Lehigh Valley Arts Advocate – February 2017

FEBRUARY 2017

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR At only 46 cents per citizen, one has to ask “What does the National Endowment for the Arts actually do for the citizens of this country?” Surprisingly, a lot. The 2016 budget for the National Endowment for the Arts was $148 million dollars. Annually, the NEA awards more than 2,200 grants and cooperative agreements exceeding $130 million, funding the arts in all 50 states and six U.S. jurisdictions, including urban and rural areas, and reaching civilian and military populations. As determined by the Americans for the Arts in their Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study, the nonprofit arts and culture industry in the United States generates $135.2 billion dollars of activity annually. This activity supports 4.1 million jobs and generates $22.3 billion dollars in revenue to local, state and federal governments. That’s quite a healthy return on investment at less than four bits. Economics aside, public funding for the arts validates the important role that the arts play in our lives. Arts are the highest form of expression. They have the power to make our lives better, heal emotional wounds, and spark initiatives, As a citizen, I would gladly support $5 of my tax dollars toward increasing the budget for the NEA. It would go a lot further in bringing people together in this country than spending $30 billion dollars for a wall. Randall Forte, Executive Director

Save the Date for Young at Art!

You won’t want to miss this year’s day of creative fun for the whole family! SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2017 10:00am to 2:00pm Penn State Lehigh Valley free admission for the community lvartscouncil.org/young-at-art The day will be jam-packed with hands-on activities and performances from the participating groups, from dance routines and theatre workshops to arts demonstrations and craft projects. Kids of every age and ability will find a way to sample the arts in all forms, while parents can gather information about classes and summer camps.

Meet Our Exhibiting Artist

THOMAS AUGUSTA January / February “As a painter, I am more interested in how the subject appeals to me. I paint what I think is pleasing or compelling to the eye. My watercolors are more detailed than others, I try to bring in the viewer in with color, composition and detail.” Thomas is a watercolor painter currently living in Bethlehem, PA, painting plein air and in his “Crow’s Nest Studio” at home. His inviting watercolor landscapes and still lives capture light and color, creating a balanced and interesting setting that tells a story. Thomas’s exhibit will be on display in our office until the end of February – stop by and see the collection!

Exhibiting Artist Page

Arts Alive 2017

Engage Your Mind & Spirit! Join us in exploring the “intimacy of space” as imagined by a landscape architect, captured in a musical salon, and depicted in the wearable art of a metalsmith. Expand your appreciation for the arts by attending one (or all three) of our Arts Alive offerings! SPECIAL MEMBER PRICING FOR SERIES TICKET Enjoy all three 2017 Arts Alive events for the price of $60 (savings of $15)!

PURCHASE ARTS ALIVE SERIES TICKET

▪ How Does Your Garden Show? Saturday, April 29, 2017 | 11 am – 12:30 pm | Garden Design, Inc. PURCHASE TICKETS ▪ Music of Friends Saturday, June 17, 2017 | 11 am – 12:30 pm | Home of Janet & Malcolm Gross PURCHASE TICKETS ▪ Wearable Sculpture Sunday, October 15, 2017 | 11 am – 12:30 pm | Studio of Loretta Tryon PURCHASE TICKETS

Upcoming Performances

MORAVIAN COLLEGE MUSIC INSTITUTE February 18 at 7:30pm Sounds of New Orleans Foy Hall, Moravian College February 19 at 2:00pm Gamelan Gita Semara Foy Hall, Moravian College February 26 at 4:00pm An Afternoon of Jazz Foy Hall, Moravian College March 16 at 7:30pm Expressionism – The Art & the Music Peter Hall, Moravian College March 19 at 7:00pm Moravian College Jazz Fusion Ensemble & Jazz Combo II Foy Hall, Moravian College March 24 at 7:30pm Moravian College BIG Band Foy Hall, Moravian College March 26 at 4:00pm Early Music Ensembles Peter Hall, Moravian College March 26 at 7:00pm Celtic Ensemble – “Heather & Thistle – Music of Scotland” Peter Hall, Moravian College March 31 at 7:30pm Moravian College Dance Company Foy Hall, Moravian College

MORAVIAN COLLEGE THEATRE COMPANY February 23 at 8pm Boeing-Boeing Arena Theatre, Moravian College February 24 at 8pm Boeing-Boeing Arena Theatre, Moravian College February 25 at 8pm Boeing-Boeing Arena Theatre, Moravian College February 26 at 2pm Boeing-Boeing Arena Theatre, Moravian College

PENNSYLVANIA SINFONIA ORCHESTRA March 5 at 4pm An Afternoon with Mozart Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown

RUSH To Get Tickets To Showtune For $9.99!

