Tomorrow, Tuesday August 27, they are offering half priced tickets for entire theater seasons for the Arden, Walnut Street Theater, Peoples Light and Theater Company, Flashpoint Theater Company, Theater Exile, Theater Horizon, Luna Theater Company, Curio Theater Company, Lantern Theater Company and others.

Theater is so expensive but not if you purchase these specials. They start at $7.50 a play with many topping out at $12.

The Walnut Street season which is the most expensive offers 5 plays at $25 each. That is about what you would pay for the tax on a NYC ticket. But you will see productions of Les Miserables, Peter Pan, The Price, The Odd Couple, and Man of la Mancha, for the price of one $125 seat in NYC.

With the money you saved you can treat yourself to a pre-theater dinner. Check it out

My friend Shay and I had a dinner of Franklin Fountain ice cream for dinner before entering the theater. Neither of us knew what to expect when we sat down. The set that we could see was a rough approximation of an drawing room, complete with fireplace, clock and mantelpiece mirror. A black curtain hung lengthwise across the middle of the stage, dividing the space into two. We couldn’t see what was on the other side of the curtain, but we knew that half the audience was sitting over there, and that the mirror was actually a gilded frame with no glass, giving a narrow view of the other half of the theater.

After a brief introductory scene in which Alice travels through the lookingglass, the curtain drops and the set opens up. It stays mostly bare for the rest of the show, making room for the actors to wow us with their skills as acrobats and trapeze artists. It was an amazingly well-done production.

It normally lasts 90 minutes, with no intermission, but the night I saw it, there was a power surge (the result of the electrical storm that shook the city that night) that damaged some of the lights in the theater. They took nearly 30 minutes off during the middle of the show during which they attempted to repair the lights. Eventually they gave up and completed the performance with less special lighting that they would normally have. Instead of compromising the magic of the experience, it gave the audience a feeling of connectedness with the performers, that we were all in it together.

It is a musical by Tony Kushner, who wrote Angels in America. It is set in 1963 and is about the dynamics between Caroline, an African-American maid who works for a Jewish family in Louisiana. It deals with oppression and communication between races. I found the whole thing to be riveting, but particularly a scene towards the end where Caroline has walked out of her job and is battling with her emotions and the reality of her life. It is a powerful scene, performed by an amazing actress and singer. She is the only character on stage and the feelings of torture and frustration she conveyed were so real that I wanted to weep. When she was finished, I quietly released a very small “wow” as I needed to verbally express my own reaction to it.

They’ve just extended the run for another week (through April 15th), and if you have the budget and time to check this one out, I would HIGHLY encourage you to do so.

The Government Cheese Theory is a sketch group comprised of six comics from the Delaware Valley area, partnering with a Cherry Hill, NJ video company to promote and pitch a 10-episode documentary on comedy sketch. Next Tuesday, the 27th of February, is a special one-time-only engagement, the culmination of the pilot episode for the documentary series. The live show.

It starts at 7:30pm with a Wine & Cheese pre-game event, and the entire comedy show, starting at 8pm, will be taped before a live audience at the Sketch Club Players Inc main stage. Gov’t Cheese Theorists Ray, Kumar, Kelly, Antoinette, Lani, and Greg will create such a laugh riot, you’d better bring some extra socks. Afterwards, you can join the cast upstairs for a post-game wrap up with coffee and doughnuts.

If you think I’m gonna give a glorious review of the show on the 28th, you’re wrong, because I stink at reviews, so you better attend for yourself. The admission is $12 at the door. Philly Metbloggers me and Brady will be in attendance, too. We also do our podcast Jay V Mail and will be with our JVM entourage. If you’d like to join our entourage (free of charge) let me know and I”ll set you UP, dude!

the important info:
february 27, 2007 @ 7:30pm
the government cheese theory @ sketch club players inc
433 glover st
woodbury nj
$12

Tickets are $5 at the door. All proceeds benefit Women organized Against Rape of Philadelphia – Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center. The show is at Irvine Auditorium, 3401 Spruce St.

The R5 folks say, “They are going to rely heavily on footage from the Philadelphia show – so you can expect the most “off the hook routines” and “out of hand antics” in our own city. They’ll be interviewing show go’ers throughout the night – so you also get the possible bonus of being immortalized on dvd forever.”