LOTS going on in November & December. Feel free to send news of your organization’s activities. See calendar here.
Take your pick: Variety of music on tap this weekend
There are multiple musical events happening in Pottstown this weekend. I’m going to let you know about all of them, and then you can decide what you’re in the mood for!
(1) At 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, the Senior Theater Performance Troupe at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center will put on their Veterans Day Tribute. They will celebrate all veterans with a USO-style show filled with popular songs from the Civil War through World War II. Tickets are $12 for adults; just $10 for students and seniors; and $8 for children 12 and under. Go here for tickets and more info. Tri-PAC is located at 245 High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464.
(2) If you want to continue enjoying great music while honoring veterans AND support the Pottstown High School Boosters, you will want to get your tickets ASAP for the Veterans Day Extravaganza this Saturday, Nov. 13 at the Stanley I. Davenport Center for Performing Arts at Pottstown High School, 750 N. Washington Street. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and the show starts at 6:00 p.m.
Organizer, music enthusiast and dedicated booster Tom Coyle has put together an amazing line-up of classic doo-wop and oldies performers, guaranteed to bring back fond memories. The list at press time includes: Jimmy Beaumont & the Skyliners (“Pennies from Heaven”), the Duprees (“You Belong to Me”), Shirley Alston Reeves & the Shirelles (“Soldier Boy”), and Larry Chance & The Earls (“Remember Then”). The show will be hosted by radio personality KING ARTHUR of SoundsofPhillyRadio.com and WNJC1360.
Tickets are $45 and will benefit the PHS Boosters. Keep the fun going at an after-concert DJ dance at the Elks Lodge, 61 High Street Pottstown, PA 19464 (Cover: $5.00). Contact Tom Coyle directly for tickets at 610-306-9361 (NOT the school.)
(3) And, finally, if you want to hear one of the most accomplished and magical choirs in the country, you should head over to Emmanuel Lutheran Church at 150 N. Hanover Street on Saturday evening, where the Westminster Choir from Princeton, NJ will be conducted by Joe Miller. Special guests include the Hilltones and Hilltrebles, a capella groups from the Hill School.
The Music at Emmanuel series is now in its 27th season and brings extraordinary musical talent to downtown Pottstown, usually for free. The Minister of Music at Emmanuel Lutheran is Andrew Meade, who received his master’s degree from Westminster. He has been at Emmanuel since September 2009.
“With a group of really well-trained singers led by an incredibly talented conductor, the energy and vibrancy of sound will be unlike anything most people will have heard before,” he said.
I couldn’t agree more. For a sample of the angelic sound of this choir, check out this performance of Peter Christian Lutkin’s choral benediction The Lord Bless You and Keep You. It was recorded this past May, just before graduation, in the Princeton University chapel.
The Emmanuel Lutheran sanctuary, beautiful and with great acoustics, seats 450 people. Tickets for Westminster Choir are $10 at the door. Students with a valid ID get in free. The concert this Saturday begins at 7:30 pm. A reception to meet the artists follows every concert.
Mélange Dance Company at Tri-PAC… NOW!
Mélange Contemporary Dance Company is the resident dance company of the Tri-County Performing Arts Center on High Street. They are back from their recent tour of Poland and are performing this weekend. There are just two shows left – tonight and tomorrow afternoon, so get your tickets today! The following press release gives insights to their recent overseas trip. sr
Back from their tour of Poland, the Mélange Contemporary Dance Company returns to the Tri-County Performing Arts Center, 245 E. High Street, Pottstown for a weekend of superb music and dance. On stage for three shows only, November 5th through 7th, their performance features pieces performed at The International Dance Festival in Ladek Zdroj Poland, as well as new works.
The dances are informed by experience – and their experiences during this year’s trip to Poland left some lasting impressions! Much like our recent weather, Poland experienced severe storms and flooding, and when Mélange arrived to perform at the International Festival they discovered that the stage had become unstable due to the wet ground. The entire festival had to be moved to the town square – a quaint, old part of the town, while pumps sent in from Russia worked to reclaim the original festival area.
