Philadelphia weekender: Shakespeare in Clark Park and family fun in Fishtown
Shows run daily at 7pm through Sunday.
♥️ Enjoy the car-free vibes tonight from 5-9pm at the Passyunk Passeggiata, between Moore and Mifflin Streets along East Passyunk Avenue.
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Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
Destroying Shakespeare: ‘Who Hath Died and Made Thee Sovereign?'
The desire to reshape Shakespeare's legacy extends beyond the stage, with his image often being twisted to fit contemporary cultural and political agendas. An elderly woman sighed to her friend, 'I miss seeing Shakespeare plays, like those 'Shakespeare in the Park' summers.' Their exchange sparked memories of my enduring passion for all things Shakespeare.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
See the 'Wednesday' cast's modern Addams Family side-by-side with the 1990s movie stars
The creepy, kooky clan takes on new shades in the hit Netflix Points Netflix's hit series Wednesday highlights the title character's kooky family more in its second season. Jenna Ortega, Luis Guzman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Fred Armisen return as Wednesday, Gomez, Morticia, and Fester, respectively. The Addams clan was memorably played by Christina Ricci, Raúl Juliá, Anjelica Huston, and Christopher Lloyd in the 1990s Netflix's smash hit Wednesday, a new generation welcomed the Addams Family into their lives. Created in the 1930s by cartoonist Charles Addams, the comically macabre family has inspired everything from TV series and comic books to video games and even a stage musical. But the most enduring portraits of the Addams clan come via Barry Sonnenfeld's Oscar-nominated 1991 and 1993 film adaptations, which forged the franchise's subversive brand of morbid, madcap comedy to a razor-sharp edge. Wednesday's immediate (and extended) family will factor more prominently in season 2 of the Netflix hit, especially with Joanna Lumley joining the cast as Grandmama. As such, we've curated a side-by-side look, placing this current era of Addams alongside the creepy, kooky family from the 1990s. Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega / Christina Ricci) Jenna Ortega stars as the titular character on Wednesday. In a fun bit of fan service, she acted opposite Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values. Ricci appeared in season 1 of the series as dorm mom Marilyn Thornhill. "I think when [Ricci] was on set, neither one of us said Wednesday once to each other," Ortega said in an interview following season 1's release. "I don't think she wanted to get in the way of my performance and feel like she was overbearing." The two discussed their experiences playing the character with Interview Magazine in October 2022. "I first saw the '90s films when I was eight or nine and loved them," Ortega told Ricci. "I could watch them over and over. They're perfect films, honestly. Obviously, you're the standout." Ortega added that she became "obsessed with Wednesday" and "obsessed with [Ricci]." Ricci also complimented Ortega's take on the character. "When I saw pictures of you, I was like, 'Oh, wow. It's such a great, modern interpretation.' It's true to the spirit of the character," she said. "I didn't originate this character, so I'm always like, 'She's a cartoon and a TV show. It's not Shakespeare, but it's the same idea. We keep redoing the thing.'" Gomez Addams (Luis Guzman / Raul Julia) Prolific character actor Luis Guzman plays smitten patriarch Gomez Addams on Wednesday, a role he was "honored" and "humbled" to play. He grew up, after all, admiring Raul Julia, the Emmy-winning actor who played Gomez in the 1990s films. "One of the roles that really stood out was watching Raul in Kiss of the Spider Woman," Guzman recalled in a 2022 interview. "You can never duplicate Raul Julia as Gomez," he said, calling it "one of the most iconic roles out there." Guzman continued, "I wasn't really looking to duplicate what had been done before. [Director] Tim Burton had a hand in explaining to me — this is not about the comedy. I give a lot of credit to the writing of the show because the writing itself is phenomenal and that in itself makes it all comical. Tim pretty much wanted me to play Gomez straight. And that, in its own way, some of the comedy does come out." Reuniting at the Los Angeles Comic-Con in 2024, the original cast shared memories of Julia, who died in 1994, just a year after the release of Addams Family Values. "He was the perfect gentleman," said costar Anjelica Huston, who played Gomez's wife, Morticia. "He was always the first on set and the last to leave. He was a great dancer. I'd get really grumpy around dancing rehearsals, which I felt were unnecessary since I was such an excellent dancer. But he would insist on being there and staying all the way through." Morticia Addams (Catherine Zeta-Jones / Anjelica Huston) On Wednesday, Oscar-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones plays the svelte, witchy Morticia, the Addams family matriarch played by Anjelica Huston in the 1990s films. 'When I was a kid, I remember thinking it would be so cool to be an Addams,' Zeta-Jones told Tudum in 2022. 'They seem to be so happy being as crazy as they are.' But it's not easy playing someone as creepily glamorous as Morticia. "The eyelifts got tighter and tighter and the temples started to throb," Huston told EW when we visited the set of The Addams Family in 1991. "It could leave you more wasted than having a very emotional day on the set." Pugsley Addams (Isaac Ordonez / Jimmy Workman) Pugsley Addams is played by newcomer Isaac Ordonez on Wednesday. In the 1990s films, the younger Addams sibling was portrayed by Jimmy Workman, the older brother of Modern Family actress Ariel Winter. While he was only a minor player in season 1, Pugsley will cast a larger shadow in the show's sophomore outing. 'It was definitely a surprise to see how much more I was in it, like a big promotion," Ordonez recently told NME. His enhanced role will see the character departing from previous depictions. "He's got powers ... he makes a lot of friends, and also [makes] connections with some not so good people," said Ordonez. Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen / Christopher Lloyd) Uncle Fester has always been one of the Addams family's most compelling figures, as evidenced by Christopher Lloyd's Fester serving as the centerpiece of both 1990s Addams Family films. Fred Armisen plays Fester on Wednesday, and may also star as the chrome-domed character in a potential spinoff series. "It was a rare thing. When they offered it to me, I was like, 'Oh, I'm the right guy for that part,'" Armisen previously told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. "I just felt it. I usually don't have that much bravado, but for this I was kind of like, 'I'm glad I'm doing it.'" Lloyd opened up about his love for Fester in a 2024 chat with Variety, recalling how he used to read Charles Addams' comics in The New Yorker as a child. 'I loved that,' Lloyd said. 'It was mischief about Uncle Fester and not evil. He just could play around a little bit. And then, that period of my life passed and decades later, I get a call, would I like to be Uncle Fester in a film? What are the odds? It was very exciting to be able to play the character that I loved when I was a kid.' Like Ricci before him, Lloyd will play an entirely different role in Wednesday season 2. Lurch (Joonas Suotamo / George Burcea / Carel Struycken) Lurch, the Addams family's looming butler, was played by George Burcea in season 1 of Wednesday. In season 2, he'll be played by Joonas Suotamo, a Finland native and former professional basketball player who has been the Star Wars franchise's go-to Wookie since 2015's The Force Awakens. In the 1990s films, Lurch was played by Twin Peaks alum Carel Struycken, who was born with acromegaly. According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition can cause "some bones, organs and other tissue to grow bigger." When asked about the role in a 2018 interview, Struycken said, 'It has been a revelation to discover how many people identify with the Addams Family. I guess people who have always felt a bit out of place in our society.' Grandmama (Joanna Lumley / Carol Kane / Judith Malina) Grandmama, Morticia's kooky mother, was played with an unkempt, cronish flair by the late Judith Malina in The Addams Family and by Carol Kane in Addams Family Values. Though she was absent in season 1, the character debuts in Wednesday season 2 as a glammed-up funeral home tycoon played by Joanna Lumley. "She's quite a spooky creature. You can't really tell how she lives," Lumley said on This Morning, touching on the character's connection to the title character on Wednesday. "Wednesday only really smiles when she sees Grandmama. So there's a great affinity. I think she just sees in Wednesday a spirit of how she was when she was young." Where can I watch Wednesday? Wednesday season 2, part 1, is currently available to stream on Netflix. Part 2 arrives on Sept. the original article on Entertainment Weekly
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
Inside the $85 Million Renovation of Central Park's Home for Shakespeare
By Michael Paulson Photographs by Sara Krulwich At the heart of Central Park, nestled among the trees just north of Belvedere Castle, sits the Delacorte Theater. For 63 years it has been the home of Free Shakespeare in the Park, one of the great treasures of New York's cultural life. Now, after two years in which the open-air amphitheater has been closed for an $85 million upgrade, the venue is reopening, looking and feeling much the same, but with all sorts of modifications and modernizations to improve the experience for audiences, performers and stage crews. The Delacorte is operated by the Public Theater, a nonprofit previously called the New York Shakespeare Festival that since 1962 has presented more than 160 shows on the 72-foot-wide stage. One hidden change: There are now modular traps built into the stage floor to allow easier movement of actors and set pieces. One of the joys of seeing theater at the Delacorte is the view — of the surrounding 843-acre park, of the trees and the birds and, on the far side of Turtle Pond, Belvedere Castle, an 1872 tower-and-terraces complex that seems like the set for Shakespeare's nobility-themed plays. The theater's rustic facade got a glow-up. Pre-renovation it was cedar shiplap; now it is a tongue-and-groove redwood. And that redwood comes with its own back story: It is from 25 reclaimed New York City water towers. The Delacorte also has a slightly different shape now. Previously, it resembled a cylinder, with the exterior wall perpendicular to the ground; now it is more like a cone, with the exterior wall tilting outward. There are symbolic reasons — it's intended to feel more welcoming. Another new(ish) feature: there is now a canopy that goes around the whole facade, ranging from six feet to 16 feet deep. Aesthetically, it creates more of a grand entrance for the theater; practically, it offers more cover for patrons to duck under if it starts to rain during a performance. One of the major challenges was preserving the many trees that surround the theater — some of them more than a century old. The Public worked with the Central Park Conservancy and hired arborists to help with protection, trimming, and planning. One particular concern was avoiding putting too much weight on root systems. Supported by The Delacorte has needed work for years. The theater has charm and tradition, but the facilities have been substandard, particularly for performers and stagehands, as well as for patrons with disabilities. About a decade ago, the staff and board of the Public Theater started discussing a renovation. There were some crazy ideas bandied about. A dome to allow year-round performances! Geothermal cooling to manage global warming! But with the Covid pandemic came pragmatism. Spending several hundred million dollars on a performance venue seemed unwise. And making any kind of radical change inside Central Park was going to be challenging, if not impossible, given the romantic and nostalgic attachment many park-lovers and park-protectors have to keeping things the way they are. So the Public pivoted to a combination of preservation and polish — a renovation that would look much the same, but function much better. 'There was absolutely no way to improve the experience once you're sitting in the grandstand — you're outside, in Central Park, the moon is rising over the stage, Belvedere Castle is in the background, a breeze is hopefully blowing, and that's the magic of the theater, and that will not have changed at all,' said Patrick Willingham, the Public's executive director. 'But externally, the experience has really been elevated.' So now there is better signage. More capacious seats. Decent dressing rooms. And yes, better bathrooms. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
