Articles by: Debra Miller

Debra holds a PhD in Art History and teaches at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. She is President of the Board of Directors of Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, and has served as a Commonwealth Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and a judge for the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. Her publications include articles, books, and catalogues on Renaissance, Baroque, American, Pre-Columbian, and Contemporary Art, and feature articles on the Philadelphia theater scene.

Shakespeare’s genre-defying THE WINTER’S TALE, which begins as a tragedy, transforms into a comedy, then concludes as a romance with a happy ending, has long been classified as one of the Bard’s late so-called ‘problem plays.’ The current high-spirited production at People’s Light & Theatre Company, devised and directed by [...]

In 1984, under the Reagan administration, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and his cohorts devised a classified plan for the Continuity of Government in the event of a national security disaster. Under the codename REX 84, the top-secret stratagem authorized suspending the US Constitution, imposing martial law throughout the country, and [...]

Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe productions are no longer limited to a one- or two-week run in late summer. The Live Arts’ premiere venture into year-round offerings brings an innovative fusion of performance and science to Philadelphia in February with the world’s first full-scale ROBOT-HUMAN THEATER. A collaboration between [...]

ENDGAME has been given a new interpretation in the Arden Theatre Company’s current production, directed by Artistic Associate Director Edward Sobel. Purists will surely object to the liberties he takes with the play, while others, seeing it for the first time, or not as committed to the original script and [...]

The subject of THE AMISH PROJECT—a stirring, fictionalized exploration of the 2006 shooting at the West Nichols Mines one-room schoolhouse in Lancaster County–could not be more timely, following the December 14th school massacre in Sandy Hook, Connecticut and President Obama’s subsequent initiatives on gun control. Though the co-production by The [...]

Forrest McClendon is truly a man who needs no introduction. Since completing his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Connecticut, he has appeared in a wide range of works, from Shakespeare to Fugard to Kander and Ebb. He is a 2011 Tony Award nominee and 2012 [...]

One of Philadelphia’s most highly anticipated events of the post-holiday season is the fabulous fundraising gala of Brian Sanders’ JUNK. The dance troupe extraordinaire and Philly Fringe favorite returns to the University of the Arts’ Hamilton Hall on Saturday, January 19, for its second annual SNOWBALL, transforming the grand architectural [...]

Contemporary playwright Leslye Headland brings a post-modern spin to the traditional theme of The Seven Deadly Sins in her ongoing series of comedic morality plays, each examining a different transgression in the context of current life. ASSISTANCE, running at the Wilma Theater through February 3, considers how greed affects America’s [...]

One of only two companies in Philadelphia to specialize in musicals, 11th Hour Theatre Company opens its mainstage season with the Philadelphia premiere of WINTER WONDERETTES, a holiday sequel to its June 2012 hit THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES. Set in 1968, the feel-good story features Pop music, Mod fashions, and a [...]

Has the commercialization of Christmas gotten you down? Are you one of the 99% who does not have unlimited resources to spend on expensive presents and parties? Are you concerned about the rampant unemployment and unfair labor practices in our country and around the world? Have greedy and mean-spirited people [...]

The romantic fairy tale of an unfortunate young girl who becomes a Princess is given a new interpretation by playwright Charles Way in the Arden Theatre Company’s holiday production of CINDERELLA. Taking details from Charles Perrault’s popular version of 1697, mixing in darker aspects from the story’s 19th-century retelling by [...]

Following his success last season with Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST, Dan Hodge returns to Curio Theatre Company to direct Tom Stoppard’s early spoof, THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND, the first full-stage production in its new second space at West Philadelphia’s Calvary Center. A parody of such mainstays of the British murder-mystery genre [...]

People’s Light & Theatre Company celebrates the holidays with a one-man re-enactment of Frank Capra’s life-affirming film of 1946, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Whether you grew up watching the beloved classic on TV each year at Christmastime, or have never seen the original movie, you will be charmed by playwright [...]

As part of its seventh season on the theme of “The Dysfunctional American Family,” New City Stage Company offers up a raucous spoof of holiday traditions with its first musical production, the Philadelphia premiere of Christopher Durang’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge. Featuring an original 1960s-style score and a [...]

People’s Light & Theatre Company continues its signature holiday tradition this year with the world premiere of ALADDIN: A MUSICAL PANTO, the ninth installment of its popular winter family entertainment. The new production, written by company members Samantha Bellomo and Pete Pryor, boasts an original score and lyrics by Michael [...]

Inspired by the true story of a foiled terrorist bombing of an El Al flight from London to Israel in 1986, playwright Lucile Lichtblau’s THE ENGLISH BRIDE, now in its world premiere at Theatre Exile, is an absorbing psychological, political, and romantic thriller for our troubled times. Personal and provocative, [...]

Following its remount of David Ives’ heavy historical fiction NEW JERUSALEM in September, Lantern Theater Company opened its regular season with another much lighter work by the playwright, his 2010 translation and adaptation of THE LIAR. The new “translaptation” of the 17th-century romantic farce about a pathological liar is written [...]

Katherine Routledge’s archaeological expedition from England to Easter Island in 1913–14 provides the setting for Iron Age Theatre’s absorbing world premier of MANA by local playwright Ray Saraceni. The well-researched play interweaves the real-life events of Routledge’s groundbreaking study of Rapa Nui culture (as the first woman archaeologist to work [...]

From award-winning playwright John Pielmeier, best known for his full-length religious drama AGNES OF GOD, comes a revue of eight short skits on a much lighter, and much loonier, note. Staged cabaret style by the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium—Philadelphia’s premier presenter of absurdist works—IMPASSIONED EMBRACES: PIECES OF LOVE AND THEATRE offers [...]

Theatre Horizon inaugurates its new season in its new building with a powerful one-woman show, African-American playwright Charlayne Woodard’s autobiographical PRETTY FIRE. And the company could not have gotten off to a better start! PRETTY FIRE is the award-winning story of Woodard’s childhood in upstate New York and visits with [...]