The Providence Players of Fairfax, an award-winning, non-profit, all-volunteer community theater troupe serving Northern Virginia and the DC Metropolitan area, continues its 20th anniversary season with the classic comedy, The Front Page. The production opens this weekend (Friday, April 6th at 7:30 PM) and runs through April 21st at the beautiful and historic, James Lee Community Center Theater at 2855 Annandale Road in Falls Church, Virginia.
Written by Ben Hecht and Charles McArthur in 1928, The Front Page has been staged on Broadway no fewer than five times, around the country in regional and community theater hundreds of times and has been adapted for film and television many times as well. Hecht and McArthur were both former Chicago reporters and the newspapers depicted in the play are modeled on the City News Bureau of Chicago (where MacArthur had worked), Chicago Daily News (where Hecht was a reporter), and the Chicago American among others. The play’s character Earl Williams is based in part on the real life “Terrible” Tommy O’Connor. The play’s Examiner editor, Walter Burns, is a thinly disguised caricature of Hearst editor Walter Howey. Some of the best humor is drawn from real life!
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Thurs, Fri and Sat 7:30 p.m.
April 6 – April 21
Sunday Matinees 2:00 p.m.
April 8 & April 15
At the James Lee Community Center Theater
2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church VA 22042
Chuck O’toole as Hildy Johnson and David Whitehead as Walter Burns- in the Providence Players Production of The Front Page – Photo by Chip Gertzog, Providence Players
Rated PG-13 for some strong language and themes
Loud gunshots and non-tobacco cigarettes and cigars used in the production
THE STORY
Stop the presses for classic comedy! In a crowded 1920s Chicago Criminal Courts pressroom, managing editor Walter Burns fights to keep star reporter Hildy Johnson from breaking free from journalism to get married. Everything changes when there’s a jailbreak and condemned convict Earl Williams falls into the reporter’s hands. Hildy’s daunting challenge now is to get Williams out of the building to a safe place for an interview before rival reporters or trigger-happy policemen discover him. The Front Page hilariously parodies Windy City corruption, politics and journalism and is loaded with fast paced hijinks, crisp dialog and sharp humor. The Providence Players continue their 20th anniversary season with this irresistible comedy of both stage and screen fame. at the James Lee Community Center Theater in Falls Church.
The reporters of the Chicago Criminal Courts building in the PPF production of “The Front Page” – Photo by Chip Gertzog, Providence Players
Click Here to Meet The Cast of The Front Page
PPF’s “The Front Page” is a winning hand to play through April 21st. Join us for the laughs!
The Front Page Has It All
…and it’s all funny!
It has HARD HITTING JOURNALISM Chuck O’toole as the Examiner’s best reporter Hildy Johnson and David Whitehead as legendary hard-nosed editor Walter Johnson in the Providence Players production of “The Front page”
It has ANARCHISTS (Not Bolsheviks!) Bobby Welsh is brilliantly funny in the cameo role of escaped convict Earl Williams in PPF’s The Front Page
It has POLICE RAIDS! Standing L to R: Harry Sullivan, Ward Kay, Noor Krajah and David Ranowsky in The Front Page
It has ROMANCE! Hildy Johnson (Chuck O’Toole) and fiance Peggy Grant (Jaclyn Robertson) in the Providence Players Production of The Front Page.
It has RAZOR SHARP CRIMINOLOGY. Scott Stofko as Woodenshoes Eichorn in the Providence Players production of The Front Page
It has MOTHERS. Susan d. Garvey returns to the Providence Players stage as Mrs. Grant in The Front Page
It has MOTHERS-IN-LAW. Susan d. Garvey will have you in stitches in The Front Page
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It has TOUGH GUYS…NAMED DIAMOND LOUIS!…Yes Diamond Louis who is played by Nick Manicone
It has NOT-SO-TOUGH GUYS…also named Diamond Louis
It has MUSICAL INTERLUDES. Rob Lee as Kuger in the Providence Players production of The Front Page
It has ANXIOUS AND FRUSTRATED REPORTER”S WIVES. Tina Thronson on stage as Mrs. Schlosser in the Providence Players production of The Front Page
PLAN YOUR VISIT – Directions, Restaurants, Parking, The Theater
It has INNOCENCE! PPF veteran Craig Geoffrion returns to the stage as The Mayor with Chris Persil as the incomparable Mr. Pincus.
It has POLITICAL CORRUPTION!…the funny kind….Bob Smith (right) as Sheriff Hartman with Craig Geoffrion as The Mayor in the Providence Players production of The Front Page
It has LADIES OF THE EVENING WITH HEARTS OF GOLD. Bobby Welsh (Earl Williams) and Andra Whitt (Mollie Malloy) in the Providence Players production of The Front Page
It has GERMAPHOBIA. Michael Bagwell is riotously funny as the fastidious Bensinger in the Providence Players production of The Front Page
It has DECEPTION! David Whitehead as Walter Burns and Michael Bagwell as Bensinger in the Providence Players production of The Front Page
It has DRAMATIC TENSION. Andra Whitt (Molly Malloy) and Chuck O’toole (Hildy Johnson) in the Providence Players’ The Front Page
The Front Page Has It All
…and it’s all funny!
The Reporters of the Providence Players production of The Front Page
TICKETS ON SALE HERE
Best Seat Selection Online Now – Never a fee for PPF Online Ticket Purchases
Thurs, Fri and Sat 7:30 p.m.
April 6 – April 21
Sunday Matinees 2:00 p.m.
April 8 & April 15
At the James Lee Community Center
2855 Annandale Rd., Falls Church
The Providence Players present The Front Page April 6 – April 21, 2018
Photos by Chip Gertzog Providence Players