The Bristol Riverside Theatre has NO RIVALS except…..
by Cate Murway
……for a limited engagement October 30th through November 18, 2018!
The BRT proudly presents the Broadway-aimed musical adaptation of “The Rivals”, an overnight sensation whose success has continued through the centuries, an anti-sentimental, excellent and shrewdly observed comedy of manners by Irish satirist, orator, playwright and poet Richard Butler Brinsley Sheridan [1751-1815], the long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
“The Rivals” was Sheridan's first play.
In the early 1770's Sheridan became involved in a dispute over the hand of a young woman named Elizabeth Ann Linley, leading to two formal and public duels with a man named Thomas Mathews.
P.S. This rich and elegant masterpiece was George Washington's favorite play!
♫♪♫♪ “Be sensible and save yourself all the grief….” ♫♪♫♪
Reserve your tickets now and be the first audience to experience this perennially entertaining musical!
Book and lyrics are provided by Tony nominee Peter Kellogg, the music by Yardley composer Stephen Weiner, an award-winning tunesmith, direction by Eric Tucker, Wall Street Journal Director of the Year 2014, and choreography by “lover of art; seeker of beauty”, Jason A. Sparks.
Leading the company will be Tony winner Harriet Harris [Thoroughly Modern Millie] as Mrs. Malaprop and Erin Mackey [Wicked] as Lydia Languish.
Previews begin on October 30 with the opening night production set for November 1, 2018 at 7:30PM.
Estimated Run Time is 2.5 Hours.
“Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you.” Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
The cast of incredibly passionate, talented actors is creatively preparing to pack the theatre with their sparkling wit and the contagious laughter in the mirth provoking scenes of hilarious perfection!
This delightfully irreverent play is set in Bath, an 18th-century vacationing spot long famed for its warm-water spa, whose society was much less exclusive than London, a town legendary for conspicuous consumption and fashion at that time. It most successfully satirizes the pretentiousness of English society and lampoons the frivolous pastimes of the upper classes.
The fact that this is one of the few plays from the 18th century still to be regularly performed is testament to just how very successful Sheridan’s satire is.
The plot of “The Rivals” is based on confusion over identities and multiple suitors: a combination that leads to plenty of scope for truly funny situations. Sheridan presents an image of a world where young people are not able to make their own choice as to whom they will marry, and where love and genuine regard has very little to do with the choice of life partner.
“It’s a musical to delight the heart and TACKLE the funny bone”, with a wink and a nod to the famously funny Mrs. Malaprop and her eccentric, hilarious, ghastly use/ misuse and confusion of vocabulary.
The character of Mrs. Malaprop led to the creation of the English word "malapropism”.
Come; choose the best seat in the house [BTW- they’re all perfect, only 30 feet from the stage!] in the inviting 300-seat theater equipped with extraordinary lighting and sound technology. The audience willingly becomes theirs, as the professional actors transcend the moment and cleverly guide each someplace else within the playwright's imagination and to the world the Bristol Riverside Theatre has so artfully created.
BRT and historic Bristol on the Delaware warmly welcome the refreshingly talented actors.
CHARLOTTE MALTBY will play Julia Melville.
Charlotte Perry Maltby is the daughter of celebrated writer/director Richard Eldridge Maltby Jr., an American theatre director and producer, lyricist, and screenwriter who conceived and directed the only two musical revues to win the Tony Award for Best Musical: Ain't Misbehavin' and Fosse, and Janet Brenner, founder of Apple Lane Productions, who is an award-winning National Endowment for the Arts [NEA] film and theatre producer and NYU Tisch School of the Arts adjunct educator who is trained as an opera singer with a Masters degree in Arts Administration from NYU.
The youngest of three, Charlotte’s sister, Emily is a New York based director and choreographer, currently working on “Fiddler on Roof” in Singapore, and her brother Jordan is a film editor in LA.
“Acting was never forced on me. I was exposed and developed the love at a very young age”, shared Charlotte.
She has always lived in NYC. Charlotte attended the private, coeducational Dalton School and Trevor Day School - Upper School in Manhattan but opted for the University of MI, the country's number one public research university for her comprehensive college experience. “I wanted to spend part of my life outside of my comfort zone. There were only 40 kids in my HS graduating class.”
Studying at Michigan also presented her with the opportunity to choose among hundreds of classes outside the performing arts in an outstanding collegiate environment. “I could enroll in the BFA program and still have a traditional school life”. She minored in creative writing and art history. Not a sports enthusiast, she played “mild drums and acoustic guitar’ and took a modern dance class in lieu of gym in high school. “I always took voice lessons. I was singing before I knew I could get paid.”
Charlotte has performed with the Houston and Omaha Symphony Orchestras.
