Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia

Charlie Gilbert returns to talk about the music theater and the many new musicals being created and developed in Philadelphia during the 1980s and 90s. We discuss the founding and early years of the American Music Theatre Festival, musicals performed at the Walnut and Arden Theatres, and the beginning of the Musical Theater Program at the University of the Arts - as theatrical and musical activity...

An interview with actor Johnnie Hobbs and choreographer Patricia Scott Hobbs about the Freedom Theatre in North Philadelphia.  In an archival recording, the Philadelphia composer and teacher Charles Gilbert talks to his longtime friends about their experiences at the Freedom, including working with founder John E. Allen and his successor Walter Dallas.  Though this is not a comprehensive narrative...

Director and Producer Joe Canuso sits down with us to talk about his life and career in Philly theater. From acting at the Pocket Playhouse in the 70s, performing with dance troupes in the 80s, creating cutting-edge shows for the new Fringe Festival in the 90s, founding and leading Theatre Exile in the 2000s, Joe did brought a darkly comic edge and a driving energy to the Philly theater scene. Alo...

A conversation with one of the longest-serving and most consequential artistic directors and producers of the modern era of Philadelphia theater history, Sara Garonzik. As we continue our Season Four, we learn about her early years - first as and actor, then as a director, then as a producer at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. And we learn her stories about how she took PTC from a 25-year-long ho...

Our interview with teacher, writer and director Robert Hedley - the former Chair of the Theater Departments of both Villanova and Temple Universities. In our conversation, we discuss many things - including his early years, his coming to Villanova, his work with playwright David Rabe and producer Joseph Papp, and his work in helping to found The Philadelphia Company (the precursor to the Philadelp...

Cato: A Tragedy was a famous 18th Century play by Joseph Addison - supposedly the favorite play of George Washington himself! What connection did it have to the history of America - and the theater history of Philadelphia? This is an edited audio recording of a panel discussion at the Museum of the Revolution in Philadelphia, recorded on April 9th, 2025. A video of the entire event can be found at...

The story of three small ambitious cutting-edge Philadelphia theater companies of the 1970s. Why did some survive - and some falter? For a blog post with images of the productions and people we discuss in the episode, go HERE . (Cover photo for the episode shows the actor Daniel Oreskes in The Servant of Two Masters , which was being presented by The Repertory Company in West Philadelphia's C...

An interview with Joe Stinson and Ed Sabato about Philadelphia theatrical projects that employed so many local actors before and during the Bicentennial Year of 1976. In the very place where the American experiment began, regular work in "historical re-enactment" and patriotic storytelling gave young and ambitious Philadelphia theater artists a boost in their careers.   This episode also...

An interview with the director, writer and artist Tom Bissinger, in which we talk about his work in the 1960s and 70s, including his all-too-brief term as the final Artistic Director of the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia. A native of San Francisco, Tom's fascinating life story is interwoven with so many iconic names from the 60s and 70s, including working in Philadelphia with the...

A recut and remixed and refocused version of an interview with the director Mary B. Robinson, about her years she spent in the 1990s as the Artistic Director of the Drama Guild. (Stay tuned at the very end for an brief announcement about the future direction of the podcast - and my thoughts about current events) A short blog post on our website has additional information and images about Mary and...

Gregory Poggi successfully led the Philadelphia Drama Guild throughout the decade of the 1980s. He talked with us about his memories of those days - tussles with board members, battles with critics, fundraising triumphs and the growing audience support for professional nonprofit theater companies in the city. For a blog post on our website with additional images and information, go to: https://www...

The sudden success of the Drama Guild - a former amateur theater group transformed into a professional local powerhouse - finally fulfilled the promise of giving Philadelphia a flagship nonprofit theater company. For a brief blog post with images from the episode, go HERE . Support the show "Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores...

A reprise of one of our early episodes from Season One, in which we travel back 225 years to a single fascinating day in American theater: January 1, 1800. Philadelphia's premiere theater company rang in the New Year with their production of the spectacular Romance entitled "Blue Beard, or Female Curiosity." Meanwhile, in the audience, there are other dramatic events were taking pla...

Three new Philadelphia theater complexes are built for the mid-century modern era - funded by wealthy philanthropists. The Annenbergs would donate grand new Modernist-style Arts Centers at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania, and the Haas family would spearhead the drive to renovate the old Walnut Street Theatre. For a blog post with photos of all three theaters and other events d...

A re-edited, reduced and remixed account of the entire history of the Theatre of the Living Arts – the first major professional theater company in Philadelphia's modern era. Photo of the company of The Line of Least Existence was taken by Bill Watkins. Links to blog posts on our podcast's webpage, with other images and information about our sources, can be found here , here and here . Su...

Our first episode of Season Four - introducing our plans and hopes for the upcoming year on the podcast. Support the show "Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now! For a link, go to our website: www.aithpodcast.com Our email address is AITHpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on social media: Bluesky: @a...

Like the ghost of Hamlet's father, the body of John Barrymore would not stay still . . . one dark night it suddenly appeared in his hometown.  A story about the wandering remains of a member of Philadelphia's most famous acting family, taken from Wicked Philadelphia: Sin in the City of Brotherly Love , a book by Thomas H. Keels. This episode was originally released as our Episode 34 in J...

An encore presentation of Peter's reading of the chapter "Oh, It's a Lovely War: The Mischianza 1778" from Thomas H. Keels' Wicked Philadelphia: Sin in the City of Brotherly Love . Wicked Philadelphia: Sin in the City of Brotherly Love by Thomas Keels, is available on Amazon.com. Please visit Tom's website, www.thomaskeels.com , for more information on his other books...

A re-released and edited version of our Episode 36! In this show we interview theater historian Barry Witham about his 2013 book A Sustainable Theatre: Jasper Deeter at the Hedgerow , and then bring listeners along on a guided tour of Hedgerow Theatre campus in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania. Check out this blog post with historical images of Jasper Deeter, plus photos from our visit to the Hedgerow in...

An Exciting Announcement!  Support the show "Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now! For a link, go to our website: www.aithpodcast.com Our email address is AITHpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on social media: Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast Instagra...

This Encore episode of the podcast - first released as Episode 35 in our Season One - goes on a journey to the Paul Robeson House and Museum in Philadelphia. For a blog post on our website with additional information, images, and links, go to: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/the-house-i-live-in/ Support the show "Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from...

In which we close out the Tryout Town story of Philadelphia theater - and we share a chapter of Peter's upcoming book! Support the show "Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now! For a link, go to our website: www.aithpodcast.com Our email address is AITHpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on social...

In the 1970s, director Vinnette Carroll brought her gospel-themed musicals about African American culture through Philadelphia on their way to Broadway. We discuss this much-neglected important Black theater artist, in a conversation with Jerrell Henderson. There is a blog post, filled with lots of amazing images and additional information about this topics we discuss in the episode! It can be fou...

The continuation of to the story from our previous episode, we talk about the failures, successes - and sometimes the deaths of shows and performers of commercial tryout shows in Philly of the 1970s. For images and notes about shows mentioned in this episode, go to: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/death-and-all-that-jazz-notes-and-images-for-episode-80/ Support the show "Adventures in Theate...

Many tryout shows - along with some post-Broadway tours - came through Philadelphia during the 1960s. Some shows died in Philly - and some performers and audience members did too! For images and notes about shows mentioned in this episode, go to: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/life-is-what-you-do-while-youre-waiting-to-die-notes-and-images-for-episode-79/ Support the show "Adventures in The...