March 22, 2007

Philadelphia Theatre Company concludes its 2006-2007 season with Orson's Shadow by Austin Pendleton running May 4-June 3 at 1714 Delancey Street. Directed by James J. Christy, the ensemble cast features Rachel Botchan, Brent Harris, Wilbur Edwin Henry, Joe Hickey, Derick Loafmann and Susan Wilder. After a 25-year residence, Orson's Shadow is Philadelphia Theatre Company's final production at Plays & Players Theater before the move to their new home, Philadelphia Theatre Company's Suzanne Roberts Theatre this Fall.

Previews begin Friday, May 4 with opening night on Wednesday, May 9. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday until April 16. Tickets are $33 to $51, with discounts for students, seniors and groups. Tickets are available by calling the PTC Box Office at 215-985-0420 or visiting www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.

US Airways is the Premier Season Sponsor. CBS3 is the Season Media Partner. The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly.com and Philadelphia Weekly are the Season Media Sponsors. Bryn Mawr Film Institute, which will be holding special screenings of Orson Welles films, is the Community Co-Sponsor.

Set in 1960, Orson's Shadow cleverly dramatizes legendary director Orson Welles' troubled attempts to bring Ionesco's Rhinoceros to the stage. The stars, Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, are deep in the throes of an extramarital affair. Add to the mix Olivier's glamorous but unstable wife, Vivien Leigh, and drama critic Kenneth Tynan, and the result is a recipe for backstage humor and high drama.

Orson's Shadow debuted at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago in January, 2000 and then moved to the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in September, 2000. Philadelphia Theatre Company offered a reading of the play during its 25th Anniversary season later that Fall. The Off-Broadway production, directed by David Gromer, opened in Spring, 2005 at the Barrow Street Theatre where it ran for 349 performances and received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Play and won the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

Austin Pendleton (Playwright) is an American film, television and stage actor, a playwright, and a theater director and instructor. In addition to Orson's Shadow, he has written Uncle Bob and Booth, all of which were staged Off-Broadway. His direction of Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in The Little Foxes garnered him a Tony Award nomination. He served as Artistic Director for Circle Repertory Company with Associate Artistic Director Lynne Thigpen, and has been an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre since 1979. As a stage actor he has appeared in The Last Sweet Days of Isaac (for which he won an OBIE Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance), The Diary of Anne Frank, Grand Hotel, Goodtime Charley, The Little Foxes, Fiddler on the Roof, and Up From Paradise. He is the recipient of the LA Drama Critics Award for Orson's Shadow and the Clarence Derwent Award for his performance in Hail Strawdyke on Broadway.

James J. Christy (Director) returns to Philadelphia Theatre Company where he has directed Gross Indecency, Sideman, The Laramie Project and Take Me Out. All four productions received numerous Barrymore Award nominations, the last two winning for Best Production. He recently directed Arden Theatre Company's production of Dex and Julie Sittin' In A Tree by Bruce Graham, with whom he has had a long relationship, primarily at Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays directing over ten productions of Graham's plays. Other recent productions include The Merchant of Venice for the People's Light and Theatre Company, and Michael Hollinger's Red Herring for the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Last fall, Christy, who has received two Barrymore awards and seven nominations as Best Director, received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Philadelphia Theatre Alliance.

Rachel Botchan (Joan Plowright) has appeared in numerous productions Off-Broadway at The Pearl Theatre Company and Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre. Most recently at The Pearl Theatre Company she played the role of Carrie Berniers in Toys in the Attic for which she received critical praise. Regionally she has starred at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, National Shakespeare Company, Virginia Stage Company, and Cincinnati Playhouse.

Brent Harris (Laurence Olivier) has performed in New York in Tryst at Promenade Theatre, Long Island Sound at The Actors Company Theatre, and Richard III at Pearl Theatre. Regionally he has been a frequent guest at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Syracuse Stage, and Denver Center Theatre.

Wilbur Edwin Henry (Orson Welles) recreates the role which he performed in the Off-Broadway production of Orson's Shadow. He also starred in Outward Bound (Drama Desk nomination), Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, and Pullman Car Hiawatha, all with Keen Company. He has appeared at La MaMa, All Souls Players, and Heritage Theatre.

Joe Hickey (Kenneth Tynan) has performed regionally in several productions at Cleveland Playhouse and Actors Theatre of Louisville, as well as at GEVA Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Baltimore CENTERSTAGE. He has had a recurring role on All My Children and appeared on As The World Turns and Law & Order.

Derick Loafmann (Sean) returns to Philadelphia Theatre Company where he understudied roles in Take Me Out and After Ashley. He has starred in The Ballad of Joe Hill at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival as well as in several productions at Flashpoint Theatre Company including House of Yes, The Santaland Diaries, and Schoolgirl Figure.

Susan Wilder (Vivian Leigh) appeared in the Lincoln Center Theatre productions of King Lear and Ivanov and at the Public Theater in For Dear Life. A six-year member at People's Light & Theatre Company, she earned a Barrymore nomination for Best Supporting Actor in The Magic Fire at The Wilma Theater and a Barrymore nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in A Little Night Music at Arden Theatre Company. She has also performed at Walnut Street Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Philadelphia Drama Guild, and Philadelphia Festival for New Plays.

