Category: Arts, the

Touchstone Theatre’s Christmas City Follies

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Christmas City Follies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2020
Contact: Lisa Jordan
610-349-8583
lisa@touchstone.org

21st Edition of Christmas City Follies Goes Online

Touchstone Theatre’s quirky holiday classic comes to YouTube

BETHLEHEM, PA – Touchstone Theatre announces Christmas City Follies XXI, the theatre’s annual holiday-themed variety show, to be presented online for 2020. Follies will premiere on YouTube on December 20, 2020 at 7pm with a watch party and then be available to view through January 2, 2021.

A favorite of Lehigh Valley residents past and present, many locals and tourists alike have come to count Christmas City Follies as part of their holiday tradition, coming out to Touchstone’s cozy black box theatre for an evening of original sketches, characters, songs, and more. The show traditionally ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, with subject matter that has included family stories, dancing hippos, snow camels, holiday yoga, and kazoo-playing Christmas trees.

In the midst of an unusual year and an unusual season, Touchstone has elected to forego an in-person performance in favor of shooting this year’s Follies as a movie; the company will continue to create and perform material for its eclectic cast of characters, filmed as scenes on Touchstone’s property and around Bethlehem, using the Christmas City as its backdrop. The show will feature returning Touchstone favorites like the Old Guy, Little Red, the Better Not Shout Network, and the Shopping Cart Ballet, as well as a host of new music, personalities, sketches, and stories.

“Santa brought us all the gift of reinvention this year with our 21st edition of  Follies,” says artistic director Jp Jordan. “It’s exhilarating to be able to take on this work from a completely new perspective.”

The Touchstone company will also be performing an in-person “mini Follies” at outdoor holiday events across Bethlehem between Saturday, November 28th and Sunday, December 6th, featuring clownish characters delivering classic Christmas carols to shoppers. Locations include the Historic Bethlehem Museum and Sites new Christmas in the Quarter, the Sun Inn Courtyard’s Wintergarten, and the South Side Arts District’s New St. Christmas Tree.

Christmas City Follies is sponsored by Peoples Security Bank and Trust; the show receives additional support from the County of Northampton. Touchstone’s season is supported locally by season sponsor RCN. WDIY provides media sponsorship, and Working Dog Press provides print sponsorship.

Christmas City Follies XXI premieres with a watch party on December 20, 2020 at 7pm and will remain available online through January 2, 2021. Tickets are: $12 for individuals and $35 for households. Touchstone typically also offers a Pay-What-You-Will at the door ticket and instead will be offering a reduced $5 ticket for those who would benefit from a discounted admission. This year, tickets are a link that audience members will use to view the show online. Tickets go on sale November 20th and may be purchased at 610.867.1689 or online at www.touchstone.org

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BAPL’s Josh Berk writes ’em too

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I come from a family of book-lovers and librarians, so it’s no surprise that I became both. In addition to being the director of the Bethlehem Area Public Library, I’ve been writing books for children and young adults for over ten years now. My latest book represents a lot of firsts for me. It’s the first book I’ve co-written – as the entire thing was written in collaboration with author and friend Saundra Mitchell. It’s also the first time I wrote a book from the point of view of a female main character. Why did Saundra write the boy’s point of view and I wrote the girl’s? It just seemed like a challenge and a fun way to mess with expectations and challenge ourselves to leave our comfort zones as writers.

The third way that CAMP MURDERFACE is different than anything else I’ve ever written is that it’s a horror novel. I mean, it’s for kids, so it’s not too scary. And as you can probably tell from the title, it’s got a sense of humor about the horror. But it is a horror novel! There are hauntings and evil beings and a whole supernatural world to inhabit. I’ve only written realistic fiction and to be honest didn’t ever think I’d write a scary book. I’m kind of a big baby when it comes to scary books or movies. I read one Stephen King book and that was it. I have enough nightmares as is just being me, thank you very much! But Saundra asked me to collaborate on this new and scary project and scary it was!

I’m not saying I became a master of the genre, but I did stretch myself to write outside my comfort level in more ways than one. I hope the scary parts are scary, the funny parts are funny, and the kid characters relatable to anyone who is a kid (or has ever been one). There is a sequel—CAMP MURDERFACE 2!—coming out next year. I wanted to sub-title it “Like the First One But Worse . . .” But I was outvoted. Alas.

———-

Thanks to the Gadfly for profiling local artists on this here blog and for allowing me to share an excerpt of Chapter One from CAMP MURDERFACE with you here. It’s from the point of view of twelve-year-old Corryn Quinn. The year is 1983:

Summer truly starts the minute you can no longer see your parents waving goodbye.

I wave longer than anyone else. A dark thought runs through my mind. This is the last time I’ll see them together. They’re standing there with these big lying smiles. I can see the white of their teeth from a hundred yards away. Like everything is fine—better than fine! It’s not.

It’s not fine.

We used to go to Grandpa’s farm in the summer. Back then, we’d wave and wave goodbye, long past the time the old house became a bird-sized speck on the horizon. Now I’m going to camp. And my parents think I don’t know it’s because they’re getting divorced. I wave because I have to, but I don’t miss them. I’m not going to miss them either. They don’t deserve it.

Elliot on the other hand? Elliot, I’ll miss.

The night before we left, I even gave him a kiss. It wasn’t our first, but it was the longest and saddest one we’ve shared. I felt tears pop up in my eyes as I kissed him, and believe me, I’m not the kind of girl who cries easily.