RUSH TICKETS AVAILABLE! Last Minute Discount…Only $9.99!

Act 1 DeSales presents SHOWTUNE: Celebrating the Words and Music of Jerry Herman Saturday, October 22, 2016 8:00 p.m. Schubert Theatre 2755 Station Avenue Center Valley, PA 18034   Watch an introduction to Showtune on YouTube!

_ A BIG AND BRASSY SLICE OF MUSICAL THEATRE HEAVEN Celebrating the remarkable songs of Broadway tunesmith Jerry Herman, Showtune features 40 of Herman’s biggest hits from such shows as Mame, Mack & Mabel, La Cage aux Folles and, of course, Hello, Dolly! Featured songs include “Time Heals Everything,” “We Need a Little Christmas,” and “Before the Parade Passes By.” “A great big bouquet of memorable tunes!”– The Journal News. Ages 6+

— Click Here to Buy Last Minute Discount RUSH Tickets for ONLY $9.99! (price of a regular ticket is $23.00) Rush Tickets available online only through Lehigh Valley Arts Council Box Office

PLEASE NOTE: ** Convenience fee of $2.50 is charged at checkout in addition to the price of a standard Rush Ticket (total ticket price + convenience fee = $12.49) For additional information, please visit Act 1, DeSales University’s Website or call: 610-282-3192.

Lehigh Valley Arts Council www.LVArtsCouncil.org ◊ www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org  Rush Ticketing is a service of the Lehigh Valley Arts Council. For more information, visit: www.lvartscouncil.org/RushTicketing.html

Muhlenberg College Directors’ Festival Features Will Eno Short Plays, World Premiere One-Act

Allentown, PA — An evening of visionary experimental theater will be on display as Muhlenberg College’s mainstage theatre and dance season opens Sept. 28, with “Attention: New Visions Directors’ Festival.” The directors whose work will be featured in the festival say they aim to shine a light on human behavior in a complicated, broken, beautiful society. The festival is the first of two on the Muhlenberg mainstage this fall and will showcase the work of two talented directors from the College’s Department of Theatre & Dance.

Running through Oct. 2, the evening includes short, relatable plays that use heightened, imaginative situations to offer witty and moving answers to questions about knowing each other. The world premiere of “The Imaginary Audience” by Mattie Brickman is directed by Emma Steiger ’17, and “Oh, the Humanity & Other Good Intentions,” three short plays by Will Eno, is directed by Sarah Bedwell ’17.

“The Imaginary Audience” tells the story of three adolescent ballet dancers learning the difference between performing onstage, performing in society, and performing identity, Steiger says.

“The title of the play is taken from a psychological concept I think we all understand too well,” Steiger says. “Clinically, the Imaginary Audience comes from the way that adolescents perform in society due to a feeling of constant surveillance. But the concept has broader implications for all of us.”

The play invites us to eavesdrop on the three young dancers, desperate to meet the dance world’s harsh standards and to fit in. While flexing their internet muscle, the girls take things a step too far—and discover a shocking secret. 

Steiger worked with playwright Mattie Brickman in Los Angeles over the summer, and she and the cast will continue collaborating with her by email and phone. Brickman plans to attend a performance.

“I want the play to both resemble and mock reality,” Steiger says. “I want it to come as a shock.”

“Oh, the Humanity & Other Good Intentions” is a collection of three short plays in which the characters set out to present themselves in the best light, given some difficult circumstances—”or ultimately, desperately, any light at all,” says Sarah Bedwell, who directs the collection.

“I’m really interested in exploring how people deal with tragic events,” she says. “We often overlook the way we react to others in the face of those events.”

