Steel River Playhouse Annual Gala

Join us for The event of the season!!

Annual Gala

June 7, 2013

6:00 PM

This dynamic event will honor Susan and Scott Bentley, local philanthropists and prinicpal owners of the high tech company, VideoRay.  We will also be recognizing our Artistic Director, Deborah Stimson-Snow, recipient of the 2013 Advocacy For Equal Opportunity Award from the PA Human Rights Commission.

Event includes live entertainment, wonderful refreshments from local food establishments including Sly Fox Brewery, Clique Vodka, Lindt Chocolates, Cutillo’s, Baird’s, Moyer’s and many more, a performance of the hit Broadway musical, La Cage aux Folles, and a grand light show and musical reprise outside on High Street.  It will once again be the “event of the season”!

$75 per person (price includes ticket to La Cage aux Folles)

$50 per person (Gala only)

Space is limited to so make your reservations now! Email Gala Invitation

SPONSORSHIPS:

Your sponsorship will provide much-needed programming and operations support for our current and upcoming season. Sponsor acknowledgement will appear in theatre programs throughout our 2013-14 Season, and include many other exciting perks.

We are very grateful for your support of Steel River Playhouse through the sponsorship of our Annual Gala. Every sponsorship level includes tickets to our Season Finale production of the Broadway hit musical, La Cage aux Folles running June 6 – 23.  Your sponsorship will make this and many more programs possible at Steel River Playhouse.

Sponsorship opportunites are now available!  Annual Gala Sponsorship Package

marybeth@steelriver.org or call Mary Beth Kerekes at 216-577-0269.

Muhlenberg’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’ Brings Beaumarchais’s 18th Century Comedy To A Modern Audience

Logo of Muhlenberg College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Allentown, Pa – “The Marriage of Figaro” is known worldwide to opera aficionados and Bugs Bunny fans from the opera composed by W.A. Mozart. Less well-known to modern audiences is the 1784 comedy by French playwright Beaumarchais, upon which Mozart based his opera.

The Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance Department will present the Beaumarchais play as the finale to its 2012-13 Mainstage Series, April 25-28. Directed by Francine Roussel, the production will feature an original score by composer and musician Mike Krisukas, known to Lehigh Valley audiences as the guitarist and lead songwriter for the band Zen For Primates.

“‘The Marriage of Figaro’ is so well built, the characters so real, and the spirit of the play so uplifting that it deserves exposure to an American audience,” Roussel says. “Opera buffs may know the Mozart classic, but less often the play on which it is based. On Beaumarchais’ behalf, we hope to rectify that inequity.”

Writing a few years before the French Revolution, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais pours his rage at the aristocracy into “The Marriage of Figaro,” which manages equal parts hilarity and outrage. First produced in 1784, the play was a sequel to “The Barber of Seville,” picking up three years after the wedding of the Count and Countess that concludes that play. Now Figaro, the Count’s valet, plans to marry, but the Count has tired of his lovely Countess and lusts for Figaro’s bride-to-be, Suzanne. He determines to revive the ancient “droit du seigneur” — the lord of the manor’s right to bed any new bride on her wedding night.

Figaro, Suzanne and the Countess concoct a counter-plot, but the Count’s page, Cherubin, makes hash of it through his passionate crush on the Countess. The multiple layers of misunderstanding yield what Roussel calls “one of the most perfect farce scenes of all time,” in one of the most scathing critiques of aristocratic privilege ever written.

“Le droit du seigneur — while anathema to modern sensibilities — was the ‘natural order’ for the aristocracy in much of 18th century Europe,” Roussel says. “Beaumarchais had the temerity to write a comedy about this shocking practice, subtly undermining class privilege, exposing gender inequalities, and revolutionizing the condition of women. Danton claimed that ‘Figaro killed off the nobility.’ Perhaps — but with laughter, not the guillotine.”

Krisukas says his starting point for the show’s original score was his and Roussel’s mutual interest in Spanish flamenco styles.

“Part of the excitement in entering a new artistic project is the opportunity to be quickly thrust into a new world,” Krisukas says. “It’s like going on a journey and immersing yourself in some new land with its own culture, language, history and artistic perspective.”

The production also features original choreography by Nina Pongratz, scenic and lighting design by Curtis Dretsch, and costume design by Liz Covey.

“All Will End with Joyful Songs: A Panel Discussion” will be held Thursday, April 25, at 12:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall, Baker Center for the Arts. This discussion will provide unique perspectives on the content and context of “The Marriage of Figaro.” Theatre professor James Peck and French professor Kathy Wixon will moderate the discussion. The panel will include Roussel, Krisukas, Pongratz, and students of Wixon’s French Theatre of the Resistance course.

Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college of 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa. The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review consistently ranks Muhlenberg’s production program in the top ten in the nation, and the Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States.

Performances of “The Marriage of Figaro” are April 25-28: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for LVAIC students, faculty and staff and for patrons 17 and under.

Performances are in the Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. Performance information and tickets are available at 484-664-3333 or http://www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre.

Mental Landscapes, March 20-24 At Muhlenberg‏ College

‘New Visions’ Directors’ Festival to showcase promising young directors

March 20-24 festival includes ‘Iphigenia and Other Daughters,’ evening of one-act plays

Logo of Muhlenberg College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Allentown, Pa – Emerging directorial talents will be on display in Muhlenberg College‘s “New Visions” Directors’ Festival, featuring plays directed by four senior directing students in the college’s Department of Theatre & Dance.

Presented by the college every other year, the “New Visions” festival features rarely-produced, avant-garde works for theater, and offers a rare opportunity for audiences to see the work of the next generation of up-and-coming theater artists. This year’s festival includes two productions, performed in repertory: Ellen McLaughlin’s “Iphigenia and Other Daughters,” directed by Danielle Barlow, and “Mental Landscapes,” an evening of three one-act plays directed by Jimmy Morgan, Abby Wylan, and Riva Rubenoff.

The festival runs Wednesday through Sunday, March 20-24. “Iphigenia and Other Daughters” will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m., Thursday and Saturday at 10 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. “Mental Landscapes” will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 10 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.

“Iphigenia and Other Daughters,” McLaughlin’s poetic modern adaptation of the legend of Agamemnon and the aftermath of the Trojan War, offers a provocative feminist perspective on a story of lust, fury, sacrifice and rebellion. The “good girl” of the bloodiest family in Greek legend, Iphigenia is sent in a time of suffering and war as a sacrifice to appease the gods. She is saved at the eleventh hour, but by then her family has spiraled into vengeful obsession and self-destruction.

“Mental Landscapes” includes three plays that explore the topography of the world in our heads, the anxiety of forging a path through it, and the uncertainty that lies beyond. Morgan directs “The Man Who Turned Into a Stick,” by Kobo Abe. Wylan directs “Intermission,” by Will Eno. Rubenoff directs “Rough for Theatre II,” by Samuel Beckett.

Both evenings are intended for mature audiences.

MuhlenbergCollege is a liberal arts college of 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa. The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review consistently ranks Muhlenberg’s production program in the top ten in the nation, and the Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States.

Tickets for either “Iphigenia and Other Daughters” or “Mental Landscapes” are $15 for adults and $8 for LVAIC students, faculty and staff and for patrons 17 and under. Combination tickets, including both performances, are $20 for adults, $12 for students, faculty and staff, and can be used for any two performances. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, MuhlenbergCollege, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. Performance information and tickets are available at 484-664-3333 or http://www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre

Muhlenberg’s ‘Bartholomew Fair’ Offers ‘Mix Of Punk And Puritan,’ Still Relevant 400 Years After Debut

Logo of Muhlenberg College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Allentown, Pa. – For years, Muhlenberg College theater students have looked forward to working with Kevin Crawford, a professor at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy. Now, Crawford brings his unique brand of physical theater to the Muhlenberg Mainstage with Ben Jonson‘s over-the-top comedy “Bartholomew Fair.”