My friend Joy from school will cry if she forgets her homework or gets a B on a spelling test. I didn’t cry even when I wiped out and sprained both my wrists. Plus, I always get As on spelling tests. Consistent. C-O-N-S-I-S-T-E-N-T. Consistent.

But nine weeks away from Elliot, that’s worse than a million sprained wrists. That’s like spraining both my wrists and both my ankles and splitting my head open on a rock. Oh, I’m gonna miss him so much! So . . . the night before camp I bent down and leaned in and kissed him.

Right on the handlebars.

I can’t believe they won’t let me bring my bike to camp! Why can’t you bring a bike to camp? Elliot doesn’t take up much room. He can sleep in the corner! Or he can have the sleeping bag and I’ll sleep in the corner!

Alas, no. I’ll be out here for nine weeks without him. I hope I don’t forget how to ride.

Elliot really is a beautiful bike. He’s matte black and bright gold, with twenty-inch mag wheels, racing tires, and a slick silver stripe down the side. It’s a BMX racing bike, just like you see Danny Stark riding in all the magazines. He’s been the world BMX champion for three years running now (although his 1981 win was controversial).

All I’m saying is, if a quad reverse bunny hop over the finish line is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

I literally had to beg on hands and knees for Elliot. Hands and knees. Mom and Dad were not cool at all about it. Not cool at all. It was like they were trying to outdo each other with who could be more uncool. I’d have to say that particular contest ended in a tie. It’s too dangerous, they said. Too expensive. They had a million reasons. What they really meant is that it’s not for girls.

They’re wrong. But I finally got Elliot (note to self: Was Elliot a divorce-guilt present?) and now I have to leave him for a whole summer. He couldn’t even ride all the way to camp with me.

All the kids going to Camp Sweetwater got dropped off at the rest stop parking lot. We stood around trying to look cool while we waited for the camp transport to roll in. It was wall-to-wall kids and parents and weepy goodbyes, so there was no cool . . .

———–

Josh is the second Berk to be the Executive Director of the Bethlehem Area Public Library; his father Jack held the post for 34 years. His mother Rita was a librarian as well, including a tenure at Moravian College. Josh is a graduate of Freedom High School and most of his teachers have forgiven him. His first book for young adults, The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin, was set in a high school in PA coal country and was named to several “best of” lists in 2010 including Amazon’s Top Ten for Teens. His first book for younger readers, Strike Three You’re Dead, allowed him to write about his passion for baseball. It was a finalist for the prestigious Edgar Awards presented by the Mystery Writers of America. The character of Lenny Norbeck, described as “the worst little leaguer in the history of the sport,” may or may not have been based on Josh’s tenure at Northwest Little League. These days he coaches his son’s team, plays bass and guitar, and continues to write books for young people that blend mystery and comedy.

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POSTPONED: “Not for Sale” — Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness week POSTPONED

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must register here

Touchstone Theatre ensemble member Mary Wright has been guiding a group of survivors and advocates in creating poetry, artwork, stories, and music.

This event is part of the Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness week. LVAT week is a seven-day awareness campaign. In 2019 the executives of Lehigh and Northampton counties declared the first full week of November as Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Week. The campaign provides an opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery, and encourage government, local authorities, companies, charities, and individuals to do what they can to address the problem.

The Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Collaborative is composed of several social justice organizations dedicated to fighting the fight on the front lines. The founding organizations of the Collaborative include Aspire to Autonomy, Bethlehem Rotary, Bloom Bangor, Crime Victims Council, LVHN Street Medicine, Marsy’s Law, Truth For Women, VAST (The Valley Against Sex Trafficking), and Valley Youth House.

NOT for SALE was originally planned as a live performance at TouchStone Theatre — was moved to digital due to COVID-19.

Love on the Southside

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Urban Arts Trail

As Gadfly said earlier, “How cool is this!” Tip o’ the hat to Missy Hartney and crew.

———–

Selections from Jennifer Sheehan, “Streets of Southside Bethlehem become canvas of new ‘Urban Arts Trail’.” Morning Call, November 10, 2020.

Under an awning on East Third Street in Southside Bethlehem is a piece of magical, musical beauty.

Vibrantly painted and cheerful, the piece, entitled “Love,” is the antidote for today’s world — a public piano begging to be photographed, enjoyed and of course played.

The piano is proof that sometimes, to appreciate art, you just have to hit the streets.

'Love' is a public piano, a new piece of public art that's part of the Southside Arts District's new Urban Arts Trail.
Photo: ‘Love’ is a public piano, a new piece of public art that’s part of the Southside Arts District’s new Urban Arts Trail. (Jennifer Sheehan/THE MORNING CALL)

“Love” is the latest newest piece added to a new “Urban Arts Trail” in Southside Bethlehem. From mosaics to murals, visitors can see a wide range of public art by simply walking the streets of the southside

It is a 2.75-mile trail that’s, for the most part, easy to walk and with plenty of stopping points along the way.

“Art is uplifting. It starts conversations,” said Missy Hartney, downtown manager for the SouthSide Arts District, Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation. “People want to be able to do things outdoors and get outside their houses. Being able to put this trail downtown is really important for the time we’re in.”

Hartney said she was inspired earlier this year by a walk with her kids on Easton’s Karl Stirner Arts Trail, a self-guided tour through outdoor public art following Bushkill Creek.

Over the past few years, the Southside’s sidewalks have evolved into a bit of a public art gallery with interesting sculptures, murals and painted everyday objects.

Hartney thought about all those pieces and how organizing a trail could help connect them.

“I thought what is we connected all these pieces downtown with an explanation of who created it and why,” Hartney said. “You follow the trail, stop along the way and have coffee or visit a public art gallery.”

