Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (May 16, 2014) — The Philadelphia Story, Philip Barry’s sophisticated comedy about class distinctions, the emergence of tabloid journalism and the rocky road to love and marriage, began previews May 15 in the Festival Theatre. Dennis Garnhum directs a stellar ensemble cast featuring Moya O’Connell, as the iconic Tracy Lord; Gray Powell, Patrick McManus, Fiona Byrne and Sharry Flett. The creative team of designer William Schmuck, lighting designer Kevin Lamotte and composer and sound designer Jeremy Spencer bring Philadelphia’s high society wedding of the year to life.
On the weekend of socialite Tracy Lord’s nuptials, two tabloid reporters arrive to capture the wedding of one of Philadelphia’s fashionable elite. Aware there are interlopers in their midst, the family make some rather complicated and comical choices to keep up appearances. As the anticipated march down the aisle approaches, things get thorny when Tracy finds herself simultaneously attracted to one of the aforementioned reporters and her dashing ex-husband, all to the horror of her overzealous fiancé.
The New York Times hailed Philip Barry as “. . . one of the few writers in American theatre to tackle the comedy-of-manners form in which the goings-on of the upper classes take on a satiric view.” A classic romantic comedy, The Philadelphia Story was a huge turnaround success for Katharine Hepburn in the late 1930s. Barry wrote it especially for her, and the play had a year-long run on Broadway before becoming a six-time Oscar nominated film in 1940.
About The Philadelphia Story
May 15 – October 25; Opening: June 7
The Philadelphia Story will be on stage at the Festival Theatre (10 Queen’s Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake).
The Philadelphia Story is sponsored by BMO Financial Group.
About the Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival is a theatre company inspired by the work of Bernard Shaw. We produce plays from and about his era and contemporary plays that share Shaw’s provocative exploration of society and celebration of humanity.
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Illustration by Emily Cooper ©2013.
2014-05-16
Niagara-on-the-Lake: "The Philadelphia Story" begins previews at the Shaw Festival