For Immediate Release: May 17, 2005
Media Contact: Tyler Melchior, 1812 Productions, 215.592.9560

1812 Productions announces its 2005-2006 season. The upcoming season will include all of the great series that 1812 has established in recent years, The Independence Cabaret Series, The June and Steve Wolfson Family Foundation Holiday Series, and the Phoebe and Otto Premiere Series. 1812 will also present a special fourth production—a month-long cabaret festival showcasing Philadelphia’s rising cabaret stars.

First up in 1812’s new season is Quinnopolis vs. Hamlet which will run August 26th through September 25th, 2005 at The Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3. Quinnopolis vs. Hamlet is the story of two actors who refuse to perform Shakespeare’s Hamlet, yet find they have quite a challenge ahead of them as the essence of the classic play haunts the very theatre in which they perform. This existential comedy combines classical performance with physical theatre and will star Jeremy Beck and Christopher Patrick Mullen and will be directed by Dave Dalton.

After the exorcism, 1812 will mount the seventh installment of its celebrated annual holiday show, Double Down: A Good Bet on a Comic Pair for the Holidays. Double Down will run from December 2nd to December 31st, 2005 at The Adrienne Theatre. Double Down features 1812 favorites Scott Greer and Tony Braithwaite as they pay homage to the greatest comedy teams of all time. From Abbott & Costello to Batman & Robin, Braithwaite & Greer will put the Bam! and the Kerplow! back in your December!

Speaking of Bam and Kerplow, Perfectly Marvelous, a month long cabaret of music and laughter hosted by everyone’s favorite matinee lady, Harriett Levy (a.k.a. Todd Waddington), will explode on the stage from February 24th to March 26th, 2006 at The Adrienne Theatre. Perfectly Marvelous is dedicated to the memory of our friend, the incomparable Jilline Ringle, and in the spirit of her work will feature a rotating line-up of Philadelphia performers and cabaret artists who will bring their own individual (and howlingly funny!) songs and stories to the stage.

1812 will close its season by leaping back in time over 400 years, and landing in London, during the crafting of the greatest poem in the English language. Daughters of Genius, a world premiere comedy by Evan Smith, the writer of the 1812 hit The Uneasy Chair, will run from May 19th to June 28th, 2006 at St. Stephen’s Theatre, 10th and Ludlow Streets. Daughters of Genius details the notoriously contentious relationship between visionary poet John Milton and his daughters, Anne, Mary, and Deborah. Milton is going blind and becoming more and more reliant upon his “inferior-sexed” children to help him complete his magnum opus, Paradise Lost. Soon, representatives of both Heaven and Hell appear to tease and tempt the ladies into realizing their own roles in the creation of the masterpiece. Daughters of Genius, in all of its beautiful hilarity, will be the celestial finale to 1812’s most ambitious season to date!

Hot on the heels of 1812’s diverse 04-05 season (the delicious Mondo Mangia, the girdle-busting Always a Lady, the Drama Desk Award nominated all wear bowlers, and the groundbreaking Recent Tragic Events), the 2005-2006 season holds several new ventures for 1812 Productions with the addition of a new performance series and the company’s collaboration with playwright Evan Smith, not to mention the ongoing quest for a permanent home. Jennifer Childs, 1812’s Artistic Director says, “Over the years it has become an unofficial part of 1812’s mission to support and promote new comic voices while honoring our comic ancestors. Next season is exciting evidence of that. We celebrate the past with our Holiday Series while investing in the new comic voices of playwright Evan Smith, and Independence Cabaret Series’ actors Christopher Patrick.

Mullen and Jeremy Beck. In addition, we celebrate our good friend Jilline Ringle by showcasing the cabaret stars of tomorrow.” “Each production of our 05-06 season promises to be unlike anything you'll see anywhere else in Philadelphia,” adds 1812’s Producing Artistic Director, Pete Pryor. “Next season will include new venues and premiere shows, and the quality will remain distinctly 1812. It’s the best bet in town!”

1812 History
Artistic Director Jennifer Childs and Producing Artistic Director Pete Pryor founded 1812 Productions in the spring of 1998 with a goal to entertain and educate audiences through comedy, and to support and hire local artists. Philadelphia Weekly named 1812 Productions the “Theatre Company of the Year 2002-2003”. At the close of the 2002-2003 season, 1812 Productions was the recipient of eight nominations and two wins at the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. Most recently, 1812 Productions received three Barrymore Award nominations for its 2003-2004 season. Their education program, 1812 Outreach, has received four consecutive nominations and been awarded once the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service. 1812 Productions, while continually on the search for a permanent home, continues to perform at various locations around the city of Philadelphia.

2005-2006 Season

The Independence Cabaret Series

Quinnopolis vs. Hamlet
August 26- September 25, 2005
Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3

The June & Steve Wolfson Family Foundation Holiday Series

Double Down: A Good Bet on a Comic Pair for the Holidays
December 2 – December 31, 2005
The Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street

Perfectly Marvelous
February 24 – March 26, 2006
The Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street

The Phoebe and Otto Premiere Series

Daughters of Genius
May 19 – June 18, 2006
St. Stephen’s Theatre, 10th & Ludlow Streets

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