The trail starts at 324 S. New St., which is a public garage. It’s easiest to park there. Then you can walk through the business district, checking out 31 different stops including murals, sculptures, artist-designed bike racks and more. Each spot on the trail offers artist information and details about the pieces.

The route is basically a loop between East Third and East Fourth streets. It’s a pretty easy walk for the most part. My daughter, Norah, and I walked it and started late morning, working a lunch break into the middle of the trail.

The first section of the trail focuses on the area around the Banana Factory, with several interesting pieces, including the whimsical mosaic/sculpture “Mr. Imagination Bus Shelter” and “Homepage to Humanity,” a trio of concrete sculptures.

Walking up Third Street you’ll see several pieces including a large mural of a steelworker and a trio of happy cartoon music notes.

Then you’ll see “Love,” Southside’s new public piano, created by artist Chris Colon. The piece is outside Northampton Community College Fowler Center, under an awning. The idea: Take an old piano and turn it into a functioning public art piece, using weather-proof paint and other elements. There are public pianos around the world, designed to provide the public a chance to just play and enjoy their beauty.

Colon’s piece was designed around the message of “Love.” The piece is joyous, vibrant and cheery, and quite fun to play.

After you reach the SteelStacks area, that’s when the walk gets a little more difficult. We also got a little confused with the trail’s directions here so it may be best to use your phone’s GPS at this point, which is what we did. This part is also uphill and it’s fairly steep, so keep that in mind.

Once you get up to the next segment of the trail, you’ll be rewarded with some truly beautiful art.

Our favorite: The largest mural, “Calma,” designed last year by artist Pau Quintanajornet. It’s outside Cafe the Lodge and highlights the cafe’s mission, focusing on mental health recovery. The cafe is a great mid-way point to stop for a cool drink or lunch. (Highly recommend is the Cuban sandwich.)

“The Hidden Seed” — a play about early Moravian history in Bethlehem — is back November 11

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It’s back!

“The Hidden Seed” premiered at Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound in 2019.

register here

“We mustn’t abandon the promise of unity. We mustn’t abandon the promise of the hidden seed  . . . The hidden seed is planted in every generation because those who want justice keep it alive . . . We did it . . . and now we are here to pass it on.”

Three 18th century female Bethlehem ghosts — a formerly enslaved West African woman, a Native American woman, and one of the original Moravian immigrants from Europe — agree to tell everything, the whole story of the Moravian settlement of Bethlehem not just the happy parts, without lying.

Yes, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.

“They [we in the audience] will only understand if you tell them the whole story, the whole truth.”

Like about Gnadenhutten, the Moravian Massacre.

Do you know Gnadenhutten?

96 Christian Native Americans killed at the Moravian Mission of Gnadenhutten, skulls crushed with mallets to save bullets.

This anguished cry of a distraught Native American teller cracks the smooth surface of pious Moravian history.

So, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.

Did you know there was slavery in Bethlehem?

Our rather matter-of-fact African American teller bluntly pierces the “miracle” of good treatment rationalized by the European with the hypocrisy of “You believed you could own us.”

“The seeds of our failure were sown side-by-side with our dreams.”

So much for Utopia. Maybe best that it be forgotten.

Or is the hidden seed of equality and unity still available to us?

register here

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“End of the dry season”

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End of the Dry Season

Keeper of the Rain,
awakened from his
sleep by departure
of the Sun,
raises his spear
of thunder, delivering
a force of life
that renews the
crust of the earth
and clears the morning air.

Louise Holmes-Johnson
Bethlehem, Pa.

———

fourth and final in a series

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“In the land of my ancestors”

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Nighttime in Kaduna

In the land of my ancestors,
as sunset signals the end of a day
and twinkling stars hide behind
a curtain of settling dusk,
wheels of steel beasts of burden
mold grooves in the hard red clay
and the untiring racket is
magically transformed into
a haunting melody.
Roadside merchants cajole
buyers to lantern-lit stands
as their haggling reechoes
in the dying light.
A swarm of crickets tune
their strings for their
nocturnal exhibition,
calming my fears like
a tranquilizing symphony.
Soon, a resonant call
for the day’s final prayer
is reverently answered by
followers of Islam.
And the fast pace of the
exotic language turns to
soft whispers tossed
wildly in the wind . . .

Louise Holmes-Johnson
Bethlehem, Pa.

———

third in a series

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“Take me home, great steel bird, take me home”

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In June 1989, I traveled to Kaduna, Nigeria, to visit my daughter and her family in Nigeria. That visit forever changed who I am as an American black woman. When I returned home to the states, I was haunted by visions of that visit. Words related to that visit consumed me until I committed them to paper. Even now, I need only to close my eyes, and I am there.

Flight of the Steel Bird

Hurry, great steel bird, hurry
Carry me swiftly to the motherland
of my people;
descendants of great kings and queens
who are bearers of a rich history
I hunger to hear.
Let me walk on the shores of Africa:
birthplace of Queen Mother Nandi
and the pharaohs, Ra Nehesi and Taharka.

My ghostly companions are restless
as they hear the
muted drum sounds of ancient warriors
welcoming them back to the place
they called home
three hundred years ago.
The red clay earth awaits anxiously
to join spirits to hearts that were
left behind in
a thunderous parting storm.

Linger not over seas of torture
tainted with sacrifices of the
first journey:
brave lions who sleep with sharks;
maidenhoods of innocents
stolen by captains and
cries of babies
stilled with tears of love,
all victims of our early
struggle to freedom.

