Above: Edward Piszek, the CEO of Mrs. Paul's Kitchens, Inc. and founder of The Copernicus Society of America, in front of the Philadelphia Bourse building on 5th and Chestnut Streets in June of 1976. Behind him are the cast of Americana Jubilee. Thi…
Above, a photo of Dick Shawn and Judi West in Scuba Duba - a production which played Paramus, NJ and Philadelphia PA in the summer of 1969. July 1, 1969: The ban on Scuba Duba was lifted. Philadelphians could go see Dick Shawn do his stuff at Playh…
Above: a recent photo of Gregory Poggi, taken when he was teaching at the University of Michigan.The image of Poggi that is the icon image for our podcast episode is from 1979. It was part of a larger photo that accompanied an article by Edgar Willi…
Above: Dr. Sidney Bloom, DDS, at work in his dental office in 1966, when he was already the Producer of the Drama Guild, then a community theater group. Four years later he would take the organization professional, and lead it to new heights.Below, …
Above, a 1967 artist's conception of the proposed Tomlinson Theater complex and adjacent buildings. Below, a photo of what the neighborhood looked liked before demolition and construction of the Annenberg School of Communications at Temple.Octo…
I really should have known about this topic of this blog post a long time ago!When I was originally recorded the chapter from 42nd Street back in the Fall of 2023, it was meant as a Bonus Episode for our Patreon members only. Six months later, …
Thank you all for following along this seasons with our stories about the Tryout Town Era in Philadelphia theater history!We close the episode with a reading from out upcoming book, also called Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia!From the fo…
Vinnette Carroll, in a photo taken in 1972 during the Broadway run of Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope. (Source: The New York Public Library Digital Collections) Below, a photo of Carroll as a young actress, along with a program of her one-woman …
The photograph and headline of the Inquirer story about the passing of actor David Burns on stage at the Forrest Theatre in March of 1970. Below, a photo taken by the Evening Bulletin, about the protests against the show Lovely Ladies, K…
At top, a photograph of Chita Rivera, as she rehearsed to take over the role of the Narrator in the national touring production of Zorba in 1969.Below, a cartoon by Doug Anderson that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on November 6, 1960. It acc…