One of Europe’s premiere schools for the performing arts, Accademia dell’Arte is a popular study-abroad location for Muhlenberg theater and dance majors. Kevin Crawford has worked with Muhlenberg students since 2002 as a professor at the Accademia and currently directs the school’s Master of Fine Arts program in physical theater. Crawford makes his Muhlenberg directing debut.

The production runs Feb. 21-24 in the Baker Theatre at Muhlenberg. Crawford and musician Caroline Boersma are this season’s Baker Artists-in-Residence, sponsored by the Dexter F. and Dorothy H. Baker Foundation.

Jonson’s 1614 play is “a noisy, exuberant slice of Jacobean life,” Crawford says.  Depicting a day in the 17th century life of the Fair, the play pits Puritan excesses against the cruder vices and pleasures of the Fair’s underclass — the thieves, swindlers, prostitutes and pimps who thrived there.

“It’s about the upper-class society meeting the underbelly at the Fair and what happens when they interact,” Crawford says. “Madmen become prophets. Prophets humiliate themselves and gradually become madmen themselves. It’s a mix of punk, puritan, and opposition. Clean versus dirty.”

Crawford says that despite its 17th century origins, the story still resonates with modern audiences. Crawford wants to take the world of “Bartholomew Fair,” Jonson’s last great comedy, and show exactly how relevant it still is today.

 ”I’ve done ‘Bartholomew Fair’ before with students and I liked it,” Crawford says. “I was attracted to its language and its time. It’s a contemporary of ‘The Tempest,’ but a bit more racy. It’s quite unusual. … It’s a comedy, definitely not a heavy piece. It’s a fun piece.

“The thing that’s fun for me is watching this 400-year-old text just bursting to life. It’s like a firework display.”

Kevin Crawford is a founding member of the Roy Hart Theatre Company, whose groundbreaking influence on contemporary voice-work for theater is internationally recognized. He toured extensively with the company for more than 20 years, during which time the company received several prestigious prizes including an Obie Award in New York and the Prix Jean Vilar at The Printemps des Comédiens.

Crawford’s Accademia colleague, Boersma will provide original musical arrangements to the production. Her unique score uses music from the early 1600s, which she will accompany on cello, along with vocal and instrumental performances by the actors themselves. Boersma is coordinator of the music program at the Accademia dell’Arte, where she also teaches,

The music is important because it’s written into the show,” Boersma says. “Characters are always singing. It’s quite integrated. For me as a musician, it’s always interesting to work with theater. It adds a dimension.”

The show will also feature Muhlenberg faculty member Holly Cate in the role of Ursula, the Pig Woman. Cate describes Ursula as a grandmother figure to the Fair participants.

“Ursula is mean and nasty,” she says, “but she also takes care of everyone, and they take care of her.”

She describes the humor as “funny and bawdy,” with extreme characters and outrageous situations, and she says audiences will empathize with the characters’ faults and hypocrisies, as well as their successes.

 ”It’s like Monty Python in 1605,” she says.

Cate originally signed on to do the show because she wanted the opportunity to work with Crawford.

“If he wanted me to read from the telephone book, that is what I would do and I would have been delighted,” Cate says. “He’s fabulous. It’s incredible to be in the room with an artist of his caliber and a teacher of his caliber.”

Faculty member Tim Averill’s scenic design will add another dimension to the show. Recently returned from sabbatical during which he explored ways in which sustainability can be incorporated into the theatrical process, Averill seeks to keep the production as eco-friendly as possible.

“Limitation is a path to creativity,” Averill says. “Sustainable theater happens when conscious choices to be sustainable are part of the artistic aesthetic.”

Averill’s set design will use elements from previous productions as well as found objects that will be modified for the show. In addition, all the paint on set will be water based, not petroleum based, and he will use the least amount of “new stuff” possible to create a hand-crafted aesthetic, he says.

Averill hopes to use “Bartholomew Fair” as an example of how a designer can preserve production values while also creating a sustainable piece of theater.

“I’m excited about the challenge of the production,” Averill says, “and I’m excited to be part of a process that puts fun out into the world.”

Both Averill and Crawford have tried to incorporate fun into every aspect of the show, from the rehearsal and design processes to the performance itself. For Cate, the process has shown her how accessible the humor in the script really is.

“Kevin has a love for the language, which is rich and nasty and fabulous and profane,” Cate says. “I think it’s going to be like a little confection that everyone is going to enjoy. It’s going to be very funny — a grand experiment.”

“Bartholomew Fair” will feature costume design by guest artist Annie Simon and lighting design by Gertjan Houben. Molly Serpi is the production stage manager.

Performances of “Bartholomew Fair” are Feb. 21–24: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for patrons 17 and under and LVAIC students, faculty, and staff. Performances are in the Baker Theater, Trexler Pavilion for Theater and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. Muhlenberg Theater & Dance performance information and tickets are available at 484-664-3333 orwww.muhlenberg.edu/main/academics/theatre-dance/

Theaters, Playhouses Fear Financial Problems And Technical Demands Will Lower Their Curtains

At Oyster Mill Playhouse, the aging rooftop heating and air conditioning system is threatening to stage a death scene worthy of “King Lear.”

With audiences — and therefore revenues — down, there’s no money for a replacement, so managers of the not-for-profit community theater in East Pennsboro Twp. are hoping the community will donate about $25,000 to keep Oyster Mill going for another year.

“Like many other theaters, we are having our financial problems,” said Howard Hurwitz, vice president of the 91-seat theater’s board of directors. “This year has been kind of a bad year. We just haven’t been getting the attendance. We used to sell out on opening nights, but now we are lucky if we get the theater half-full.”

Oyster Mill is far from alone.

Read more:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/11/oyster_mill_playhouse_theaters.html

Muhlenberg Theatre And Dance Launches 2012-13 Season

Mainstage season will feature seven theater productions, three dance concerts, including a world premiere play

Allentown, Pa. (Sept. 11, 2012)—The Muhlenberg College Department of Theatre & Dance will open its 2012-13 Mainstage season later this month, with the first of seven theater productions and three dance concerts. Last September, the department was named the No. 1 theater production program in the country for 2012, by The Princeton Review.

The season is as follows. Ticket information for all production follows the listings.

“44 Plays for 44 Presidents”

Sept. 29 – Oct. 3

by The Neo-Futurists

production artistic director: Troy Dwyer

in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance

This raucous theatrical mosaic of the U.S. presidency tours the audience through a fractured funhouse of 44 short, non-realist plays, each inspired by a different president. The plays range in length from seconds to several minutes, in tone from poetic to slapstick, and in style from song-and-dance to cowboy western.

Performances are Sept. 29 through Oct. 3: Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Monday through Wednesday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Saturday, Sept. 29, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 30, 2 and 8 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 1, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 8 p.m.

“On the Town”

Oct. 26 – Nov. 4

music by Leonard Bernstein

book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

based on an idea by Jerome Robbins

directed by Charles Richter; musical director, Ed Bara; choreographer, Karen Dearborn

in the Empie Theatre, BakerCenter for the Arts

“On the Town” is a love letter to the Big Apple by four iconic talents of the American musical theater. Three sailors look for love and excitement on a one-day pass in New York City, in this 1940s blockbuster, featuring superb dancing, a gorgeous musical score, and zingy book and lyrics.

Performances are Oct. 26 through Nov. 4: Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26-27, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 28, at 2 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, Nov. 1-2, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 3, at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m.. Tickets are $22. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Friday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 27, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 28, 2 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 3, 2 and 8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 4, 2 p.m.