Take me home,
great steel bird,
take me home.

Louise Holmes-Johnson
Bethlehem, Pa.

———-

first in a series

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BAPL fundraiser! book sale tomorrow Saturday 10-2

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Saturday, November 7, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Main Library
from Josh Berk:
 Since we aren’t able to host book sales as usual, we’re hosting a drive-up version of the popular BAPL book sale. The date is November 7 at the Main Library. It will feature lots of holiday books and other great items for sale. The sale scheduled to run 10-2 or until supplies last. The way it works is that you simply drive up to the Main Library at 11 W. Church St. and buy a bag of books for $5. We’ll have bags for kids and adults as well as popular themes, but the exact contents of each bag will be a little bit of a mystery. Please note that the sale is cash only and that no change can be given. Drive on up and get an assortment of surprise reading material for just a few dollars while supporting the library!
———–
The pandemic has of course hurt BAPL’s fundraising this year. If you can’t attend the sale, please consider donating. Our library is special. How many small city libraries do you know that have a publishing operation? And think of all the resources and programs on racism so relevant to a main issue this year the library has provided.

New BAPL book!

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Order TUG! here

“From the beginning,” author Catherine McCafferty says. “I felt very strongly that TUG’s story was the story of the Steel: hard work and friendship, loss and abandonment, then a renewed sense of value and purpose.”

The book will officially be released on November 14, 2020, as part of the Last Cast Celebration at the National Museum of Industrial History. Members of the Steelworkers Archive will help celebrate the book with a “Storytime with a Steelworker” as part of the day’s events. Children will also be able to meet the real TUG that day, as the vehicle will be on display at NMIH, mustache and all.

 

Bethlehem’s history comes to life in this picture book brought to you by the Bethlehem Area Public Library and the National Museum of Industrial History. TUG is a tow tractor helping Bethlehem’s steelworkers to do their very best. He is always there when the workers need him, but what happens when the steel mill closes? After the last cast is poured and TUG is left alone at the steel mill, he learns that no matter how much Bethlehem might change there is always more that he can do to help. Children can read TUG’s story and then visit him at the Industrial Museum, where he is still a working artifact helping with the heavy lifting 25 years after the last cast.

Order TUG! here

While ordering TUG!, consider also the BAPL books by Bob Cohen (see here and here) and Matt Wolf (see here)

“We’re all connected . . . You help me and I help you”

logo Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem logo

Gadfly proposes that we think of this song as a kind of anthem for the Lehigh Valley
and that we start every morning with it.

Unity needed more than ever.

————

“Lehigh Valley be Free” is the work of the Lehigh Valley Song Project that premiered at Touchstone Theatre’s “Songs of Hope & Resistance” event on July 24.

———-

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DONATE NOW to support the musicians, artists, and producers who made the
Lehigh Valley Song Project possible!
https://bit.ly/LVsongdonate

“Not for Sale” — Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness week

Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem

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must register here

Touchstone Theatre ensemble member Mary Wright has been guiding a group of survivors and advocates in creating poetry, artwork, stories, and music.

This event is part of the Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness week. LVAT week is a seven-day awareness campaign. In 2019 the executives of Lehigh and Northampton counties declared the first full week of November as Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Week. The campaign provides an opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery, and encourage government, local authorities, companies, charities, and individuals to do what they can to address the problem.

The Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Collaborative is composed of several social justice organizations dedicated to fighting the fight on the front lines. The founding organizations of the Collaborative include Aspire to Autonomy, Bethlehem Rotary, Bloom Bangor, Crime Victims Council, LVHN Street Medicine, Marsy’s Law, Truth For Women, VAST (The Valley Against Sex Trafficking), and Valley Youth House.

NOT for SALE was originally planned as a live performance at TouchStone Theatre — was moved to digital due to COVID-19.

“The Hidden Seed” — a play about early Moravian history in Bethlehem — is back November 11

Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS

It’s back!

“The Hidden Seed” premiered at Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound in 2019.

register here

“We mustn’t abandon the promise of unity. We mustn’t abandon the promise of the hidden seed  . . . The hidden seed is planted in every generation because those who want justice keep it alive . . . We did it . . . and now we are here to pass it on.”

Three 18th century female Bethlehem ghosts — a formerly enslaved West African woman, a Native American woman, and one of the original Moravian immigrants from Europe — agree to tell everything, the whole story of the Moravian settlement of Bethlehem not just the happy parts, without lying.

Yes, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.

“They [we in the audience] will only understand if you tell them the whole story, the whole truth.”

Like about Gnadenhutten, the Moravian Massacre.

Do you know Gnadenhutten?

96 Christian Native Americans killed at the Moravian Mission of Gnadenhutten, skulls crushed with mallets to save bullets.

This anguished cry of a distraught Native American teller cracks the smooth surface of pious Moravian history.

So, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.

Did you know there was slavery in Bethlehem?

Our rather matter-of-fact African American teller bluntly pierces the “miracle” of good treatment rationalized by the European with the hypocrisy of “You believed you could own us.”

“The seeds of our failure were sown side-by-side with our dreams.”

So much for Utopia. Maybe best that it be forgotten.

Or is the hidden seed of equality and unity still available to us?

register here

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS

Black poetry at Touchstone Saturday

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In this post-GeorgeFloyd era of national reckoning with race, our local area has been rich in resources regarding the Black experience in America. One thinks of the Bethlehem Area Public Library programs and resources, the Northampton County Community College “Peace and Social Justice” conference, the “Race & Space in the Lehigh Valley Discussion Series” by the Lehigh Valley Engaged Humanities Consortium, among other things. Are we taking advantage of the opportunities?

