Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
Encyclopedia
The Pennsylvania Shakespeare
Festival (PSF) is a professional theatre company in residence at DeSales University
and the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Festival is organized as a non-profit 501(c)(3) in Pennsylvania. Each summer, PSF produces six or more plays (often including a musical) and special one-night-only performances. In the fall, PSF tours a Shakespeare play to schools as part of its Linny Fowler WillPower tour. The Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary season the summer of 2011. Since its inception, the Festival has been attended by 543,000 people. The acting company consists primarily of professional actors from New York and Philadelphia and who are members of Actors' Equity Association
. The plays are performed in two theaters in The Labuda Center for the Performing Arts: the 473-seat Mainstage or the 189-seat Schubert Theatre on the DeSales University campus in Center Valley
.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is listed as a Major Festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor
), 2004.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Festival (PSF) is a professional theatre company in residence at DeSales University
DeSales University
DeSales University is a private Catholic university for men and women, located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before 2001, it was known as Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales.- History :...
and the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Festival is organized as a non-profit 501(c)(3) in Pennsylvania. Each summer, PSF produces six or more plays (often including a musical) and special one-night-only performances. In the fall, PSF tours a Shakespeare play to schools as part of its Linny Fowler WillPower tour. The Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary season the summer of 2011. Since its inception, the Festival has been attended by 543,000 people. The acting company consists primarily of professional actors from New York and Philadelphia and who are members of Actors' Equity Association
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
. The plays are performed in two theaters in The Labuda Center for the Performing Arts: the 473-seat Mainstage or the 189-seat Schubert Theatre on the DeSales University campus in Center Valley
Center Valley, Pennsylvania
Center Valley is an unincorporated village one mile north of Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 309 and Pennsylvania Route 378 in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States....
.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is listed as a Major Festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
), 2004.
2011 Season
- HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
- By William Shakespeare - July 20 - August 7 - Pride & Prejudice - Adapted by John Jory - July 19 - August 7
- The Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
- By William Shakespeare - June 22 - July 17 - South PacificSouth Pacific (musical)South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
- Book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan, Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II - June 15 - July 3 - The Two Noble KinsmenThe Two Noble KinsmenThe Two Noble Kinsmen is a Jacobean tragicomedy, first published in 1634 and attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. Its plot derives from "The Knight's Tale" in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales....
- By William Shakespeare and John Fletcher - July 27 - August 7 - Sleeping BeautySleeping BeautySleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
- By Michele L. Vacca - June 3 - August 6 - Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Hurley - July 27 - August 6
- On the Green June 15 - August 7
2010 Season
- Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
- By William Shakespeare - The Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
- By William Shakespeare - The Playboy of the Western WorldThe Playboy of the Western WorldThe Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on January 26, 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s...
- By J. M. Synge - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
- Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart - Robin HoodRobin HoodRobin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
- By Brandon E. McLauren - Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Hurley
- The Green Show May 29- August 1
WillPower Tour
The Festival's signature education program is the annual Linny Fowler WillPower Tour, which brings a professionally-produced Shakespeare play to middle schools and high schools throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Initiated in 2000, the WillPower Tour is a professionally directed 80-minute production with sets and costumes featuring a company of professionally trained and experienced actor/teachers. The fall 2010 WillPower Tour features Hamlet, touring schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware from October 6 - November 19, 2010. Half-day or full-day programming meets academic standards, with curriculum guides provided in advance. Post-performance discussion gives the students the opportunity to share their reactions and insights.History
The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival was founded in 1992 by Gerard J. Schubert, O.S.F.S., founder and chair of Performing and Fine Arts department at DeSales University.Notable Actors
- Dee RoscioliDee RoscioliDee Roscioli is an American singer and actress, who is known for her performances as "Elphaba" in the Chicago, San Francisco, Broadway and national touring productions of the musical Wicked.-Education:She graduated from Wilson Area High School in 1995 and DeSales University in 1999...
- 2010, Finale Cabaret - William MichalsWilliam MichalsWilliam Paul Michals is an American stage actor and baritone singer. He has recently appeared in Roger's and Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC at Lincoln Center, He made Broadway debut as “The Beast” in Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and later returned to play Gaston in the same production...
- 2011, South Pacific, Emile De Beque - William MichalsWilliam MichalsWilliam Paul Michals is an American stage actor and baritone singer. He has recently appeared in Roger's and Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC at Lincoln Center, He made Broadway debut as “The Beast” in Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and later returned to play Gaston in the same production...
- 2011, South Pacific, Emile De Beque - Marnie SchulenburgMarnie SchulenburgMarnie Schulenburg is an American actress. She is known for her role as Alison Stewart on As the World Turns .-Private life:...
- 2011. South Pacific, Nellie Forbush; *2006, As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
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