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Center Valley, PA, July 25, 2023—With a lively cast, sing-along-songs, and a magical story, Shakespeare for Kids (S4K) opens on the Main Stage at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival July 26 to August 5 at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.
S4K is a high energy one-hour production designed for children to actively experience Shakespeare’s vibrant language and characters. With a new script written this year by playwright Erin Sheffield, Team Shakespeare (Maya Marino Cappello, Johnny Drumgoole, and Molly Hofstaedter) will use a combination of songs, puppets, and scenes from The Tempest to entertain families while also introducing children to Shakespeare in a welcoming, super kid-friendly environment that activates their imaginations.
There will be a sensory-friendly Relaxed Performance on Saturday, July 29, at 10:00am. This sensory-friendly show creates a judgement-free zone and inclusive environment for patrons with a wide range of sensory and communication differences, including individuals on the autism spectrum, young children, and people of all abilities and ages who would benefit from a relaxed experience. Patrons can call the box office at 610.282.WILL [9455] for more information and to reserve tickets.
Shakespeare for Kids is directed by Matt Pfeiffer. The creative team includes Composer Andrew Kane, Sound Designer David M. Greenberg, and Karly Amato is the stage manager.
Tickets for children (12 & under) are $10; and adult tickets are $11. Patrons can purchase a Family Fun Pass for $22 to receive one ticket each to both James and the Giant Peach and Shakespeare for Kids for one low price.
The Production Sponsors for Shakespeare for Kids are Brenda & John McGlade. The 2023 Season Sponsors are Yvonne Payne and Edward Spitzer. The Associate Season Sponsors are Douglas Dykhouse, Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth, Kathleen Kund Nolan and Timothy E. Nolan, The Szarko Family, and Harry C. Trexler Trust.
Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 610.282.WILL [9455] or by visiting the PSF box office at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts.
Summer 2023 Season:
Schubert Theatre: Henry IV, Part 2 (May 31 to June 11); James and the Giant Peach (July 7 to Aug 5); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (July 19 to August 6).
Main Stage: In the Heights (June 14 to July 2); The Tempest (July 12 to August 6); Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (July 20 to August 6); Shakespeare for Kids (July 26 to August 5).
Outdoor Summer Stage: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised][again] (June 28 to July 16).
“Play On!” A Midsummer Night’s Dream Community Tour: (June 2 to June 18).
Artistic Leaders:
CASEY WILLIAM GALLAGHER (Managing Director) has worked at PSF for 25 seasons. Over the years he was the assistant house manager, box office manager, company manager, assistant producer, and director of development. Since 2004, in his role as general manager and later managing director, he has served as the administrative leader of the Festival, working very closely with the box office, business, development, marketing and production departments. Casey is excited to now serve as co-leader of the Festival with Artistic Director Jason King Jones. Beyond PSF, Casey has also been treasurer for the Shakespeare Theatre Association, director of audience services for The People’s Light & Theatre Company, a board member for Civic Theatre of Allentown, a peer panelist for the New Jersey Council on the Arts and a judge for the Greater Philadelphia Barrymore Awards for excellence in theatre. Casey thanks the year-round staff who works to make PSF happen each year and the summer staff who bring the theatre to life onstage.
JASON KING JONES (Artistic Director) is excited for his first season at PSF. Prior to moving to the Lehigh Valley with this family, Jason spent ten years at Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center, where he served as Senior Associate Artistic Director and Artistic Director of National Players, America’s longest-running touring theatre company. At Olney, Jason directed over twenty productions, mentored over 200 early-career theatre makers, and established various in-school and summer educational programs. As a freelance director, Jason has worked across the US, including the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Jason is an Acting Company alumnus, a proud member of the PSF Board, and a member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association’s IDEAA Committee, and Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Nonprofit & Business Partners Council. Jason holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Missouri State and an MFA in Directing from Boston University.
Cast:
MAYA MARINO CAPPELLO (Self) is beyond thrilled to take on her first experience with the PSF this summer. She was cast as an understudy in DeSales’ Act 1 production of Side by Side by Sondheim and as Congregation in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Her favorite roles include Leading Player in Pippin at Shawnee Playhouse and Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, which won her Best Supporting Actress in the 2022 annual Freddy Awards.
JOHNNY DRUMGOOLE (Self) is a DeSales University Musical Theatre alum. Last season, he played The Big Bad Wolf in Little Red, Conrad and u/s Don Pedro (performed) in Much Ado About Nothing, and The Shrew in Young Company’s The Taming of the Shrew. Roles in previous DeSales productions include Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Zeller in The Sound of Music, Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Wickham in Pride and Prejudice, and various characters in Civil War Christmas, Side by Side by Sondheim, Spoon River Anthology, Miracle on 34th Street, and Working: A Musical.
MOLLY HOFSTAEDTER (Self) (she/her) is a recent graduate of DeSales and is thrilled to be making her PSF debut. Recent work includes Strictly Platonic (A-1 Entertainment) and “Best of Broadway” (A-1 Entertainment). DeSales Act 1: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Civil War Christmas, Side by Side by Sondheim, and The Sound of Music.