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“Touchstone Theatre is a Bethlehem Treasure”

Saturday, October 24, 2:00p

“To be black in America right now is a wound. Nothing seems to exactly describe the pain in my lower back, my chest, blooming between my lungs, hanging so, so heavy in my heart. My grief is miles deep, ancestral deep.”
-Kristina Haynes, Basement Poetry

Join the artists and partners of Basement Poetry for an afternoon of poetry performances about the triumphs and traumas of the Black American experience in 2020. Bring a blanket, sweater, and your support of Black lives! Register here.

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Two more events in Touchstone’s Festival UnBound 2020

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“Touchstone Theatre is a Bethlehem Treasure”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 24, 2020
Contact: Lisa Jordan
610-349-8583
lisa@touchstone.org

Touchstone’s Festival UnBound 2020 Final Performances

Series concludes with “Tales of Hope and Resistance” and “Dictators 4 Dummies… and more!”

BETHLEHEM, PA – Touchstone Theatre will wrap up its COVID-friendly, social-distance-safe Festival UnBound 2020 with two artistic offerings— Tales of Hope and Resistance, a collection of stories from around the world, presented in music and shadow puppetry (October 9); and Dictators 4 Dummies… and more!, a retrospective of Touchstone’s musical political satires of years past and a film premiere (October 16).

After last year’s Festival UnBound, a ten-day festival of arts and community dialogue in October 2019, Touchstone decided that for 2020, the second year of the festival would take the form of outdoor events, parties, forums, and performances, available for socially distanced outdoor viewing in Touchstone’s back parking lot and many also via livestream, to accommodate the safety needs of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The festival opened with a block party for the South Side’s Latinx community, followed by a storytelling performance by local medical workers, and a series of events around nature and sustainability in our community.

The final two events of Festival UnBound 2020 feature the artists within the Touchstone company more prominently. Tales of Hope and Resistance, directed by Touchstone artistic director Jp Jordan, shares retellings of classic stories from around the world, centering on themes of overcoming evil and adversity. The evening of October 9th opens with Irish balladeer Seamus Kennedy, a longtime familiar face at Celtic Classic, regaling the audience with songs and tales of Ireland’s storied past; if Tales goes into its rain date performances (October 10th, 11th), local musical treasure and Godfrey Daniels icon Dave Fry will entertain audiences with familiar songs of revolution. The second half of the evening features shadow puppet renditions of traditional stories from Greece, Kenya, Japan, Brazil, and more. Puppets are created in collaboration with Mock Turtle Marionette Theater and performed by Touchstone and Moravian College’s current cohort of MFA in Performance Creation students. Original music backing the stories is created by Jordan and popular local musician Neil Grover.

“Mythology is such a central part of our collective histories,” says Jordan. “At transitional moments in history, like the one we are presumably living through at this very minute, it can serve us well to rediscover what we once knew.”

The final show of the festival, Dictators 4 Dummies… and more!, directed by Touchstone ensemble member Christopher Shorr, takes a look back at the original, political, satirical musicals that Touchstone has created over the last decade, performed live as a cabaret by members of the Touchstone company. The evening concludes with Shorr’s original 2018 musical Dictator 4 Dummies, now reimagined as a feature-length movie with an action figure cast.

“Something that I love about Touchstone is that it steps up during election years and deals directly with the issues of the day,” says Shorr. “For this night of musical satire, we will look at the perils of competition, the buffoonery we often see in Washington (no matter who is in charge), and the danger of complacency. As a society, we need to stay engaged and alert now more than ever. We’re trying to do our part— yes, with musical comedy— to help that effort.”

Funding for Festival UnBound is ongoing, but to date, Festival sponsors and supporters include: Air Products, CADC Bethlehem, Discover Lehigh Valley, FIG Bethlehem, Freestone Productions, Kira Willey Productions LLC, PBS39, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, PNC Bank, The Morning Call, RCN, R.K.Laros Foundation, UGI, WDIY, Webfoot Digital, and Working Dog Press.

Tales of Hope and Resistance performs Friday, October 9 (rain dates October 10 and 11) at 8p; Dictators 4 Dummies… and more! performs Friday, October 16 (rain dates October 17 and 18) at 7p. Ticketing is by table— $40 for a 4-person table, $30 for a 2-person table. Performances take place in the parking lot behind Touchstone Theatre at 321 E. 4th Street; masks and social distancing are required for all events. Access to the livestream for both events can be found on the theatre’s website. More information at touchstone.org

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321 E. 4th. St.

Touchstone’s Festival UnBound does it again — Aloud — Saturday 8PM

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Bethlehem — are you paying attention!! LGBTQIA+ — Is anybody doing the kinds of things Touchstone is!!

Festival UnBound — Aloud

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321 E. 4th St.

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Scott Morro’s latest young adult novel is about hidden treasure in Bethlehem!

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Bethlehem is the location of Bethlehem resident Scott Morro’s sixth novel, The Washington Pursuit (2020).

