PHILADELPHIA THEATRE COMPANY CELEBRATES ITS 50th ANNIVERSARY WITH
Season pays homage to Philadelphia storytellers and 50 years of patronage.
PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 3, 2024 – Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) (480 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146), Artistic Directors Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar recognize the artistry of Philadelphia’s storytellers and 50 years of patronage in the upcoming theatre season entitled ‘PTC: We’re a Philly Thing’. To celebrate the anniversary season, PTC presents a series of plays, events, and readings of, by, and for Philadelphia, honoring the support of its patrons and compelling works and artists brought to the PTC stage over 50 years.
In its 50th Season, PTC is embracing everything Philadelphia, from the culture, neighborhoods, and people who make up this world-class city to the creators of its unique works of art onstage. Sports enthusiasts can enjoy the humor and inventive staging of a new musical commissioned by Daryl Morey. The internationally known composing team, the Lazours, give a voice to Philadelphia’s massive healthcare and caregiver personnel. At the same time, a beloved Philadelphia playwright, Erlina Ortiz, offers audiences a more intimate look at one family’s story of perseverance using humor that warms the soul.
In 2023, their inaugural year at PTC, Dobrowsky and Magar garnered a national spotlight on the Philadelphia Theatre Company through a selection of new and intriguing works, including Tony-nominated Whitney White’s modern interpretation of a Shakespearean classic, Macbeth in Stride and the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play by Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living. The season concludes with a powerful introspective following one man’s unburdening of his heart and conscience and the discovery of unconditional self-love in the world premiere of Roger Q. Mason’s The Duat. This year, PTC also hosted the internationally-renowned art piece that has become a symbol for human rights, Little Amal, and a workshop reading of Small Ball, originally commissioned by Philadelphia 76ers Director of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey. This reading set the stage for its full production this season.
In curating their sophomore season, Dobrowsky and Magar combined Tony Award-winning producers, a soulful Philadelphia story, and artistic innovation, bringing to life a magical world for audiences to enjoy.
“We’re thrilled and grateful to celebrate PTC’s 50th anniversary season with a diverse selection of plays created of, by, and for the people of Philadelphia,” said Dobrowsky and Magar. “Our lineup includes a sparkling new comedy, a world premiere production inspired by interviews with real Philadelphians, and a hilarious sports-themed musical, plus an array of readings, workshops, classes for young people, and vibrant community partnerships.”
The season begins October 4 with the Philadelphia premiere of the 2022 National Latine Playwrights Award-winning production La Egoista by Dominican-American playwright Erlina Ortiz. Ortiz, a six-time Barrymore Award nominee, Secretary of the Board for Theatre Philadelphia, Resident Playwright, and Co-Artistic Director at Power Street Theatre, is nationally known for the infusion of heart and heritage in her work. A two-time Leeway Art and Change Grant recipient, Ortiz was recently named a Dramatist Guild Foundation Catalyst Fellow in 2023. La Egoista, her thrilling combination of stand-up, family bonds, and the cost of healthcare, was first produced by the Actors Theatre of Louisville(Louisville, KY).
Directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo and in association with the Tony Award-winning producers of Edgewood Entertainment (Dale A. Mott and Charles D. Urstadt), La Egoista is one of Ortiz’s penetrating stories of self-empowerment told in a moving and entertaining one-act production. The story follows sisters Josefina and Betsaida. Josefina, a stand-up comic from Philadelphia, is coming to terms with her mother’s recent death and her sister Betsaida’s sudden illness just as her comedy career is taking off. Josefina’s comedic career unfolds onstage juxtaposed with her sister’s deteriorating health as she navigates the challenges of balancing family, career, and personal dreams amidst loss and illness. La Egoista explores the places where comedy, family, and career collide in a humorous and heartwarming journey through one woman’s passion pursuit. The show runs from October 4 to 20.
For its second show of the season, PTC presents the world premiere of Night Side Songs from February 21 to March 9. PTC’s Taibi Magar directs the production with words and lyrics by the Lazours. The soulful musical depicting the intimacy of illness, mortality, and the profound dignity of caregivers will be presented on tour across local Philadelphia hospitals, community centers, and places of worship from February 3 to 16, before its debut at Suzanne Roberts Theatre. This is not the first time that Magar has teamed up with Lebanese-American musical theatre writers Daniel and Patrick Lazour. In 2019, Magar directed the award-winning We Live in Cairo, which premiered at the American Repertory Theater (Cambridge, MA), chronicling Egyptian youth activists following the 2011 Revolution in Tahrir Square and will have its New York premiere at New York Theater Workshop this fall.