“Moving Stories”

Nov. 15-17

Student-choreographed dance

Artistic director Karen Dearborn

in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance

Original dance pieces by upperclass students in the nationally acclaimed Muhlenberg College Dance Program span a variety of genres and styles.

Performances are Nov. 15-17: Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Thursday, Nov. 15, 8 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2 and 8 p.m.

“The Bourgeois Pig”

Nov. 28 – Dec. 2

A World Premiere Play

by Brighde Mullins

directed by Beth Schachter

in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance

It’s 1978 Los Angeles, and the Riley family is trying hard to hang on—to their hopes and to each other—in the face of serious dysfunction. Jack, the father, is a brilliant but damaged former war photographer-turned-reluctant paparazzi. His ex-wife can’t face the reality of a failed acting career. Their daughters cope with the fallout of their parents’ struggles. This funny and powerful new play by Guggenheim Fellow Brighde Mullins explores the power of the image—on the page and in the public eye.

Performances are Nov. 28 through Dec. 2: Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 8 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 29, 8 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 30, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2 and 8 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 2, 2 p.m.

“Master Choreographers”

Feb. 7-9, 2013

artistic director Karen Dearborn

in the Empie Theatre, BakerCenter for the Arts

A spectacular evening of ballet, contemporary dance, tap and jazz, “Master Choreographers” showcases exciting new dance works by nationally and internationally acclaimed guest artists and faculty. This year’s concert features a restaging of part of “Viva Vivaldi,” the Joffrey Ballet’s signature work, staged by Trinette Singleton, co-artistic director of Repertory Dance Company and longtime Joffrey dancer.

Performances are Feb. 7-9: Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Thursday, Feb. 7, 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 9, 2 and 8 p.m

“Bartholomew Fair”

Feb. 21-24, 2013

by Ben Jonson

directed by Kevin Crawford

in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance

Ben Jonson’s 1614 play is a noisy, exuberant slice of Jacobean life, pitting the excesses of Puritanism against the cruder vices of the Fair’s underclass. The production features a new musical score by Caroline Boersma, based on traditional folk melodies, and a faculty spotlight performance by Holly Cate.

Performances are Feb. 21-24: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Thursday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 22, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 24, 2 p.m.

“New Visions Directors Festival”

March 20-24, 2013

in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance

“Iphigenia and Other Daughters”

by Ellen McLaughlin

directed by Danielle Barlow

“Mental Landscapes: An Evening of One-Act Plays”

featuring: “The Man Who Turned Into a Stick,” by Kobo Abe, directed by Jimmy Morgan; “Intermission,” by Will Eno, directed by Abby Wylan; and “Rough for Theatre II,” by Samuel Beckett, directed by Riva Rubenoff

“Iphigenia and Other Daughters,” McLaughlin’s poetic modern adaptation of the legend of Agamemnon and the aftermath of the Trojan War, offers a bold, provocative feminist perspective on a story of lust, fury, sacrifice and rebellion.

In “Mental Landscapes,” three of Muhlenberg’s most accomplished student directors present an evening of life, death and absurdity.

Performances are March 20-24. “Iphigenia” will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m., Thursday and Saturday at 10 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.. “Mental Landscapes” will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 10 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for either production, or $20 for both. Youth and campus tickets are $8 for either production, or $12 for both. Campus tickets include students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Wednesday, March 20: “Iphigenia” at 7 p.m., “Mental Landscapes” at 10 p.m.

Thursday, March 21: “Mental Landscapes” at 7 p.m., “Iphigenia” at 10 p.m.

Friday, March 22: “Iphigenia” at 7 p.m., “Mental Landscapes” at 10 p.m.

Saturday, March 23: “Mental Landscapes” at 2 and 7 p.m., “Iphigenia” at 10 p.m.

Sunday, March 24: “Iphigenia” at 2 p.m.

“Dance Emerge”

April 18-21, 2013

Student-choreographed dance

Artistic directors Jeffrey Peterson and Teresa VanDenend Sorge

in the Dance Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance

Original dance pieces by upperclass students in the nationally acclaimed Muhlenberg College Dance Program span a variety of genres and styles.

Performances are April 18-21: Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Thursday, April 18, 8 p.m.

Friday, April 19, 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 20, 2 and 8 p.m.

Sunday, April 21, 8 p.m.

“The Marriage of Figaro”

April 25-28, 2013

by Beaumarchais

directed by Francine Roussel

in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance

Writing a few years before the French Revolution, Beaumarchais pours his rage at the aristocracy into a comedy of class and sexual inequality that manages equal parts hilarity and outrage. First produced in 1784, this play about plots, assignations, and the “droit du seigneur” served as the inspiration for Mozart’s famous 1786 opera.

Performances are April 25-28: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.

Thursday, April 25, 8 p.m.

Friday, April 26, 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 27, 8 p.m.

Sunday, April 28, 2 p.m.

Ticket Information

All venues are at the Muhlenberg College performing arts campus, 2400 Chew Street, Allentown, 18104. Tickets are available at the box office, on the first floor of the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, or at 484-664-3333, Monday through Friday noon to 6 p.m. and two hours before each performance. Tickets and information are available online at www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre&dance.

Reviving Live Arts At The State Theatre Of Boyertown

It’s a work in progress for owner Kevin Rhude, who would like to turn the 100-year-old State Theatre of Boyertown into a theater of the arts.

At 61 N. Reading Ave., the theater shows three to four movies a week at 4:30 and 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays in addition to a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturdays and Sundays.

But Rhude of Boyertown wants the theater to go beyond film and be a venue for arts of all kinds.

Rhude purchased the State Theatre in 2008.  Having worked in real estate for more than 20 years, Rhude said he has an appreciation for old buildings and art.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=412991

’44 Plays For 44 Presidents’ Opens Discussion Of Who Will Be No. 45

Muhlenberg College‘s production, running Sept. 29 – Oct. 3, celebrates democracy in conjunction with the first Plays for Presidents Festival

Allentown, Pa (Sept. 7, 2012) – As the 2012 presidential election approaches, Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance Department prepares to celebrate with a production of the Neo-Futurists‘ “44 Plays for 44 Presidents,” opening Sept. 29. Director Troy Dwyer leads the way as one of the founding fathers in the inauguration of the first Plays for Presidents Festival.

“People should expect to have fun, to laugh, and to be inspired to think about the world outside of the theatre,” Dwyer says.

Dwyer serves as artistic director for the production, as well as co-directing the plays with Lily Dwoskin, Jerald Kaplan and Judith Mandel, and choreographers Allison Berger and Nina Pongratz.  The play runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 3 in the college’s 100-seat Studio Theatre, in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance.

The play highlights the lives of all 44 presidents in short, often comedic, quasi-biographical scenes.  The plays vary in style from a sepia-washed cowboy movie homage to a modern game show.

“You think you are going to see a play that will essentially be a history lesson–you’re not,” Dwoskin says.  ”All of the facts in the show are historically accurate, but it is NOT a historical play.  It’s really uniquely vaudeville.  It’s crazy, a lot of things are going on.”

Muhlenberg’s production is presented as part of the Plays for Presidents Festival 2012, in which 44 theater groups from all over the country will produce “44 Plays for 44 Presidents.”  The festival is closely tied with the Rock the Vote campaign to inspire people to both register and vote.  The festival culminates in shows all around the nation in the months leading up to the presidential election, as well as an online video production of the show, including one scene from each of the 44 productions. Muhlenberg College’s scene for the collaborative film will be James Buchanan, the 15th and only Pennsylvania-born president.

“The presidential election will be less than 80 days away during show week,” Kaplan says.  ”With the election quickly approaching, ’44 Plays for 44 Presidents’ really puts into perspective what we are voting this person to do.  It promotes the actual weight of being a president and reminds the audience that they have this incredible right to choose our next leader.”