In “Enter the Spokeswoman, Gently,” an inexperienced airline spokeswoman gives a press conference to the families of victims immediately after a plane has gone down. In “The Bully Composition,” a photographer and his assistant seem to be asking the audience to recreate a famous photo from the Spanish American War. In the title piece, a husband and wife figure out that they can’t get where they want to go because they are in a play and their car is made of chairs.

“I want my audience to look at these absurd events and realize they are not so absurd,” Bedwell says. “In exploring that, we’re exploring what it means to be human.”

“Attention: New Visions Directors’ Festival” plays Sept. 28 – Oct. 2. For mature audiences. Showtimes are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Regular admission tickets are $15. Tickets for youth and LVAIC students and staff are $8.

Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre or by phone at 484-664-3333. Performances are in the Studio Theatre in Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 West Chew St., Allentown

Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is a highly selective, private, four-year residential college located in Allentown, PA., approximately 90 miles west of New York City. With an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, sciences, business, education and public health. A member of the Centennial Conference, Muhlenberg competes in 22 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg’s theater program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, 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.

Steel River Playhouse Offering Discount Tickets And Happy Hour

Thursday, May 19th

5:30-7 PM

Steel River Playhouse

245 E High St.

Pottstown, PA

 

Hors D’Oeuvres Provided

Cash Bar Available

Steel River Playhouse Offering Discount Tickets to Show After Happy Hour: $26.00 for adult, $21.00 for Seniors over 65, and $14.00 for students

RSVP Required.

Please call 610.850.0181 ext. 0 to RSVP.

MCCC West End Student Theatre And Theatre Arts Program To Present Sam Shepard’s ‘A Lie Of The Mind’‏

Photo: Students Tess Devlin and Tyler Sanderson rehearse for Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) West End Student Theatre and Theatre Arts program’s “A Lie of the Mind,” April 21-23, at 7 p.m., with a 12:30 p.m. performance Friday, April 22. All performances will be held in the College’s South Hall Community Room, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Photo by Sandi Yanisko.

Pottstown, PA—Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) West End Student Theatre and Theatre Arts program are proud to present “A Lie of the Mind,” a darkly comic family drama by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Sam Shepard. Show dates are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 21-23, at 7 p.m., with a 12:30 p.m. performance Friday, April 22.  All performances will be held in the College’s South Hall Community Room, 101 College Drive, Pottstown.

Tickets cost $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors. To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.mc3.edy/livelyarts or call 215-641-6518.  A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Laurel House, offering services for victims of domestic abuse and their families.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind” follows two families in the Montana plains, connected by one marriage and a brutal incident which leaves the wife, Beth, in her family’s care.  Filled with enormous vitality, and humor, it explores the destinies of Jake and Beth, torn apart by jealousies and distrust, welded together by the needs of the human heart and the destructiveness which it can engender.

“This is the reason why I feel art is so powerful,” says director Samantha Clarke. “One in four women will experience abuse in their life. With numbers like that, it’s hard not to accept that abuse knows no race, gender, socioeconomic status, or creed. However, abuse, harassment, and discrimination often go without a voice; this play gives us a voice in which to speak for those who cannot, will not, or know not how.” This production contains adult language and themes.

In conjunction with the production, the students of West End Student Theatre will be creating a ‘Post Secret’ wall to offer a voice for members of the community who are facing domestic abuse, bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Anonymous drop boxes will be available on campus, and students and community members may leave a note to be posted on the ‘Post Secret’ wall at the South Hall Community Room during performances.

“The drop boxes will also have resources and literature available,” says West End Student Theatre advisor Tim Gallagher. “We want the opportunity to speak to empower the members of our community who are dealing with these issues.”

Samantha Clarke and stage managed by Morgan Carasquillo, the cast includes Kayla Velasquez, Eric Reyes, Hailee Tyson, Tess Devlin, Hunter Thorsen, Tyler Sanderson, and Joe Donley. The production is designed, produced and presented by the students of the West End Student Theatre, under the guidance of Tim Gallagher and Christopher Kleckner.

‘New Visions’ Directors’ Festival At Muhlenberg‏

Allentown, PA – An evening of visionary experimental theater will be on display in Muhlenberg College’s “New Visions” Directors’ Festival, Feb. 24-28. The festival features plays directed by three gifted senior directing students in the College’s Department of Theatre & Dance.

