When Galadriel Sevener moved to Roxborough after living in the Southwest, she got back into a favorite pastime of hers: theater. It turned out that her daughter loved it, too, and she did a show with Ash Theater Company in Manayunk.
But soon after, the group had to fold, leaving a void in the neighborhood.
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"Finally, we felt like we had found our home and then they closed for personal reasons," Sevener said. "I'm also an admin in the Roxborough mom's group, and there's pretty consistent questions about where can we as a family get involved in community theater? And there are tons of kids who take classes who don't have anywhere to perform."
It led Sevener and a few other locals to create Pretzel Theater Company, named after the city's love for soft pretzels and the proximity to Pretzel Park. The group, open to kids and adults, operates out of non-traditional venues in Roxborough and Manyunk.
While the official launch party is Sunday, it's already gained momentum in the area. So far, players in the group have done performances at street festivals like Roxtoberfest, and they hope to raise funds for an official performance in the spring.
The company hopes to do three to four performances per year with musical theater, plays and showcases. They're still working on getting an official space like a recreation center for rehearsals (right now they take place at Sevener's house), but she's not looking for a permanent spot. Part of Pretzel's mission is producing smaller shows and concerts without too much stage setup to expand the company's reach, she said.
"It can be hard to get community folks to come to a specific space," Sevener said. "Sometimes when you're in your space, it doesn't feel as involved in the community as it could."
Right now, leaders are focused on getting funding to buy the rights and costumes for a full performance as well as building up the theater's presence in the area. Sevener noted that a lot of nearby suburbs have a strong community theater scene, although they can get really competitive, and she's hoping to bring something similar and accessible to her neighborhood.
"I always wanted to do it as part of a community. Having a child and being in this neighborhood and building connections, community is the biggest thing," Sevener. "So I think our biggest focus is trying to see who we have involved and be a bit tactical about how we can involve them."