the play, three actors portray Austen\u2019s heroines, heroes, cads and clowns with quick costume changes, sharp humor and a dash of modern mischief in a high-energy romp celebrating one of literature\u2019s most legendary voices.<\/p>\n
The cast includes Madeleine Garcia, Sarah Gliko and David Pica. Understudies are Ian Higgins, Joanna Marie and Sophia Twohig.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say how special it is to bring the play to PSF,\u201d says Bedford.<\/p>\n
\u201cPennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is artistically home for me. I trained here, worked as an actor and as a director here, and now I\u2019m a produced-playwright here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the walls of Labuda so very well. I hope that when you step into the Schubert you feel that you are entering Jane Austen\u2019s world but that she is also entering ours; that our love letter to her and all of her fans brings her back to life, if just for an evening,\u201d Bedford says.<\/p>\n
Meet the actors for a talk-back after July 2 and July 9 performances.<\/p>\n
There is an audio-described for the blind or visually-impaired performance, 2 p.m. July 11.<\/p>\n
\u201cEpilogues,\u201d a free discussion and a behind-the-scenes look at the production, is at 10 a.m. July 11.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d 7:30 p.m. June 24, 25, 26, July 2, 3, 8, 9, 10; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. June 27, July 1, 11; 2 p.m. June 28, July 4, 5, 12; 6:30 p.m. June 30, July 7, PA Shakespeare Festival, Schubert Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley. 610-282-9455, https:\/\/pashakespeare.org\/<\/p>\n
Northampton Community College continues its summer theater series with \u201cGypsy,\u201d regarded by many theater professionals as the greatest musical ever created.<\/p>\n
\u201cGypsy\u201d is based on a true story, that of Rose (Julia Urich), an ambitious mother fighting for her daughter\u2019s success, while secretly yearning for her own.<\/p>\n
The musical takes place in 1920s\u2019 America when vaudeville was dying and burlesque was born. Arthur Laurents\u2019 groundbreaking show explores the world of two-bit show business with brass, humor, heart and sophistication.<\/p>\n
The role of Rose was originally written for Ethel Merman. The 1959 Broadway production was nominated for eight Tony Awards, including for Best Musical and Best Actress (Merman).<\/p>\n
The story was inspired by the 1957 memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee, a famous striptease artist. The character of Louise (Eileen Lee) is based on the dancer.<\/p>\n
The score by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim has the hits \u201cLet Me Entertain You,\u201d \u201cSome People,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019ll Never Get Away from Me,\u201d \u201cIf Momma Was Married,\u201d \u201cAll I Need Is the Girl,\u201d \u201cEverything\u2019s Coming Up Roses,\u201d \u201cYou Gotta Get A Gimmick,\u201d \u201cSmall World\u201d and \u201cTogether Wherever We Go.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cast includes Jason Roth, Jenna Seasholtz, Lainey Bullen, Sarah Panettiere, McKenna Lobb, Evelyn Kehler, Asher Bristol, Lucy Schneck, Kaleb Bell, Harrison Fox, Daxton Chapell, Adrian Colon-Burgos, Spencer Williams, Dami Shote, Christine Breiner, Riley Lusk, Ava Boyd, Juliana Braga, Auqinay Jones, Denise Long, Giovanni Failla, Kevin Gaughenbaugh, Brett Oliveira, Jordan Joseph, Madisyn Bonilla, Melody Chen, Audrey, Azelia Dos Santos, Willa Maurette, Abigail Murphy, Charlie Dalyrmple, Declan Messics, Jacob Piccini, Maricel Wheatley and Mia Quesada.<\/p>\n
Jessica Lopez-Barkl directs the show.<\/p>\n
The 5 p.m. July 4 performance is pay-what-you-are-able. A food truck will be on campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cGypsy,\u201d 7:30 p.m. June 24, 25, 26, 27, July 1, 2, 3; 2 p.m. June 28, July 5; 5 p.m. July 4, Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series, Lipkin Theater, Kopecek Hall, Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township. 484-484-3412, https:\/\/www.ncctix.org\/<\/p>\n
\u201cCurtain Rises\u201d is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOJessica Bedford, co-writer and director, \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d PA Shakespeare Festival.<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOJulia Urich (Rose), \u201cGypsy,\u201d NCC Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A satire of one of the most beloved authors in British literature is premiering at PA Shakespeare Festival…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-230126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}