Each of the three one-act plays offers a fresh perspective on contemporary social issues: “Terrible Beautiful Bodies,” written by Muhlenberg alumni Ben Nassau ’15 and Moriah Benjoseph ’15 and directed by Amanda Nell ’16; “Hello Out There,” written by William Saroyan and directed by Philip Kaufman ’16; and “The Exception and the Rule,” written by Bertolt Brecht and directed by Lauren Goldberger ’16.

“Terrible Beautiful Bodies” asks important questions about the bodies we inhabit, Nell says, and examines the shape and stigma that is often attached to the human form. The play consists of vignettes and monologues taken from real interviews about how people view their bodies.

“I am looking to create a very collaborative environment within my cast, where each actor feels supported and can have their voices heard,” Nell says. “I’ve gotten the sense that people don’t have the best relationship with their bodies, and it is important that we bring this to light in a public setting.”

“Hello Out There” tells the story of a professional gambler who is falsely accused of rape and held in a backwater Texas jail cell. While in custody, he meets the love of his life — but his accuser’s husband is armed, furious, and on his way.

“My plan is to direct a political commentary on the current environment of our country, specifically addressing black lives,” Kaufman says. “I have been working with professors and the Black Student Association on campus in order to make a contribution through this play to the community’s ongoing dialogue.”

German playwright Bertolt Brecht explores issues of class warfare and privilege in “The Exception and the Rule” through the grimly ironic story of a merchant and his porter, who find misfortune on a journey across the desert. The play was originally part of the Lehrstücke cycle, a series of plays used to educate the German middle class about oppression and classism in the 1930s.

“I’m hoping to look at interactions between social classes that happen around us all the time, but go unnoticed,” Goldberger says. “We become numb to these interactions, and I want to bring out how they are relevant in everyday life.”

“Each piece in this year’s festival addresses contemporary issues that are relevant in the community,” says Charles Richter, who serves as director of Muhlenberg’s theatre program and the festival’s artistic director. “The plays are each very different in form, and each has so much to offer in terms of performance experience for the cast and community content for the audiences.”

Performances of “New Visions” are Feb. 24-28. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for LVAIC students. Each “New Visions” performance includes all three short plays. Tickets can be purchased online at muhlenberg.edu/theatreanddance or by phone at 484-664-3333. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. For mature audiences.

Act 1 DeSales University Performing Arts Presents: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Saturday ◊ April 25, 2015 ◊ 8:00 p.m.
Main Stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts
2755 Station Avenue
Center Valley, PA 18034

Book by Abe Burrows & Jack Weinstock & Willie Gilbert • Music by Frank Loesser •Based on How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead • Directed by Steven Dennis

“Fast, funny, and glitzy…a non-stop delight.” –The New York Times Long before Mad Men, there was J. Pierrepont Finch’s story of power, ambition and greed. This Pulitzer Prize winning musical from the authors of Guys and Dolls follows Finch as he steps off the ledge from his window-washing job and rises to chairman of the board. Following a “how to” manual and breaking hearts and stepping on toes along the way, this musical’s great score features dazzling dance numbers and songs such as “I Believe in You,” “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm,” and “Brotherhood of Man.”Ages 10+

Click Here to Buy
Last Minute Discount
RUSH Tickets
for ONLY $9.99!
(price of regular ticket at the door $27.00)
Rush Tickets available online only
through Lehigh Valley Arts Council Box Office

Montgomery County Community College West End Student Theatre And Theatre Arts Program to Present Peter Shaffer’s ‘Black Comedy’

Pottstown, PA — Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) West End Student Theatre and Theatre Arts program are proud to present “Black Comedy,” a farce by Sir Peter Shaffer.  Show dates are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 23, 24 and 25 at 7 p.m., with a special afternoon performance on Friday, April 24, at 12:30 p.m. All performances will be held in the College’s South Hall Community Room, West Campus, 101 College Drive, Pottstown.

Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students and seniors. To purchase tickets, call 215-641-6518 or visit www.mc3.edu/livelyarts. Free parking is available.

“Black Comedy” is a wild, comic farce by renowned British playwright Sir Peter Shaffer, author of “Amadeus.” In it, a desperate sculptor hopes to impress his fiancée’s father and a millionaire patron by “borrowing” a few antiques from his absent neighbor. But after a fuse blows in his apartment and plunges them all into darkness, a hilarious race against time ensues to set things right before the lights come back on and the neighbor returns.

