Rich History, New Visions
At Penn Live Arts, the legendary Negro Ensemble Company is creating new work that explores this country’s racial tensions and challenges. A February world premiere, Mecca is Burning, brought together five playwrights to imagine how four Black families in Harlem might navigate a white-supremacist revolution.
A New Era for Mask and Wig
All-male no more: Mask and Wig votes to accept all genders.
The Curtain Rises
When the “oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe” was new.
Curtain Up!
After an 18-month hiatus, live theater has returned to the American stage. Alumni active in producing shows on Broadway and elsewhere reflect on the pandemic’s onset, its impact on them and their industry, and what the future holds.
Not Just for Laughs
Engagement Prize winners teach life skills with improv.
Off-Off-Off-Broadway
How Jonathan Rand became “the most successful living American playwright that nobody’s ever heard of.”
Three Cod Operas and a Plunging Chandelier
Phantom at 30.
The Roundabout Way
Todd Haimes has the career he dreamed about and sits at the top of his field. When can he stop worrying?
At Last, Our Prince Has Come
Hal Prince C’48 Hon’71 gets Penn Alumni Creative Spirit Award.
Still Kicking
And singing. And dancing. And joking. And cross-dressing. A century and a quarter after its first production in 1889, Mask & Wig—the “oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe in the United States”—remains the one there’s only room for.
Literary License
Shivani Tibrewala C’00 runs a theater company in Mumbai and writes (a lot).
Assassins in Prince
Photos from the Penn Players' production of Assassins last week.
Theatre Today
What's happening in the theatre world right now? A group of alumni movers-and-shakers came together on Homecoming to share their observations.
Drama Dame
Susan Bernfield C’86
Douglas Leferovich C’94 makes magic at the Tropicana Las Vegas
"Lefty" shares his magic and dreams.
The Voice
Dan Taraborrelli C'01 is carving out a career in the voiceover business.
A Stage for Hope
Melissa Fitzgerald C’87
Penn Glee Club’s Fall Show
Highlights, 2011.
20 years of Plays by Women at New Georges
Susan Bernfield C'86 prepares for her theater company's 20th year.
Days from the Tonys
a conversation with musical-theatre historian Larry Stemple Gr'79.
Penn Theatre: A Work in Three Acts
Theatre has a long, rich—and somewhat obscure—history at the University. A new initiative aims to help Penn’s professional, academic, and student performing arts entities do more to work together and raise their collective visibility on campus and beyond.
On with the Show!
A new book examines the remarkable history of the American musical theater.
100-year-old architectural Gem Still Sparkles on Walnut Street
The Rotunda’s Centennial.
Puppets at Penn
A discussion with some of the art form's key players.