Intentions | The Audience Guide

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Silagh

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The Diary of Anne Frank

If you have never experienced the power of theatre, try it on steroids with a cast of children. Yes, you read that right; CHILDREN. I just came from the opening night of Pennsylvania Youth Theatre’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank at the Charles Brown Icehouse. If you don’t know [I try not to make assumptions, so if you do know, skip ahead], the story is an adaptation of the book, “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.” The original adaptation was produced on Broadway in 1955, winning a Pulitzer. It was then produced as a movie in 1959 with Shelly Winters in the lead role, earning her an Oscar. Wendy Kesselman revised the theatrical adaptation in 1997. Why the history lesson? In part to showcase some small measure of masterwork as perceived by other artists. But also to balance these accolades with the power of the story itself, especially against the backdrop of current politics. This production is lovingly directed by Mary Wright. The designers of the stage, costumes and sound authentically create an environment which helps transform these young actors into a Jewish family hiding from the Nazis in 1940s Amsterdam. The audience is set close to […]

Rally 4 Peace – MLK Day 2018

A might powerful trio of educators at Northeast Middle School are again, showing the community our future. The Rally 4 Peace makes its first appearance at the Ice House in Bethlehem, Monday, January 15, 2018 at 7pm – no entrance fee. The program has been going on pretty regularly at Northeast Middle School, thanks to the perseverance of the teachers, and the support of Principal Rahs and BASD leadership. Here’s a brief background on the program, described in a video produced for the 2015 presentation at Lehigh University: As a community, there are many activities to pause and reflect on the work of a peace man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As the day closes, witness the power of a young person discover their voice, and find inner strength and the confidence to share their thoughts with the audience. You will be seeing the foundations of leadership in these kids. This program helps them understand empathy by first being able to express themselves, and support their fellow “peaceniks.” Empathy is the ability to experience and relate to the thoughts, emotions, or experience of others. Empathy is more than simple sympathy, which is being able to understand and support others with compassion or sensitivity. […]

Musikfest – Classical Music Sources

Musikfest is a large festival that takes over the north and south sides of Bethlehem. Classical music is part of it. We enjoy reading some of our favorite bloggers and journalists who offer multiple perspectives of how to plan one’s experience at a festival so jam packed with options for music, food and other experiences. At the end of this post, we’ll list our favorites with links to their previews. This post is about the classical music options at Musikfest 2017, with embedded video for previews – to let the art speak for itself. Saturday, August 5 at 9pm in FLYVIA Tropical Plaza SVET – Electro Hip Hop Violinist. Great personal story. He’d be an inspiration to anyone ready to explore the capacities of what is traditionally considered in a classical box, and looking to break out of it. Monday, August 7, noon in FLYVIA Tropical Plaza Community Music School Lehigh Valley – Good chance to hear the students if you might be considering this program for your child. There might be materials about the program, or administrators available to answer questions. Monday, August 7 at 7:30pm in Central Moravian Church’s Old Chapel Lukens String Trio David Moulton (cello), Michael […]

Steeples and Steel… evolution

These tours started four years ago. Each year, we visit new spaces and learn more history of the people that built this community and our country. Bus Tours of Bethlehem Steel plant site, south side churches, and cemeteries. Presented by Steelworkers’ Archives, Inc. and South Bethlehem Historical Society. Tour schedule for 2017 with in-church or cemetery visits. Each date listed below includes a Google map link to each location. Saturday, July 22, 2017 9:30 AM Concordia Lutheran Church (formerly St. John’s Slovak Lutheran Church) 1:00 PM Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cemetery Saturday, August 19 9:30 AM Packer Memorial Church 1:00 PM Holy Ghost Cemetery Saturday, September 16 9:30 AM Nisky Hill Cemetery 1:00 PM Fritz Memorial United Methodist Church Saturday, November 4 9:30 AM St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church 1:00 PM Historic Fountain Hill Cemetery Free and open to the public on every weekend of the tours: Open House at St. John’s Windish Lutheran Church 10:30 AM—2:30 PM – Exhibits / Baked goods / Church tour @ 12:15 PM (Kiffle, anyone???) These tours which will take you back to the era of immigration of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. You will learn about work at the Bethlehem Steel mill; […]

Intentions

The Audience Guide will connect to available web based calendars, other excellent bloggers, other content providers, arts organization websites, traditional media, local news stories, and personal relationships to build a resource for audiences to use for their personal planning and exploration.

The Audience Guide is part concierge, part maître ‘d, part tour guide, part docent, part teacher, part cheerleader, part mom, and part neighbor. That’s a lot of parts.

The Audience Guide will be compiled to help site visitors become familiar with the arts scene, the venues, the folks that make it happen, and available media resources for their own planning use as well. Hopefully, much of the gathering and linking on the Audience Guide will make searching for ideas and information a little easier to get off your couch and explore or try something new.

The Audience Guide is made with love. Love for the arts, love for the artists, love for the Lehigh Valley, but mostly, love for the audiences. You make this community a full circle of creativity and cultural expression.

Over the next two months, the Audience Guide will emerge like the phoenix from the smoldering ash…

The Audience Guide is like a newborn baby. It will take tiny public steps, a few stumbles at a time, and then more stumbles….

Ok, LOTS of stumbles, but ever-moving forward with reflection.

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