With the conclusion of Fringe now only ten days away, several local theatre companies are getting ready for their 2008-2009 seasons, and we'll have still more for you next week. Now, on with the listings! Candide - Noses were made to wear spectacles. September 11-October 19. Tickets online. The Hothouse - Not as much fun as a cathouse, but what can you do? September 12-October 12. Tickets online. Reefer Madness - Beware it. September 11-October......

Philly's theatre community is still more-or-less Fringe-tastic these days. But there are a few new non-Fringe developments to report. Now, on with the listings! Parenting 101: The Musical! - Lesson number one: don't shake the baby. Through September 14. Tickets online. State Fair - It might as well be spring. September 2-October 19. Tickets online. Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe - We're not listing individual shows, so just check out the website......

This is that time of year when the local theatre community devotes itself more or less fully to the Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festivals, so our listings may be pretty short for the next couple of weeks. But no fear! The end of the Festival means the beginning of the Philadelphia theatre season, so we'll have plenty a listing for you in due time. Now, on with the listings! Philadelphia Live Arts......

Nothing new opening this week, so we went with an old fall-back: The Bard. In V.ii of King Richard II, Shakespeare wrote: As in a theatre, the eyes of men, After a well-graced actor leaves the stage, Are idly bent on him that enters next, Thinking his prattle to be tedious. Now, on with the listings! Spamalot - They do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impeccable. Through August 31. Tickets online. Broadway Baby......

It's pretty hard to explain this week's quote if you haven't seen Spamalot. So go check it out when it hits town, and laugh along with us. Now, on with the listings! Spamalot - They do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impeccable. August 14-31. Tickets online. Broadway Baby - Pounding Forty-Second Street... August 7-17. Tickets and information at 215.785.0100. Phantom - Not the one you're thinking of. August 8 - October 5. Tickets at......

This week's quote comes from the song "Broadway Baby," which originally appeared in Sondheim's Follies, and which inspired the name for the new revue opening at Bristol Riverside Theatre. Now, on with the listings! Broadway Baby - Pounding Forty-Second Street... August 7-17. Tickets and information at 215.785.0100. Phantom - Not the one you're thinking of. August 8 - October 5. Tickets at 302.475.2313. The Shape of Things - Totally square, man. August 6-10. Tickets......

This week's quote comes from Sarah Bernhardt, who said: "For the theatre one needs long arms... an artiste with short arms can never make a fine gesture." Now, on with the listings! As You Like It - Medium rare, with extra bacon. July 30-August 3. Free. Lingering - Do you have to? Do you have to? August 3 - 24. Tickets online. Shakespeare's R&J - It's not the way you know it. August 1-23. Tickets......

This week's quote comes from Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, who said: “Unless the theatre can ennoble you, make you a better person, you should flee from it.” Now, on with the listings! Mamma Mia - Dancing queen. Through July 27. Tickets online. Niagara Falls - Honeymoon capitol of the early Twentieth Century. Through August 2. Tickets online. Come Rain or Come Shine - Like nobody's loved you. Through July 20. Tickets online. Footloose - Kick......

This week's quote comes from an ABBA song. And because ABBA songs make up the score to Mamma Mia, which opens next week on the Avenue of the Arts, we figured it was appropriate here. Now, on with the listings! Mamma Mia - Dancing queen. July 15-27. Tickets online. Niagra Falls - Honeymoon capitol of the early Twentieth Century. July 16-August 2. Tickets online. Come Rain or Come Shine - Like nobody's loved you.......

This week's headline was taken from a quote by Jim Dale, perhaps best known as the voice of the Harry Potter books here in the States. The entire statement reads: "We talk about theatre museums filled with old costumes and things. What we also need is a theatre museum of the old routines on videotape. We are only the custodians of those techniques, and they should be preserved." Now, on with the listings! Come......

This week's quote comes from Jerome Savary, who said: "Theatre is not and should not be a literary form of expression. A theatrical celebration can take place anywhere: out of doors, in a garage, in a stable. The problem with avant-garde theatre today is that it is absolutely intellectual. You have to be cerebrally inclined to understand what is going on." Now, on with the listings! Working - In a coal mine? July 2-27.......

This week's quote comes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, which is not playing anywhere near Philadelphia (that we know of). But it does describe the lives of several theatre professionals in the area as the season comes to a close. Enjoy your time down the shore, guys. Now, on with the listings! By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea - Great. Now the song's stuck in our heads. June 20-29. Tickets......

This week's quote comes from Little Shop of Horrors. The line is delivered in song as Audrey II is trying to convince Seymour to feed him—to feed him people. Now, on with the listings! By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea - Great. Now the song's stuck in our heads. June 20-29. Tickets online. The Color Purple - As opposed to violet. June 17-July 13. Tickets online. Little Shop of Horrors......

This week's quote comes from George Santanya, who said: "The theatre, for all its artifices, depicts life in a sense more truly than history, because the medium has a kindred movement to that of real life, though an artificial setting and form." Now, on with the listings! Defending the Caveman - Geico's done a lot to hurt his reputation. June 13-14. Tickets online. Married Alive! - The other way around isn't legal, though. June 13-July......

Go with us here for a minute: The opening of the show Almost, Maine got us thinking about Maine lobsters. Which made us hungry. And distracted us from anything else. Ergo this week's title and picture. Now, on with the listings! Almost, Maine - As in New Hampshire? June 5-22. Tickets online. Another River Flows - Three in Philadelphia alone! May 30-June 14. Tickets online. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the......

