Carlino & Suzy (courtesy Tri-PAC)It looks like I will not get to see Tri-PAC’s current production – WAIT UNTIL DARK – until next Thursday, but that doesn’t mean you should put it off too! See it this weekend and avoid the last-minute rush. You might even get to talk with the director and cast if you attend the Sunday matinee and stay around afterward for a “talkback.”
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. Roat, Carlino & Mike (courtesy of Tri-PAC)
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
If you’re looking to kick off your weekend with some pizazz and a gift from the heart, get to the Tri-County Performing Arts Center at 254 E. High Street tonight for SONGS THAT GO LIKE THIS . …. . A BROADWAY REVIEW. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the local Habit for Humanity and the Tri-PAC.
This musical performance is brought to you by Maggie & Mark Moliterno and Friends. Maggie is an award-winning dramatic coloratura soprano, Pottstown native and a versatile actress, who has appeared in principal roles in opera, operetta and musical theater in the U.S. and Europe. Mark, is a bass-baritone, who has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and the Far East, with numerous opera companies, symphony orchestras and festivals. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Voice at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ.
The “friends” part of the evening’s performance includes approximately 25 young vocalists from the area. Photo courtesy of Village Productions Tickets are $20 for children 12 & under and $30 for adults. A wine and cheese reception is included. The show starts at 8 pm. For more info, check out Tri-Pac’s Facebook page, their website, or call 610.970.1199.
The new Tri-County Performing Arts Center is the home of Village Productions. 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.
If you’re looking to kick off your weekend with outstanding bluegrass, rock, gospel, country and jazz, look no further than the incomparable Travis Wetzel Trio this Friday, July 30th at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center on High Street in downtown Pottstown. These musicians are at the top of their game and they’ve played with the best in the business.
Travis Wetzel is a dynamic musician, song writer, and vocalist. He’s been the lead fiddler/violinist on countless recording projects and has performed and recorded with the likes of Bill Monroe, Del McCoury, Mac Wiseman, David Frizzell and jazz legend Stephane Grappelli.
Travis has worked for charitable organizations such as HALTER Therapeutic Riding Program with Wynonna Judd, The Parent Project with Charles Osgood of CBS’s Sunday Morning, and the VSA Arts of NJ. He can be seen and heard almost every week on the Grand Ole Opry with legendary instrumentalist and singer Jesse McReynolds.
Bass player Ron Greenstein has toured Europe and the US with the Lewis Brothers and currently plays bass for folk icons Tom Paxton and The Chad Mitchell Trio.
Acoustic guitarist Bob Harris has performed, produced and recorded nearly 1000 albums and sessions with some of the industry’s top acoustic and country musicians. A member of fiddle legend Vassar Clements’ band for 15 years, Bob was also the first place winner of Guitar Player International’s “Ultimate Guitar Competition” in 1992.
By now many readers of this blog have experienced – I hope! – at least one performance at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center at 245 E. High Street in downtown Pottstown. If not, don’t worry – they just keep comin’. Having just put on a widely-acclaimed production of Ragtime, The Musical, they recently announced their Summer Concert Series, which will feature the Jen Chapin Trio on July 16, the Travis Wetzel Trio on July 30 and Maggie and Mark Moliterno and Friends on August 20.
Also on tap is Tri-PAC’s 7th annual Performing Arts Summer Camp for children. There are 3 sessions to choose from, beginning on July 5th, July 18th and August 2nd. Each session lasts two weeks. There are some spaces still available, so email or call today! (Contact rebecca@villageproductions.org or call 610.970.1199)
The summer camp offers students entering grades 1-12 a chance to explore drama, voice and dance with professional instructors. A new format for middle and high school students allows beginners and more experienced performers to try out one of these areas of concentration or advance their skills, whatever suits their interests or needs.
Students in grades 1-4 will take part in an interdisciplinary curriculum, giving them broad exposure to improvisation, theater movement, vocal expression, writing/drawing and making instruments. They can attend for half- or full-day with short breaks in the morning and afternoon, along with lunch (which is “bring your own.”)
For students in grades 5-12, it’s a full-day program from 9am-4pm. This year Tri-PAC has added concentrations in acting, voice, and dance, so that these older kids can work intensively in one of these areas. A student can still be a beginner and sign up for one of the concentrations and really immerse themselves in it. Half the day is spent in their area of concentration and the other half is spent working to put together an ensemble performance, which will be presented on the last day of each two-week session.
For students in 11th and 12th grades (and recent high school graduates) there is also a Counselor-In-Training program.
Tri-PAC’s summer camp options continue to evolve to encourage participation in the performing arts by newcomers and experienced students alike. If you’ve got a budding performer in your family, check it out! There is a Student Referral Incentive program and need-based financial aid available. Full information and registration forms are available at http://www.tripac.org.
This Friday, Positively!Pottstown will be giving away two FREE tickets to the opening night performance of RAGTIME, The Musical at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center on High St. The show starts at 7:30 pm on Thursday, June 3. Tickets are courtesy of Tri-PAC/Village Productions. There’s A LOT of buzz about RAGTIME, which was just featured yesterday on The 10! Show on NBC.