“This production of ‘Black Comedy’ is akin to Mel Brooks and Dick Van Dyke having a baby – it’s a racy, raunchy, and raucous good time,” says Director Samantha Clarke. This production contains adult themes and language.

Directed by Clarke and stage managed by Anna Taylor, the cast includes Joe Donely, Carly Watson, Allison Wentzel, Zach Clark, Jeff Chernesky, Myasia Bynum, Nicholas Bartelmo, and Joseph Borders. The production is designed, produced and presented by the students of the West End Student Theatre, which includes Morgan Carrasquillo, Desiree Humes, Zachary Clark, Joe Donley, Andrew Miller, Alex Hollowell, Christian Flint, Tess Devlin, Tom Keller, Merissa Crabtree, Anthony Confino, Rianna Isbell and Mariah Blank, under the guidance of Theatre Instructor Tim Gallagher.

Photographs:  Cast members rehearse for the upcoming performances of Peter Shaffer’s “Black Comedy” on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 23, 24 and 25, at 7 p.m. and on Friday, April 24, at 12:30 p.m. in Montgomery County Community College’s South Hall Community Room, West Campus, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Photos by Diane VanDyke.

Plan To Relocate Pittsburgh Playhouse Downtown Approved; Millcraft Proposes Condos For Saks Site

The stage is set for the relocation of the Pittsburgh Playhouse to Downtown. City planning commission members unanimously approved plans for construction of new playhouse complex on Forbes Avenue Downtown today, clearing the way for its move from Oakland.

Approval came over the objections of preservationists who urged the commission to no avail to save three Forbes Avenue facades that will be relocated and integrated into the new complex under the plans advanced by Point Park University.

With today’s decision, Point Park intends to start construction in March with the demolition of three Forbes Avenue buildings and hopes to have the new complex ready for audiences in July 2017.

The $53 million project will feature a 550-seat main theater, a 200-seat adaptive theater with doors that will open to a plaza for outdoor performances, a 100-seat black box theater and supporting facilities.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2015/02/10/Millcraft-proposes-to-build-condos-garage-at-former-Saks-site-Downtown-Pittsburgh/stories/201502100184

Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre Announces Open Audition Dates

Allentown, PA — Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre will hold open auditions for performers ages 16 and up on Feb. 22 and 23. Performers will be cast for the season’s mainstage productions: the raucous, pupped-filled musical comedy “Avenue Q,” performing June 10-28, and the classic musical “Hello, Dolly!,” performing July 8-26.

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

Vocal auditions will be held Sunday, Feb. 22, from 1 to 5 and 6 to 11 p.m., and Monday, Feb. 23, from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Vocal auditions will be held in the Empie Theatre, Baker Center for the Arts. Appointments are three minutes.

Dance auditions for “Hello, Dolly!” will be held Sunday, Feb. 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance. Dance auditions will take about half an hour.

All auditioners must register in advance and schedule an audition. Auditioners should send an email to SMTcompany@muhlenberg.edu before Friday, Feb. 20, 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 email should call the Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance office at 484-664-3087, during regular office hours before Thursday, Feb. 19. Voice messages should contain all of the above information.

All “Hello, Dolly!” auditioners will be assigned a time for both a dance audition and a vocal audition. Auditioners must both dance and sing, even if they concentrate in just one area. All performers in “Hello, Dolly!” will sing and dance. “Avenue Q” does not require a preliminary dance audition, although callback auditions may include some movement.

Auditioners who live too far away from the Allentown area or who are unable to attend auditions may submit a preliminary DVD audition. The DVD should consist of a comedic monologue not more than two minutes in length, one song (see guidelines below), and a 90-second dance solo. DVDs must arrive before the audition date listed to be eligible for consideration.

Auditioners who receive a callback must attend in person to be considered for a role. Callbacks will be held March 14-15, and will include acting auditions, reading from the script.

Auditioners for both shows should prepare a memorized vocal selection of 32 bars. An accompanist will be provided for the vocal audition. Auditioners must bring sheet music in the key in which they would like to sing, with the selection indicated and any cuts clearly noted. Please no accompaniment tapes or a cappella auditions.

