Welcome to the Arden Theatre Company blog, where we share behind-the-scenes stories and current happenings with you. You will hear from the Arden staff as well as actors and other visiting artists, and we hope to hear from you, too. If you have an idea for a topic, please post a comment about it. We can't wait to hear what you think!
On May 8th, Terry Nolen had the rare opportunity to interview Tony and Pulitzer prize winning lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington. Prior to the interview, select Arden supporters were invited to an exclusive ‘meet and greet’ reception with Mr. Sondheim. The interview precedes the Arden’s production of A Little Night Music, which marks the 12th Sondheim musical to be produced on our stages.
In anticipation of the upcoming 25th anniversary Granfalloon, Co-Chairs June and Steve Wolfson hosted a fabulous Preview Party in their home on April 24th. The evening included delicious wine and dinner and a special performance from Alex Keiper who will appear in our upcoming production of A Little Night Music. Guests included Granfalloon sponsors, Host Committee and this year’s honorees – past presidents of the Arden’s Board of Directors.
Join us on Friday, June 7th to celebrate the Arden’s 25th anniversary!
On April 13, we had a wonderful opening night for our Arden Children’s Theatre production of Pinocchio!
Special thanks to our opening night sponsors: 12th Street Catering, The Center for Art in Wood, Harmelin Media, Hatboro Beverages, PixeΙation Photography, and Philadelphia Stories, Jr. Thank you also to our Production Sponsor Comcast | NBC 10 | Sprout.
Here are photos from the evening, including photos from our “Create Your Own Disguise” Photobooth. You can also find the Photobooth pictures on the Arden’s Facebook Page.
Arden friends and artists gathered on March 13 to celebrate opening night of A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play directed by Walter Dallas.
Members of the Sylvan Society joined together with Arden staff and The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation Teen Council for a pre-show cocktail party at Ristorante Panorama. After the play, guests enjoyed a reception following the show catered by JPM Catering with beer and refreshments courtesy of Hatboro Beverages.
Thanks to Plate 3 Photography for photos of our post-show party!
Arden friends and artists gathered Wednesday evening to celebrate opening night of Endgame, directed by Edward Sobel and our first foray into the world of playwright Samuel Beckett, a writer that transformed the way stories are told on stage.
Members of the Sylvan Society joined together for a pre-show cocktail party at Revolution House. Nearly 200 audience members enjoyed the opening night performance on the Arcadia Stage, which was followed by a post-show discussion led by Endgame Assistant Director Suzana Berger and Arden Associate Artistic Director Matthew Decker. Guests enjoyed a reception following the show catered by JPM Catering with beer and refreshments courtesy of Hatboro Beverages.
Thanks to Plate 3 Photography for photos of our post-show discussion and party!
In honor of our anniversary season, we held a one-night-only 25th Anniversary Concert on Monday, November 5th at 7 pm. Celebrating 25 years of Arden musical theatre, this event featured a number of fabulous Arden artists and was a fond look-back on favorite Arden musicals including Baby Case, Sunday in the Park with George, and A Year with Frog and Toad.
Big thanks to all of the talented artists who donated their time to make this event great: Griffin Back, Billy Bustamante, Jeff Coon, Ben Dibble, Eric Ebbenga, Liz Filios, Krissy Fraelich, Anne Robinson Frey, Gary Giles, Robert Hager, Joilet Harris, Mary Martello, Tom McCarthy, Michael Ogborn, Steve Pacek, Linda Pierson, and Ann Pinto. The concert raised over $15,000 in support of our anniversary season – thank you!
Here are some photos from the performance and post-show champagne toast!
All photos by Mark Garvin.
By Angela DuRoss, Development Director
We opened our 15th year of Arden Children’s Theatre with our production of Cinderella on Saturday, December 1st to a packed house! Nearly 400 kids and adults filled the Arden lobby for a fun pre-show party with hot dogs, pasta and popcorn from 12th Street Catering. The Garden State Discovery Museum provided face painting, while the Queen Village Art Center helped kids with a ‘build a theatre’ craft. Kids participated in making masks, dressing up in a photo booth, and playing a giant walking piano. After the performance, everyone enjoyed pumpkin and vanilla ice cream from The Franklin Fountain while meeting and greeting with the cast.
Here are some photos from the evening, including all the pictures from our photobooth!
By Jenna Stelmok, Arden Professional Apprentice
Love the taste of homemade pies on Thanksgiving but hate the fuss of making them? Know other people who do? Buying a pie from MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) is a perfect way to save time preparing for your holidays, while providing two days’ worth of meals to someone in our community!
For those who don’t know, MANNA is a wonderful local non-profit organization that provides nourishing meals, counseling, and support to people in our community at acute nutritional risk from life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and HIV/AIDS. MANNA was founded in 1990 by seven members of the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia to comfort men dying of AIDS. Since then, their mission has expanded to serve any individuals who are currently battling or in care for a life-threatening illness and are at severe nutritional risk due to this sickness.
Every day, full weeks’ worth of meals are cooked in MANNA’s kitchen by over 1,500 volunteers, frozen, and delivered to families in need. Additionally, through what is known as Medical Nutrition Therapy, MANNA provides nutrition counseling free of charge to those with life-threatening illnesses. Dieticians work individually with their clients, creating sensible food plans to help them stay as healthy as possible. In truth, MANNA cares for the entire person.
Arden Theatre Company is a strong supporter of MANNA and its mission. We began the celebration of our 25th Anniversary Season with a Pay What You Can performance of our first show, Next to Normal, from which all ticket proceeds went directly to the non-profit. With the help of almost 200 patrons, we raised over $600 for MANNA. (We’ve partnered with MANNA for three other Pay What You Can performances in recent years, raising nearly $4,000 additional for their work.)
Now, I’m thrilled to share with you our next goal for the season: selling pies! Every Thanksgiving, MANNA hosts a fundraiser called Pie in the Sky, through which it offers five types of traditional holiday pies for purchase, such as the Holiday Pumpkin Pie and Traditional Apple Pie. All proceeds from the pies go directly to caring for those with acute life-threatening illnesses.
The Arden has been participating as a pie-selling team for the last several years. In 2012, we sold 17 pies and raised $450 for MANNA. This year, through the organization of our 20th Arden Professional Apprentice class, we hope to raise our goals and sell DOUBLE what we sold last year – that’s 34 pies and $900! Currently, we’ve sold 31 pies and are SO CLOSE to our goal!
We ask you to join our support of this fantastic non-profit by purchasing a MANNA pie for your Thanksgiving table, or donating one to a family in need, through the Arden Theatre Company’s pie-selling team. It’s incredibly easy – just CLICK HERE to buy, and make sure you find our Pie Time (Arden Theatre Company) when you’re ordering!! TheArden will also be serving as a pie pick-up location, so you can visit us and get your pie at the same time! Please share our goal with family and friends and encourage them to buy, too. And remember – supporting MANNA means you can enjoy your pie guilt-free this year! Happy Holidays!
By Angela DuRoss, Development Director
Freud’s Last Session opened on Thursday, November 1 to a packed house. Members of the Sylvan Society joined together for a cocktail party at Gigi Restaurant prior to the performance. Nearly 200 audience members enjoyed the opening night performance, which marked the directorial debut for Philadelphia artist Ian Merrill Peakes. Guests enjoyed a reception following the show catered by JPM Catering with beer courtesy of Hatboro Beverages.
Thanks to Plate3Photography for photos of our post-show party!
