A few clouds early, but overall an abundance of sunshine. Feeling more like late October. Northwest winds may gust to 35 mph. .
Mostly clear and cool with diminishing winds.
WFMZ.com Arts & Entertainment Reporter
Celtic culture from clans to kilts to music to food will fill the streets of downtown Bethlehem when the Celtic Cultural Alliance holds the 35th annual Celtic Classic under the hill-to-hill bridge and along Main Street this weekend.
The three-day festival will begin Friday on Highland Field with "Haggis Bowl," a traditional haggis eating contest, followed by the caber toss event.
The showing of the tartan parade starts at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and leads guests from Main Street to Highland Field, where the opening ceremonies will start at noon. Local dignitaries and elected officials will participate.
Performers include Emish, Rogue Diplomats, Across the Pond, Blackwater, Glengharry Bhoys, Chivalrous Crickets, Gerry Timlin, Dave North, Fig for a Kiss, Jamison, Mudmen, and The McKrells.
The event will also feature cultural presentations in Celtic Heritage Hollow, located in Bethlehem's colonial industrial quarter. Highlights include music workshops by the Steel City Rovers; a Scottish shortbread baking competition; a lecture on the history of kilts by Rocky Roeger, owner of USA Kilts; and representatives of Celtic clans and societies. Children can enjoy the Celtic crafts in the activity tent.
The Celtic Classic also hosts the U.S. National Highland Games Championship. Highland games are a traditional Scottish athletic competition dating back hundreds of years and include lifting of heavy stone, throwing the hammer, and tossing of the caber.
Celtic Classic will also see the return of crowd favorite Gene Sheninger of Wayside Farm. Sheninger will demonstrate how border collies are used to herd sheep and ducks. Border collies have been used for herding for hundreds of years in the Celtic nations.
Celtic Classic is also well known for its grade 3 and grade 4 pipe band competitions. The pipe bands play four separate times during the festival, allowing them to show their skills in wide variety of formats.
Allentown's Liberty Bell Museum will celebrate its 60th anniversary at 2 p,m on Sunday at the museum in Zion's Reformed United Church of Christ, 622 W. Hamilton St.
The church is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the site of the first church in Allentown, which was used as a hiding place for the Liberty Bell during the Revolutionary War, as well as a war hospital and a place for the reading of the Declaration of Independence.
Conceived in 1959 as a way to celebrate Allentown's connection with the Liberty Bell for the city's bicentennial year of 1962, the Liberty Bell Museum has intertwined the histories of the city with one of the most famous bells in the world.
During the celebration, a replica Liberty Bell will be delivered by wagon and the 1976 Liberty Bell Trek participants will be recognized. There will be music and guest speakers.
After the program, free tours of the museum will feature a replica copy of the Liberty Bell that can be rung; Wilmer Behler's hand-painted mural telling the story of the hiding of the bells; Allentown's own "liberty bell," cast in 1769; and Revolutionary War and Colonial America exhibits.
On display through the month is "The Liberty Bell Museum 60th Anniversary: The Diamond Jubilee," which takes visitors from the origin of the Liberty Bell to 1777, when the Pennsylvania State House Bell was taken to what was then Northampton Towne, through 185 years of oral history that kept the legend alive, to the founding of the museum and beyond.
Children's activities will include balloon animals, and a food truck will be on site.
Act 1 DeSales University Theatre will open its 53rd season with Lauren Gunderson's "Silent Sky," Sept. 28 through Oct. 9 on the main stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts in Center Valley, Lehigh County.
Gunderson, heralded as one of the most produced playwrights in America, tells the story of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, one of the first female astronomers who was instrumental in future understanding of the structure and size of the universe. Leavitt discovered a way to accurately measure distances on an inter-galactic scale. The play explores the work-life balance Leavitt endured with family obligations and illness.
"I have long been a fan of Lauren Gunderson's writing," said Jessica Bedford, director of "Silent Sky" and assistant professor of theater. "She infuses her strongly crafted characters with complex and delicious dialogue. Her stories mine the depths of relationships for conflict. 'Silent Sky' is a particularly exciting project as it introduces us to a real-life female pioneer in the STEM world."
She said there are two casts of actors on rotating nights, each with a unique take on the work.
Recreating the Harvard Observatory offices as well as the Leavitt homes in Wisconsin and Cambridge, Mass., is Will Neuert, associate professor and head of design. Amy Best, associate professor and resident costume designer, designs the turn-of-the-century costumes. Eric T. Haugen, assistant professor, serves as lighting designer, and David M. Greenberg, sound designer. Philadelphia-based actor Mary Elizabeth Scallen serves as dialect coach.
Performances will be at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Sundays; and 9:45 a.m. Oct. 4.
The play will be streamed Oct. 8.
The 8 p.m. Oct. 8 performance will feature open captioning for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing and audio descriptions for patrons who are blind or visually impaired. Tickets are half price for patrons using these special services. Call box office manager Kyle Schumaker at 610-282-1100, ext. 1820, for information.
Ticket prices are $23 for adults and $21 for students and seniors Tuesday through Thursday and $27 for adults and $25 for students and seniors Friday through Sunday. Tickets for the streamed performance are $15. There are two talkback performances with the cast on Oct. 2 and 4.
For tickets, call 610-282-3192 or go to DeSales' website.
The story of one of the world's most charismatic and controversial political figures receives a new look in an intimate production at Bucks County Playhouse, which will begin Friday and continue through Oct. 30. With lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber and music by Tim Rice, "Evita!" is reimagined for the Bucks County Playhouse stage by Director Will Pomerantz, and Choreographer Marcos Santana.