Like Rock the Vote, the Plays for Presidents Festival is an entirely non-partisan movement, intended to inspire all eligible voters to hit the polls, regardless of party affiliation.

“This show puts political options in different terms, making us think more about the historical moment of now,” Dwyer says.  ”It helps us imagine what the 45th play might be.”

The four directors will each be working on 11 of the scenes, working with an ensemble of 20 actors.  By incorporating multimedia, dance and music, “44 Plays for 44 Presidents” showcases a diverse group of performers.

“We’re not trying to have the actors embody each president,” Mandel says.  ”The audience will and should know that they are actors; at times they even speak as themselves.  By integrating dance and song alongside the acting, the show manages to really highlight so many kinds of talent in a short amount of time.”

The show is interactive in a “super flavorful and playful way,” says Dwyer. “’44 Plays for 44 Presidents’ incites people to talk about politics by showcasing politics in a fun light.  There’s a narrative momentum to the piece that makes the audience anxious to see how the modern presidents are depicted.”

Dwyer says that — with four directors, two choreographers, five designers, four stage managers, and 20 actors — the theatre production is itself a model of the democratic process in action.

“I have been working with the other directors to ensure that this project is a democracy and not a dictatorship,” Dwyer says.  ”I want to help them notice both the pitfalls and potential of their ideas.  It’s difficult to do a project of this scale, but democracy is always a challenge, because you’re catering to more than one person’s vision.  We will hopefully become a chorus of voices which will strike a harmonious final chord.”

“We are the people and we are shaping the play,” Mandel says.  ”Much like ‘we the people’ are shaping the future of America with our right to vote.”

Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college of 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa.  The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance.  The Princeton Review consistently ranks Muhlenberg’s production program in the top ten in the nation, and the Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States.

Performances of “44 Plays for 44 Presidents” are Sept. 29 through Oct. 3: Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Monday through Wednesday at 8 p.m.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for LVAIC students, faculty and staff and for patrons 17 and under.  Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.  Performance information and tickets are available at 484-664-3333 or www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre.

Month-Long Performing Arts Camps At Muhlenberg Give Young People A Taste Of The Stage At Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre

Allentown, Pa.  — Every summer, Muhlenberg College plays host to dozens of young performers, participants in two month-long arts education programs that are part of the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre program. Covering grades 6 to 12, the Camp Imagine and Performing Arts Workshop programs run July 2-27, and enrollment is still available in both.

Camp Imagine, now in its 14th year, gives middle schoolers a daily experience in drama, vocal expression and movement. About 60 participants rotate through the three activities, learning from Muhlenberg College students and alumni — and from each other. At the end of the four-week session, the ensemble presents a world premiere showcase performance, developed over the course of the program.

Founded in 1999 as a program to supplement the arts curriculum in the Allentown School District, Camp Imagine was originally conducted on site at Harrison-Morton Middle School. The camp has since both expanded and moved to the state-of-the-art performance facilities on the Muhlenberg Campus.

“We found that one of the most important aspects of the program was giving the students a chance to experience the college campus environment,” says Charles Richter, a Muhlenberg theater professor who helped found Camp Imagine. “Many have gone on to study the arts in college — and study other things in college — in part because they came to Camp Imagine.”

Camp Imagine remains free to Allentown School District students, and many other students benefit from full and partial need-based scholarships. The program participates in the District’s free lunch program, and provides free daily busing to and from all four ASD middle schools.

Camp Imagine runs 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily, July 2-27, and a showcase on Saturday, July 28, at 10 a.m.

Camp Imagine’s sister program, the Performing Arts Workshop, is now in its fifth year. The Workshop gives high school students — many of them alumni of Camp Imagine — a chance to extend their performance training through intensive workshop performances taught by professional performers, as well as master classes with Muhlenberg faculty members.

The Workshop runs 1:30 to 4:30 daily, July 2-27, with a showcase Friday, July 27, at 7 p.m.

“The objective of both programs is to use the arts as a means of helping young people to nurture their passions and enhance their social and communication skills,” Richter says. “And also to build self-esteem, concentration, and confidence — all of which help them in the performing arts, in school, and in life.”

And it’s working. Parents of participants consistently report that their children are more independent, more self-confident, better able to focus on tasks, and better at cooperating and collaborating within their families.

“The best thing was that my child, who is usually negative, was positive, upbeat and excited,” wrote one parent. “He came home one day and said, ‘I asked my teacher if I could do this a certain way. The teacher said that not only could I be loud, silly and different, but that they encouraged me to be! It’s the first time that everything I do at school is right. There is no one saying, Don’t! Stop! Wrong!’ This camp was a very positive experience in my child’s life and for our family.”

Enrollment is still available in both the Camp Imagine and Performing Arts Workshop programs. Tuition for Camp Imagine is $365 for non-Allentown School District students. Tuition for the Workshop is $465. A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available for both programs, based on financial need.

More information and enrollment forms are available online at www.muhlenberg.edu/camp, or by calling 484-664-3693.

Pottstown’s Tri-County Performing Arts Center Transforms Into Steel River Playhouse

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN, PA  — You might call it their third act.

What began as a small local theater company called Village Productions, and then grew into the Tri-County Performing Arts Center has now matured into the Steel River Playhouse, the name and brand which will adorn the soon-to-be completed facade of Pottstown’s premier arts center.

As anyone who has driven or walked down the 200 block of High Street knows, the front of the former Newberry’s store has been “getting a little work done” for quite some time now.

But now that the appropriate materials have arrived, and a June 15 “grand re-opening” looms, look to see that new marquee finished in a short time, said Marta Kiesling, executive director of the Steel River Playhouse.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120429/ENTERTAINMENT01/120429390/tri-pac-transforms-into-steel-river-playhouse&pager=full_story

SPRING-FORD YOUTH COMMUNITY THEATER TO PRESENT THE LARAMIE PROJECT

High School Students Tackle Controversial Play

Spring-Ford Youth Community Theater to Present The Laramie Project

ROYERSFORD, PA  – Spring-Ford Youth Community Theater is proud to present The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and the members of Tectonic Theater Project at the Spring-Ford 8^th Grade Center located at 700 Washington Street, Royersford, PA 19468. Performances run Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, May 3^rd through the 12^th.  Curtain is a 7:30 p.m.

The cast is made up of high school students in grades 10 through 12.  Spring-Ford Youth Community Theater President, Bonnie Fetteroff, directs.  Laramie is the capstone production for the group’s 2011-2012 season, its 14^th.

The extensive research that would ultimately become The Laramie Project began in November 1998, one month after Matthew Shepard, a young, openly gay man, was abducted, brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left to die on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming.  Over the course of eighteen months, the writers traveled to Laramie six times and conducted over 200 interviews with its residents to document the community’s views on homosexuality, their reaction to the crime itself as well as to the fact that the perpetrators were two local youth.

The New York Times hailed The Laramie Project as an “. . . enormously good-willed, very earnest and often deeply moving work of theatrical journalism . . .” and Curtain Up called it “. . . a play of forceful but never showy dramatic impact, its seriousness leavened with laughter”.

The Laramie Project asks the audience to call into question the beliefs and values that form the very foundation of modern society: faith, trust, tolerance, forgiveness, community, and the desire for truth.

Please Note: Due to adult themes and language, this production is only suitable for mature audiences.

 Tickets for The Laramie Project are available at the door at a price of $10, advanced tickets are available for $6 from any cast member or by emailing tickets@sfyct.org.

Muhlenberg’s ‘Three Sisters’ Looks For Common Ground Between Audience And Characters

Logo of Muhlenberg College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

New adaptation of Chekhov’s classic concludes

Muhlenberg mainstage season, April 26-29

Allentown, Pa. (April 15, 2012) — Holly Cate has been teaching Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” in her acting classes for years. So when the opportunity arose to direct the play for the Muhlenberg College mainstage, she knew what she wanted to do with it: get the audience past their preconceptions to find the universal appeal of the play.

