THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK AUTHOR PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERE OF HIS FIRST STAGE COMEDY NO RESERVATIONS AT THE ADRIENNE THEATER
Written by Josh Piven, Directed by Allison HeishmanNovember 26 -December 15, 2013, Opening Night November 29
Skybox @ The Adrienne Theater
Philadelphia, PA –
New York Times best-selling
humorist Josh Piven gives theater audiences a best-case scenario this
holiday season with the World Premiere farce
No Reservations.
Piven trades the volcanoes, quicksand, and alligator wrestling for
holiday survival among the mistletoe, scrapple, and paparazzi. Penned
by the author of
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook and directed by Allison Heishman, the
production runs November 26 through December 15, 2013 at Skybox @The
Adrienne Theater. The ensemble cast of Philadelphia favorites features
Jared Michael Delaney, Wendy Staton, Brian McCann, Mary Beth Shrader,
Colleen Corcoran and Brandon Pierce. Tickets are available now for $18 to $25 at
www.brownpapertickets.com/event/449685.
No Reservations is
a thoroughly modern retelling of the Nativity, a classic tale
re-imagined for our times: iPhones, TMZ, the Twitterverse, and an
unforgettable “reality” show featuring a very timely birth. This
highly original madcap holiday comedy satirizes our celebrity-obsessed,
media-saturated culture, and asks what the age-old story of Christmas
might look like today.
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Harris, the
cash-strapped innkeepers of The Speckled Partridge. They have cleared
their reservation books for a quiet Christmas. But when two young
women—one of them very famous, and very pregnant—appear through a
snowstorm, desperate for a place to stay, the relaxing holiday quickly
begins to unravel. In short order the innkeepers are juggling a band of
sarcastic carolers; a self-absorbed reporter; a fundamentalist
carpenter; a washed-out Idol winner, and a big-shot TV producer—along
with their own pseudo-feminist daughter—all fighting off a blizzard to
take advantage of an innocent single mother on her way to Bethlehem. But
how innocent is she, really?
“We’ve developed such a fascination
with the cult of celebrity, and there’s now a virtual imperative to put
our entire lives online,” Piven says, “I thought it would be fun to
re-imagine such a traditional story using modern themes: not only social
media but also the housing crisis, reality television, and same sex
marriage. If the Nativity is a story for all time, then No Reservations is definitely a story for our times.”
No Reservations runs
November 26 through December 15, with a preview night on Tuesday,
November 26 and opening night on Friday, November 29, 2013. Tickets are
$18 to $25 and are available online at
www.brownpapertickets.com/event/449685. Performances take place at The Skybox @ The Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, 3rd Floor, in Center City, Philadelphia. For more information, call
267-225-7175, follow @no_reservations on Twitter and like No Reservations The Play on Facebook.
CAST HIGHLIGHTSThe all-star cast of No Reservations includes
an eclectic mix of Philadelphia actors known for their comedy and
heart: Jared Michael Delaney and Wendy Staton as Mr. and Mrs. Harris,
the “harried” innkeepers of the Speckled Partridge, and Mary Beth
Shrader and Colleen Corcoran and Martha and Marie, the pregnant couple
looking for a room. Brian McCann, Brandon Pierce, Drew Carroll are
featured, as is local GANG front woman Amanda Damron in a series of
comedic and musical roles. The cast is well known in
the Philadelphia area having appeared in myriad productions at such
companies as the Arden, Philadelphia Theatre Co, Lantern Theatre,
Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre, Inis Nua, 1812 Productions, New City Stage
Co, Swim Pony, Delaware Shakespeare Festival, and Shakespeare
in Clark Park.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Allison
Heishman is the Artistic Associate at Azuka Theater, as well as a
freelance actor, director and dramaturg based out of Philadelphia. With
Azuka she has directed the World Premiere of the terrible girls, by Azuka Playwright in Residence, Jacqueline Goldfinger and looks forward to developing and directing Skin & Bone which will have it’s World Premiere with Azuka in March 2014. Also with Azuka: Hazard County, Failure: A Love Story, Azuka One Acts.
She has worked for some of the best young companies in Philly
including: Tiny Dynamite, Flashpoint Theatre, Madhouse Theatre, Quince
Productions, Secret Room Theatre, and Philadelphia Young Playwrights, as
well as assisting Blanka Zizka on the Wilma Theatre’s production of Angels in America.
She has written and directed for Theatre Programs at the National
Constitution Center, where she worked for four years as the Theatre
Programs Manager. Recently she collaborated with Chef Walter Staib of
City Tavern and the Kimmel Center to present the one-night PIFA event A Taste of History: An Evening with Chef Staib. Up Next: No Reservations (PNAA Productions); Skin & Bone (Azuka); Pinkalicious (Walnut Street Theater); Cloud Tectonics (Plays and Players).
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Josh Piven is the author or co-author of more than twenty non-fiction and humor books, including the worldwide best-selling The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series (Chronicle Books), As Luck Would Have It, and The Escape Artists. No Reservations is
his first stage comedy. He often writes about himself in the third
person. Older than twenty but younger than seventy-five, Piven is
perhaps best known for his famously tongue-in-cheek worst-case books,
books that offer readers real-world (though often hilarious) advice on
surviving worst-case situations that they might—but hopefully
won’t—encounter: everything from “how to fend off a shark” and “how to
wrestle and alligator” to “how to determine if your date is an axe
murderer.” Merchandise based on the series includes desktop calendars,
note cards, holiday cards, board and video games, and an iPhone app. Two
television series based on the books have been produced (and
canceled). An expert on a broad range of survival topics, Piven has
appeared on The Today Show, 20/20, and ABC World News,
as well as on local news broadcasts in virtually every major media
market in North America, and many foreign countries. He is now embarking
on his most harrowing survival challenge yet: live theater. Check back
for the obituary…
ABOUT THE PRODUCERS
The
Philadelphia Non-Profit Advertising Agency (PNAA), a local foundation
based in West Parkside, supports arts and culture initiatives in the
Delaware Valley, with the goal of promoting and developing promising
young artists and their work, in tandem with the promotion of the city
as a nurturing and supportive environment for unfettered creative
expression. PNAA was instrumental in the development of the Philadelphia
Stars Negro League Memorial Park at Belmont and Parkside Avenues, which
includes a statue by local sculptor Phil Sumpter. PNAA has also
commissioned work by many local artists, among them Paris Stancil and
Anthony Vega. PNAA, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, has been
involved in the art world since 1999.
# # #
Contact:
Kory Aversa
Aversa PR & Events
(Sponsor Posting)
.JPG){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}