Today’s Wacky Theater News
Here’s some theater news to enjoy this afternoon:
>>>The Inquirer runs a great op-ed from the good folks of Young Involved Philadelphia, condemning the so-called promoter’s bill before City Council. They’re right to point out that one of the few things stemming the loss of population from the city is its vibrant and pervasive creative culture. To some, this might seem like a sudden event, but if you’ve been hanging out with us for the past—how many years? a lot—you know that fostering this culture has taken a lot of dedication, largely from the small event producers who put on shows like those you see at Fringe. The bill as introduced includes dangerous provisions such as allowing the police to shut down events as late as 10 days before an event. Philebrity has some details about its evolution, but the heavy-handed bill still poses a risk to adventurous performances of all kinds, be they last-minute music shows at a club or Fringe performances in a garage. Check out this Facebook page for details about how to sign an electronic petition opposing the bill, and to get the email addresses of the City Council folks responsible—Anna Verma, Bill Greenlee, and Darrell Clarke. Now’s not the time to be shy, or say that you’re apolitical.
>>>Then whoa! The Inquirer flips the script so well! Breaking news: Don’t advertise that your play discusses pedophilia. Nice People Theatre Company wanted to take out a video ad on Philly.com for their Philadelphia premiere of Love Jerry, a musical about child sexual abuse. Dead Tree Edition has Nice People’s press release detailing the situation, and boy, is playwright Megan Gogerty hot about it. Love Jerry opens June 4 at the Latvian Society. [Hat tip to Brett Mapp]
>>>uwishunu gives a nice plug to Swim Pony’s Survive! It’s directed by Adrienne Mackey, and assistant-directed by Justin Jain, two young Philly folks whose profiles and talents have been growing every year. Opens at the Wolf Building on Friday, and there are still tix for the last preview tomorrow, unless the Internet is lying to me. It can’t, though, because everything you read on the Internet is true.
–Nicholas Gilewicz