By AML Publisher

Nectar’s beautiful outdoor deck overlooks an Asian garden.
Photo courtesy of Courtney Apple Photography

Ardmore

Plate
www.platerestaurant.com
Ever since Reese (Witherspoon) decided to dine frequently at Plate last summer while filming her movie with Paul Rudd, Plate has enjoyed a very sweet flurry of activity. For those wishing a meal outdoors, Plate offers a full-service outdoor dining area that seats 75. Their chic cedar pergola and café tables and chairs allow diners to savor a good meal while basking in the beautiful weather. Afterwards, take in all the great shopping Suburban Square (Lilly Pulitzer, Blue Mercury, and Ann Taylor) has to offer.

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By AML Publisher
Photography courtesy of Mark Garvin

People’s Light and Theatre Company presents The Emperor’s New Clothes, through July 11, 2010. A world premiere production, with a script by Richard Hellesen, it is based on the children’s classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

People’s Light & Theatre Company presents The Emperor’s New Clothes, from June 16 – July 11, 2010, on the Main Stage. A world premiere production, with a script by Richard Hellesen, it is based on the children’s classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Abigail Adams directs.

The Emperor’s New Clothes is a slapstick, mad cap, puppet-romp version of the classic tale of an Emperor with a passion for fashion. In the Empire of Abalonia, the bratty new Royal demands a trendy new wardrobe. Enter two scamming rogues who are only too happy to help while trying to loot the royal treasury.

Artistic Director Abigail Adams says, “This script pays homage to the Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello—it is wacky and zany and we’ve assembled a very talented cast and artistic team to help tell this familiar tale in a fresh and funny way.”

People’s Light Mary Elizabeth Scallen plays the Policeman in the play and is a puppeteer. “This production is pulling from a lot of classic comedy traditions from the past and, combined with the puppets, it really offers a unique spin on a classic fairytale. Because it’s a slapstick comedy, the play is very fun and surprising. The characters in the play create a lot of mayhem-sort of like rambunctious kids getting in a lot of trouble so the kids will really love it. And the parents will appreciate the quirky tone of the Marx Brothers. The only person in the town who ‘sees the truth’ in the end is the youngest person in the play and there is a neat message in that,” explained Scallen.

The Emperor’s New Clothes, part of the TARGET Family Discovery Series, features Resident Company Members Kevin Bergen, Alda Cortese, Marcia Saunders, Mary Elizabeth Scallen and Tom Teti, who join guest artists Pete Pryor, Andrew Kane and Claire Inie-Richards, in addition to over 50 handmade puppets by Martina Plag. Before each show, children are invited to D.Y.O.B. (Decorate Your Own Boxers) for free. The crafts will begin one hour before each performance in the upstairs lobby. Go to www.peopleslight.org for details.

The play opened on Friday, June 18th at 7pm and runs through July 11th. Audiences are encouraged to join the artists after each performance to discuss the production. People’s Light & Theatre Company is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern. For tickets call 610.644.3500 or visit PeoplesLight.org. This project is supported in part by TARGET.

Single tickets start at $20 for youth and $29 for adults, with special discounts available for students and groups of 10 or more. 10am student group performances, discount meal packages, and talk-backs with the artists are also available. For more information or to purchase group tickets, call 610.647.1900, ext. 134 or email group@peopleslight.org. Actors, prices, performances dates and times are subject to change. Additional service charges may apply.

About People’s Light

People’s Light, a professional theatre founded in 1974 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, makes plays drawn from many sources to entertain, inspire, and engage our community. We extend our mission of making and experiencing theatre through arts education programs that excite curiosity about, and deepen understanding of, the world around us. These plays and programs bring people together and provide opportunities for reflection, discovery, and celebration.

By AML Publisher
Photos courtesy of Bernadette Uzcategui, BUP Photography

Click here to view a slideshow of the Ball on Facebook.

Download an invitation to the Black Tie and Boots Ball.

Carson Kressley, who starred in “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”, has ridden his gaited horses in the Saddlebred divisions at Devon for about twenty years. He will emcee the live auction at the ball again this year.

The fifth Black Tie and Boots Ball, featuring cocktails, dinner, dancing and a live auction, will be held Saturday, May 8 at Bryn Clovis, Brushwood Farm in Malvern. The Ball benefits the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair Foundation, and limited tickets are available. Guest will spend a truly magical evening in a one of a kind setting. Enjoy cocktails and tasty nibbles under the centuries old oak trees overlooking the rolling paddocks at dusk. A buffet dinner, courtesy of Jimmy Duffy Catering, and dancing under a sparkling tent will follow.