My Young Adult novels are set here in Bethlehem for very specific reasons. Though I was born and raised in Nazareth, Bethlehem is my home now. It’s where I’ve lived for the past 24 years . . . where I’ve raised my family and put down roots. My wife is a Bethlehem native, and we decided to live here once we were married. The vibe this town gives off, the fabric holding Bethlehem together, is woven into the DNA of everyone who visits or calls this place home. The downtown area is filled with history, legends, lore — what’s not to love? I’m proud of where I live. Such buildings as The Sun Inn, the Gemeinhaus, the Brethren’s House, God’s Acre Cemetery . . . you can just feel the past when you cross the thresholds of these special places. They get under your skin and grab a hold of you and don’t let go. There’s so much to see and experience here — I want to celebrate that in my books. Bethlehem doesn’t need my help promoting itself. But I want to do for Bethlehem what Ian Rankin has done for Edinburgh . . . what Dennis Lehane has done for Boston . . . make the city a living, breathing entity. Major cities like Philly, Chicago, LA, New York seem to get all of the literary love. I want to bring that feeling, that exposure here. I write about places I’m vaguely familiar with. Before writing, I have a general idea of where the story will take place, why the settings are important, and how they help breathe life into the book. After the first draft is written, I’ll take tours of places in the books to make sure what I remember is accurate. Accuracy is important to me. I want the locations on paper to reflect the actual structures in real life. Yes, I’ve made minor tweaks to locations and buildings — I needed to in order to make my plot work. But I carefully, methodically try to portray the spaces here and in every novel as accurately as possible.

In The Washington Pursuit, Freedom Middle School student Ernie seeks the “Moravian Enigma,” an elusive treasure stolen by the British, recovered by George Washington’s troops at the Battle of Brandywine, and not seen since — a treasure that consumed his mother’s thoughts, and when she failed to uncover it, she lost her purpose in living. Here Ernie and his friend Bobby ponder the last clue to the treasure’s whereabouts, a clue that leads them to the Sun Inn.

Excerpt from The Washington Pursuit (2020):

Rick finished describing the history of the area to the group, and we spread ourselves out to survey our new surroundings. Bobby and I nodded to each other, grateful for the opportunity to sit and ponder our latest bit of evidence, while the others scattered like aimless snowflakes.

Finding a bench nearby, we sat and read the clue again.

Beneath the sun in Bethlehem, 
Where Washington laid his head, 
Lie the riches of those men
Who in Brandywine now lay dead.

“Bethlehem doesn’t have a gigantic sun. It’s got a star.” Bobby said, puzzled.

“I know. I’ve been wondering about that, too. I mean, Bethlehem is the Christmas City. That star atop South Mountain can be seen for miles, and it’s constantly lit, but there’s no way Jonathan Stockwell would have known about that. He was dead and buried by the time electricity was invented, well before that star was mounted on the hill.”

“Maybe Washington and his men camped out on the hill where the star is, and the Brandywine treasure is buried there. I mean, it’s the highest point in the area, and when the sun is high in the sky, it certainly looks like it rests on top of the mountain. Maybe Stockwell’s clue has nothing to do with the Christmas star, just the area atop the mountain.” Bobby was grasping at straws, but at least he was trying.

“I thought of that, too,” I replied. “But all of the other clues had one thing in common, one central theme running through each of them.”

“Yeah. . . .” Bobby said, still not fully understanding.

“Each clue, each place, was somehow associated with the Moravians. Whether it was the church, the college, whatever. The next clue would have to be linked with the Moravians, too, dont’cha think? I know the star is definitely Moravian, but it’s modern, not historic like the others.”

Bobby nodded, the full weight of my explanation saturating his senses like a flooding river. Other members of our group sloshed by on their way to other parts of the cemetery. Rick was chatting on his cell phone, and my thoughts melted into the quiet surroundings. A few snow geese flew overhead while the soothing hum of traffic lulled me into a daydream.

I thought of Jonathan Stockwell again, and his passion for puzzles. I thought of my mother and her unending desire to solve the mysteries Jonathan Stockwell set upon the Lehigh Valley. I thought of my father and his beer cans. I thought of journals and clues, of bell towers and ancient drums.

I thought of bishops and brethren, of professors and pamphlets.

Pamphlets . . .

Beneath the sun in Bethlehem . . .

I snapped back to reality, rummaging through my backpack with a feverish purpose and intensity.

“What’s the matter, Ernie?” Bobby said, his words laced with surprise.

“Where’s the pamphlet Rick gave us when the tour started?”

“The pamphlet . . . why do we need that? We’re looking for a sun, remember?”

“I remember,” I said sarcastically. “But if you show me that pamphlet, I’ll show you the sun.”

Scott Morro has written six Young Adult novels: Last Ups (2005), The Cross Over (2006), Danni’s Gift (2008), What’s Brewing in Boston (2009), Fortunate (2018), and The Washington Pursuit (2020). Scott was born in Nazareth, lives in Bethlehem with wife Lisa and sons Connor and Ryan, and is in his 26th year as a 6th grade English teacher at DeFranco Elementary School in Bangor. The Morro family has a strong Bethlehem connection: Scott, Lisa, and Connor are all Moravian College graduates. History, humor, and the struggles of growing up lie at the heart of every Morro novel. Born in Nazareth, living in Bethlehem, Scott’s love of history comes naturally. He’s researched the Moravians, and he even contributed royalties from one of his novels to the Nazareth Moravian Church to help combat the chronic vandalism of Indian Tower, a Northampton County and Moravian Historical Society landmark. Scott makes frequent appearances at schools, book clubs, libraries, and reading conventions. The Washington Pursuit is his second novel with Creators Publishing, a classy publishing house with a perfect family, small-town feel. Stay in contact with Scott at https://scottmorro.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/scott.morro.