The town of Ladek Zdroj, Poland is one of the oldest spa towns in Europe. The old buildings survived untouched during WWII because the Germans utilized the spa treatments. It is said that Mozart’s wife Costanza used them too! During the dancers’ downtime they were able to relax and enjoy a swim in a naturally heated indoor pool of mineral water, time in a salt cave that helps sinuses and respiration, and a body de-tox. They were also given a class by a world class instructor from Warsaw.
During the festival Mélange was a headlining group, and participated in a week of classes, performances, and lectures with dancers, teachers, critics, and students from around the globe. A local sculptor thought their program was the best one during the whole week and has since sent pictures he took to Michelle Jones-Wurtz, for whom he made a sculpture that he plans to present to the company next year.
The company includes Founder and Artistic Director Michelle Jones Wurtz, Christa Campbell, Krista Grunklee ,Emily Horstmann Getchell, Jessica Jarvis, Jill Michalsky, Sara Pyfer, Jackie Kokolus, and Tija Ore. Their November performance at the Tri-PAC will showcase a diverse, energetic suite of dances.
Tickets for all shows at the Tri-PAC are available online. Please note that seating is limited, and shows do fill quickly, so go to http://www.tripac.org to purchase your tickets now or call 610.970.1199!
Tickets range from $13 for children 12 and under, $15 for students and seniors (65+), and $17 for adults. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. When available, tickets will be sold at the door. Remember, it’s all happening on High Street!
Village Productions is a dynamic nonprofit performing arts organization that seeks to strengthen community, inspire creative exploration, educate, and entertain, through the presentation of quality performing arts events and educational opportunities geared toward a diverse audience. The new Tri-County Performing Arts Center at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA is the home of Village Productions. You may contact Village Productions through their website at http://www.tripac.org, or by telephone at 610-970-1199.
Last Weekend for WAIT UNTIL DARK!
If you haven’t seen it yet, get your tickets NOW! The thriller play, WAIT UNTIL DARK, is at Tri-PAC tonight through Sunday. Tri-PAC is at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464. Showtimes are tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m.; Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. I’ll be there tonight and can’t wait!
From Tri-PAC’s website:
Play by Frederick Knott
Presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service
Not recommended for young children due to frightening themes
A Broadway hit, this masterfully constructed thriller moves from one moment of suspense to another as it builds toward an electrifying, breath-stopping final scene. “…a first rate shocker…the suspense drama we’ve long awaited eagerly.” —NY Post. In the play, a blind woman is terrorized by thugs while they search for a mysterious doll. Through a clever deception, the ex-cons convince the woman that her husband is implicated in a murder and that the doll is the key to his innocence. But the ex-cons are about to meet their match as a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues leading to a heart-stopping finale. The original Broadway production starred Lee Remick and Robert Duvall and the movie adaptation starred Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin and Richard Crenna. Another “fun fact”: WAIT UNTIL DARK is 10th on Bravo TV’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments for its riveting climax.
“The Park” by Ronald C. Downie
I am so pleased to be able to post this poem submitted by poet Ronald C. Downie, who is also the Chairman of the Pottstown Borough Authority. He sent it in response to a recent article about Sanatoga Park in our Parks & Rec Series. Thank you, Ron!
The Park
Marble sized for giants – whose
Muscles lugged huge stones here ,
Epoch sung through harmonic echoes ,
Waiting with hammer and an ear ?
Glacier droppings thawed to earth
In retreat of Ice Age nights ,
Was Hudson Bay their place of birth
Under Aurora Borealis lights ?
Bare footed , shirtless , agile
Rock climbers scout to find
Cave caverns and weathered fossil
Prints of what beastly kind .
Zig zag stairs to the tower ,
Which commands a southern view ,
Potts’s dream , factory power ,
Blue collar through and through .
They board to ride steel ribbons
Through fields of yellow and green ,
Their voices join track rhythms ,
Up hills , blue skies , at pleasures dream .
Round and round swiftly sweep
Four roller shoes , they in circles flow
To ebony platters etched needle deep
Of organ music for their graceful show .
