Westfield Theatre "The Philadelphia Story"

Comedy and Romance Among the Rich and Famous:
The Philadelphia Story at Westfield Theatre Nov. 19-21

Westfield High School Theatre Arts Department presents Philip Barry's fast-talking comedy The Philadelphia Story at Westfield High School November 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and November 21 at 2 p.m.  All tickets are $10. Seating is reserved and tickets are available at www.westfieldtheatreboosters.com.

Directed by Susan McCormack Pike, The Philadelphia Story is an intelligent, sophisticated, classic romantic comedy of love and marriage, human growth, and class distinctions. The play is set among the privileged upper class society on the Philadelphia Main Line in the 1940's. Haughty divorced socialite Tracy Lord (Sarah Bowden) is preparing for her second marriage to dull, self-made businessman George Kittredge (Max Ehrlich).  Enter C.K. Dexter Haven (Adam Thomas), her dashing first husband, and Mike Connor (Kevin Clay), a cynical tabloid reporter with a distrust of the wealthy who arrives at the request of Tracy's brother Sandy (Trevor Knickerbocker).  Connor brings along Liz, his photographer (Brittany Simmons).  What follows is a rapid-fire war of words as Dexter and Mike try to help Tracy discover the heart beneath her holier-than-thou exterior.  The situation is even more complicated by Tracy's eccentric family including her playboy father (Zack Nordwall), crazy Uncle Willy (Connor Scudder), well-meaning mother (Sunny Vinsavich) and precocious sister Dinah (Elisabeth Bloxam).

After a successful Broadway run, The Philadelphia Story was produced as a film in 1940 starring Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart and Carey Grant. The movie won two Oscars, including one for Stewart.

Other players in Westfield's version include Chaz Coffin, Mitchell Buckley, Jessie Bur, Ariauna Heck, Zoe Tippl, Alex Mann, Colby Dezelick, William Powell, Ron Rengel, Zack Walsh, Tulia MacDicken, Mandy Sachs, Jordan Snyder, Sarah Frasier, Avery Hobbs, Erica Schmidt, Daniel Braunstein, Ozzy Tirmizi, Michelle Lerch, Madeleine Bloxam, and Katelyn Reimer.  Nick Burroughs is the stage manager; Rosemary Palack is the assistant director, and Joey Biagini and Ben Nelms are the assistant stage managers.

In The Philadelphia Story, Barry's dialogue is still as fresh and snappy as when it was first written - and the play still manages to turn some of our pre-conceived notions about class on their heads. In our celebrity obsessed culture, the sarcastic comment by the disillusioned journalist Connor in the show still rings true "The prettiest sight in this fine, pretty world is the privileged class enjoying its privileges."  We cannot help but be drawn to the antics of the rich and famous and the ongoing proliferation of gossip shows and magazines demonstrates that this is still the case seventy years after this play was first produced.

For more information, visit www.westfieldtheatreboosters.com or call 703-488-6430.