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Scott Greer and Paul L. Nolan in Theatre Exile's production of "Rizzo" in 2015. (Photo by Paola Nogueras)

Philadelphia Theatre Company Sets 5-Show Season for 2016–17

It will include a reprise from Theatre Exile, ‘Hand to God,’ and a world premiere by Bill Cain.

PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) has announced its 2016–17 season, including four plays and one musical.

The will season kick off with a remounting of Theatre Exile’s production of Rizzo (Sept. 23–Oct. 16), by Philadelphia-based playwright Bruce Graham. The play is based on the book Rizzo: The Last Big Man in Big City America by Sal Paolantonio, it follows Frank Rizzo’s journey from a beat cop to his mayoral campaign in Philadelphia. Joe Canuso, founding artistic director of Theatre Exile, will direct.

Next up will be the musical Found (Nov. 9–Dec. 11), with book by Hunter Bell and Lee Overtree, and music and lyrics by Eli Bolin, about human connection and communication. The musical is inspired by hundreds of real found letters culled from Davy Rothbart’s popular Found magazine.

The season will continue with Having Our Say (Jan. 27–Feb. 19, 2017), adapted by Emily Mann from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth. It play is about two elderly sisters who share the story of their lives as the daughters of a slave in the Jim Crow South, living in Harlem during its renaissance, and going on to having careers as a teacher and a dentist. The production will be complemented throughout its run with solo performances from artists sharing their own personal histories.

Following will be Robert Askins’s Hand to God (April 7–30, 2017), which recently closed on Broadway. The dark comedy is about a Christian teenager whose sock puppet becomes controlled by the devil.

The season will conclude with the world premiere of Bill Cain’s American Canvas (May 26–June 18, 2017), about real-life 19th-century Philadelphia painter Thomas Eakins.

Philadelphia Theatre Company, founded in 1974, produces, develops, and presents work that reflects the American experience.

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