The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia’s Spark Showcase is a great way to see new work by small and nascent theatre companies. Five short works in one sitting pretty much guarantees that you’ll come away having seen some new theatre that you connect with. This year, you’ll even get to vote for the recipient of the Hotel Obligado Audience Choice Award for New Work.

But it’s one night only, so don’t miss out.

Full disclosure: The Theatre Alliance is my oldest client and one of my favorites. I’ve seen them evolve and grow stronger ever since I first started working with them. In a nutshell, they’re advocates for Philly’s diverse and robust theatre community, particularly those groups and individuals who don’t have the weight and budgets of more established theaters. The arts in PA are under threat, so events like these are vital to Philly’s arts and cultural future.

Last week, with the hard work of Anne at Mindlabs, the Theatre Alliance’s Philadelphia New Play Festival site went live, introducing the first multi-theatre festival of its kind in the country. We designed the logo, website, and promo materials for the Theatre Alliance to help launch this great project.

Philly’s got a thriving and innovative theatre community, so if you’ve got the time in early February, you should check out the work being produced as part of the festival. Perhaps the best part is the festival pass, which gets you discounts on tickets, food, and parking, so you can end up ahead in the end by buying one for a night out at the theatre.

Doing a bit of website attic clean-up here, so this will be brief: Alisa and I saw The Threepenny Opera at Studio 54 back in June. It starred Alan Cumming, Nellie McKay, and Jim Dale, and featured <a href=”http://imdb.com/name/nm0490980/” target= _blank”>Cyndi Lauper. It was a hell of a show. It had teeth, humor, and a strong message delivered through gritted teeth.

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