“I wanted to move us away from the response of ‘This is what happens to these crazy Russian people,’ and find the common ground between the characters and the audience.” Cate says. “I’ve lived this play so many times in my life. I’ve been every character.”

“Three Sisters” runs April 26-29 in the Dorothy S. Baker Theatre, in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance. It is the final play in the Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance Department mainstage season.

Cate says that audiences tend to have a lot of misconceptions about Chekhov, particularly that it’s humorless or that nothing ever happens in his plays.

“There are a lot of very funny moments, and of course some beautiful moments of tragedy as well,” she says. “Chekhov is so generous with his characters. He never lets anybody be the villain or the spotless hero. These are people I know.”

A new English language version of the play by American playwright Sarah Ruhl has been particularly instrumental in helping the actors find the humanity and the natural rhythms of their characters, Cate says. Ruhl’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf‘s novel “Orlando” was presented last season on the Muhlenberg mainstage.

“This translation is just so human and so elegant” Cate says. “Ruhl understands the rhythm of Chekhov. These characters interrupt each other all the time and hardly ever finish a thought, and the writing makes it easier for the actors to find the rhythm of events crashing into one another.”

Also vital, Cate says, have been the contributions of Sioned Papparotto, a senior dance major, whose official title on the production is “choreographer,” but whose contributions are a little harder to characterize.

Cate started the production process working with dance faculty member Corrie Franz Cowart, with whom she has previously explored the movement aspects of the play in her acting classes. Cate and Cowart had some fairly well developed ideas of how movement might play a role in the staging of the play. But then Cowart had to leave the project for another sort of production entirely — triplets, born March 30.

Enter Papparotto, a veteran dancer and choreographer, who brought her own approach, and who took the play in some unexpected directions.

“I thought that adding the element of choreography to the play would be mainly about rhythm, and that hasn’t been the case,” Cate says. “Rhythm has definitely been an important element in Sioned’s work, but her contributions have even more to do with her amazing sense of space, and of bodies flowing through space. The piece is always moving. It’s never still. And that’s what Sioned’s work brings to the production, that sense that the house is humming with life.

“I staged the play,” she says, “but Sioned made it flow.”

This is by no means Cate’s first foray into incorporating movement into theatrical performances. She has previously performed in the dance theater productions of colleagues Troy Dwyer and Charles O. Anderson, including their original production “Caw” and last season’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” in which she played Prospero. Dwyer returns the favor in “Three Sisters,” playing the role of Chebutykin, an old army doctor and friend of the family.

“I’ve called in some chips for things I’ve done for him on his productions,” she says with a smile. “He has to be drunk and dance and sing in Russian; he said, ‘You can’t possibly want me to do this.’”

His more profound contribution, though, has been in bringing a deeper understanding to his character and to the play.

“I have always know that, if I ever directed this play at Muhlenberg, I would want Troy to play that role,” Cate says. “I played Prospero for him, and now he’s playing Chebutykin for me — two characters whose journeys are at least in part about confronting their own mortality.  He’s been willing to wade into some pretty dark territory in this role, and I am forever grateful.”

Ultimately, Cate’s goal for the production is that audiences will see past the play’s Russian-ness and “classic” status, and that they will find and relate to its essential humanity.

“We’re trying to tell a story that people can relate to,” she says. “Maybe they’ll see these characters, and they’ll say, ‘That’s my friend up there,’ and maybe forgive the person a little. Or they’ll say ‘That’s me up there,’ and maybe forgive themselves.”

The play features costume designs by guest artist Liz Covey, scenery by Timothy Averill, lighting design by Curtis Dretsch, and sound design by guest designer Kristian Derek Ball. Jonathan Phillips is the production stage manager.

Muhlenberg College’s Theatre & Dance Department offers the top-rated college performance program in the country, according to the Princeton Review’s 2012 survey report. Muhlenberg is a liberal arts college of more than 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa., offering Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance.

“Three Sisters” runs April 26-29. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m, and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for patrons 17 and under, $7 for students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges. Performances are in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.

Tickets and information: 484-664-3333 or http://www.Muhlenberg.edu/theatre

Tri-County Performing Arts Center Faculty Recital (Pottstown)

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re a music lover with eclectic tastes, we know where you should be at 7PM on Sunday, March 18!

The Faculty Recital is a high-quality, musical potluck, hosted by the teachers who offer private lessons year-round at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center.  Admission is FREE (but donations welcome).  Opera, Pop, Classical, Jazz, instrumental and song all are on tap.  Laugh, sigh, clap and wonder at the virtuosity.   It’s all in the intimate Newberry Loft setting at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown.  Arrive early.  Limited unreserved seating. 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA  19464 (610)-970-1199 or http://www.villageproductions.org/index.htm

Pottstown TriPAC’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” – A Review

I had the pleasure of attending the Sunday matinée performance of Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Pottstown’s Tri-County Performing Arts Center yesterday afternoon.  I must say it was one of the best things I have seen thus far at the TriPAC and the afternoon flew by!

This production is being done in the smaller theatre on the third floor.  There are no bad seats!  The performance was sold out!  I believe it was announced all three weekend performances sold out.  My comment to you is, call now and see if any tickets are available for next weekend!

Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a musical.  In fact it is almost entirely sung. Although there is scarcely any dialogue, a story is told nonetheless!  The cast of five actors is phenomenal and the musicians, who are also integral to this performance, are second to none!  Our story takes place in Harlem in the 1930’s.  Appropriately the entire cast is African-American as well as most of the musicians and the director.  I must comment that the level of talent here is amazing!  If you like the music of that era you will be beyond pleased with the high musical standards in this production.

In addition to superb music, I laughed until I cried.  The “looks”, “stage whispers” and innuendo are priceless.  This production is nonstop singing and dancing and the cast barely broke a sweat.  The ease of the performances and the level of confidence displayed by the actors and musicians is professional.  Kudos to Director, Zuhairah McGill for her excellent leadership.  A good Director is worth their weight in gold and Ms. McGill definitely falls into that category!

There were three songs that I especially liked (I loved them all).  Two were funny and one was very moving.  When the Nylons Bloom and The Viper’s Drag were hysterical!  Again, laughed until I cried.  Black and Blue was one of those songs that run the gamut of emotion.  It was a very sad song about the struggles of African-Americans during segregation.  While the cast was singing, there were poignant pictures being displayed on the back wall of a segregated America.  For Caucasians it is embarrassing and painful to watch, nevertheless “keeps it real” and reminds us how far we have come and how far we still have to go as a nation.  I am old enough to remember segregation and remember the great turmoil and pain our nation went through before and after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964.  Yet I didn’t feel preached at either.  The point was made and we moved on.

I give a huge shout out to all five actors:  Denia Gibson, Mia Mbuy, Alexa Morefield, Marc Sherfield and Isiah Robinson.  Alexa, Marc and Isiah are TriPAC veterans.  Denia and Mia were in their first TriPAC production.  Stellar cast!  Mr. Sherfield got a golden ticket to Hollywood on American Idol this season!  How impressive is that!  I would say that validates my comments on the talent level.  Evidently Randy, Jennifer and Steven would agree, at least on 1/5^th of the cast!  You are all stars!

Another huge shout out goes to the orchestra!  Ben Bullock’s piano skills are nothing short of amazing.  Ben is the Minister of Music at Invictus Church and I am sure they are thrilled to have him there!  The amount of playing is almost nonstop.  Other than the intermission the production is two hours of music!  I was very pleased to see Louis Rieger in the orchestra on string bass.  Mr. Rieger owns the High Street Music Company and I applaud his community involvement!  Louis has “mad skills” on the string bass and I thank him for sharing his considerable talent in this production.  Mr. Rieger walks the talk!  We like that here at Roy’s Rants!  Mega kudos to orchestra members: Lewis Ben on drums, Aaron Gould on trombone and Barb Newberry on reeds. Great job all around!