Auditioners for “Hello, Dolly!” should prepare a song from a musical produced prior to 1980. Auditioners for “Avenue Q” should select a song that shows character, from 1980 through the present.

For dance auditions, auditioners will be taught a short dance sequence, which they will then perform. No preparation is required.

Auditioners should bring two copies of their resumes and headshots.

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 9. Applications can be found online at muhlenberg.edu/smt. Completed applications can be sent to boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu.

MCCC’s West End Student Theatre And Theatre Arts Program To Present The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Drama, ‘Rabbit Hole’

Photo caption: Montgomery County Community College’s West End Student Theatre and Theatre Arts program will present “Rabbit Hole” on Nov. 13, 14 and 15 at 7 p.m. in the College’s South Hall Community Room, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. The cast includes Myasia Bynum, Carly Watson, Ron Quay, Sarah Koch, and Andrew Miller and is directed by Tim Gallagher. Photos by Sandi Yanisko.

Pottstown, Pa.—Montgomery County Community College’s West End Student Theatre and Theatre Arts program are proud to present “Rabbit Hole,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by David Lindsay-Abaire. Show dates are Thursday-Saturday, November 13, 14 and 15, at 7 p.m. All performances will be held in the College’s South Hall Community Room, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students and seniors. To purchase tickets, call 215-641-6518 between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. or visit http://www.mc3.edu/livelyarts.

“Rabbit Hole,” the 2007 winner for the Pulitzer Prize, is a bittersweet drama about finding hope in the lowest moments of life and the paths taken to return to the light of day. It tells the story of Becca and Howie, two young parents who could be anybody’s neighbors in a typical suburb, until the accidental death of their four-year-old son tests everything about that life… and their marriage.

“There is no manual for mourning. How or when do you restart/redefine your life in the face of loss?  Becca and Howie are grieving the death of their son in very different ways. A terrible accident has uprooted their lives and created a wedge between them. Ultimately, this play is a journey home…a defiant, funny yet delicate journey home,” says director Tim Gallagher. This production contains adult themes and language.

Directed by Gallagher, assisted by Rianna Isbell, and stage managed by Desiree Humes, the cast includes Myasia Bynum, Carly Watson, Ron Quay, Sarah Koch, and Andrew Miller. The production is designed, produced and presented by the students of the West End Student Theatre, which includes

Anthony Romano, Alex Hollowell, Nicole Corsey, Jeffrey Chernesky, Sarah Robbins, Freddy Ortiz, Joseph Donley, Lexi Lyon, Allie Johns, Sherry Smith, Edston Detrich, Sarah Robbins, under the guidance of Gallagher.

A Festival Of Innovative One-Act Plays, Muhlenberg’s ‘New Visions’ Spotlights Inspired Work Of Talented Student Directors

Logo of Muhlenberg College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Allentown, PA – Emerging theatrical 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. “New Visions” plays Sept. 27-30 on Muhlenberg’s Studio Theatre stage.

The festival will be presented in two evenings. Evening A features Federico Garcia Lorca’s “The Love of Don Perlimplin for Belisa in the Garden,” directed by Allison Lloyd, and Romulus Linney’s “Hrosvitha,” directed by Julia Schneiderman. Evening B features “Out Loud: Three Short Plays,” directed by Michael Witkes, and Caryl Churchill’s “This is a Chair,” directed by Hayley Cooke.

“The Love of Don Perlimplin for Belisa in the Garden” tells the story of Don Perlimplin, a hopeless bachelor, who is convinced to marry the beautiful but promiscuous Belisa. Four potent scenes illustrate the tale of a man overcome by the spirits of passion and the desire to win the love of the woman to whom he is married.

The title character in “Hrosvitha” was a canoness at Gandersheim Abbey in 10th century Saxony, and is regarded as the first Christian playwright. By imagining the visit of a hostile monk and the conflict that unfolds, Romulus Linney examines the tensions that exist within and around Hrosvitha — a forward-thinking woman with an understanding of the world that didn’t always harmonize with her religious beliefs and deep faith.

“The play contends that we are the authors of our own stories,” Schneiderman says, “and that women, most of all, must struggle to rewrite the world around them.”