This new, dance-centric production of "Evita!" eschews the traditional setting of Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved rock opera and sets it in the basement of an Argentinian tango bar. The concept for the playhouse production was first seen and produced at Bay Street Theater in August 2018 under the direction of Pomerantz, with Scott Schwartz, artistic director and Tracy Mitchell, executive director.
"Artistic Associate Anna Louizos, who is the scenic designer for 'Evita!', first brought this production to our attention. It is based on a new concept first presented at a sold-out run at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor," said Robyn Goodman, executive producer at the Bucks County Playhouse. "Setting the whole production in the basement of a tango bar, Pomerantz brings a new, exciting perspective to Andrew Lloyd Webber's show. When we saw it in 2018, I knew immediately it was a great fit for our audiences."
This revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic musical, "Evita" takes a fresh look at the life of the former first lady of Argentina, Eva Peron. The icon's rise and fall is revisited through the eyes of her supporters, who have clandestinely gathered in a tango club 10 years after her death to celebrate her life. The classic score features some of Webber and Tim Rice's biggest hits, including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," "High Flying, Adored," and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall."
"Evita" stars Gabriella Enriquez ("Jerome Robbins' Broadway" at Houston's Theater Under the Stars) as Eva Perón, Pablo Torres as Che, Eric Ulloa as Perón, Devin Cortez as Magaldi, and Maria Bilbao as The Mistress. The ensemble includes Michelle Alves, Andrés Acosta, Marissa Barragán, Zach Bravo, Edgar Cavazos, Jimena Flores Sanchez, Juan Guillen, Nicolette Hernandez, Edgar Lopez , Amanda Rivera-Torres, Madeline Serrano and Sophia Viscuse.
"We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the incredible, all Latinx cast on 'Evita,'" said Alexander Fraser, the producing director. "It's also very exciting to discover new talent. When Gabriella Enriquez walked into the room — initially to audition for a smaller role — we were immediately enraptured by her presence and talent. We knew right away that we had found our Eva."
Directed by Pomerantz and choreographed by Marcos Santana, "Evita" features scenic design by three-time Tony-nominee Anna Louizos. William Allen High School (Allentown) grad Michael McDonald (Tony Award nominee for "Hair") is costume designer. Lighting designer is Mike Billings. Musical direction is by Aaron Jodoin. Sean Francis Patrick is production stage manager.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays; 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Sundays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays; 8 p.m. on Fridays; and 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturdays. The opening performance will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. There will be a school matinee at 11 a.m. on Oct. 20.
Tickets start at $70, call 215-862-2121 or go to the playhouse's website.
Reading Symphony Orchestra will begin its 2022-2023 season with "Opening Night" at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Santander Performing Arts Center, 136 N. Sixth St. in downtown Reading.
The program will feature concert pianist Jon Kimura Parker performing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Parker is a veteran of the international concert stage and has performed regularly in the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, London's South Bank, the Sydney Opera House, and the Beijing Concert Hall. He is the creative partner of the Minnesota Orchestra, having hosted and given seven concerto performances in July 2021 with Osmo Vänska, Karina Canellakis, Ken-David Masur. He is Artistic Director of the Honens International Piano Competition and artistic advisor for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.
The program also includes Verdi's La Forza del Destino Overture and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
Andrew Constantine conducts the Reading Symphony Orchestra.
For information, go to the RSO's website or call 610-373-7557.
The Allentown Symphony Orchestra will present "From Broadway to Hollywood" at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown.
The program, which will open the symphony's season and is part of its pops series, will feature world-renowned concert pianist Richard Dowling.
Dowling appears regularly across the United States and around the world in orchestral performances, solo recitals and chamber music collaborations. Works of Chopin, Gershwin, American ragtime and French Impressionism figure prominently in his repertoire. On the centennial date of Scott Joplin's death, Dowling became the first pianist in history to perform publicly the complete cycle of the composer's piano works in a pair of sold-out recitals in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
In addition to his regular concert performances, Dowling is frequently heard as a member of the artist roster of The Piatigorsky Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing live, classical music to audiences across America. Since 1994, he has performed more than 1,000 recitals under its auspices.
For the concert, Dowling and the orchestra, led by Conductor Ronald Demkee, will perform songs from the greatest musicals from Broadway to Hollywood, including plenty of Gershwin. Dowling also will share stories and movie highlights. They will be joined by vocalists Michael Andrew and Natalie Cordone.
Tickets cost between $25 and $72. Masks are encouraged, but not required.
For information, call 610-432-6715 or go to the symphony hall's website.
A one-act-opera and a New York City string quartet playing the music of Black composers will be presented at Lehigh University's Zoellner Arts Center in Bethlehem at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Lehigh University Very Modern Ensemble will perform "The Life and Love of Joe Coogan," a one-act opera with libretto by Kate Light and music by Paul Salerni, that is based on a Dick Van Dyke TV show episode by Carl Reiner.
The Overlook Quartet will perform music by Shelley Washington and Trevor Weston. Guest singers include Disella Larusdottir, Keith Phares, Branch Fields, Tyrone Chambers, Helen Huang, Sarah Ann Duffy and Zoellner's executive director, Mark Fitzgerald Wilson.
Tickets cost $20, adults; $19 seniors and $5 students.
Zoellner Arts Center is at 420 E. Packer Ave.
For information, call 610-758-2787 or go to Zoellner's website.
WFMZ.com Arts & Entertainment Reporter
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