The production staff did an excellent job as well.  Everything went off without a hitch and it was a professional production all the way around.

One more shout out to the Red Hat Society who showed up in a big group.

I give this production two Roy’s Rants thumbs up.  If had more thumbs they would all be up!

There are three more performances left:  Friday, February 17th, Saturday, February 18th and Sunday, February 19^th.

Tickets
ADULT: $17
STUDENT / SENIOR (65+): $15
CHILD (12 & under): $13

Groups of ten or more receive a $2.00 per ticket discount!

The Tri-County Performing Arts Center is located at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA. 

Voice: (610) 970-1199

Internet:  http://www.tripac.org

Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre Auditions

Auditions for MSMT 2012 season, including ‘H.M.S. Pinafore,’ Lehigh Valley premiere of ‘Hairspray,’ will be held Feb. 19 and 21 Technical positions and high school internships also available

Allentown, Pa. (Jan. 17, 2012) — Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre will hold open auditions for performers ages 16 and up on Feb. 19 and 21. Performers will be cast for the season’s mainstage productions: the Lehigh Valley premiere of “Hairspray,” performing June 13 – July 1, and Gilbert and Sullivan‘s “H.M.S. Pinafore,” performing July 11-29.

The following audition details can also be found online, at www.muhlenberg.edu/summermusictheatre.

Vocal auditions will be held Sunday, Feb. 19, from 2 to 6 and 7 to 11 p.m., and Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 6 to 11 p.m. Auditions will be held in the Empie Theatre, Baker Center for the Arts, on the Muhlenberg College campus. Vocal audition appointments are three minutes.

Dance auditions will be held Sunday, Feb. 19, from 6 to 10 p.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 6 to 8 p.m., in the Dance Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance. Dance auditions will take about half an hour. Auditioners will be taught a short dance sequence, which they will then perform. No preparation is required.

All auditioners must register in advance and schedule an audition. All auditioners must sign up for both vocal and dance auditions. Auditioners should send an e-mail to boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu before Friday, Feb. 17, indicating available dates and times within the scheduled audition, and providing a mobile phone number where the auditioner can be reached with questions.

Those without access to e-mail should call the Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance office at 484-664-3087, during regular office hours before Thursday, Feb. 16. Voice messages should contain all of the above information.

All auditioners will be assigned a time for both a dance audition and a vocal audition, and should plan to dance and sing, even if they concentrate in just one area. It is possible for a performer to be cast based on a strong audition in just singing or just dance; however all performers in both shows will sing and dance.

The directors are looking for an ethnically diverse cast, including a wide range of ages and types, and community members are strongly encouraged to audition.

Performers may audition for either show, or for both shows, but will not be cast in more than one.

Auditioners for both shows should prepare a memorized vocal selection of 16 to 32 bars. Those wishing to be considered for a lead role in “Hairspray” should sing an up-tempo song that shows off belt voice (for women) or upper register (for men). Those wishing to be considered for a lead in “H.M.S. Pinafore” should sing any song that shows off range, size of voice, projection, and character.

To be considered for lead roles in both shows, auditioners should prepare two audition selections. To be considered for just the chorus of either or both shows, auditioners may prepare just one selection.

An accompanist will be provided for the vocal audition. You must bring sheet music in the key in which you would like to sing, with your 16- to 32-bar selection indicated and any cuts clearly noted. Please no accompaniment tapes or a cappella auditions.

Callback auditions will be held March 15-18, and will include acting auditions, reading from the script. Details will be provided as necessary, but auditioners should hold the dates if possible.

Non-performing opportunities are available for technicians and costumers. Carpenters, electricians, props technicians, light board and sound board operators, and stage crew are needed for productions. Costumers, first hand, stitchers, and wardrobe running crew are needed in the costume shop.

High school stage management internships are available for those who will be at least 16 years old by the time they begin working for MSMT. Interns work alongside college students and professionals from the College, and guest artists from New York, learning valuable skills that they can take back to their high school programs. Interns receive a $400 stipend for the summer.

The application deadline for technicians, costumers, and administrative personnel is March 1. Applications can be found online at www.muhlenberg.edu/summermusictheatre. Completed applications can be sent to boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu.

Sam Shepherd’s “Curse Of The Starving Class” At Muhlenberg College

Allentown, Pa. (Nov. 17, 2011) — Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Sam Shepard delves into the darkest corners of the American family in his 1978 play “Curse of the Starving Class,” opening Nov. 30 at Muhlenberg College.

Part of Shepard’s series of “family tragedy” plays, “Curse” continues the playwright’s exploration of the death of the American family—embodied by the Tate family, whose personal and financial struggles have pushed them to desperation. The New York Times called the play “Shepard’s most comic and most excoriating study of the indomesticity of the American household.”

“Curse of the Starving Class” plays Nov. 30 through Dec. 4 in Muhlenberg’s 100-seat Studio Theatre.

The production marks Muhlenberg faculty member Larry Singer’s return to the stage after 20 years. Singer teaches acting as a visiting assistant professor in the Theatre and Dance Department. He made his Broadway debut in 1980 and worked as an actor for the next decade, but since 1988 has worked primarily as a teacher and director.

A poll of Back Stage magazine readers named Singer the best scene study teacher and acting coach in New York City, in the magazine’s 2011 Back Stage Choice Awards. Singer says that “Curse of the Starving Class” has provided a challenging return to the stage.

“Shepard writes completely with his heart, trying to bear and expunge his own demons,” Singer says. “You just sense that as an artist, he’s not holding back, and he’s unequivocal in his determination to do that, and that inspires me as an actor to follow suit.”

Director Francine Roussel, also a faculty member in the Theatre and Dance Department, says the play has particular resonance now, in the wake of recent financial scandals and what she calls America’s growing distrust of the elite.

“The greed of American culture is a dominant theme in the play—how that greed overwhelms the characters’ sense of family,” Roussel says. “The play is talking about the dysfunctional family, but it also has the bigger context that is the crisis of capitalism, and the risk of the excesses that are beyond the individual crisis of this family.”

“Curse of the Starving Class” tells the story of the Tate family, barely subsisting on a scrap of a California avocado farm. The son, Wesley, stands on the precarious edge of manhood, his prospects dim, while his sister Emma immerses herself in 4-H projects and horseback fantasies. Their father Weston, played by Singer, has driven the family deep into debt, but he’s got a scheme to sell the place and start fresh. He has no idea that his wife Ella is cooking up a scheme of her own.

Roussel says the Tates are doomed from the start—by Weston’s alcoholism, by greed, and by their inability to come together as a family.

“The parents are behaving more like children, and the children are being forced to grow up very fast and to try to be responsible,” she says. “But of course they haven’t been given the tools to do that, to grow up. The family members cling to each other and claw at each other at the same time; they feel like they need each other to survive, but like they’re trapped.

“There’s a beautiful image at the end of the play,” Roussel says, “of an eagle who is flying in midair with a cat hanging by its claws from the eagle’s chest. They are destroying each other. And even though they’re trying to survive, both of them will eventually fall to their death.”

Singer says that, besides the playwright’s brutal honesty and excoriating, dark sense of humor, what most distinguishes Shepard’s writing is its sense of rhythm.

“The rhythms are challenging at first,” he says, “but after a while you feel like you’re galloping along with a horse. It’s a great feeling. Sometimes you fall off, and it hurts, but otherwise galloping is a great rhythm.”

The play presents some unique production challenges—chief among them, that it calls for a live lamb to join the cast.

“We have to make sure it’s not too big, make sure it’s used to being handled by humans and not just wild in the fields,” Roussel says. “That remains our number one concern.”