For the second time, there will be a live auction with television star and long time Devon Saddlebred exhibitor Carson Kressley acting as emcee. Kressley, who starred in “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”, has ridden his gaited horses in the Saddlebred divisions at Devon for about 20 years. Read the full story

By AML Publisher
Photography courtesy of Mark Garvin Photography

Claire Inie-Richards as Primrose and Nathaniel Brastow as David in Y York’s EGGS based on the acclaimed novel by Jerry Spinelli. “I think Primrose just wants to be a kid and she doesn’t want to take care of anyone else, let alone her mother. Then, along comes David and the winds of change are put into motion,” said Inie-Richards.

In EGGS, People’s Light and Theatre company’s rendition of the popular book by Jerry Spinelli, which is enjoying an extended run through Sunday May 31st, 9-year-old David and 13-year-old Primrose are both pretty unhappy with life at home. David is sent to live with his grandmother after the death of his mother, and Primrose’s mom is a fortuneteller who barely notices when Primrose moves into the van parked outside their house. Nathaniel Brastow plays the role of David. “He is very sad that his mother has died and confused. The reason he is so mean to his grandmother in EGGS is that he feels like he has to save this space in his heart for his mother and without that space, the hope of his mother coming back is gone,” explained Brastow.
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By AML Publisher
Photos courtesy of Kevin E. McPherson and Mimi Janosy (www.mimiprophoto.com)

“I am really surprised about how cool the beer scene is in the ‘burbs, it blows me away,” enthused Tom Peters, co-founder of Philly Beer Week. Pictured: Bartender Steve Keenan of The Oakmont Pub, Havertown

On this morning of the eve of what has become America’s largest beer festival, there is a feeling of the calm before the storm. A storm that entails a tsunami of suds that is steering its way to the Philadelphia and Main Line region. Philly Beer Week 2009, in only its second year, is just shy of 700 individual events spread throughout its ten day gargantuan celebration of the region’s, the nation’s and the world’s best beer. PBW 2009 will kickoff with an amazing celebration at The Comcast Center lobby and Winter Garden tonight—and be followed by a flurry of fun for anyone and everyone who loves lager. From food and beer pairings, to a 5k Sunday run, beer brunches and lunches, lumberjack contests, a refined ‘Meet the Brewer’ cocktail party at The Four Seasons’ Swann Lounge and more, PBW offers something for everyone. With almost 70 events a day to choose from, it’s a most dizzying selection for any beer lover near or far.
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By AML Publisher
Photos courtesy of Mimi Janosy
Mimi Janosy Professional Photography Studios, Philadelphia, PA
www.mimiprophoto.com

Grab your friends and celebrate safely with SEPTA’s affordable and responsible Philly Beer Week promotion. Pictured: The beer lovers from In Pursuit of Ale (www.beerlass.com)

Beer will be flowing and the ’burbs and city bars will be bustling as the highly anticipated second annual Philly Beer Week 2009 kicks off Friday, March 6th. And this year, nearing close to 500 events across the region, PBW ’09 is going to the rails—the SEPTA rails! PBW has announced an exciting collaboration with SEPTA entitled: Sip Safely with SEPTA. The Sip Safely campaign offers an unlimited, all-day, bus-trolley-rail pass for $9.00, and is valid any one day during the ten-day beer week celebration March 6th through March 15th. This pass is to encourage PBW participants to travel safely, rather than driving from event to event.

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By AML Publisher
Photos Courtesy of Mark Garvin, Mark Garvin Photography

Kim Carson and Christopher Patrick Mullen star in People’s Light and Theatre Company’s CINDERELLA

Malvern’s People’s Light and Theatre delivers another entertaining and unpredictable holiday performance with this year’s production of Cinderella. The American classic, by Kathryn Petersen, is being produced in the English tradition of Pantomime, a theatrical approach that dates back over 100 years. Pantomimes almost always take place around the holiday season and are usually based around traditional children’s fairytales and stories. This is People’s Light and Theatre’s fifth consecutive holiday ‘Panto’ style show.

Director Pete Pryor, a veteran of two previous People’s Light and Theatre holiday performances (Treasure Island ’07 and Sleeping Beauty ’04), makes his PL&T directorial debut with Cinderella. “We are doing a pantos for the holidays, which People’s Light has done very successfully for each of the last five or six years. A pantomime takes a story that is very well-known and skewers it, turning it on its’ ear and making it into a fractured fairytale. Things are very silly, things are anachronistic and things are not what you expect to happen,” Pryor explained. “It very loosely adheres with some plot line but the main idea is that it is a time to have fun. So, you go to the theater with the family, and you just have a lot of fun with the music, topical references and twists and turns.”

Audience participation and a dame, who is the MC of the play and the audience’s guide, help to engage the audience from the start in an unpredictable and interactive experience. Children love that they get to boo the villains and argue with or cheer on the characters.

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