This week's quote comes from Antonin Artaud, who wrote in The Theatre and Its Double: "It has not been definitively proved that the language of words is the best possible language. And it seems that on the stage, which is above all a space to fill and a place where something happens, the language of words may have to give way before a language of signs whose objective aspect is the one that has......

This week's quote comes from Thornton Wilder's Our Town, which opens next week at the Arden with a twist: Our Town will be set in our town. Now, on with the listings! House, Divided - After all: united we stand. May 23-June 22. Tickets online. Our Town - In Old City. May 22-June 22. Tickets online. The Woolgatherer - He shears sheep. May 21-June 1. Tickets online.......

This week's quote comes from what is probably the most singable song in Les Miserables. This week's photo is a picture of the Paris sewer system, where a good part of the novel, and a smaller though no less important part of the play, takes place. Now, on with the listings! Beautiful Boy - Not as sung by John Lennon. May 13-25. Tickets online. The Dead Guy - CSI:Theatre. May 14-31. Tickets online. The......

This week's quote, a line from the song "Mr. Goldstone, I Love You," comes from Gypsy, which will be onstage as part of the Kimmel Center's Cadillac Broadway Series next weekend. Now, on with the listings! Cheaper by the Dozen - You're losing money in the long run if you don't buy in bulk! May 8-June 7. Tickets online. Dear World - Is writing a letter to the universe more effective than writing one to,......

This week's quote comes from Tom Stoppard, who said: "I think theater ought to be theatrical... you know, shuffling the pack in different ways so that it's—there's always some kind of ambush involved in the experience. You're being ambushed by an unexpected word, or by an elephant falling out of the cupboard, whatever it is." Now, on with the listings! Eurydice - Was she worth it? April 30-June 1. Tickets online. The Full Monty......

This week's posting title has nothing to do with theatre, other than the fact that it's our current Homeland Security Threat Level. And Homeland Security is the name of a show being produced by Delaware's City Theater. Now, on with the listings! Bug - ::Shudder:: April 25-May 18. Tickets online. Beauty and the Beast - Tale as old as time. April 24-May 10. Tickets online. Homeland Security - We feel safer already. April 25-May 10.......

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this week's quote comes from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. An inch of what, you might ask? Well, you'll just have to go find out for yourselves. Now, on with the listings! Animal Farm - All animals were created equal; some are more equal than others. April 18-May 10. Tickets online. Going to St. Ives - Probably for the apricot scrub. April 18-May 3. Tickets online. Hedwig and the Angry Inch......

This week's quote comes from Richard Brinsley Sheridan, author of The Rivals, which To The Wall Productions will be staging in a very unique way starting tomorrow. It runs in full: "I mean, the question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again, night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don't we all anyway; might as well get paid for it."......

This week's quote comes from Arthur Miller, who, in "Tragedy and the Common Man," said: "I think the tragic feeling is invoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing—his sense of personal dignity." Now, on with the listings! Frozen - Only until the thaw. April 4-May 4. Tickets online. Suburban Love Songs - As opposed to......

This week's quote comes from Oscar Wilde, who penned The Importance of Being Earnest, opening tomorrow at the Ritz Theatre Co. It runs in full: "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. " Now, on with the listings! Going to See the Elephant - What about the lions and tigers? March 28-April 12. Ticket information online. The Importance of Being Earnest - And loyal, and......

This week's quote originally comes from a song from Annie and not, as you might believe, from the Jay-Z song embedded here. Now, on with the listings! Annie - Tomorrow, tomorrow. March 21-23. Tickets online. Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead - Umm... Ouch? March 19-30. Tickets online. Romeo & Juliet - Wherefore art thou? March 14-May 17. Tickets online. Brothers-in-Law - Certainly preferable to mothers-in-law! Through April 6. Tickets online. Copenhagen -......

This week's quote comes from a song in My Fair Lady, in honor of the upcoming touring production. Because as soon as someone mentions the show, we start singing through the libretto, and we wanted you to feel our pleasure/pain. Now, on with the listings! Brothers-in-Law - Certainly preferable to mothers-in-law! March 11-April 6. Tickets online. Copenhagen - BOOM. March 11-30. For tickets, call 215.785.0100. The Lonesome West - But the east is simply......

This week's quote comes from Tom Stoppard, who said in an interview: "I think theater ought to be theatrical ... you know, shuffling the pack in different ways so that it's – there's always some kind of ambush involved in the experience. You're being ambushed by an unexpected word, or by an elephant falling out of the cupboard, whatever it is." Now, on with the listings! Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story - And you're Mary......

This week's quote comes from drama critic Clayton Hamilton, who wrote in The Theory of Theatre: "The most effective moments in the theatre are those that appeal to basic and commonplace emotions – love of woman, love of home, love of country, love of right, anger, jealousy, revenge, ambition, lust, and treachery." Now, on with the listings! Mary's Wedding - No worries: the ABBA is at Muriel's wedding. February 27-March 16. Tickets and information online.......

This week's quote comes from Eugene Ionesco, who wrote: "Drama lies in extreme exaggeration of the feelings, an exaggeration that dislocates flat everyday reality." Now, on with the listings! Enchanted April - Charming May? February 22-March 8. Ticket reservations online. How I Learned to Drive - Was it in Driver's Ed? February 22-March 8. Tickets online. Last Will and Testament - Audience participation required. February 22-March 8. Tickets online. Mr. Bailey's Minder - "Re" costs......