Muhlenberg College‘s Theatre & Dance Department is the top-rated college performance program in the country, according to the Princeton Review‘s 2012 survey report. Muhlenberg is a liberal arts college of more than 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa, offering Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance.

“Curse of the Starving Class” will be performed Nov. 30 – Dec. 4: Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for patrons 17 and under. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.    ***For mature audiences***

Tickets and information are available at 484-664-3333 or http://www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre

Sondheim’s “Merrily” At Muhlenberg‏

‘Merrily We Roll Along‘ takes audiences backwards through a life in the arts

Wistful and innovative, Sondheim musical opens Oct. 28 at Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance

Allentown, Pa. (Oct. 17, 2011) — When “Merrily We Roll Along,” the wistful 1981 musical by Stephen Sondheim, opens Oct. 28 at Muhlenberg College, it will take audiences on a journey through time, as many musicals do. The difference is that “Merrily’s” audiences will be journeying backwards, following a group of artists from the end of their long friendship, at the beginning off the show, to their first moments together, at the show’s end.

Rueful and nostalgic, the show explores the lure of show business and the price of success, says director James Peck, chair of the college’s Theatre & Dance Department. Also, he says, the importance of having a network of friends to remaining grounded and connected to what matters.

“It’s a cautionary tale about how not to screw up your life in the arts,” Peck says. “It’s inspiring and heartbreaking, and it contains some of Sondheim’s most irresistible songs.”

The second production in the department’s 2011-12 mainstage season, “Merrily We Roll Along” plays Oct. 28 through Nov. 6 in the college’s Baker Center for the Arts. Because of the college’s Family Weekend programs, tickets will be scarce for Oct. 28-30.

“Merrily” features music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by George Furth, Sondheim’s collaborator on the earlier hit musical “Company.” The show’s musical score received rave reviews, and features the Broadway standards “Good Thing Going,” “Not a Day Goes By” and “Our Time.”

The show tells the story of composer and film producer Franklin Shepard and his two closest friends, playwright Charley Kringas, Shepard’s lifelong collaborator, and novelist Mary Flynn. The trio begin their careers full of idealism and ambition–and they find success, but not necessarily fulfillment. The play moves backwards through their personal and professional milestones–starting with a disastrous opening-night party for Shepard’s uninspired new movie, and journeying back to a rooftop at dawn, at the start of a friendship and a career.

“The play is about being a middle-aged person, and the struggles of staying true to your vision,” Peck says. “It’s also about being a very young person, just starting out in the world, with a certain vision of yourself and of the kind of artist you’ll turn out to be.

“I’m in one stage of that journey, and I remember the other,” he says. “And my cast are still very much at the beginning of that journey, looking forward to their careers. And that’s the heartbreak, in a way. Some young artists will of course go on to have splendid careers, and some will be disappointed, but certainly none will have exactly the careers they envision for themselves. That vision can be hard to let go of, and looking back, can be hard to come to terms with.”

Choreographer Jeremy Arnold, a senior dance major at Muhlenberg, says that the play resonates especially strongly for him as a young artist.

“It’s very much about the choices we make in our lives,” Arnold says. “And it’s very applicable to where we are as students. I can identify with the characters as an artist about to start my career.”

Senior Andrew Clark concurs. In his portrayal of Charley Kringas, he says he has found himself thinking about his own decisions, and wondering what effects they might have down the road.

“Every decision we make resonates out like ripples in a pond,” Clark says. “We are shown how things resonate with and affect others without our being aware of it. This show is very sad, but there is an inherent sense of hope in our production because, like our characters at the end, we’re all so young.”

“Merrily’s” backwards-running structure is also reflected in its musical score, according to musical director Ken Butler. Shepard composes a musical theme early in his life that becomes the basis for several later compositions, and Butler says that sharp-eared patrons will hear that theme develop backwards as the play progresses.

“The glory of the reversal is when the audiences has those ‘a-ha’ moments,” Butler says. “It’s a process of excavation, and it’s always a jolt.”

The Sunday, Nov. 6 performance at 2 p.m. will feature Open Captioning for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing and Audio Description for patrons who are blind or visually impaired. Tickets are available at a reduced rate to patrons who require these services. To purchase tickets for OC or AD services at the Nov. 6 performance, contact Jess Bien at boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu or 484-664-3087.

Muhlenberg College’s Theatre & Dance Department is the top-rated college performance program in the country, according to the Princeton Review‘s 2012 survey report. Muhlenberg is a liberal arts college of more than 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa, offering Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance.

“Merrily We Roll Along” runs Oct. 28 to Nov. 6. Opening-weekend performances are: Friday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 29, at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m.  The second week of performances are Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 2-5, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $20; patrons 17 and under, $8; students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges, $7. For groups of 15 or more, tickets are $15. Performances are in the Empie Theatre, Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew Street, Allentown.

Tickets and information: 484-664-3333 or http://www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre

Muhlenberg’s ‘New Voices’ Festival Showcases World Premiere Plays

Evening of one-act plays includes full productions

of new works by five emerging playwrights

Allentown, Pa. (Sept. 23, 2011)—Muhlenberg College will present the world premiere of five new short plays by emerging playwrights, during the Theatre & Dance Department’s “New Voices” festival, Oct. 1-5. The department produces a “New Voices” festival every other year as part of its mainstage season.

“‘New Voices’ is an opportunity for audiences to see some provocative new plays for the first time anywhere, by very talented young writers,” says Charles Richter, Muhlenberg’s director of theater and the artistic director of the festival. “It has great ‘I was there when’ potential for the audience—that 20 years down the road, they’ll be able to say they saw a prominent playwright’s very first produced play.”

The evening of one-acts is about two hours long, including intermission. It will be presented for six performances in Muhlenberg’s intimate 100-seat Studio Theatre. The evening includes plays ranging in subject matter from a dramatic crisis at the family dinner table to a bizarre business meeting.

Zach Trebino’s “…continuance…” explores the mother-son dynamic in an innovative, often-surreal piece, in which the characters act out a pivotal event from earlier in the mother’s life.

“A lot of my work is word-based; it’s an artistic experiment,” says Trebino, a 2011 graduate whose last project at Muhlenberg was directing last season’s mainstage production “Polaroid Stories. “I wrote the actual story that is being told by the mother first, and then about a year later added on the extra role-playing layer.”

Trebino directed a well-received production of Georg Buchner’s “Woyzeck” for the Philly Fringe Festival 2011, presented by his theater collective, Homunculus, Inc. One reviewer called the production “painfully good. … It worked exquisitely.”

Directing “…continuance…” is another returning alum, Vanessa Lancellotti, a 2010 graduate. In December, Lancellotti founded Punch Theatre, a physical theater company influenced by the commedia dell’arte performance style. With Punch, she has directed two original productions in the spring and summer of 2011: “The Skin You Leave Behind,” in New York, and “Architecture,” performed in New York and at the CrisisArt Festival in Tuscany, Italy.

“This is a great opportunity to come back to Muhlenberg and work with the next generation of students,” Lancellotti says. “I’m used to having to do everything myself with Punch, and it’s a luxury to be working with a great team.”

Lancellotti also directs Davis Alieniello’s “Make Your Acquaintance,” which Alieniello describes as “a glimpse of a very peculiar lunch meeting; ridiculousness ensues.”

To me, this play says a lot about the amount of energy we put into self-construction,” he says. “I think it prevents us from forming actual connections. We spend a lot of time thinking about ourselves in a bubble, hyper-self-conscious about who we are and how we come off.”

Shannon Leigh Wittenberger’s “Transcranium,” directed by Danielle Barlow ’13, examines relationships—but from inside the befuddled head of its protagonist. Either her boyfriend is real, and her psychiatrist is imaginary, or it’s the other way around. Or maybe neither one is real.