Creative Team:
KARLY AMATO (Stage Manager) is an emerging Stage Manager and is very grateful and excited to be a part of the PSF 2023 season! She is currently a senior at Montclair State University studying Stage Management in the BFA Theatre Design, Technology, and Management program. Recent credits include Stage Manager of ZORRO… A New Beginning written by John D. Smitherman, Production Stage Manager of Elephant’s Graveyard at MSU, and Stage Manager of In the Mix by Mak Koran at the NY Winterfest.
DAVID M. GREENBERG (Sound Designer) is a composer and sound designer for theatre, dance, and film from Fort Lauderdale, FL by way of Knoxville, TN. He received his BA in Theatre from the University of Tennessee and went on to earn his MFA in Theatre Sound Design and Technology at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA), David serves as the Resident Sound Designer/Sound Supervisor for DeSales University and PSF. His recent works include Always…Patsy Cline (Creede Repertory Theatre), Silent Sky, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (DeSales), and Hamlet (PSF Willpower Tour).
ANDREW KANE (Composer) Andrew Kane wrote last season’s Little Red, performed in 16 productions at PSF, and wrote the music for all of Erin Sheffield’s Shakespeare For Kids series. Other acting credits include: Arden Theatre, Festival Stage of Winston-Salem, Lantern Theater, Theatre Exile, Theatre Horizon, and People’s Light where he is a member of the resident company. His plays have been produced or developed by Montgomery Theater, Bristol Riverside Theatre, and 1812 Productions. His short fiction has appeared in journals housed by the Universities of Chicago, Montana, New Mexico, NC Greensboro, NC Pembroke, and Tennessee, as well as Georgia College, Johns Hopkins, Vassar, and elsewhere. BA, DeSales University. MFA, Warren Wilson College. See more andrewjosephkane.com.
MATT PFEIFFER (Director) (he/him) is a Philly born actor and director. He’s thrilled to be back for his 23rd season at PSF. Other credits include; Arden Theatre, People’s Light & Theatre, Bristol Riverside, InterAct, Lantern Theatre, Walnut St., 1812 Productions, Delaware Theatre Co., The Gulfshore Playhouse, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Playhouse on Park, UArts, Villanova University, and Desales University. Matt is a twelve-time Barrymore nominee and winner, for his direction of The Whale and The Invisible Hand both with Theatre Exile, where he is a resident artist. He’s also a recipient of the F. Otto Haas Award and a proud grad of DeSales University.
ERIN SHEFFIELD (Playwright) 21st PSF season. PSF credits: Pride and Prejudice (director), Education Director (2006-2011), and she has taught at DeSales and directed for Act 1 productions. Member of Actors’ Equity Association. Favorite roles: Viola, Twelfth Night at PSF; and Anne of Green Gables (Barrymore nomination) People’s Light in Malvern, where she is the General Manager. MFA: Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House. Proud graduate of DeSales University.
About Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is the only professional Equity theatre of its scope and scale within a 50-mile radius. PSF is one of only a handful of theatres on the continent producing Shakespeare, musicals, classics, and contemporary plays, all of which can normally be seen in repertory and in multiple spaces within a few visits in a single summer season. Similarly, PSF was among just a handful of theatres on the continent in recent summers to produce three Shakespeare plays in a single summer season. A patron would have to travel seven to nine hours from PSF to find a comparable range of offerings at a single theatre within a few weeks’ time.
The Festival’s award-winning company of many world-class artists includes Broadway, film, and television veterans, and winners and nominees of the Tony, Emmy, Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Jefferson, Hayes, Lortel, and Barrymore awards. A leading Shakespeare theatre with a national reputation for excellence, PSF has received coverage in The Washington Post, NPR, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and in recent seasons The New York Times has identified PSF as one of the leading summer theatre festivals in the nation. “A world-class theater experience on a par with the top Bard fests,” is how one New York Drama Desk reviewer characterized PSF.
Founded in 1992 and the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, PSF’s mission is to enrich, inspire, engage, and entertain the widest possible audience through first-rate productions of classical and contemporary plays, with a core commitment to Shakespeare and other master dramatists, and through an array of education and mentorship programs. A not-for-profit theatre, PSF receives significant support from its host, DeSales University, from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Traditionally, with 150 performances over ten weeks, the Festival attracts patrons each summer from 30+ states. In 30 years, PSF has offered 200+ total productions (82 Shakespeare), and entertained 1,000,000+ patrons from 50 states, now averaging 34,000-40,000 in attendance each summer season, plus another 13,000 students each year through its WillPower Tour to schools. PSF is a multi-year recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts: Shakespeare in American Communities, and is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group, and the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA). In 2013, leaders of the world’s premiere Shakespeare theatres gathered at PSF as the Festival hosted the international STA Conference. The Festival’s vision is for world-class theatre.
Information provided to TVL by:
Tina Louise Slak
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
The Professional Theatre at DeSales University
2755 Station Avenue
Center Valley, PA 18034
p: 610-282-WILL [9455]
www.pashakespeare.org
