The Lehigh Valley Arts Council Presents: Behind The Scenes

Allentown, PA – The second installment of the Arts Alive! 2014 series,“Behind the Scenes” features Curtis Dretsch, stage designer for Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

Dretsch is the Director of Design and Technical Theatre for Muhlenberg College, and has designed sets, costumes, and lighting for more than 100 theatre and dance productions on local and national stages. He is known for creating lavish colors, spectacular designs, and architectural magic that amazes audiences, and he continues to build precise models of each project. Guests will get a glimpse into his design process—from concept to scale model to the completed stage set.

Written by Monty Python’s comic genius Eric Idle and composer John Du Prez, the 2005 Broadway production of Monty Python’s Spamalot was “lovingly ripped off” from the classic 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The stage musical parodies the legend of King Arthur and his band of lunatic knights as they sing and dance their way through a ridiculous divine quest. The show, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical and was seen on Broadway by more than two million people, is providing Dretsch the opportunity to tackle its wacky story and outrageous landscape for the 34th Season of the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre.

“Behind the Scenes” is intended to spark everyone’s creative process by spending time with performers and designers who are willing to share personal insights and experiences.

“Behind the Scenes” will take place July 12, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, located on the Muhlenberg College campus at 2400 W. Chew Street, Allentown, Pa.

The Lehigh Valley Arts Council member fee for each session is $10; nonmembers pay $15. Attendance is limited to 25 persons, and reservations are required. Email James Ravelle at operations@lvartscouncil.org, call 610-437-5915 or visit www.LVArtsCouncil.org.

Call: 610-437-5915.
Email: operations@LVArtsCouncil.org 
Web: www.lvartscouncil.org/ArtsAlive.html
Tickets: www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1804136&cobrand=lvartsboxoffice 

Date: Saturday, July 12, 2014 – 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: 
Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
Muhlenberg College Campus
2400 W. Chew Street, Allentown, Pa.

Arts Alive 2014 – Behind The Scenes

Arts Alive 2014 – Behind the Scenes

The second installment of the Arts Alive! 2014series,“Behind the Scenes” features Curtis Dretsch, stage designer for Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot. Dretsch is the Director of Design and Technical Theatre for Muhlenberg College, and has designed sets, costumes, and lighting for more than 100 theatre and dance productions on local and national stages. Guests will get a glimpse into his design process—from concept to scale model to the completed stage set. “Behind the Scenes” will be held on July 12, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College (2400 W. Chew Street, Allentown, Pa.). Tickets are $10 for Members / $15 for nonmembers; space is limited. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS FOR “BEHIND THE SCENES” !

Muhlenberg Honors Mildred Greene In Costume Retrospective

 

Logo of Muhlenberg College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Allentown, PA – Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance will remember Mildred Greene, long-time costumer and costume designer, with a special exhibition of her work Feb. 5-27. The exhibition, titled “It Fits, You’ll Wear It & Love It,” will honor Greene’s impact on the department and its productions.

Greene built and designed costumes for the Theatre & Dance Department and Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre from 1979 until her retirement in 2003. During her 24-year career at Muhlenberg, she designed and produced thousands of costumes for the stage.

The exhibition will feature costumes as well as photographs of Greene’s design repertoire spanning her Muhlenberg career. A free reception for the exhibition will be held Friday, Feb. 7 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Greene’s skill, expertise, and no-nonsense charm endeared her to her colleagues and hundreds of students, according to Curtis Dretsch, professor of design and technical theater.

“Mildred could do more, with less, more quickly than anyone else I’ve ever known,” Dretsch says.

Greene was destined to create costumes for the stage, as her father was an upholsterer and her mother sewed clothing and dance costumes for the family. She worked in New York City during World War II as a pattern maker for McCall’s Pattern Company while also work in alterations shops honing her construction skills.

Reviewers consistently praised Greene’s work throughout her career. “Mildred Greene’s costumes deserve to be kept on display as examples of theater art even after audiences can no longer enjoy the sterling play they frame,” wrote Morning Call theater critic John Flautz in his 1988 review of “The School for Scandal.” “They are nothing short of stunning!”

Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college of more than 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa. The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review has ranked Muhlenberg’s theater program as in the top twelve in the nation for the past seven years, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theater and dance.

“It Fits, You’ll Wear It & Love It” runs Feb. 5-27. The exhibition will take place in the Galleria Lobby, Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.