“There was this TV commercial, with a therapist talking to a patient about a giant imaginary pizza oven,” Wittenberg ’11 says. “The shrink says, ‘You know the pizza oven’s not real,’ and I started thinking, what if he responds, ‘The pizza oven says you’re not real.’ That was the starting point. The pizza oven turned into a boyfriend, of course.”

Eliana Sagarin’s “Fast,” directed by Amanda Lenti ’12, offers a retrospective of a friendship between two teenage boys, who turn out to be very different from one another.

“The play is a journey to unearth the ties that bind us to the people we care about,” Sagarin ’14 says. “I think Muhlenberg celebrates risks. In this festival, the diversity is so apparent and each play takes a risk in a different way.”

Kate Brenner’s “You Understand,” directed by Richter, depicts a modern family that rapidly unravels one night over the course of dinner—and the aftermath of the unraveling.

“I wanted the audience to ask questions about what should happen when things don’t go as planned,” Brenner ’13 says. “What lengths do people go to, to preserve their status quo?”

In addition to the five fully produced plays, the festival will feature staged readings of four other short plays, in a free performance Oct. 2 and 5 in the Baker Center for the Arts Recital Hall. The readings are directed by Bill Mutimer and feature the work of Dan Brennan ’11, Leah Holleran ’12, Josh Shapiro ’13, and Aly Trombitas ’14.

Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college of 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa. The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review ranks Muhlenberg’s production program first in the nation, and the Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States.

“New Voices” performances are Saturday through Wednesday, Oct. 1-5, at 8 p.m., as well as Sunday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for patrons 17 and under. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.

The “New Voices” Staged Readings performance is Sunday, Oct. 2, at 5 p.m., and Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m., in the Recital Hall, Baker Center for the Arts. Admission is free, and tickets are not required.

“New Voices” is for mature audiences. Performance information and tickets are available at 484-664-3333 or www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre.

Friday’s Feel Good Story – Good Samaritan Comes To Community Theater’s Aid

Here’s a great feel good story about the Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg.  The community theater was in jeopardy of closing their doors because a new furnace was needed.  A fundraiser was planned for August 5 at the Mechanicsburg Club to hopefully raise $2,000.

A local business man, Homer Hetrick, President of L.B. Smith Ford-Lincoln, read about the non-profit theater’s plight this morning and within a few hours the theater was depositing a $2,000 check to cover the cost of the furnace replacement!  This was a case of paying it forward by Mr. Hetrick, who has never even attended a play at the Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg.

Remco, Inc., of Mechanicsburg, will be doing the removal and installation of the new furnace at no charge!  Yet another good Samaritan!  The theater is getting a new Lennox furnace to replace the old furnace which was no longer safe to operate.

The fundraiser will still go on.  As with any non-profit, there is always a need for money.  In the theater’s case, a tree removal project moves to the top of the list!

Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre Presents A Joyful, Celebratory ‘Godspell,’ July 13-31

The music and the message are the focus in this production of the Broadway hit by ‘Wicked’ composer Stephen Schwartz.

Accessible performance July 17 will feature Audio Description and Open Captioning for visually and hearing-impaired patrons.

Allentown, Pa. (June 27, 2011) – Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre will present “Godspell,” Stephen Schwartz’s upbeat retelling of biblical parables, as the second Mainstage production of its 2011 season. Directed by Francis X. Kuhn, the show will run July 13-31 in the College’s Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance.

“‘Godspell’ is a celebration,” Kuhn says. “People should come to the theater ready to celebrate and enjoy themselves.”

Based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, “Godspell” is one of the biggest Off-Broadway and Broadway successes of all time. Featuring a beloved and sparkling score, in a variety of musical styles from pop and folk rock to gospel and vaudeville, “Godspell” boasts a string of familiar songs, led by the international hit “Day by Day.”

The show was conceived and originally directed by John-Michael Tebelak with music and new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, the Tony Award-nominated composer of “Pippin” (1972) and “Wicked” (2003). Drawing from various traditions such as clowning, pantomime and song-and-dance, “Godspell” is a groundbreaking and unique reflection on philosophy and faith—with a message of kindness, tolerance and love.

“The story is about the discovery of divine play within ourselves,” Kuhn says. “‘Godspell’ may be a story about Jesus but the play is really a celebration of what is divine in all of us and how we can all become better human beings.”

Kuhn last directed at Muhlenberg in the summer of 1979. He has directed plays, musicals, and operas for theater and opera companies throughout the country, and he is currently an associate professor of theater at The College at Brockport (SUNY) in western New York.

Muhlenberg senior Andrew Clark, who plays Jesus, says that he appreciates the chance to play a role like this because it is different from any other character he has played.

“I’m not really what you would picture when you picture Jesus,” Clark says. “Theater is a way to subvert the norm, and I think that is the essence of ’Godspell.’ In the show Jesus acts as a storyteller, and we are learning about the stories for their moral values and not necessarily the religious aspects.”

To emphasize the stories, set designer Curtis Dretsch and Kuhn wanted to take the look of their “Godspell” in an unusual direction. Dretsch co-founded Summer Music Theatre 31 years ago and has designed more than 100 sets for Muhlenberg.

“‘Godspell’ is usually overlaid with a notion of specificity — for example street people or a circus setting,” says Dretsch. “For our production we wanted to create a flexible, malleable, obviously theatrical environment.”

Kuhn and Dretsch want the text and the music to be the main focus. The set is very flexible and designed primarily to respond to light. Changes in atmosphere is accomplished through lighting changes.

“This is a much more straightforward, presentational version of the show,” says Dretsch. “The set is there to support, nurture, and present the play.”

The set and lighting also provide a showcase for the choreography by alumnus Will Porter, returning to Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre for the first time since graduating in 2008. Porter will be headed to Tokyo in August as part of the national tour of “A Chorus Line.”

“Returning to Muhlenberg is a blessing,” says Porter. “It’s like a breath of fresh air.”

Porter and Kuhn want to give the show a contemporary look and feel liberated from its 1970s roots and specifically Christian context.

“Personally, I am Buddhist,” Porter says, “But I find many parallels among religions in the songs and stories in ‘Godspell,’ and I am using that as a jumping off point for the choreography.”

The Sunday, July 17, performance at 2 p.m. will feature Open Captioning (OC) for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing and Audio Description (AD) for patrons who are blind or visually impaired. Open captioning provides the audience with an unobtrusive electronic text display to the side of the stage, displaying lyrics and dialogue in real time. Audio Description is a form of audio-visual translation, using natural pauses to insert narrative that translates the visual image into an audible form. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description. This performance is sponsored in part by the Tri-County Accessible Arts Coalition.

“We are excited to bring the first audio described and open captioned performance to the Lehigh Valley community,” says Jess Bien, general manager of Muhlenberg’s Theatre and Dance Department. “By offering these types of performances, we are hoping to provide a whole new audience with the opportunity to experience live theater and some of America’s greatest musicals.”

To purchase audio described and open captioned tickets for the July 17 performance only, please call Jess Bien at 484-664-3087 or email boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu.

“Godspell” runs July 13–31, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Performances are in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.

Tickets for July 13-16 are $32; seniors age 65 and up, $28; students and children, $18. Tickets for July 17-31 are $38; seniors, $35; students and children, $20.

Sundays are Family Matinee day; tickets for children ages 5-18 are just $10 when purchased with a full-price or senior ticket. (Limit two discounted tickets per full-price ticket.) Discounts are available for subscriptions to “The Music Man” and “Godspell” and for groups of 15 or more. More information online.

Also featured in MSMT’s 31st season: “Cinderella,” a movement-theater production for families, June 22 – July 30.

Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre performance information and tickets are available at 484-664-3333 or www.muhlenberg.edu/SummerMusicTheatre