In the coming year, the Walnut Street Theatre, America's oldest theatre and the State Theatre of Pennsylvania, will celebrate its 199th season of live entertainment and its 25th season as a not-for-profit producing theatre company. Boasting over 56,000 subscribers annually, The Walnut is not only the most popular theater company in Philadelphia, but also the most subscribed theatre company in the world!
Bernard Havard, Producing Artistic Director, is proud to announce the 2007-2008 Mainstage season, a year of theatrical events to delight all audiences. The upcoming season will include three magnificent and internationally beloved musicals - get ready for Man of La Mancha, Peter Pan and Les Misérables. To round out this thrilling season, the Walnut also offers two brilliant plays by America's best-loved playwrights. Expect all the masterfully engaging emotion, complexity and humor of Arthur Miller's The Price and Neil Simon's The Odd Couple.
The Walnut opens this extraordinary season with the classic musical telling of a story that continues to echo throughout our world's art, literature, movies and stages. "Dream the impossible dream" as Don Quixote comes alive in a spectacular new production of Broadway's timeless musical, Man of La Mancha (September 4 - October 21). In this story adapted from the world's first novel, a noble, romantic knight sets out during the Spanish Inquisition to right all wrongs in the name of the woman he loves. Based on The Adventures of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, the Walnut's Man of La Mancha promises all the thrills of soaring music, romance, fantasy, and heartfelt gallantry.
The holiday season at the Walnut will be an event for the entire family. Peter Pan alights at the Walnut from November 6 - January 6, whisking audiences to the captivating fantasy of Never-Never Land in a lavish and colorful show to enchant all ages! This spectacular production about the boys who refused to grow up will transport everyone, like never before, into J.M. Barrie's beloved tale of lost boys, Indian maidens and pirate rogues. Hearts will take flight with musical favorites like "I'm Flying," "I Won't Grow Up," "Never-Never Land," and many more. Audiences will experience the poignant innocence and bubbling good humor of one of the most treasured family classics of all time.
Coming next is a show that has been called one of Arthur Miller's richest plays. Brimming with the intricate, heartfelt themes of a Miller classic, The Price (January 15 - March 2) explores the timeless issues of personal integrity, sacrifice, pride, and family conflict. Called by The New York Times "one of the most engrossing and entertaining plays that Miller has ever written," The Price is a deeply moving drama that reunites two estranged middle-aged brothers, both suffering the consequences of opposite choices in life. When they meet upon the death of their father to sell off the remnants of their old family home, recriminations erupt as the brothers finally face the price of their life decisions. In the tradition of Death of a Salesman, View from the Bridge and All My Sons, this absorbing and compassionate story brings us riveting insight into a family as only Miller can.
Next, one of Broadway's funniest shows ever, unpacks at the Walnut. Neil Simon's The Odd Couple moves in from March 11- April 27. Felix has just broken up with his wife. With nowhere else to go, he sets up house with his good friend Oscar. But Oscar is an incorrigible slob and Felix is an inveterate neat freak "