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George Hrab @Live from IceHouse Tonight, Tuesday 7PM

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Live from the IceHouse Tonight presents George Hrab

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, story teller, science advocate, producer, composer, and heliocentrist George Hrab has written and produced six independent CDs and a concert DVD; published two books; recorded over six-hundred and fifty episodes of an award-winning podcast; emceed countless science conferences; was a TEDx speaker; has been the drummer and musical director with The Philadelphia Funk Authority for over twenty years; and has even performed for President Clinton. He’s traveled to four continents promoting critical thinking, science, and skepticism through story and song. Join him on Tuesday as he performs virtually from his favorite venue in the world, Bethlehem’s famous IceHouse.

Performance will stream on the IceHouse Tonight facebook page and our new IceHouse Tonight YouTube channel.

Live from IceHouse Tonight delivers local arts to your living room. Presenting a diverse selection of virtual performances, the series is part of the larger IceHouse Tonight series, which features over 100 events each year.

The series is proudly sponsored by Fig Bethlehem magazine.

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Celebrating H.D. — tonight 7PM!

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Bethlehem-born writer Hilda Doolittle — H. D. —  (1886-1961) is
the “Lehigh Valley’s most important literary figure.”

Live from IceHouse Tonight!

Radical Freedom: Poets on the Life and Work of H.D.
Join us September 8th at 7 PM as local poets celebrate the life and work of Bethlehem native Hilda Doolittle with a reading of H.D.’s poetry and their own. Featuring poets Nanette Smith, Sienna Mae Heath, Lynn Alexander, Katherine Falk, and Cleveland Wall—with an  introduction by Jennie Gilrain. This program is brought to you through the generous support of the Lehigh Valley Engaged Humanities Consortium.
———–
Performance will stream on the IceHouse Tonight Facebook page and on the IceHouse Tonight YouTube channel.
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Live from IceHouse Tonight delivers local arts to your living room. Presenting a diverse selection of virtual performances, the series is part of the larger IceHouse Tonight series, which features over 100 events each year. The series is proudly sponsored by Fig Bethlehem.
Cleveland Wall
————
Dear Finding H.D. participants,
The first year of Finding H.D., A Community Exploration of the Life and Work of Hilda Doolittle culminated with a new play by Mock Turtle Marionette Theater: “The Secret” premiered at Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound in the fall of 2019.
“The Secret” was scheduled for a second run in April of 2020. Sadly, the spring run  of our play was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The good news is that some of the related events featuring H.D. have become virtual…
Introducing Act 2:  A Series of Performances by Local Artists Inspired by H.D.
Please enjoy Radical Freedom: Poets on the Life and Work of H.D. 
Sincerely,
Jennie Gilrain
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P.S. We hope you have enjoyed some of our “Finding H.D.” events–lectures, readings, nature walks, book talks–organized by Mock Turtle Marionette Theater, Bradbury Sullivan LGBT Community Center, Bethlehem Area Public Library and Lehigh University Department of English and the South Side Initiative.  If you would like to be removed from this email list, please email Jennie Gilrain at jega@lehigh.edu.
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For Gadfly’s coverage of last year’s “Finding H. D.” series, go to H. D.
on the right sidebar.
———–
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Joey Mutis III, Live from IceHouse Tonight! Tuesday, Sept 1, 7 – 8PM

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Live from IceHouse Tonight!

Mutis 1
photo Paul Willistein

Joey Mutis III of The Electric Farm

Tuesday, September 1, 7 – 8PM

The Electric Farm

The event will stream on the IceHouse Tonight Facebook page and the IceHouse Tonight YouTube channel.

from Dave Howell, “Up on The Farm: Joey Mutis sows seeds of album in creative fields of The Electric Farm rock band.” Bethlehem Press, August 22, 2020.

Joey Mutis III is best-known as lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the rock band, The Electric Farm, and has rarely done solo gigs, even though his performance and original songs sound great in that format.

When Mutis sings and plays his acoustic guitar, you can concentrate on his sublime melodies and lyrics. His gentle presence and high, wavering voice makes him sound fragile at times, while at other times, his fluid guitar work gives him a power-pop sound. He reaches the goals he sets for his Electric Farm albums: “lots of atmosphere, beautiful and mysterious, that takes you on a journey.”

Mutis has been compared to everyone from Neil Young and Nick Drake to Pink Floyd in their more melodic moments. One producer said he sounded like “Donovan backed by the Alan Parsons Project.”

“I have some folk leanings but I’m not a folk artist,” Mutis says in a phone interview from his Germansville home. “I do what I do naturally. I follow my own path. I’m not trying to sound like somebody. I do what I do to make myself happy.

Live from IceHouse Tonight delivers local arts to your living room. Presenting a diverse selection of virtual performances, the series is part of the larger IceHouse Tonight series, which features over 100 events each year.

The series is proudly sponsored by Fig Bethlehem magazine.

Donations are appreciated:  http://paypal.me/theelectricfarm 
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Calendar alert! Touchstone’s Festival UnBound rides again!

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Festival UnBound Sept 4 – Oct 16

Festival UnBound, year two, socially distanced

Touchstone opens 2020-21 season with reprise of community festival

BETHLEHEM, PA – Touchstone Theatre will begin its COVID-friendly, social-distance-safe 2020-21 season with a return to Festival UnBound, a celebration of Lehigh Valley arts and community discourse that premiered in October 2019. This year’s festival will feature weekly events running from September 4-October 16, 2020.

The first year of Festival UnBound took place twenty years after the closing of Bethlehem Steel, a massively impactful and traumatic event for the community. In the years since the closing of the Steel, Touchstone began to explore questions of community and identity in the Bethlehem community: Who were we, now that the Steel was gone? What were the challenges ahead, and what were the values that would hold the community together as we faced the task of shaping our future? Out of these questions came Festival UnBound in October 2019, a ten-day festival of arts and community dialogue around concerns of diversity, sustainability, health, youth leadership, and interconnectedness. The festival was an immense success, and many in the community expressed a desire for the festival to continue.

