1812 Productions, Philadelphia's all comedy theatre company, is pleased to announce its biggest season to date. The 2008-2009 season will feature work created and performed by fantastic Philadelphia theatre artists and will range from sharp political satire, to re-invented vaudeville, to existential tales of fraternity, to some singing, snarky, salacious cabaret.

The season begins with the third (and final!) production of 1812's runaway hit, This Is The Week That Is. This Is The Week That Is: The Election Special!, 1812's signature take on political satire returns to look at the hilarious history of the nation's highest office, from powdered wigs to presidential podcasts. With Tony at the news desk, Patsy from South Philly, and a script that changes nightly, This Is The Week That Is: The Election Special! will be a blow by blow countdown of the final days leading up to the history-making 2008 Presidential Election. This Is The Week That Is: The Election Special! will run from October 9th to November 2nd, 2008 at Plays and Players Theatre, 17th & Delancey Streets.

Following This Is The Week That Is will be the biggest World Premiere musical event of the season. Cherry Bomb: The Worst Act in Vaudeville for the Holidays is a vaudeville/operetta/burlesque extravaganza from the comedic minds of award winning artists Jennifer Childs and James Sugg. Standing center stage in the show's spotlight are The Cherry Sisters, the five most untalented performers ever to grace the vaudeville stage. From the corn fields of Iowa to the bright lights of New York, The Cherry Sisters sang off key to packed houses and dodged tomatoes during curtain calls. With their messages of sobriety, morality, and a living tableau of the crucifixion (100 years before Madonna thought of it!), The Cherry Sisters were the worst good time to be had in early twentieth century America. Cherry Bomb: The Worst Act in Vaudeville for the Holidays is 1812 Productions' ninth annual Holiday Show and promises to take Philadelphia's favorite holiday tradition to a whole new level! Cherry Bomb features an all-star Philadelphia cast including Mary Martello, Maureen Torsney-Weir, Megan Bellwoar, Charlotte Ford, Mary McCool, and Scott Greer as Oscar Hammerstein I. Cherry Bomb: The Worst Act in Vaudeville for the Holidays will run from December 11th, 2008 to January 4th, 2009 at Plays and Players Theatre, 17th and Delancey Streets.

Following Cherry Bomb, 1812 takes a walk on the cosmic side with the World Premiere comedy The Karma Cookie. The Karma Cookie, written by Philadelphia native P. Seth Bauer and directed by Barrymore Award winning artist Pete Pryor, follows two brothers, Barry and Alistair, on a fast paced, hilarious ride through Chinese restaurants, Nazi aerobics classes, meditation rituals with Buddhist monks while eating ice cream, and trips of a lifetime on trains the size of Matchbox cars. These sharp tongued, Cockney brothers find themselves inexplicably transported to exotic, fantastical, and hard-to believe destinations but with only the little white paper fortunes from fortune cookies to guide them, they must learn as they go lest they never find the secret behind their amazing journey. The Karma Cookie will run from March 5th to March 29th, 2009 at The AdrienneTheatre, 2030 Sansom Street.

Closing this season of premiere work is Let's Pretend We're Married, a new cabaret about bliss of the wedded sort starring comedy masters Tony Braithwaite and Jennifer Childs. Let's Pretend We're Married features original material as well as classic cuts from Burns and Allen to The Bickersons, and is packed with songs of love (both the upright as well as the horizontal kind) by everyone from Irving Berlin to Prince. Let's Pretend We're Married will run from May 26th to June 14th, 2009 at a location soon to be announced.

Another great addition to the 2008-2009 season is our move to Plays and Players Theatre for two of our productions. While we continue on our search for a home of our own, Plays and Players Theatre gives us the ability to accommodate our ever increasing audience size as well as a fantastic venue to stage ambitious work like This Is The Week That Is and the world premiere Cherry Bomb. Plays and Players Theatre has been a great destination for Philadelphia theatre for decades and we're so pleased to be able to present our work on its historic stage.

"I am incredibly excited about the work we are presenting this season and the artists we will be working with," says Jennifer Childs, 1812 Productions' Artistic Director. "The opportunity to create original work with actors, designers, composers, choreographers and directors of this caliber is really thrilling. We're taking on so many new endeavors this season, from premiering a new play by the very funny P. Seth Bauer, to creating the larger than life Cherry Bomb-it's great to continue working with Philadelphia theatre's best and brightest. Adding to this is the anticipation of producing at the classic Plays and Players Theatre. It's a big, big season we can't wait to get started!"

2008-2009 Season

This Is The Week That Is: The Election Special!
Directed by Jennifer Childs
Written and Performed by Tony Braithwaite, Dave Jadico, Don Montrey, Jennifer Childs, Steven Wright, and Tony Lawton
October 9th-November 2nd, 2008
Plays and Players Theatre
17th & Delancey Streets

Cherry Bomb: The Worst Act in Vaudeville for the Holidays
Book and Lyrics by Jennifer Childs
Music by James Sugg
December 11th, 2008-January 4th, 2009
Plays and Players Theatre
17th & Delancey Streets

The Karma Cookie
Written by P. Seth Bauer
Directed by Pete Pryor
March 5th-March 29th, 2009
The Adrienne Theatre
2030 Sansom Street

Let's Pretend We're Married
Performed by Tony Braithwaite and Jennifer Childs
May 26th-June 14th, 2009
Location: TBA