Philadelphia Premiere! Read the reviews HERE.

by Chelsea Marcantel
Directed by Noah Himmelstein
Scenic Design by Daniel Ettinger
Costume Design by Janus Stefanowicz
Lighting Design by Cory Pattak
Sound Design and Original Music Composition
by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca

February 14 – March 8, 2020
2 hrs 20 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission

Honorary Producers Linda & David Glickstein and Laura & Richard Steel

Check out this live interview on NBC10!PHL17 Morning News segment

An Amish family must hold onto their faith after a stranger shatters their peaceful existence and their estranged daughter returns, cracking open the family’s secret history. Everything is Wonderful is a searing drama about healing and forgiveness.

“A perceptive, character-rich drama about forgiveness…” – The Washington Post

*The Kilroys List Honorable Mention 2015 and 2016

This production of Everything is Wonderful contains a moment of physical aggression. For further context, visit our content advisory here.
PLEASE NOTE: contains plot spoilers.

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MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT & DIRECTOR

Chelsea is an LA-based writer, director, and collaborator. Reared by Cajuns in southwest Louisiana, Chelsea has lived and made theatre among the tribes of the Midwest, Appalachia, the Mid-Atlantic, and now the West Coast. In 2016, she completed a Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Fellowship at The Juilliard School. Her plays include Airness, Everything Is Wonderful, Ladyish, Devour, and Tiny Houses. They have been produced around the United States and Canada.  Chelsea is an avid self-producer, an enthusiastic member of The Writers Guild of America and The Dramatists Guild, and a newly-minted Kilroy. www.chelseamarcantel.com (she/her)

Andrew Lippa’s I Am Harvey Milk (Lincoln Center with Kristin Chenoweth; also San Francisco with Laura Benanti, Los Angeles and Denver: NY Magazine, LA Magazine Critic’s Picks, Playbill’s Unforgettable Experience of the Year); I Am Anne Hutchinson (Strathmore with Chenoweth, Washington Post: “Best of the Year.”); The Costume (Inner Voices/The Barrow Group); The Forgotten Woman (Bay Street Theatre); Los Otros; The Book of Joseph; and An Inspector Calls (Everyman Theatre). Additional directing: New York Philharmonic; Lincoln Center American Songbook; Weston Playhouse; Goodspeed; Westport Playhouse; American Opera Projects; Fredericia Teater (Denmark). Teaching artist: Broadway Dreams Foundation, Wooran Foundation (Seoul), Fordham, NYU. Asst. Director: Golden Boy (LCT, Broadway). Associate Artistic Director: Everyman Theatre.  Upcoming: NY premieres by Michael John LaChiusa and Karen Hartman. Grad of Emerson College. (he/him)

MEET THE CAST OF EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL

Lucky is thrilled to be making his Philadelphia Theatre Company debut, reprising a role he originated in the show’s world premiere at Contemporary American Theatre Festival.  An NYC-based actor, singer and songwriter, Lucky’s favorite roles include “Antipholus of Syracuse” in The Comedy of Errors and “Guildenstern” in Hamlet, both at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and “Nick” in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at North Carolina Stage Company. www.luckygretzinger.com (he/him)

J. is hugely overjoyed to be returning to PTC this for this year’s season. J. was last seen at PTC as Oscar Sweat. Other companies he’s worked for in town include Lantern Theatre Company, Arden Theatre Co, InterAct Theatre Co, Quintessence Theatre Group, Delaware Shakespeare, Philadelphia Artists Collective, Simpatico Theatre, Hedgerow Theatre, and Commonwealth Classic Theatre. To add to his list of works, J. is also Haas Award nominee and multiple Barrymore nominee. Incredibly huge thanks to Paige Price, everyone at PTC, Mandy y mi familia. Siempre resistir. (he/him)

Stephanie joins PTC for the first time as she settles in to her second year in this splendid city. Philadelphia: The Sea Voyage, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Philadelphia Artists’ Collective); The Game of Love and Chance (Hedgerow Theatre Company); Twelfth Night at the Powel, Regional: Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. BA: DeSales University. www.Stephanie-Hodge.com (she/her)

Philadelphia Theatre Company debut. Off-Broadway: Ring Twice for Miranda (New York City Center); The Fall (Soho Playhouse). Regional: The Wolves (Helen Hayes Best Ensemble), The Effect (Studio Theatre); Book of Will, Miss Bennet (Round House Theatre); Juno & The Paycock, Blue Stockings (Guthrie Theatre), Proof, Importance of Being Earnest, Dancing at Lughnasa (Everyman Theatre – Company Member). Training: University of Minnesota/Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program. (she/her)

Blair has appeared on Broadway and extensively in regional theaters across the country, including South Coast Rep, Yale Rep, A.R.T, Huntington Theatre Company and Kansas City Rep among many others.  Her television credits include roles on “Chicago P.D.,” “The Americans,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Following,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “’Ed” and “The Guardian.” She most recently finished working with Jon Stewart on his upcoming film, Irresistible. A recent transplant to the Philly area along with her husband and son, Blair couldn’t be more thrilled to be working on this beautiful play at PTC. (she/her)

