November
16, 2007 at 8pm. (Ticket price: $5)
WRITER'S SOIRÉE
Bring your love of the written word and an open ear” to Touchstone
when the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group presents their Writer’s
Soirée. Local writers share and discuss their work, field questions,
and mingle in Touchstone’s adjoining café space.
November 2, 2007 at 9pm. (Ticket price: $5)
HIP-HOP COLLECTIVE
RedSun Productions heats up the Touchstone Stage with The HipHop Collective, a powerhouse performance of spoken word, music, hip-hop and open-mic. Come celebrate with us – “for the Love of Life and Hip-Hop”.
October
12 & 13, 2007 at 8pm. (Ticket price: $15)
AN EVENING AT BRITISH MUSIC HALL
If you’re a fan of old-time American Vaudeville theatre, you’ll
love An Evening at a British Music Hall, a mad-cap evening of
songs, monologues and comic sketches from the hey-day of popular live
entertainment in Britain.
for reservations, call 610-861-0867 (after 9pm.) or email simshar73@yahoo.com.
More information about British Music Hall can be found at http://britishmusichall.spaces.live.com/
October
5, 2007 at 8pm. (Ticket price: $5)
POETRY/IMPROV
NIGHT
Local high school students take the stage for Poetry/Improv Night. Sign
up to perform, or be part of the fun as a spectator.
September
21, 2007 at 8pm. (Free admission)
DRAMATIC INVOLVEMENT COMMUNITY ENSEMBLE–
DICE for short (pronounced DEE-SAY) – uses theatre techniques as
a means of addressing social issues in the community. Action on stage
– in English and Spanish – leads to action in the community.
September 7 & 8, 2007 at 8pm. (Ticket price: $10)
Foreigner
Anisa George returns to Touchstone’s stage with her provocative one-person show, Foreigner. Using movement, music, imagery and an original text, Foreigner beautifully explores the themes of faith, belonging, and self-discovery through one young woman’s journey to Iran.
August 23 - 25 and 26 - 9PM
Between
Two Chairs
A special performance of Valerie Rae Smith's work-in-progress,
a play about memory development and memory loss.
August 23 - 25 at 8pm
August 26 at 2pm.
Tickets are $5, available at the door. Friday,
June 15 - 9PM
Friday, July 13 - 8PM
Writer's Soiree
Hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer's Group
Featured readers will include Ann Borger and Lynell Jones. An open mike will follow featured readers.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, July 20 - 9PM
HipHop Collective Hosted by Red Sun Productions
It's goin'
down! Calling all poets, writers,MCs, Breakdancers, artists...Get in
where you fit in at The HipHop Collective
For the Love of Life and HipHop.
Space is limited, and there are no reservations, so we recommend coming early to make sure you get a seat. Doors open at 8:30. Refreshments will be served.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, July 27 - 8PM
Variety Night Hosted by Touchstone Theatre
A series of hilarious short skits developed by the Touchstone Ensemble. There's always room for more on Variety Night, so contact the theatre if you are interested in performing.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Celtic
music by
Emerald City
Emerald
City is music for the 21st century – an exciting swirl of Celtic
tradition in today’s smaller world. Drawing from rock, blues, jazz,
folk, country, classical, and world music genres, Emerald City’s
talented musicians blend and bend traditional Celtic music into their
own unique, eclectic style. Emerald City is
Greg Geist, guitar; LA Williams, fiddle; Nora Suggs, flutes & whistles;
and Moe Jerant, percussion.
Admission $5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max at 610-867-1689.
www.emeraldcityceltic.com
Admission
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, June 8 - 8 PM
WRITER'S
SOIRÉE
Hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group
www.glvwg.org
On June 8, 2007, we welcome Mike Boushell, John Evans, and Becky Bartlett
as readers for this Young Adult themed night. Admission $5 at the
door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, April 13 - 8PM
THE EVOLUTION OF WAVETASTER
Check out this all original, progressive rock three piece, specializing in an approach to composition and arrangement that focuses on themes such as outer space, the illusion of human senses, and the ironic comedies of the follies of current sexual mores. Unable to be defined as a mere 'comedy' group because of the complex nature of their musicianship, WAVETASTER offers insightful social commentary disguised as crude jokes and 'explicit lyrics', in the tradition of great artists such as Frank Zappa and Richard Pryor, just to name a few.
Admission: $10 at the door
Friday, April 20 - 8PM
HipHop Collective Hosted by Red Sun Productions
It's goin'
down! Calling all poets, writers,MCs, Breakdancers, artists...Get in
where you fit in at The HipHop Collective
For the Love of Life and HipHop.
