‘Death Is a Cabaret Ol’ Chum: A Graveyard Cabaret’ rises in Dunmore cemetery Sept. 22-23
From a press release:
Straight from sold-out performances at the FringeArts Festival in Philadelphia, dark theatrical production “Death Is a Cabaret Ol’ Chum: A Graveyard Cabaret” is coming to the historic Forest Hill Cemetery in Dunmore on Friday, Sept. 22 and Saturday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m., with a rain date of Sunday, Sept. 24.
Darkness falls, and the audience journeys between this world and the next as three departed (singing) souls appear in the misty boneyard – all with music from Bessie Smith to the Scissor Sisters, Cole Porter to Sonny and Cher. This is a cabaret unlike anything you’ve seen before. The monuments and obelisks of the Forest Hill Cemetery (1830 Jefferson Ave., Dunmore), home of the annual historical walking tours, are the backdrop for an evening of wild, mysterious, haunting, wickedly funny, and macabre entertainment.
See a sailor lost at sea as his widow drowns in a bathtub! Marvel as a serial-killing little girl pleads for the electric chair! Beware a murdering sadist as he looks for his next victim!
Conceived and created by REV Theatre Company co-artistic director Rudy Caporaso and directed by co-artistic director Rosey Hay, “Death Is a Cabaret Ol’ Chum: A Graveyard Cabaret” features Rudy Caporaso, Hannah Wolff, and Scranton actor Sandy D’Oria. It is musically directed by Rob Borchert.
Bring blankets or beach chairs for this hour-long performance. Tickets, which are $15 for general admission or $10 for seniors and students, will be available at the door.
REV’s site-specific production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at Laurel Hill Cemetery in July played to sold-out houses. They also performed “Hamlet” at the Scranton Cultural Center in 2015.
“A consistent favorite and top ticket-seller, REV rises for another year of graveyard frivolity. Head to the cemetery for free cocktails and cabaret that spooks and stirs the soul,” the Philly Voice wrote.
The REV Theatre Company believes that theatre is “an experience, an event.”
“The worlds we create are immediate and visceral. The REV aesthetic fuses intensely physical acting, musical production numbers allied to a profound connection to the texts, and a ferocious emotional landscape,” the group explained.
“Our trademark is the active involvement of the audiences in our outdoor productions as we bring the audience in the world of the play. We acknowledge and encourage direct communication with and response from our audiences.
“We have presented our productions of ‘The Witch of Edmonton,’ ‘The Comedy of Errors,’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in unique and site-specific space – urban parks and spaces (a municipal parking lot, a tiny storefront on the Lower East Side of New York, the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a pier on the Hudson River, and currently the iconic Laurel Hill Cemetery) in New York City, Philadelphia, throughout Connecticut, and in upstate New York.”
See NEPA Scene’s photos of REV presenting “Hamlet” in Scranton here.
