Big shows return to Bristol Riverside Theatre. Here's a look at the upcoming line-up

Bristol Riverside Theatre’s upcoming season includes a world premiere comedy and the Philadelphia premiere of the stage adaptation of a cult film classic.

The 2022-23 mainstage season consists of four shows from September 2022 to June 2023, helmed by co-producing directors Ken and Amy Kaissar.

“As a professional theater in Bucks County, we generally do about 220 performances a year and we welcome about 44,000 people through our doors,” said Amy Kaissar. “It’s a major institution that has played a significant role in the development of Bristol over the years.''

This season will kick off with the world premiere of "A Leg Up," from Sept. 20 to Oct. 9.

Developed through Bristol Riverside Theatre's America Rising development program, the comedy centers around the main character, Charles, and the new XR3000, an intelligent prosthetic leg designed for the U.S. senator who is running for president.

The second fall production will be the comedic mystery "Clue," based on the popular board game and Paramount Pictures cult classic written by Jonathan Flynn. It will run from Nov. 1 to Nov. 20.

The spring will bring audiences "Cabaret," the Tony-award winning classic musical based in 1920s Berlin, from March 21 to April 16, and the heartfelt comedy "Chicken and Biscuits," from May 16 to June 4.

Bristol Riverside Theatre stands as one out of the two professional theater companies in Bucks County alongside the Bucks County Playhouse, continuing to display a high quality of arts for the region.

“As a professional theater company, we cast professional actors out of New York and Philadelphia,” said Ken Kaissar.

The multiple, different sized venues that they work in, all in Bristol, allows them to properly accommodate their different types of shows.

“There’s the 5,000-seat amphitheater where we’re going to put something that’s going to draw thousands of people, we have our theater which is 300 seats, and then we also have a studio space that is our rehearsal studio that doubles as a performance space, where we can have 60 to 100 people.” said Amy Kaissar.

“We can do a huge variety of things and we just pair them with the space that makes the most sense.”

They offer everything from musicals, to comedies, to rock concerts, to stand-up comedy, to children’s theater and more, which Amy Kaissar described as a “huge array of programming.”

Aside from the scheduled mainstage shows produced by the Kaissars, the company also has much to offer, bringing in a diverse mix of talent throughout the year and letting them use their spaces to perform their content.

The theatre usually holds about four concerts a year such as “a Christmas concert in December called ‘An American Christmas Song Book’ — and in the summer, we generally do a summer music fest that is sponsored by the William Penn Bank, and we’re just about to close our second year of that music fest,” said Ken Kaissar.

Like many theaters in the industry, the pandemic hit their business hard as they had to adapt and find solutions.

“We both have been associated with the company for 13 years but we started in these positions during the pandemic, so we’re really excited,” said Amy Kaissar. “It feels like our second real season even though it’s our third season.”

Two of the shows in this upcoming season, "Cabaret" and "A Leg Up," were originally canceled in the 2021 season because of pandemic complications.

“The 2020 season was interrupted about half way through and we were shut down, and remain closed for a year,” said Amy Kaissar. “In that period of time, we did a lot of things to ensure that we continued to serve our community.”

They adapted by doing things such as moving their free summer camp to online as well as producing their concerts online, effectively broadcasting them into people’s homes. Through many alternatives, they kept their ideas alive and persevered back to top shape.

“We’re back up and running in full steam and have been for a whole year, and in this upcoming season we are bringing back all of the remaining events that we haven’t done.” said Amy Kaissar.

For additional details on the Bristol Riverside Theatre and purchasing tickets for their upcoming productions, visit brtstage.org.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bristol Riverside Theatre returns with 2022-23 season