To enter the drawing, all you have to do is:
1. Become a subscriber to Positively!Pottstown using the box to the right.
OR
2. Become a fan of Positively Pottstown on Facebook.
OR
3. Send an email to positivelypottstown@gmail.com saying you’d like your name thrown into the proverbial hat. No other commitment necessary.
If you’ve already got your tickets, maybe you want to try to win some for a friend? Good luck! And keep spreading spread the word about this remarkable show!
Last Friday’s “State of the Organization” event at the Tri-PAC began with a tasty array of food from area restaurants and caterers. Thank goodness Dean Foster, wine genius and fellow blogger, was there to steer me in the right direction at the wine table. (Definitely look for the guy with the full, white beard at similar events around town & don’t be shy about asking for help!) It was also a pleasure to meet Tom Abbott, publisher of The Mercury, who slyly suggested that someone write about the event. Positively!Pottstown was already on the case! So, here you go… Photo courtesy of Village Productions
I knew the program would be informative in nature, updating the community on how far the organization had come and where they’re headed, but I had no idea how entertaining it would be. Musical selections from the upcoming production of Ragtime, The Musical alternated with information about the importance of the arts and the actual achievements of Tri-PAC, and the format was just right. In fact, it was downright fun. And inspiring, especially the voices rising in song, filling the main stage up to the rafters. Photo courtesy of Village Productions
Speakers included Bill Kiesling, singer & Spouse Extraordinaire; Deborah Stimson-Snow, Artistic Director; Martha McGeary Snider, PA Policy Advisor for Arts and Culture; Marta Rubin Kiesling, Executive Director; Jordan Shoemaker, student, singer, actress; and Tri-PAC board member and actress Lisa Waltz, a Spring Ford and Carnegie Mellon grad, now living and working in L.A.
What grabbed my attention at the start was Deborah Stimson-Snow saying, “There’s a kind of truth happening here… There’s an opportunity every day to do something true.” Yes – that’s what live performance is all about – an artist or group of artists sharing a search for some kind of truth with an audience. This is a noble thing.
The social impact of the arts is now a well-documented phenomenon, and Martha McGeary Snider, Policy Advisor Arts and Culture for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, hit the high points. A strong arts presence can be a stabilizing force in neighborhoods, providing a common destination, a shared language and a place for diversity to flourish, which is exactly what’s taking place at the Tri-PAC.
Marta Rubin Kiesling, Executive Director, provided key statistics from the fall of 2008 to the spring of 2010. These numbers are essential to understanding exactly what Village Productions has achieved, and it’s pretty astounding:
– Over 14,000 audience members
– Over 150 performances
– Over 800 students
– 64 classes
– 11 staff
– Participation of hundreds of volunteers
– Educational outreach to more than 1,000 students
Educational offerings run the gamut, from children’s classes to voice, guitar, comedy improvisation, piano, dancing, directing, script analysis and group singing. There’s something for every one in every age group.
In looking toward the future, Tri-PAC will soon be offering subscriptions. They’re continually finding ways to increase student and community outreach, and they hope to add a retail and concession stand in the lobby area. Perhaps the most important project will be the façade improvement, giving them greater visibility and creating a landmark location on High Street. Representatives from the state are coming to town today to meet and consider a funding request for the façade improvement project. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. (Feel free to post your support for that project right here!)
The success of the Tri-PAC is a KEY ingredient in the revitalization of Pottstown’s downtown. As McGeary-Snider pointed out early in the program: The arts mean business. And she added, “There is a distinct relationship between engagement in art and engagement in civic life.”
In the end, it all comes down to personal responsibility. Strengthening the arts in your hometown is your civic duty. It also happens to be fun and uplifting. Sign up for a class. Volunteer. Get a group of friends together and see a show. A lively downtown will be the result of the artist, or audience member in each of us, coming out from behind the curtain, or taking our seat in the darkened theater, joining other human beings on a journey for some kind of truth.
If you’re not familiar with US Rails, they are Ben Arnold, Scott Bricklin, Joseph Parsons, Tom Gillham and Matt Muir. Here’s how they describe themselves at their MySpace page:
“Echoing some of the great folk, pop and rock unions of the 60’s and 70’s as well as the newest super-groups and dream bands spanning the globe these days, US Rails emerges as the underdog collective of songwriters, singers and musicians who deliver not just a night of cool songs and great harmony… It’s in the sum of the parts, not the star of the show… US Rails is five distinctive personalities who met originally while living in and around Philadelphia, PA but have since scattered all over the map to France, Germany and Austin, TX… Their first recording, produced in a cottage house just South of Paris, will be released overseas this spring.”
Sounds pretty cool, huh? It definitely intrigued me enough to click through and listen to some of their tunes. The folk influence is evident in “Rainwater” and “Burning Fire, ” the latter of which is filled with sweet harmonies. And “Simple Plan” is light rock – the electric guitar and back-up vocal harmonies reminded me of the overall sound of Elton John’s 1970 Tumbleweed Connection album. (FYI, to me, invoking the great Elton John is the highest praise possible!)
Ticket prices for US Rails:
Adults: $17
Student & Seniors: $15
Children 12 and Under: $13
Tri-Pac is at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464
(610) 970-1199
info@villageproductions.org
Positively Pottstown blog 