Last Minute Weekend Ideas

Street Scene: American Opera in Two Acts, featuring lyrics by Langston Hughes, a Tony Award winning score, and a thirty-piece orchestra, opened last night at Muhlenberg College, and continues through Sunday, March 29, 2015.

Kurt Weill’s American Opera was a revelation when it opened in 1947: a piece of musical theatre that pirouetted gloriously across the gap between classical opera and the vitality of American jazz and blues…Passions stir and gossip swirls in the brutal summer heat of a tenement in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in the late 1920s. It’s a world filled with hope, violence, and love, in which the characters struggle — some to rise up, some to get out, some to find joy, some simply to survive.

The comedy Love, Sex and the IRS opens tonight at Pennsylvania Playhouse on Illicks Mill Road, Bethlehem, PA. Tickets may be bought online. 610-865-6665. The show closes before tax day, on April 12, 2015.

The classic children’s book The Velveteen Rabbit comes to life on stage at the Charles A Brown Ice House, Bethlehem, this weekend courtesy of the PA Youth Theater at 7 p.m. Friday, March 27th, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 28th, and a final performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 29. 2015. Tickets may be purchased online or at the box office within one hour of the show.

The Philadelphia-based trio illumine, consisting of a violinist-composer, a lyric mezzo, and an improvisatory pianist, open their second season tonight, Friday, March 27th with a a concert of works composed exclusively by violinist, David Matthew Brown.

Spanning nearly ten years of music, this program will feature a broad array of dramatic styles, from solo to chamber music – serious, comic, sacred, and frightening music, to a newly arranged suite from Azaio, David’s 2014 Celtic-influenced, Italian language opera, composed with Librettist/Director Karen Saillant for the International Opera Theater. Philadelphia-based flutist, Carolyn Giardini (respective sister, daughter, and sister-in-law to illumine) joins the ensemble for a much anticipated collaboration!

Two concerts will be presented this weekend; Friday, March 27th, 2015 – 7:00PM and Saturday, March 28th, 2015 – 7:00PM at Main Line Unitarian Church, 816 South Valley Forge Road, Devon, PA.

Everyone is invited to join in singing Saturday afternoon, March 28, 2015, at the Hammerstein Sing-along being held at Doylestown Bookstore at 3 p.m.

Jessie Barth, a champion of Oscar Hammerstein II’s legacy, will lead a Hammerstein Sing-along with singer Barb Weikamp and pianist Lori Rosolowsky, both from Doylestown, on Saturday, March 28 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm at the Doylestown Bookshop in honor of Local History Month. Will Hammerstein (Oscar Hammerstein’s grandson) will be attending as a sepcial guest.

Entitled “A Hammerstein SING! with a Personal Twist,” the program is free and open to the public. Attendees who have been to previous SINGS! will find new twists to enjoy, both in song and story. As always, attendees will be invited to sing several Hammerstein songs (lyric sheets provided) as well as read excerpts of his writings, but also this event will feature Barb Weikamp, who will dress and sing as leading ladies from various Rodgers & Hammerstein shows.

The Pennsburg U.C.C.  (775 Main Street, Pennsburg) is holding its 2nd Annual Spring Bazaar in their church social hall on Saturday, March 28th from 9 to 3. Lots of great crafts and home-baked goods will be for sale.

And last, but not least, this is the LAST WEEKEND to pledge your support for our own local, free, celebrate music and the first day of summer festival, Make Music Upper Perk, on our Kickstarter page ((and get some cool thank you gifts for pledging).

Encore Performances at Java Good Day Cafe

Tom Cooney and Jessi Lee Ross, last heard in our area at Make Music Upper Perk, will be back in town performing this month.

Friday night, July 18th, Tom Cooney will fill the Java Good Day Cafe with music from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. He’s planning on playing guitar and singing a mix of folk, blues, jazz, Americana, gospel, and original music.

Jessi Ross will be sharing the stage with some musical friends on Friday evening, July 25th. also at Java Good Day Cafe. Her performance begins at 7 p.m. I wouldn’t be surprised if she brings along some of her new cd’s for those who’d like a way to take the music home with them.

There is no cover charge for either show.

 

Celebrate the First Day of Summer at Make Music Upper Perk!