She began her theatre career in the third grade. “I had a professional job in “Captain Louie”; I played a cat!” One of “the first times I could be really quirk-y” was when she was cast as Penny Pingleton in Muny's production of ‘Hairspray’, Winner of the 2003 Tony® Award for Best Musical.
She obviously enjoys prospects that challenge her talents. Charlotte has portrayed the leading role of Maria Von Trapp in the national touring production of the Rogers and Hammerstein perennial, ‘The Sound of Music’, directed by three-time Tony-winner, Jack O’Brien, also a University of Michigan graduate.
Listen to her intoxicating voice in her 4 songs in “The Rivals’. The audience is certain to find her theatrical royalty personified, as she exudes poise, naturalness, timing and elegance. Charlotte’s favorite piece is “Up To Here”. She explained that this one is where her character, realist Julia Melville, a young relation of the wealthy Absolutes who is in love with Faulkland, “reclaims her power and voice in a toxic relationship”.
Her deservedly proud parents will be traveling in to see their daughter in “The Rivals”.
“This show is such a joy and I am working with an insanely talented group of humans!”
JOE VEALE will play Thomas.
Joseph Matthew Veale moved to NYC in January from Charlotte, a major city and commercial hub in North Carolina. He is a member of the Resident Acting Company at the Historic Barter Theatre: The State Theatre of Virginia and his dream is to act on Broadway.
Barter Theatre, located in Abingdon, VA, opened on June 10, 1933 making it the nation's longest running professional theatre. That was the middle of the Great Depression, so patrons would pay for admission to the theatre by bartering food, livestock or other goods.
He and his twin brother Michael are the youngest of 5 siblings.
Technically, Joe is the youngest. “My twin is 8 minutes older. He is in grad school, studying in Germany, specializing in language and the theatre arts.”
His brother Jay is in the heart/ lung medical field, a practicing cardiovascular perfusionist and his sister, Patti was an R.N. for many years. Sara is a dance critic and an editor at an architecture firm in London, and Catherine is a math teacher in NC. The eldest, James, is a district manager for Lowe's Companies, Inc. No other actors in this family. His supportive parents guided him to find his passion.
“I always knew I wanted to act. Acting is my life!”
And he has a fondness for dogs, bourbon, and 4 leaf clovers.
While a High School student in Hamilton Heights, Joe performed in “every play and musical I could” and he was also a swim team athlete. He plays acoustic guitar and enjoys “making mash-ups”, pop songs that he arranges into one big one. Joe also writes some music, one he particularly likes is his “the DADA song” and he enjoys playing the harmonica. “Piano man” is a favorite, along with “folk-y like” music of John Denver and Bob Dylan.
Joe earned his BFA in Professional Acting and Musical Theatre at East Carolina University [ECU], a doctoral/research University in Greenville, NC.
His diverse theater credits include playing ‘Riff’, the leader and co-founder of the gang the Jets, a character based on Mercutio from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, and the part of the Master of Ceremonies in the musical, Cabaret that focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub.
His personal fav credits include: Peter and The Starcatcher, Altar Boys, 42nd Street, and Footloose.
Joe is a co-founder of The Nerve Project Theatre in NYC and he proudly shared that their next play “Great Expectations”, based on Charles [John Huffam]Dickens' classic story of a young orphan, Philip Pirrip, nicknamed Pip, will be performed on January 15th, 18th, and 20th.
In “The Rivals”, Joe will play Thomas, the man servant, the coachman of Captain Jack Absolute, the son of the wealthy Sir Anthony Absolute who is disguised as Ensign Beverley, a poor army officer.
“I carry out his bidding. I love it because Thomas is like a humming bird. He is always two steps ahead and says things that no one else dares to say.”
Joe’s parents are also traveling in to be among the audience at the BRT to watch their son perform.
“Much love to my family!”
Both of the high spirited July-born actors have thoroughly enjoyed their “walking around and exploring” treks throughout historic Bristol, with a special shout out to their memorable eclectic dining experiences at urban-chic ITRI Wood Fired Pizza and the Mill Street Cantina with their approachable atmospheres.
Reserve your seat to see “The Rivals”, a limited engagement October 30th through November 18, 2018!
The professional regional, premiere Bristol Riverside Theatre enriches lives through extraordinary theatre. It is a proven unparalleled vehicle for education, providing audiences, both youth and adult, with an astonishing and enlightening experience each and every time.
They hope to see your face!
“Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life.” – Henry Miller
Bristol Riverside Theatre
120 Radcliffe Street
Bristol, PA 19007
Box Office 215.785.0100
Recommend a “Spotlight”. E-mail vjmrun@yahoo.com