People recreate at Nature’s door :
Wooded oak hill of ringing rock ,
Pavilion roofed with hardened floor ,
Strengths of family from human stock .
At ” This Wonder Of The World ”
Which Ripley took time to note –
All the Twentieth Century unfurled –
May memories stir by this that I wrote .
( Ringing Rocks Park, Lower Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County )
Ronald C. Downie
(I wrote this poem 20 years ago when I wanted to record where we played in the mid-1940′s. The park was closed a decade earlier but this didn’t deter me and my friends from enjoying what was still left even if it was, as the tower stairs, fenced off.)
It’s River Festival Time!
I’ll be at a wedding in New York later today and wish you all a fun, wonderful, magical Schuylkill River Festival!
I guess some details would help:
Crafts, music, food!
Info & demonstrations about accessing and enjoying the river!
11 am – 4 pm
Down by the river in Pottstown, in the vicinity of College Drive. See info here.
Shuttles will be taking people between the festival and the downtown parking lots.
Mini-Golf at the Carousel
Dear readers and parks/rec enthusiasts,
I’d like to draw your attention to a miniature golf course that is planned behind the Carousel building on King Street in Pottstown. I’d heard about the mini-golf in my conversations with Eileen Schlegel, Director of Parks and Recreation. The Carousel building will be the home of the Parks & Rec. Department when completed. Apparently, this was all discussed at the Borough’s Committee-of-the-Whole meeting last night, and that’s why I thought I’d mention it now.
Through an article over at The Pottstown Post, I found this YouTube link, which shows the proposed site and some wonderful renderings. It shows a layout for the mini-golf.
This whole project – right across from Memorial Park – really could do wonders to make the King St. gateway more attractive. I know people have been kind of disappointed so far. The Carousel may not be the be-all and end-all of revitalization, but it doesn’t have to be; it just has to pull its own weight. When it does that, it will be an excellent addition to the recreational opportunities that Pottstown offers, a real draw for visitors and a major visual improvement to that gateway.
The article that I came across is actually about a Carousel ornament that’s now for sale for $20. Check out the video, support the effort and get started on your holiday shopping now!
Don’t wait to see Tri-PAC’s WAIT UNTIL DARK!
I’ve seen the 1967 movie version, starring Audrey Hepburn, a classic. Here’s a very good description of the play from Tri-PAC: A Broadway hit, this masterfully constructed thriller moves from one moment of suspense to another as it builds toward an electrifying, breath-stopping final scene. In the play, a blind woman is terrorized by thugs while they search for a mysterious doll. Through a clever deception, the ex-cons convince the woman that her husband is implicated in a murder and that the doll is the key to his innocence. But the ex-cons are about to meet their match as a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues leading to a heart-stopping finale. 
Go here and scroll down to the Oct. 5th entry to read blogger Cheryl Thornburg’s review, and then go here to get your tickets. Suspense is brewing at Tri-PAC and you don’t want to miss it!
WAIT UNTIL DARK at the Tri-PAC
Thursdays, Oct 7 & 14 at 7:30 pm
Fridays, Oct 8 & 15 at 8:00 pm
Saturdays, Oct 9 & 16 at 8:00 pm
Sundays, Oct 10 & 17 at 3:00 pm
Special Event: Talkback with Director/Cast: Sunday, 10/10
Log on to http://www.tripac.org for tickets and information.
Tri-County Performing Arts Center
245 E. High Street
Pottstown, PA 19464
610-970-1199
WANTED: Artists!
This just hit my inbox: Realtor Joe Leone is advertising available space in downtown Pottstown that he says would be ideal for an art gallery or artists’ studios. The space is in the former New York Store building at the corner of High and Penn Streets. With its distinctive retro facade, no one will have any trouble tracking down any artists who locate there.
The building has elevators, lots of parking in the rear, along with outdoor patios in the rear on two levels. And it’s in the heart of the downtown, a stone’s throw from The Gallery on High, Tri-County Performing Arts Center and several restaurants. Artists: Pottstown wants you. Get in on its revitalization now and reap the benefits for years to come!
This is Mr. Leone’s website.
Positively Pottstown blog 