William is thrilled to be returning to PTC where he last appeared in Hand To God. Recent theatre includes: Three Sisters (Harbor Stage), Sweat (People’s Light), Hapgood (Lantern Theatre), and West Side Story (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival). Film and TV: The Lovely Bones,The Immortal Jellyfish, Dead Man Down, “Do No Harm,” “Flikken Maastricht” (Dutch TV), “Mare Of Easttown,” “Dispatches From Elsewhere,” “The Wire” and “Shot in the Heart.” He is an eight-time Barrymore nominee, and was a member of four Barrymore-winning ensembles. He splits his time between Philadelphia and Amsterdam. (he/him)

MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM

Recent regional credits include Labour of Love, Elf, and The Piano Lesson at Olney Theatre Center; Things That Are Round, Dorian’s Closet, and Venus in Fur at RepStage; Eclipsed, You For Me For You, Civilization or All You Can Eat at Woolly Mammoth in D.C. and The Patterns at Pendarvis at HERE in New York. He is the resident scenic designer for Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. Credits include: Everything is Wonderful, The Importance of Being Earnest, Sweat, and The Book of Joseph. He is a member of the design faculty at Towson University. (he/him)

Janus is so happy to be back at PTC and working on Everything is Wonderful. PTC credits: Outside Mullingar, Detroit, Tribes, reasons to be pretty, Ruined and Intimate Apparel, to name a few. Janus has designed costumes for most theaters in the Philadelphia area. She is the costume shop manager, resident designer and adjunct faculty for Villanova University’s Theatre Department. She has been nominated for 17 Barrymore Awards and received 3, including one for Intimate Apparel at PTC. (she/her)

Off-Broadway: Final Follies, Stalking the Bogeyman, Revolution in the Elbow…, Handle with Care, Daddy Long Legs, Skippyjon Jones, This Side of Paradise, Unlocked, Nymph Errant, With Glee, The Blue Flower. Regional: Old Globe, Kennedy Center, Goodspeed, Maltz Jupiter, Weston, Everyman, Tuacahn, Hangar, KC Rep, Syracuse Stage, Cap Rep. International: Sunset Boulevard, Singin’ in the Rain (São Paulo), Broadway Associate: Newsies, Peter and the Starcatcher. Host and creator of “in 1: the podcast” featuring interviews with theatrical designers. www.corypattak.com (he/him)

Nok is a Thai artist, sound designer, musician and composer. Nok has worked with theatre companies across the United States including Lincoln Center, OSF, Steppenwolf, McCarter Theater,  Rattlestick, Geva Theatre and Milwaukee Repertory Theater, among many others. She has also collaborated with performing groups and theatre companies in Thailand since 2008. Nok graduated from the Yale School of Drama and is a member of the TSDCA and USA Local 829. www.wishnok-music.com

Alison is thrilled to be at PTC.  New York: Hamilton, The Nutcracker (New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center), Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, A Gentleman and his Ladies (Roundabout, with Alan Cumming), Cherry Lane, Westside Theatre, 59E59, the York, 24 Hour Play Company.  Regional: McCarter, Two River, Delaware Theater Company, six seasons with Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Theater Horizon, Trinity Rep, Bucks County Playhouse, Bristol Riverside, Premiere Stages. (she/her)

Tori is thrilled to return for her second season at PTC. She previously worked for Portland Stage Company, Theatre Aspen, and Asphalt Piloten’s Tape Riot. When not backstage, Tori works part-time in marketing at the Arden. Upcoming: Stage Manager for the Arden’s No Child. Tori received her B.A. in Theatre Production/Design and PR from Susquehanna University. Many thanks to Paige and the Everything Is Wonderful team. Love and thanks to Kevin and the family for their support. (she/her)

Neill is on the theater faculty of the University of the Arts and has acted as a speech/dialect coach for Universities, theaters and corporations.  As an actor, he has appeared with many theater companies and his work can be seen and heard in many voice-overs and commercials. He has principal roles in The Sixth Sense, First Freedom (PBS documentary), and in three seasons of the series “House of Cards.”  Neill is the Artistic Director for Acting Without Boundaries, and has also directed for many theater companies. (he/him)

is certified by Intimacy Directors International and also works as a choreographer and movement director. She is trained in trauma-informed practices and holds this focus at the center of her work. She also specializes in devised and ensemble-based physical theatre, mask work, and social dance. Training: NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Stella Adler Studio. Next up: Othello at Lantern Theater Company www.colleenhughes.com

has studied stage combat for over a decade, is a recognized Advanced Actor Combatant with 5 international organizations and mentee to Broadway Fight Master Ian Rose. Recent credits: Man of God (InterAct); Indecent (Arden); The Sea Voyage, ‘Tis Pity (Barrymore Nomination) (PAC), Moby Dick (Hedgerow). They are also a certified Intimacy Director with IDI and a performer in the greater Philly area. Love always to Vanessa. Soli Deo Gloria. EliKLynn.com (they/them)