The first day of summer, Saturday, June 21st, is predicted to be sunny and warm,  and perfect for the 2nd Make Music Upper Perk.

Every June 21st is National Music Day and everyone is invited to celebrate music on the longest day of the year. All over the Upper Perkiomen Valley, at 9 different venues, musicians of all ages will be performing music ranging from rock to classical, bluegrass to barbershop quartet; on instruments ranging from piano to banjo,  celtic harp to dulcimers, and so much more.

The music starts at 9:30 a.m. at Java Good Day Cafe and ends at 11:30 p.m. at the Upper Perkiomen Community Life Center. Some music will be played outside, at the Gazebo at Moyer’s Marketplace in East Greenville, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Pennsburg and on The Porch at Pennsburg U.C.C., and some will be played inside, at Java Good Day Cafe, Art on Main, Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center, Upper Perk Community Life Center, Upper Perk Community Thrift Shop, and the Upper Perk Library in Red Hill. Check out the map for locations, and the complete program to learn what music is playing when.

All free and all open to the public!

 

 

Festival Time

The first Doylestown Art Days takes place from Thursday, June 5th through Sunday, June 8th, 2014, along Main Street, Doylestown, from noon to 6 p.m. each day. Check out their site to see the list of participating artists, a walking map, and special events (including live music, dance, painting demonstrations and family activities). Some of the special events are scheduled for the evening (after 6 p.m.)

New Goshenhoppen Strawberry Festival, featuring craft tables, homemade refreshments, a “new item” auction beginning at 10 a.m. and the Red Hill Band playing in  concert at the bandstand starting  at 5 p.m., is this Saturday, June 7, 2014 at New Goshenhoppen Park, 3rd Street, East Greenville.

The 11th annual SouthSide Film Festival, “celebrating independent film,”  begins Wednesday night, June 10 and continues through Saturday, June 14, 2014. Long and short documentary, animated, comedy, drama, and children films from all around the world will be screened in  south Bethlehem at the Broughal Middle School, Sinclair Lab Auditorium (on Lehigh University campus), Victory Firehouse, and at Godfrey Daniels. Links for many of the trailers, along with a synopsis of all the scheduled films, can be found online.

Saturday, June 21st, is the first day of summer, and that means Make Music Upper Perk! This free music festival features music in 9 venues around the Upper Perkiomen Valley, with music beginning at 9:30 a.m. and scheduled to end at 11:30 p.m.

Stahl’s Potter Festival will also be held on June 21, 2014 from 9 a.m. –  4 p.m., rain or shine. This festival feature pottery demonstrations, hands-on potting opportunities, tours of the sheds and kilns, and over 30 potters displaying and selling their wares.

Make Music Upper Perk News (t-shirts, musicians, schedules and more)!

Less than a month away from our 2nd Make Music Upper Perk, our free all day music festival held throughout the Upper Perkiomen Valley on June 21st, and yard signs are popping up all over to announce the event.

In addition to yard signs, and a much larger print run of programs (soon to be found in libraries, cafes, churches, and other public places), we are offering t-shirts for sale to celebrate MMUP. Shirts are made with organic cotton and recycled plastic water bottles, and printed locally. The design was created by Ariel Royer. Orders must be placed by May 31st

We’ve also posted a list of the musicians scheduled to play, along with photos and links.

The current schedule is online, as is a map showing the nine venues.

 

Make sure to mark your calendar and save the date for Make Music Upper Perk 2014 on Saturday, June 21st.

It’s the final countdown”

Just 8 hours left until midnight when the Kickstarter campaign to fund Make Music Upper Perk 2014 (MMUP2014) comes to close. You still have time to  support the June 21st music festival, and receive mention in the festival programs, a “patron of the arts” t-shirt, a CD, or a seat at the VIP reserved table on the day of the event.

For our second annual Make Music Upper Perk music festival we have already started lining up musicians to play in 9 public spaces in three towns, ranging from elementary aged students to professional musicians. We expect to hear trumpets, dulcimers, a celtic harp, electric guitars, drums,  a hymn sing, rock and roll, blues, banjo strumming, piano playing, violins, original singer songwriters testing out their newest material, the Red Hill Band, and maybe even a bagpiper.

Keep checking back for more information on MMUP2014.