The powerhouse collaborators’ new musical introduces audiences to Yasmine Holly, a fictional character inspired by interviews with several local doctors, hospital staff, and patients. Night Side Songs is a musical convergence reflecting and celebrating Philly’s “eds and meds” community with humor, grace, and profound empathy. The production invokes audience participation through an interactive sing-a-long score and invites viewers to re-imagine the illness journey, or ‘night side’ of life. The 90-minute production features a montage of personal trials offset by the ethereal process of treatment, acceptance, and communication about the one part of life everyone must experience but doesn’t want to talk about. Night Side Songs is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
The final show of the 2024-25 season features the East Coast full-length premiere of Small Ball, presented June 6 to 29 at PTC. Dobrowsky and Magar direct the off-beat musical commissioned and produced by Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey. Writer of the book and lyrics for Small Ball, Mickle Maher, is a cofounder of Theater Oobleck (Chicago, IL) and has taught playwriting at the University of Chicago, Columbia College, and Northwestern University (Chicago, IL). Maher’s plays are internationally known and have premiered Off-Broadway, including There is a Happiness That Morning Is and Song About Himself (DCA Storefront Theater/Chicago, IL). Merel van Dijk and Anthony Barilla are the musical team behind Small Ball, having scored musical theatre since 2013 and episodes of Public Radio’s This American Life. The surreal sports-themed musical debuted for audiences in 2018 at the Midtown Arts & Theater Center in Houston, Texas, produced by The Catastrophic Theatre.
Following a script reading in 2023 at PTC, audiences are now invited to the full-scale production of Small Ball, where melancholy journeyman basketball player Michael Jordan (no, not that Michael Jordan) has recently started playing in an international league with the Lilliput Existers – as in Lilliput, from Gulliver’s Travels. With teammates who are only six inches tall, the team’s fortunes and the post-game press conferences rest on Michael’s shoulders. Small Ball is big on imagination as Jordan struggles to figure out, among other things, how to pass a regulation-sized ball to a pint-sized teammate.
In addition to PTC’s traditional season of shows, the 2024 McNally Award-winning feature play by theatre artist MK Tuomanen, Night Science, will have its first public reading at Suzanne Roberts Theatre. The script follows two Nobel Prize-winning scientists struggling to complete their life’s work while the natural world — trees, bacteria, even the geological record itself — warns them of inevitable disaster. Will they heed the message before it’s too late? From radioactivity to CRISPR technology, Night Science dives into the feckless hope of scientific discovery, the dangers of trusting others of your own species, and the fact that any beautiful idea can be turned into a weapon. MK Tuomanen’s work bounces from humor to heartbreak to describe an eventful century in humanity’s ridiculous history.
In addition to the exciting season of shows, PTC offers special event programs. Educator Night and Community Night accompany all productions, providing unique opportunities for all audiences to engage with the arts. PTC’s Student Matinees and summer youth programming are designed to inspire and empower the next generation through creative and explorative education opportunities.
Subscription packages for the 2024-25 Season are now on sale starting at $51. Subscriptions purchased before July 16 will include an additional early bird discount. Single-show tickets will go on sale in September. For subscriptions, tickets, and more details, please visit www.philatheatreco.org or call 215-985-0420.
PTC’s Season Sponsors include the Suzanne Roberts Cultural Development Fund, David and Nancy Colman, Glenn Gundersen, Sally Katz, and Daryl and Ellen Morey.
Find a detailed lineup of season productions, rental, partnership/sponsorship opportunities, and a schedule of community programming on the Philadelphia Theatre Company website. Like and follow PTC on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
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Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) is a vital civic institution dedicated to the creation of extraordinary theatrical experiences that reflect the essential issues and ideas of our time and that foster connection, understanding, and transformation. PTC engages and strengthens our community through exceptional productions of new and contemporary plays and musicals, inspiring education programs, and mutually beneficial civic partnerships. PTC develops exciting new work that resonates locally and nationally and upholds a deep commitment to be a fully inclusive, welcoming home for Philadelphia’s artists, audiences, and people.