Working together and fulfilling various roles, the staff of Act II Playhouse Theater is preparing for their upcoming show “It’s Only A Play” that premiers March 19.
The theater was founded by Steven Blumenthal in 1998.
According to artistic director Tony Braitwaite, the theater gets its name of “Act II” for it being Blumenthal’s “second act in life.”
Blumenthal had always dreamed of owning a theater, and for his 70th birthday was able to make the dream a reality.
“[Blumenthal had] done a lot of community theater work and he thought, ‘I’ll take a theater,’” Braithwaite said. “So [his family] bought him this building at 56 [E] Butler [Ave] in Ambler and he instantly turned it into a theater.”
According to director of external relations Mary Carpenter, when the theater is brainstorming new ideas for upcoming shows, they try to take into account what shows will appeal to different audiences.
Act II switches up what genre each show is going to be throughout the season.
“We usually have several comedies, something that’s musical, occasionally an original cabaret or original sort of solo show,” Carpenter said. “They try to program a wide variety of shows to appeal to people’s different interests.”
Braithwaite said that the “special sauce” of Act II is the types of shows that are produced season to season.
“The type of plays we do, it just happens to align with the type of plays that I really like: comedies, committed cabarets, original shows and musicals,” Braithwaite said.
Even with smaller productions such as solo shows, the staff still functions and contributes as if it were a larger production that they were working on.
According to director of marketing Nick Cardillo, developing and putting on a show, even a smaller production, “takes a village” to produce.
“The show that we’re running right now is called “Tea for Three” and it’s a one woman show, so there’s only one actor contracted for that production,” Cardillo said, “but there is still a stage manager, a costume designer, a set designer, a sound designer, a lighting designer and a scenic painter on one show.”
Cardillo graduated from Souderton in 2016.
Carpenter said that every role plays a part on the production team, and everyone has the opportunity to help out in places when needed.
“It’s a small organization so we all pitch in where we can,” Carpenter said.
When working closely on a set for a show for many weeks, Cardillo said that everyone becomes very close with each other.
“We’re so fortunate to have some of the best people in Philadelphia working on our shows and creating a really perfect world for our actors to play in,” Cardillo said.
Carpenter shares a similar outlook.
“Being a part of a theater company, it can be incredibly collaborative,” Carpenter said, “and being in the room to put together a show and have a director to input all these different voices and different people, to me, that level of comfort, collaboration and contribution is amazing.”
Cardillo has worked at Act II Playhouse for over two years now and is pleased that everyone is able to make a difference in the production.
“It’s that you have created the world of the play sufficiently for the audience that they are fully transported,” Cardillo said. “It’s the mark of a show well done when it seems so effortless.”