Mission
B. Someday Productions uses theatre, literature and myth to bring together artists and the community to discover new strategies for our urban challenges. Based at Walking Fish Theatre in the Fishtown/Kensington area of Philadelphia on the emerging Frankford Avenue Arts Corridor, B. Someday, Inc. fulfills its mission by producing theatrical works and by encouraging and mentoring young people and artists in the classroom and on the stage; and by producing shows for schools, institutions and community centers.
Goals:
- Provide access for families, children and youth to participate in theatre arts
- Facilitate programs that educate, link and engage disparate members of society
- Offer opportunities for artists to produce and share their work in the context of community
History
B. Someday Productions, founded in 1993, became a non-permanent “New Beginnings” division of Resources for Human Development. Work produced includes: Masterpiece Da Da, Tabby Lends a Hand, and The Rise and Fall of the Very First Reich as well as the poetry/music/ performance ensemble “Edgar Allen & The Poettes.” Full-length productions include Cappuccino and Regret and Robert DeNiro Knows, 1997; Spells and Incantations, 1998; Sacraments in 1999, (all originals); Cappuccino and Regret commissioned by the Montgomery County Cultural Center in 1999. In 2000, B. Someday Productions was Resident Theatre Company at 2nd Stage at the Adrienne, producing Good Country People there and at Ursinus College. In 2000, its educational outreach component, Reflections Theatre, a socio-dramatic improvisational program worked with schools, juvenile detention centers, senior and community centers and with care-giver burn-out programs. In 2001 came Hamlet, and the original play, Grendl Cain. In 2001, the company produced Seasick Off-off Broadway, a re-mounting of Good Country People and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. In 2002, B. Someday, Inc. became a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit company.
In May 2002, a workshop production of, A Fine Beginning showed at the Kimmel Center, and began a full tour of A Child’s Christmas in Wale-- traveling to senior, youth and community centers, and homes for the disabled throughout the region. In 2003, The Misunderstanding premiered at the Walnut Street Studio 5, and in 2004 The Midlife Crisis of Dyonisus were produced in collaboration with DVPN. In 2005, Electra and an inter-disciplinary project concerning ancient maps of the New World were presented to 3rd and 4th-grade students at the Arthur Ross Gallery.
In May, 2005 B. Someday Productions purchased property at 2509 Frankford Avenue. The company enlisted the help of community members, and employed men from the local Saint Francis Shelter to begin renovations for The Walking Fish Theatre. In August, 2006 renovations were completed, and the theatre proudly opened its doors! The inaugural season saw the presentation of several programs (local and national) for the Philly Fringe Festival, and in the 2007-08 season, the company produced Adventures in the Skin Trade, an adaptation of Dylan Thomas and Fresh Fish Short Play Festival. That fist season, they also began offering theatre classes for adults and children. In addition, the company announced The Family Theatre Series: an interactive, literature-based performance program for children (ages 2-7) and their caregivers. They are proud to be able to continue this program and offer it to the community for a “pay-what-you-can” performance fee.
Continuing to work with the Neighborhood Parenting Project, B. Someday provides low-cost children's theatre once a month, as well as other projects such as Mother Goose Literacy Project, dramatic readings from favorite children's books and special performances that feature neighborhood children on stage with theatre professionals, such as A Child's Christmas in Fishtown, presented in December 2005.
In 2008--09, B. Someday produced Fresh Fish2.0, the second year of residency at Kensington High School, and the successful production Entertaining Mr. Sloane by Joe Orton.
In 2009-10, B. Someday produced Fractured Fairytales for the Philly Fringe Festival, The Good Puppet of Szechwan and GRAVEDIGGER: The Plays of Mark Borkowski.
In 2010, B. Someday was awarded the prestigious Barrymore Award for educational excellence and community service for a program called Of Mythic Proportions, which provides opportunities for high school students in Kensington to create theater pieces and share them with the community.
B. Someday Inc. is a member of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, Fishtown Area Business Association and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