“Out Loud” comprises three short plays: “Black Eye” by Carolyn Gage, “Game On” by Gary Garrison and “Baby Steps” by Geoffrey Nauffts. The show explores the importance of overcoming the stigmatization of homosexuality and fighting for one’s sexual identity. One actor plays the lead in all three plays, following a journey from hiding his sexuality, to coming out with hesitation, to finally embracing his sexuality and standing up for himself as a proud gay man.

“This is a Chair” explores the relationship between language and meaning. Eight vignettes, juxtaposed with large title signs, look at the complexities of human relationships and the struggle to connect.

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 in the top twelve in the nation for seven years in a row, 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.

Performances of “New Visions” are Sept. 27-30. Evening A will be performed Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 and 8 p.m and Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. Evening B will be performed Sunday, Sept. 28, at 2 and 8 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for one evening and $20 for a combination ticket including both nights. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.muhlenberg.edu/theatreanddance or by phone at 484-664-3333. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. For mature audiences.

Audio-Description Training To Be Held In Allentown

The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is offering affordable audio description training to the theatre community in order to help them increase attendance to their productions by becoming more disability-friendly.

Theatre practitioners from all walks of life—actors, students, volunteers, educators—are encouraged to enroll in the upcoming audio description training sessions and acquire new performance skills.

Fee: $25. Typically, this workshop costs $590. Thanks to the underwriting support of LVCIL and an anonymous donor, the Arts Council is able to offer it at a very reasonable price. Audio description assists patrons who are blind/low-vision to access the visual elements of stage productions through live narration provided by trained describers. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description.

This two-day audio-description training for the Performing Arts will be held:

• October 3 & 4, 2014 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
  Lehigh Valley Arts Council
  840 Hamilton Street
  2nd Floor Conference Room (Suite 200)
  Allentown, PA 18101

Includes Audio Described performance of “Harvey” at DeSales University (2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, Pa. 18034) on October 2, 2014 at 8:00 PM

REGISTER NOW FOR THE TRAINING!

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Presents: ‘The Great Divorce’

Monday, June 23, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
DeSales University
Labuda Center for the Performing Arts
2755 Station Avenue
Center Valley, Pa. 18034

“Unmissable! From the quiet, seemingly casual beginning to the unforgettable final moments, Lawton has us in the palm of his hand.” –  Philadelphia City Paper

 “Brilliantly conceived and performed…as intelligent and provoking an evening as I’ve spent at the theater in a long time.”  – Broad Street Review 

“Passionate acting combined with riveting storytelling.”  – Philadelphia Inquirer

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
The Great Divorce
Based on the novel by C.S. Lewis The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival presents
The Great Divorce – back by popular demand for one night only! Lauded by The Philadelphia Inquirer in this “masterful solo show,” actor Anthony Lawton “delivers a wondrous ride filled with dazzling insight and language.”

An allegorical journey, The Great Divorce weaves philosophical imaginings with theatrical magic!

Click Here to Buy
Last Minute Discount
RUSH Tickets
for ONLY $14.99!

Audio Description Training For Theatre Practitioners

July 18 & 19, 2014
Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201
Allentown, Pa. 18101

Increased Access = Increased Attendance

Allentown, PA –The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is offering audio description training to the theatre community in order to help them increase attendance to their productions by becoming more disability-friendly.

Audio description assists patrons who are blind/low-vision to access the visual elements stage productions through live narration provided by trained describers. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description.

According to U.S. Census data estimates from 2012, the number of non-institutionalized people with disabilities living in the Lehigh Valley is 81,000, or 12.7%, which represents a significant number of potential new audiences for the cultural community.

The Arts Council has contracted Mimi Kenney Smith, Executive Director of VSA Pennsylvania, to provide the training over the course of two days, July 18 &19, 2014. Smith, a veteran describer for more than two decades, is also the producing director for Amaryllis Theatre, a professional Philadelphia theatre that regularly includes artists with disabilities. She will introduce the class to the foundational skills—Observe, Analyze and Communicate— necessary to audio describe a play. At the end of the first day, the class will experience an audio described performance of Monty Python’s Spamalot at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre.

Theatre practitioners from all walks of life—actors, students, volunteers, educators—are encouraged to enroll and acquire new performance skills.

