Bucks County Playhouse and Shoprite Honor Local Volunteers During Holiday Season
Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Michael Jorgensen
rick@oandmco.com / michael@oandmco.com
212-695-7400
Local Contact:
Mandee Kuenzle
Mandee@bcptheater.org
908-246-0882
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
B U C K S C O U N T Y P L A Y H O U S E
AND SHOPRITE ONCE AGAIN
HONOR LOCAL VOLUNTEERS
DURING HOLIDAY SEASON
BCP HOLIDAY TREE TO BE LIT NIGHTLY DURING
“MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS: A LIVE RADIO PLAY”
DECEMBER 4-29
New Hope, PA (11/21/13) – Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) (Jed Bernstein, Producing Director) has announced that this December, before every evening performance for Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play (December 4th -December 29th), the Playhouse will light its permanently planted holiday tree in the Playhouse’s courtyard.
The ceremony will begin 30-minutes prior to curtain time when ShopRite, the official sponsor of Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play will honor dedicated community volunteers (ShopRite “Angels”) who have impacted the lives of others this past year. Theater tickets are not required to attend the tree lighting ceremony. An updated list of honorees can be found at bcptheater.org.
“We are pleased to be continuing this newly created tradition in celebration of those dedicated volunteers who make a difference,” said Producing Director Jed Bernstein. “We are also excited to bring the audience and community together each night to light the Playhouse’s holiday tree during the run of Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play.”
“At this time of year, we at ShopRite are especially proud to recognize our neighbors, friends, associates and customers that make a difference in our communities,” said Joseph Colalillo, president of ShopRites of Hunterdon County, which owns and operates the ShopRites of Greenwich, Flemington and Clinton, NJ. “We are delighted to once again partner with the Playhouse to help honor these ‘angels’ for their dedication to the community and their unwavering support of those in need.”
In addition, ShopRite will be spearheading a food drive at the Playhouse during the run of the show that will benefit Fisherman Mark’s Food Pantry and the Delaware Valley Council of Churches. Patrons are encouraged to bring non-perishable items to drop in the bins at the Playhouse throughout the entire run.
Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play adapted by Joe Landry features direction by Gordon Greenberg and choreography by Lorin Latarro (both BCP alumni). The cast includes Broadway’s Geoff Packard, Jay Russell, Broadway and BCP alumni Garth Kravits, Lauren Molina and Chelsea Packard, and Victoria Cook (Into the Woods at the Public). The creative team includes Rob Bissinger (Original Set Design), Jared W. Rutherford (Scenic Design Consultant), Nicole V. Moody (Costume Design), Paul Miller (Lighting Design), Ed Chapman (Sound Design), and Phil Reno (Music Direction).
Based on The Kensington Stories by Sally Benson and the MGM motion picture Meet Me In St. Louis starring Judy Garland, Meet Me In St. Louis: A Live Radio Play will feature songs by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine, including the classics such as: “The Boy Next Door,” “Skip To My Lou,” “The Trolley Song,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.” The 2013 Radio Play is adapted by another Playhouse veteran, Joe Landry from the book by Hugh Wheeler.
Performances run from Wednesday, December 4th through Sunday, December 29th at the Bucks County Playhouse (70 South Main Street in New Hope, PA).
Tickets are on sale now. For a complete schedule and to purchase tickets for Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play visit bcptheater.org, call 215-862-2121 or visit the box office at 70 South Main Street New Hope, PA (7 Days : 12pm-5pm).
Meet Me Is St. Louis: A Live Radio Play is generously sponsored in part by ShopRite and licensed by Tams-Witmark Music Library.
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative, based in Keasbey, NJ and the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With more than 250 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than five million customers each week. A long-time supporter of key community efforts, ShopRite is dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities it serves. Through its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, ShopRite has donated more than $30 million to 1,700 worthy charities and food banks since the program began in 1999. For more information, please visit www.ShopRite.com.
The Bucks County Playhouse, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is committed to providing the finest in theatrical entertainment for visitors and residents of New Hope and the Bucks County area. The mission of the Bucks County Playhouse is to present first class professional entertainment and regain the Playhouse’s historic place in the national theatrical landscape; and to stimulate, support, inspire and celebrate the performing arts in New Hope and Bucks County via our involvement with community programs, partnerships and arts education.
Located 90 minutes from New York City, the Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 on the site of a grist mill dating from the late eighteenth century. Ironically, the structure was at that time in danger of demolition; however playwright Moss Hart and the local community rallied to save the building and re-opened it as a theatrical venue, which quickly became one of the country’s most famous regional theaters, with a veritable who’s who of American theatrical royalty including Kim Hunter, Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, June Lockhart, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Leslie Nielsen, Walter Matthau, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Rob Reiner, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Mike Nichols, Liza Minnelli, and Audra McDonald and remained in continuous operation until December 2010.
Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons, starring Tyne Daly, received its world premiere in 2013 at the Bucks County Playhouse and will make the leap to Broadway this spring, returning the Playhouse to its roots as an incubator for Broadway (starting with 1951’s The Fourposter starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, Neil Simon’s first play Come Blow Your Horn, and Barefoot in the Park starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley).
Thanks to the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, this beloved theatrical landmark was re-opened and celebrated on July 2, 2012, exactly 73 years and a day from when it originally opened in 1939. The Bucks County Playhouse is located at 70 South Main Street in New Hope, PA.
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