1812 Productions opens its 21st Seasonwith Jonathan Tolins’ Buyer & Cellar
1812 Productions opens its 21st season with Jonathan Tolins’ hit comedy Buyer & Cellar. Directed by Dan O’Neil, Buyer & Cellar stars Dito van Reigersberg, best known for his work with Pig Iron Theatre Company and as his alter-ego, cabaret queen Martha Graham Cracker. Buyer & Cellar opens on Wednesday, October 11th at Plays & Players Theatre in Center City. Previews begin October 5th. The production will run through October 29th. Tickets and information are available at www.1812productions.org or at 215-592-9560.
Buyer & Cellar is set in Barbra Streisand’s private shopping mall—complete with a doll shoppe, vintage clothing boutique, and confectionery— in the basement of her Malibu mansion. Here we meet Alex More, an out of work actor who has landed the roll of a lifetime playing shopkeeper for all of Babs’ precious memorabilia. While the diva shops through her life, she and Alex begin an unusual friendship. But their witty banter about fame, fashion, and Funny Girl may just be part of the masquerade and we must wait to see if Alex can keep his new friend after closing time when they head into the real world.
Dito van Reigersberg is best known on Philadelphia stages as the fabulous Martha Graham Cracker, the world’s tallest drag queen, who frequently plays to sold out houses at L’Etage and Philadelphia Fringe. As co-founder of Pig Iron Theatre Company, van Reigersberg was a member of their Obie Award-winning works Hell Meets Henry Halfway and Chekhov Lizardbrain. He has also been nominated for Barrymore and Helen Hayes awards for his work in Azuka Theatre’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Pig Iron’s Hell Meets Henry Halfway, respectively.
Daniel O’Neil, the show’s director, says, “Buyer & Cellar is a play that comes at you with comedy and pop culture and fun, but then there’s a story with a lot of heart underneath all that. Jonathan Tolins has deftly woven together a play that is charming and tender and laugh-out-loud funny all at once. In that way, it feels like Buyer & Cellar and 1812 Productions and Dito are all perfectly matched.”
Buyer & Cellar will play October 5th thru October 29th, 2017 at Plays & Players Theatre in Center City. Opening Night will be Wednesday, October 11th at 7:00pm. Tickets range from $28-$45 and are available at 215-592-9560 or at www.1812productions.org.
