‘In the Heights’ among productions coming to Bristol Riverside Theater next season

With its current season ending soon, subscriptions for Bristol Riverside Theater’s 2024-24 season are now on sale, as the venue prepares for major renovations beginning this summer.

The restoration project — with upgrades and improvements both inside and out — is the first significant renovation since opening in 1986.

Led by architectural firm, USA Architects out of Somerville, New Jersey, and Sweetwater Construction Corp. based in Cranbury, New Jersey, phase one of the plan includes enhanced theatrical sound and lighting, new seating, carpeting, aisle railings, expanded concessions and a window-walled front entryway.

Exterior improvements involve a new façade and roof, restructured main entrance for wheelchair accessibility, a refitted loading dock and a new HVAC and upgraded electrical systems.

“We’re incredibly grateful to our state and local officials for their support and excited for our audiences to have a refreshed experience of the arts and live theater inside our beloved community space,” Bristol Riverside Theater’s producing director, Ken Kaissar, said in a news release.

“The start of this project is a foothold in the economic expansion of our business community and an investment in future generations. We eagerly anticipate opening the doors to share our homecoming on January 20,” he added.

Work is scheduled to begin after the current production season, which wraps up June 2.

While the project is underway, the theater will open its 38th season this fall with two shows at The Regency Room — an intimate 150-seat venue on Mifflin Street in Bristol — before returning to the newly renovated Bristol Riverside Theater in January with a ribbon cutting welcoming guests to the fully revamped auditorium renamed the John Martinson Theatre.

Bristol summer concerts: Bristol Township announces summer concert series. Who are the big acts?

Shows to catch before the Bristol theater closes for renovations

Piano Men: GenerationsApril 24 – 28

“Generations celebrates the musical influences of Billy Joel and Elton John brought to you by the amazing Father and Son team of Terry & Nick Davies and their incredible band,” according to the Bristol Riverside Theater.

“Not only have Billy and Elton written and performed music that transcends four decades of music lovers – both have done so, not standing center stage, but seated behind the ebony and ivory of an instrument that will forever define the spirit of their music: the piano! Join Terry & Nick on this journey through the careers of two music icons!”

One Night in Memphis

May 1 – 5

Created and directed by John Mueller, “One Night in Memphis” is “a rocking concert tribute to legendary Sun Records recording artists Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. Over 90 minutes of rockabilly, country, gospel and pure 1950s’ rock and roll music performed live. Be a witness to a rock and roll royalty jam session with the music and talent that has stood the test of time.”

The Second City: Comedian Rhapsody

May 14 – June 2

“From the place that launched the careers of Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Carell, Tim Meadows, Amber Ruffin, Chris Redd and many others from ‘Saturday Night Live’ comes the next generation of comedy superstars! The Second City: Comedian Rhapsody is a brand-new revue featuring their best sketch comedy, songs and, of course, their trademark improvisation.”

2024 Summer Music Fest will still take place

The 2024 William Penn Bank Summer Music Fest, typically held inside the theater’s mainstage, will take place at Ben Franklin Middle School at 6403 Mill Creek Road in Levittown. The multi-day concert lineup has yet to be announced.

Philly summer concert schedule: Made in America is canceled, but you can still catch these Philly-area outdoor concerts

Bristol Riverside Theater’s 2024-25 mainstage lineup

Subscriptions for the 2024-25 season are currently available. Packages include all five mainstage performances, plus subscriber benefits, including free encores, discounts on regular tickets, free exchanges, priority seating and discounts for family and friends.

Single season tickets go on sale June 10 for the 2024-25 theatre season, starting at $52 for standard productions and $57 for musicals.

More information on subscriptions and advance ticket purchases are available at brtstage.org and through the BRT box office at 215-785-0100.

Here are the scheduled shows for next season:

The Gin Game

Sept. 10 – 29 at The Regency Room, 190 Mifflin St., Bristol

D.L. Colburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Gin Game”is “a touching story about friendship, isolation, and aging.”

Directed by Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Jon Marans and starring Keith Baker and Penelope Reed as Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, “the play tells the story of two elderly acquaintances locked in increasingly competitive rounds of Gin Rummy. In life, we play the cards we are dealt — some are winners and some are losers.”

Venus in Fur

Oct. 22 – Nov. 10 at The Regency Room, 190 Mifflin St., Bristol

David Ives’ “Venus in Fur,” which received a Tony nomination for Best Play of 2012, is a “sexy and hilarious tale about an uninhibited actress who weasels her way into an audition just when the director is ready to end the day.”

“This stage adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel depicts dissatisfied writer-director Thomas Novachek in a feverish search for the perfect actress to star in his play’s leading role as Vanda von Dunayev. As the audition progresses an entanglement ensues that shifts power dynamics and challenges the director’s tainted ideas about sex and women.”

More shows in Bucks County: Bucks County Playhouse offering a four-show package. See what's coming to the mainstage

Fires in the Mirror

Feb. 4 – 23, 2025 at Bristol Riverside Theater, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol

BRT’s Amy Kaisser directs this Pulitzer Prize-nominated docudrama by renowned playwright Anna Deavere Smith, “which investigates the 1991 violence in Crown Heights through the real words of the those involved in and affected by the conflict between the Black and Hasidic communities of Crown Heights, New York. Smith interviewed over 100 people ranging from teenagers to politicians. Those transcripts were culled down to 26 people and edited to create a striking tapestry of oral histories.”

In the Heights

March 25 – April 27, 2025 at Bristol Riverside Theater, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes' 2008 Tony and Grammy Award-winning show, “In the Heights” is a “spicy blend of salsa, freestyles, and vivid characters.”

“Miranda’s love-letter to Washington Heights, Manhattan begins with bodega owner Usnavi de la Vega opening his store on the hottest day of the summer while shooing away petty vandal Graffiti Pete. Usnavi establishes his domain as the neighborhood historian and storyteller, introducing his community as a place defined by passion, promise, and grit.”

Alibi: An Agatha Christie Story

May 25 – June 15, 2025 at Bristol Riverside Theater, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol

“Alibi: An Agatha Christie Story,”based on Agatha Christie’s 1926 novel “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” is the first of Christie’s work adapted for the stage.

“Sir Roger Ackroyd was a man who knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her first husband. He knew someone was blackmailing her — and now he knew she had taken her own life with a drug overdose. Soon the evening post would let him know who the mystery blackmailer was. But Ackroyd was dead before he’d finished reading it — stabbed through the neck where he sat in the study. Whodunnit?”

Reporter Michele Haddon covers local news, small business, economic development, community revitalization, art and culture for The Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times at PhillyBurbs.com. Please considering supporting local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bristol Riverside Theater announces 2024-2025 mainstage season