The Melting Pot
The Melting Pot is a co-production by Philadelphia Artists’ Collective and Theatre Ariel, presenting Israel Zangwill’s 1908 melodrama in a new adaptation directed by Jesse Bernstein. The play follows David Quixano, a young Jewish-Russian immigrant composing a symphony about the promise of America while falling in love with Vera Revendal, a Russian-Christian immigrant. His hopes for their future—and for America’s—are threatened by nightmares and trauma from his Russian past.
Zangwill’s play popularized the image of America as a “melting pot,” where immigrants from around the world come together in the crucible of a new country. Its original performance reportedly prompted then-president Theodore Roosevelt to call it “a great play.” This fast-paced production revisits the work at a time when both companies are examining the tensions beneath that ideal, while connecting the play’s themes to contemporary questions about immigration, identity, hope, and America’s future. The production is set in a historic meeting house founded by people seeking religious freedom, a setting the creative team chose because of its relationship to the play’s history.
When: October 21 through November 8
Showtimes: Specific performance times are not provided on the page.
Venue: Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tickets: Price not available
Presented by: Philadelphia Artists’ Collective in co-production with Theatre Ariel
Playwright: Israel Zangwill
Adapter and director: Jesse Bernstein
Artistic producers: Gayle and David Smith
Associate producers: Amy Brewstein and Marilyn Kutler
Cast: Adam Galloway as David Quixano; Jessy Gruver as Kathleen O’Reilly; J Hernandez as Mendel Quixano; Eli Lynn as Quincy Davenport; Brian McCann as Baron Revendal and Frau Quixano; Adam Pelta-Pauls as Herr Pappelmeister; and Lexi Thammavong as Vera Revendal. Adam Galloway and Jessy Gruver are identified as members of Actors’ Equity.
Language: Many lines are performed in Yiddish, the historically Ashkenazi Jewish language of Central and Eastern Europe. The page explains that Yiddish developed from 10th-century German while incorporating Hebrew, Aramaic, and Slavic elements.
Production team: Sophie Koester, stage manager and Yiddish consultant; Becky Wetzel, costume designer; Regan Mulrooney, assistant costume designer; Meghan Jones, set designer; Tydell Williams, lighting designer; Finn Powers, sound designer; Sam D. Stoffel, assistant sound designer; KO O’Rourke, intimacy director; Eli Lynn, fight consultant; Leena Tran, assistant stage manager; and Hunter Smith, production manager.
Director’s note: Bernstein describes the adaptation as an opportunity to engage with Zangwill’s ideas about America, the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish experience, immigration, and the characters’ hopes. The production aims to entertain through comedy and drama while prompting audiences to consider which parts of the play feel dated, which remain resonant, and what it means to wrestle with its message in 2026. Post-show conversations are anticipated as part of that exploration.
Background: The production brings together Theatre Ariel’s focus on stories inspired by the Jewish experience and Philadelphia Artists’ Collective’s interest in reviving lesser-known classics. The companies describe the collaboration as a way to introduce the play to broader audiences and stage a work that neither organization might have been able to produce alone.
Run time: Not provided on the page.
Age guidance: Not provided on the page.
Accessibility: Not provided on the page.