“What emerged from the Festival was a vision of our community as a healthy, just, and loving place, as it had never been before— one full of music and play in the service of compassion and joy,” says Touchstone Ensemble Member Bill George, who coordinated Festival UnBound in 2019. “We knew we couldn’t let go of that vision but had to keep holding it up as a light to lead us forward. And so, the Festival must live.”

In an extraordinary 2020, Touchstone will be manifesting Festival UnBound in a series of outdoor events, parties, forums, and performances. Many will be free to attend, and most will provide a livestream or digital recording to accommodate audience members who are not comfortable attending for concerns of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Planned events include:

  • LATINX BLOCK PARTY – September 4, 7p – Kicking off the season with an end-of-the-summer party for our neighborhood and our neighbors – all are welcome! Join Touchstone for an evening of local food, live music by Héctor Rosado Latin Jazz Experience, and celebration of local Latinx culture and community. Cost: FREE, donation welcome. Venue: Touchstone Parking Lot (321 E. 4th St. Bethlehem, PA 18015). Rain dates: September 5 and September 6, 7pm.
  • MEDICAL WORKERS SPEAK OUT – September 12, 7p – In the last year, doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals have come to the forefront of national attention for their work on the front lines of COVID-19. Come out and take a listen to what some of our local medical workers have to say about the experience – tales of trauma, triumph, and compassion, from the healers in our community. Cost: FREE, donation welcome. Venue: Touchstone Parking Lot (321 E. 4th St. Bethlehem, PA 18015). Rain date: September 13, 7pm.
  • RUMI/NATION – September 18-19, 6p – An original project created by Touchstone/Moravian MFA student Sean Patrick Cassidy. This site-specific audio walking tour starts on the South Bethlehem Greenway and takes us into a world within our own, allowing the audience to reflect on how they interact with and benefit from natural cycles of change. Cost: FREE, donation welcome, limited spots available. Venue: Performance takes place outside, starting at the 400s block of the South Bethlehem Greenway and covers a 2-3 mile walk around Bethlehem. Rain date: September 20, 6pm.
  • SUSTAINABILITY FORUM – September 19, 6p – At last year’s Sustainability Forum, high schoolers from across Bethlehem came together to share projects that would create a more sustainable community for all of us. This year, our students – as they continue to reflect on the massive changes in our world – take those big plans and bring them to the steps of City Hall, to make their voices heard. Cost: FREE, donation welcome. Venue: Outside on the steps of Bethlehem City Hall. Rain date: September 20, 6pm.
  • ALOUD – September 26, Time TBA – An original project created by Touchstone/Moravian MFA student Adam Ercolani. LGBTQIA+ youth coming into their own identities often feel trapped and restrained by their surroundings and circumstance. How can artistic creation and performance allow us to process and understand our identities in a new way? An exploration of queer identity, self-discovery, and finding a way out of the bonds that hold us back. Cost: FREE, donation welcome. Venue: TBA. Rain date: September 26.
  • HOMECOMING – October 2, 7p – A continuation of last year’s celebration of the history, struggles, and successes in the Black community of the Lehigh Valley, recognizing exceptional talent, drive, and leadership. In this year of the Black Lives Matter movement, protests, civil discourse and loss of great civil rights icons – a year where the names of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd are raised in voices across every state – we claim space and call for justice, recognizing that our history informs the present. Cost: FREE, donation welcome. Venue: Touchstone Parking Lot (321 E. 4th St. Bethlehem, PA 18015). Rain date: October 3, 7pm.
  • TALES OF HOPE AND RESISTANCE – October 9, 8p – From around the world, myths and fairy tales have always taught us how to triumph in the face of overwhelming odds. Touchstone in collaboration with Mock Turtle Marionette Theater presents retellings of traditional stories from the diverse cultural backgrounds of the Lehigh Valley, featuring live music and puppetry. Together, we look to the wisdom of the past to remind us that we are capable of overcoming adversity, now and always. Cost: Tickets by table: $40 for a 4-top, $30 for a 2-top. Venue: Touchstone Parking Lot (321 E. 4th St. Bethlehem, PA 18015). Rain dates: October 10 and 11, 7pm.
  • DICTATORS 4 DUMMIES… AND MORE! – October 16, 7p – An election season retrospective of original political satire. Ensemble Member Christopher Shorr presents a re-imagining of his 2018 musical, now a movie with larger-than-life characters played by action figures voiced by the original Dictators 4 Dummies cast. Plus: a live concert of satirical songs from the Touchstone archive. Join us for a comical evening… and a chilling reminder of the tenuous state of democracy. Cost: Tickets by table: $40 for a 4-top, $30 for a 2-top. Venue: Touchstone Parking Lot (321 E. 4th St. Bethlehem, PA 18015). Rain dates: October 17 and 18, 7pm.

Funding for Festival UnBound is ongoing, but to date, Festival sponsors and supporters include: CADC Bethlehem, Discover Lehigh Valley, FIG Bethlehem, Freestone Productions, Kira Willey Productions LLC, PBS 39, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Morning Call, RCN, WDIY, Webfoot Digital, and Working Dog Press.

Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound takes place September 4-October 16, 2020, with performances taking place in the parking lot behind Touchstone Theatre and other locations throughout the city. More information at www.touchstone.org