Orson's Shadow re-unites a creative team of Philadelphia Theatre Company favorites: set designer David P. Gordon (Gross Indecency and Dinner with Friends); lighting designer David Lander (Nickel and Dimed, Some Men, and The Frog Bride); costume designer Richard St. Clair (The Laramie Project and Gross Indecency); and composer Robert Maggio (Intimate Apparel, Take Me Out, and The Laramie Project). The Dramaturg is Warren Hoffman.

Philadelphia Theatre Company is Philadelphia's only non-profit professional theater dedicated exclusively to producing world and regional premieres of works by contemporary American playwrights. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director, Sara Garonzik, Philadelphia Theatre Company has had ever-increasing national impact having produced 34 world premieres of new American plays and musicals in its 31 seasons. Recent world premiere productions include: Nerds://A Musical Software Satire by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Erik Weiner, and Hal Goldberg; Some Men by Terrence McNally (currently running at Second Stage Theatre in Winter 2007); Adrift in Macao by Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick (Produced at Primary Stages, Winter 2007); Bruce Graham's According to Goldman; Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso; Daniel Stern's comedy Barbra's Wedding (moved to the Westside Arts Theatre in 2003); John Henry Redwood's No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; J.T. Rogers' White People; David Ives' Lives of the Saints; three-time Tony Award-winning Master Class by Terrence McNally, starring Zoe Caldwell; Bunny Bunny by Alan Zweibel (Lucille Lortel Award, 1997); and the American premiere of Birdy by Naomi Wallace. A Picasso received its New York premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club in April 2005. Philadelphia Theatre Company was chosen Best Theatre Company 2003 by Philadelphia magazine, Theater Company of the Year by Philadelphia Weekly in 2005, Best Theater Company in the 2005 City Paper Readers' Choice Awards, and named Best Theater by Philadelphia Style Magazine in 2006. Since 1995, Philadelphia Theatre Company has received 109 nominations and 34 awards from Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards.

PREVIEWS:
Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5 at 8:00 PM; Sunday, May 6 at 3:00 PM; Tuesday, May 8 at 8:00 PM

OPENING:
Wednesday, May 9 at 7:00 PM

PERFORMANCES:
Tuesday - Saturday at 8:00 PM; Early curtain performances at 7:00 PM on May 29 and May 30; Wednesday matinee at 1:00 PM on May 16, May 23, and May 30; Saturday matinee at 2:00 PM on May 12, May 26 and June 2; Sunday matinee at 3:00 PM on May 6, May 13, May 20, May 27 and June 3

CLOSING PERFORMANCE:
Sunday, June 3 at 3:00 PM

LOCATION:
Plays & Players Theater, 1714 Delancey Street

TICKET PRICES:
Friday preview, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, Wednesday and Saturday matinees: $33 and $39; Saturday preview, Thursday and Friday evenings, Sunday matinees: $39 and $45; Saturday Evenings and Opening Night: $45 and $51; Student, Senior Citizen and Group Discounts available

PARKING/TRANSPORTATION:
Parking is available at the outdoor lot at 17th and Pine and on the street. The theater is close to taxis, SEPTA buses and trains, and the PATCO Highspeed line.

ACCESSIBILITY:
PTC provides large print, Braille and audio cassette programs upon request. Open-captioned performance on Saturday, May 26 at 2:00 PM. Auditory Assisted performance on Saturday, June 2 at 2:00 PM.

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT:
Plays & Players Theater, 1714 Delancey Street:
Monday-Friday 10:00AM - 5:30 PM
215-985-0420 or 866-985-0420 and online at www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
American Playwrights in Context series on Sunday, May 20 following 3:00 PM performance
Pre-Show Wine Tasting on May 15 and May 31 at 7:00 PM (FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY)
Meet the Artists post-performance discussion on May 10, May 24, and May 29
Night OUT! pre-show LGBT reception on Thursday, May 17 at 6:30 PM before 8pm performance
NEXT! A post-performance reception for patrons ages 26-40 on May 18

PLAYWRIGHTS:
Austin Pendleton

DIRECTOR:
James J. Christy

CAST:
Orson Welles - Wilbur Edwin Henry
Laurence Olivier - Brent Harris
Kenneth Tynan - Joe Hickey
Vivien Leigh - Susan Wilder
Joan Plowright - Rachel Botchan
Sean - Derick Loafmann

DESIGNERS:
Set - David Gordon
Lighting - David Lander
Costumes - Richard St. Clair
Music - Robert Maggio
Dramaturg - Warren Hoffman

PRESS INFORMATION:
Deborah Fleischman 215/735-7356

TICKET INFORMATION:
215/985-0420 or 866/985-0420 or www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org

SYNOPSIS
Set in 1960, Orson's Shadow cleverly dramatizes legendary director Orson Welles' troubled attempts to bring Ionesco's Rhinoceros to the stage. The stars, Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, are deep in the throes of an extramarital affair. Add to the mix Olivier's glamorous but unstable wife, Vivien Leigh, and drama critic Kenneth Tynan, and the result is a recipe for backstage humor and high drama.

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