by KYW's Bob Nelson
Next Wednesday is the opening night for "Being Alive," a new Stephen Sondheim musical revue -- the first production at the spanking new Suzanne Roberts Theatre.
The theatre, at Broad and Pine Streets, is the new home for the Philadelphia Theatre Company, which used to hang out at the tiny "Plays & Players" theatre, in the 1700 block of Delancey Place.
But now, PTC has made a quantum leap to the Avenue of the Arts and a $30-million, 365-seat operation that should be the envy of regional theatre groups everywhere.
It's a handsome, tastefully appointed, technically proficient operation, already impressing theatrical "proper nouns" who have already termed it "the theatre of the future."
It wasn't always that way. The Philadelphia Theatre Company graduated from very hard times.
Sarah Garonzik, the theatre's producing artistic director, remembers that there was a time in the late '80s when the theatre actually shut down for lack of funds:
"They thought it was wise to shut the theatre down. Then, two weeks later, they asked me to come back as its executive producer, (saying) that all this shouldn't have happened and we were way too good for that."
Being Alive runs October 24th through December 2nd at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre.
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(Photo: Bob Nelson)
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