The Lehigh Valley Black African Heritage History Project (LVBAHHP)

Playwright Linda Parris-Bailey, Executive Director of Knoxville’s Carpetbag Theatre, has been busy writing the play that Touchstone Theatre is producing about the community of Black African Heritage individuals of the Lehigh Valley.

Dr. Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock is the musical arranger. She has been to the Valley several times in Fall ’07 to conduct song gathering sessions within the community.

For the past three years, actor, Peggy Pettitt led story gathering sessions in the Valley which have become the foundation of the material in the play, along with the individual oral histories that were secured by interviews since 2001.

Susan Clemens-Bruder of Muhlenberg College - History Department has continued to gather individual oral histories in Bethlehem, Easton, and Allentown.

On November 12, 2007, there was an amazing community event at Broughal Middle School in Bethlehem, in which Touchstone Theatre presented An Evening of Music, Story and Conversation Supporting the Lehigh Valley Black African Heritage History Project. The event featured The Central Pennsylvania Male Singing Association, The Strong Sisters, Bernice Greene, Dr. Ysaye Barnwell, Linda Parris-Bailey, Peggy Pettitt, and members of the Lehigh Valley community. This was a free public event to showcase the project.

Saturday, February 2, 2008, there was a public reading of scenes from the play at Lehigh University. This was a videoconference event assisted by Lehigh University and the University of Tennessee where Linda Parris-Bailey was able to listen and see the reading of her script, and get feedback from the audience about the storyline and other details. The process has been immersed in building community and engaging the broader Lehigh Valley in appreciating the History of its residents of Black African Heritage.

February 4 and 5, 2008 were open auditions for casting actors/singers/musicians of all experiences and ages. This was held at Touchstone Theatre.

There will be another public reading of the play on March 27, 2008 (location and time TBA).

The LVBAHHP is a collaborative project of Muhlenberg College, the Lehigh County Senior Center, the Lehigh County Historical Society, Kutztown University, the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, and Touchstone Theatre. The project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the United Way, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

If you would like to participate in this project, please contact Liz Wheeler, Administrative Assistant.

UPCOMING EVENTS

March 27: Public Reading
Alliance Hall, 245 N 6th St, Allentown - 6:30pm

May 30 - June 14: Performances
Venues and official performance dates to be announced soon.

Click here to read a brief history of the project.

Touchstone Theatre's Gallery

As part of Touchstone's mission to build community and encourage creative collaboration, local visual artists are invited to exhibit work in a mezzanine space above the theatre. Gallery exhibits are scheduled to correspond to the theatre's season, and may complement the current production in theme.

NOW ON EXHIBIT…
Touchstone is pleased to host the premier gallery showing of the work of "The No-Shows" - Ariana Abud, Justin Schaible, Melanie Smith, Jessica Walsh and Helene Parrucci. These five up-and-coming photographers and painters are based out of Bethlehem.

The gallery is open before and after
performances, and you may also view
the current exhibit by ringing the bell
during normal business hours. (calling
ahead is recommended - 610-867-1689).
If you would like to submit work for
consideration, please download the
guidelines; contact Liz Wheeler at
610-867-1689 or liz@touchstone.org
to learn more.

NEXT UP…
The first Main Stage performance of the 2008-09 season will be on stage from October 2nd - 12th: Shipwrecked! — The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as told by himself), written by Donald Margulies. A truly unusual story of a once-infamous fraud. Telling wild tales of a strange life, he led Victorian England by the nose for a few months in 1898. Submissions for the accompanying gallery exhibit are due by September 1.

PAST EXHIBITS
TACTILE, where visual artists presented work that could be accessed through the sense of touch. This exhibit complemented Weights, by Lynn Manning. The artists showing work in TACTILE were Margie Anich, Alan Cernak, Joseph M. Chapuk, Vicki Haller, Barbara Hughes, Liz Magno, Susan Newquist, Valerie Ortwein, Maggie Shen, M. David Snyder, Mary E. Stoudt, Barbara Thun, Georgette L. Veeder, and Liz Wheeler. (Up until November 16, 2007).

Interpreting the landscape: abstract nature paintings by Karla Stingerstein and winter landscape photography by Cynthia Underhill.

Don Quixote of Bethlehem

In July 2005, Touchstone Theatre teamed up with nine community organizations to produce a work so unique that we needed to invent a new word to describe it: theatricade.  Don Quixote of Bethlehem was an adaptation of Cervantes’ famous tale, set in the Lehigh Valley.  The theatricade included singing, dancing, giant puppets, small puppets, and much more, with singing and dialogue taking place in both English and Spanish.One of the community partners, the City of Bethlehem, closed down streets to traffic so that the cast and crew of over 300 could share the public space with the audience.  The feedback Touchstone received was overwhelmingly positive, with many commenting on links made between the various cultures residing and working in South Bethlehem.

DVDs of the performance, filmed and edited by Anisa George and Petra Costa, are available for $25, $15 for cast members. To order, please call Liz Wheeler, Touchstone’s Administrative Assistant, at 610-667-1689, or email liz@touchstone.org. Anisa and Petra also created a documentary about the making of Don Quixote of Bethlehem.  This was screened at the 2006 SouthSide Film Festival; please call Liz if you’d like to purchase one.