Reservations required, reserve your spot today!
Fee: $25. For more information and to reserve your spot:

Call: 610-437-5915.
Email: operations@LVArtsCouncil.org
Web: http://www.lvartscouncil.org/Access/training.html
Tickets: http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1821982&cobrand=lvartsboxoffice

Location: Butz Corporate Center, 840 Hamilton Street (2nd Floor conference Room), Allentown Pa. 18101
Date / Time:
July 18, 2014:
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Lehigh Valley Arts Council; 2nd Floor conference Room
7:30 PM – 10:00 PM: Monty Python’s Spamalot; Baker Theatre/Trexler Pravilon

July 19, 2014:
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Lehigh Valley Arts Council; 2nd Floor conference Room

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About the Lehigh Valley Arts Council
The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is a nonprofit 501(c)3, membership-supported organization that serves as a regional advocate and ambassador for the Lehigh Valley arts community. Its mission is to promote the arts; to encourage and support artists and their development; to assist arts organizations; and to facilitate communication and cooperation among artists, arts organizations and the community. Through collaborative partnerships, it continues to provide access to the local arts community through education, research, professional development seminars and cooperative marketing initiatives.

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Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201
Allentown, PA 18101
610-437-5915 / operations@LVArtsCouncil.org
http://www.LVArtsCouncil.org / http://www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org 

Lehigh Valley Arts Box Office – Upcoming Performances

Lehigh Valley Arts Council
 Saturday, July 12 / 11:00 am: Behind the Scenes – Arts Alive 2014
 Friday, July 18 & 19 / 10:00 am: Audio Description Training

Moravian College Music Institute
 Saturday, June 28 / 7:30 pm: Rupert Boyd, Classical Guitar 

Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra
 Sunday, June 8 / 7:30 pm: Valley Vivaldi Series, Concert I
 Sunday, June 29 / 7:30 pm: Valley Vivaldi Series, Concert II
 Sunday, July 20 / 7:30 pm:Valley Vivaldi Series, Concert III

For more performances, visit www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org

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” !

COMING UP! Two-Day Audio-Description Training For The Performing Arts On July 18 & 19, 2014!

Audio Description assists patrons who are blind/low-vision to access the visual elements of stage productions through narration provided by trained describers. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description. Trainees will also attend an audio-described performance of Monty Python’s Spamalot. Click HERE for more information on this training.

July 18, 2014 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
July 19, 2014 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room (Suite 200)
Allentown

July 18, 2014 | 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM:
Monty Python’s Spamalot (Audio Described Performance)
Baker Theatre/Trexler Pravilon, Muhlenberg College
2400 Chew St. Allentown

FEE: $25 RESERVE YOUR SEAT!

Marta Kiesling Resigns As Steel River Playhouse Executive Director

POTTSTOWN, PA — Marta Kiesling, the dynamic executive director of Steel River Playhouse who grew a small acting group that performed in her living room into the region’s premiere venue for live theater, has parted ways with the institution she helped found.

A Monday evening e-mail from the board of directors to community leaders announced that Kiesling’s resignation had been accepted, effective May 1.

“We’re saddened to lose such a visionary person who built the playhouse to the strong cultural and educational institution it is today,” the release said.

What started as Village Productions was grown by Kiesling into the TriCounty Performing Arts Center, which with the help of grants from Montgomery County and a variety of other sources, established a theater in the former J.J. Newberry Department store at 245 E. High St. in 2008.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140506/marta-kiesling-resigns-as-steel-river-playhouse-executive-director

Upcoming Lehigh Valley Arts Box Office Performances

Bach & Handel Chorale:

April 26th: 30th Anniversary Concert Gala

Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem

April 11th: Daedalus Quartet

April 25th: Gryphon Trio

May 16th: Walden Chamber Players

Moravian College Music Institute

April 4th: Moravian College Wind Ensemble

April 6th: Moravian College Community Orchestra

April 12th: Jazz @ Moravian

Moravian College Theatre Company

April 25th & 26th: Jesus Christ Superstar

PA Sinfonia Orchestra

April 12: Chamber Orchestra – All Nature Sings

Click here for more information and tickets: http://lvartsboxoffice.org/