Bristol Riverside Theatre (BRT), 120 Radcliffe Street, in Historic Bristol Borough is pleased to announce its schedule of events for its Summer Series 2007. Beginning May 31 and running through August 12, ten out of eleven weekends have performances scheduled. In 2006 BRT expanded its summer offerings beyond its Summer Musicale Series and children’s theatre, to include a Jazz weekend and a week of live Magic for the family, and continues those events this year.

The backbone of the Summer Series is BRT’s Summer Musicale Series. BRT annually presents three Musicales (musicale, defined by Webster as “a social affair featuring a musical program,”) which have been increasing in popularity over the past several summers, with subscriptions to the series up over 20% in the last four years. The style of the programs fall between a concert and a musical revue, and generally feature three to seven singers with a three to five piece band, depending on the musical style presented. Each Musicale is based around a theme, whether Broadway or Hollywood songs, the music of specific composers like Andrew Lloyd Webber or Leonard Bernstein, or a past era, such as the 1930s or 1940s. This year’s series covers over 50 years of popular American music from the 1920s to the 1970s.

The first production of the 2007 Summer Musicale Series will be War Songs II: More Songs of the Vietnam Era, running May 31-June 10. The first installment in 2006 received widespread praise from audience and critics alike, and has prompted BRT Artistic Director and Musicale Creator Edward Keith Baker to provide audiences with another dive into the classic and folk rock written between 1965 and 1975. Baker arrived at the first rehearsal of last year’s War Songs with over 70 songs he couldn’t do without—only 35 made it to the stage—but it left plenty of additional material to touch upon this year while revisiting some of last year’s audience favorites.

The second Musicale will be Ellington By Starlight, which runs July 5-15. Duke Ellington rose to stardom at the Cotton Club in 1927, and performed everything from Jazz to Big Band, Gospel to Musical Theatre, becoming a prominent force in shaping the entire American musical landscape for nearly 50 years. Featured in this production will be favorite BRT performers Demetria Joyce Bailey who most recently played the title role in BRT’s hit Ethel Waters, His Eye is On the Sparrow, part of BRT’s 20th Anniversary Season, and Keith Spencer who has been seen in numerous Musicales including being featured in last year’s For Sentimental Reasons, A Tribute to Nat ‘King’ Cole.

Rounding out the Musicale Series from August 2-12 will be Those Were the Days: From Motown to Malibu. Back when Baby Boomers were teens and Ike and Jack sat in the Oval Office, the jukebox played Rock and Country, Doo-Wop and Motown. Those Were the Days revisits the popular music written between 1955 and 1965 and will include hits from recording stars like Frankie Valli and Frankie Avalon, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, The Beach Boys and Elvis.

In 2006 BRT presented its first ever weekend of Jazz, which coincidentally fell on the same weekend as the first annual Bucks County Jazz Festival. Combining efforts to provide expanded offerings, this year BRT in association with the Jazz Festival hosts another weekend of Jazz, June 15-17. On Friday, June 15 at 8:00pm, Bucks County favorites The Eric Mintel Quartet return to BRT performing their melodic brand of Jazz, featuring performances of songs on their recently released CD, Times Change. On Saturday, June 16, BRT proudly welcomes international recording artist and 1996 Grammy Winner for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Cassandra Wilson. A special headlining event for the Bucks County Jazz Festival, Ms. Wilson will be performing two shows, at 6:30 and 9:00pm as a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s research. On Sunday, June 17 at 3:00pm, BRT welcomes New Jersey’s The Jim Ridl Trio, whose improvisational stylings round out a diverse weekend. More information about Jazz Festival events presented at other venues can be found at www.bucksjazzfest.com.

Back for another week of fun for the whole family, July 18-22 is the Magic of the Gustafsons, with a brand-new program created for BRT audiences, Magic Around the World. Featuring grand illusions and intimate sleight of hand with humorous audience participation, magician Richard Gustafson calls this year’s production “bigger and even better” than last year’s The Amazing World of Magic. Also joining in the fun will be John Bodner of Bristol’s Magic Sojourn, a specialty magic shop on Mill Street in Bristol Borough, who will present demonstrations in the lobby before and after the show, and will have starter kits for sale for aspiring magicians young and old.

Every Friday and Saturday morning from June 30-August 10, BRT welcomes back Theatre Arts Center of Doylestown, who will present six different Children’s Theatre productions. A summer theatre camp for students 5-19, these shows are entertaining theatre “for youth, by youth.” These “all singing, all dancing” productions run approximately 60 minutes. This year’s shows: the premiere of Willy Wonka, classic tales Charlotte’s Web, Rumpelstiltskin, and Jack and the Beanstalk, a new reduced version of the Broadway hit Just So (based on Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories), and Nickelodeon’s Blue Clues: The Most Spectacular Place. Theatre Arts Center rounds out their summer with their full-scale Bound for Broadway Musical Revue on August 11 and 12. More info is available at www.theatreartscenter.com.

Tickets for all Summer Series 2007 events are available online at www.BRTstage.org, to walk-up customers at the BRT Box Office, or by calling at 215-785-0100. BRT offers package pricing for all events except Theatre Arts Center events, and, as a fundraiser event, Cassandra Wilson tickets are not available for discount.

The BRT Summer Musicale Series is available for $63, just $21 per show (individual tickets are $29). Patrons may add on a performance of Magic Around the World, The Eric Mintel Quartet or The Jim Ridl Trio for just $16 (regularly priced at $20). Student tickets for all the above events are just $10. Theatre Arts Center performances are $7 for regular productions and $15 for Bound for Broadway. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more by calling Meaghan Crawford at 215-785-6664.