Space is limited, and there are no reservations, so we recommend coming early to make sure you get a seat. Doors open at 8:30. Refreshments will be served.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, March 9 - 8PM
SHAKESPEARE
BEHIND BARS
Presented
by the South Side Film Festival and
Touchstone
Witness this extraordinary story about the creative process and the power of art to heal and redeem--in a place where the very act of participation in theatre is a human triumph and a means of personal liberation. Click here to view images from the film. Box office opens at 7PM. Admission: FREE
Friday, March 2 - 8PM
TAAL
APPRECIATION
With featured artist Pandit
Samir Chatterjee
Lecture and demonstration by virtuoso Tabla (indian drum) player, Pandit Samir Chatterjee. For more information about this artist, click here.
Admission:
$7 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
THE
BATTLE OF CHILE
A Film by Patricio Guzmán
Parts 1 and 2
In part one, the Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie (96 minutes) examines the escalation of rightist opposition following the left's unexpected victory in Congressional elections held in March, 1973. Finding that democracy would not stop Allende's socialist policies, the right-wing shifted its tactics from the polls to the streets. The film follows months of activity as a variety of increasingly violent tactics are used by the right to weaken the government and provoke a crisis.
See part two, where the Coup d'Etat (88 minutes) opens with the attempted military coup of June, 1973 which is put down by troops loyal to the government. It serves as a useful dry run, however, for the final showdown, that everyone now realizes is coming. The film shows a left divided over strategy, while the right methodically lays the groundwork for the military seizure of power. The film's dramatic concluding sequence documents the coup d'etat, including Allende's last radio messages to the people of Chile, footage of the military assault on the presidential palace, and that evening's televised presentation of the new military junta. For more information about this film, visit First Run/Icarus Films or check out the New York Times review.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, February 16 - 9PM
HIPHOP
COLLECTIVE 
Hosted by RedSun
Productions
It's goin'
down! Calling all poets, writers,MCs, Breakdancers, artists...Get in
where you fit in at The HipHop Collective
For the Love of Life and HipHop.
Space is limited, and there are no reservations, so we recommend coming early to make sure you get a seat. Doors open at 8:30. Refreshments will be served.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
WRITER'S
SOIRÉE
Hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer’s
Group
Celebrate Black History Month when award-winning GLVWG playwright William Marley presents his one-act play Black Jesus, the third installment of his Miss’sippi Medley trilogy. For more information about Black Jesus and the complete trilogy, click here.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
New
This Season!
The Writer's Soiree will host a short Open Mike following our featured
readers. Bring 1-2 pages of poetry or prose and try your hand at reading
before a live audience. A limited number of reading slots are available;
sign up at the start of the reading.
Coming
This Summer...
Plan ahead for the May 11, June 8, and July 13 Writer's Soirees which
will feature the following themes: poetry, young adult fiction and humor.
Friday, February 2 - 8PM
A
COUPLE OF CRONIES
"So true, it made me laugh, cry and wet my pants”
Margaret
Mead, the noted anthropologist once said, “There
is no more creative force in the world than the menopausal
woman with zest.” To prove her right Cora Hook and Mary
Wright have joined forces to create A Couple of Cronies, a
two-woman show about the perils and joys of facing 50 in
the 21st century. Using their skills as clowns, raconteurs and actresses,
these two wanna-be crones share personal and traditional stories and
songs in a raucous and poignant performance.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, January 19 - 9PM
HIPHOP
COLLECTIVE
Hosted by RedSun
Productions
It's goin'
down! Calling all poets, writers,MCs, Breakdancers, artists...Get in
where you fit in at The HipHop Collective
For the Love of Life and HipHop.
Space is limited, and there are no reservations, so we recommend coming early to make sure you get a seat. Doors open at 8:30. Refreshments will be served.
Admission:
$5 at the door.
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689.
Friday, November 3 - 8PM
SUNRIZE:
THE MUSICAL
Sunrize
Highway (a loving satire on the great divas
of contemporary musical theater, created by NYC actor Joseph Ritsch)
in her all new show SUNRIZE: The Musical, an autobiography of Ms Highway’s
“rags to riches” story. The production features unique renditions
of
showstoppers from Broadway and beyond, interspersed
with Ms. Highway’s whimsical reflections, winsome
musings, sage advice, cautionary tales and insightful
showbiz stories.
Admission:
$5
Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689
ext. 221
Friday, November 10 - 8PM
WRITER'S SOIREE
Prepare to be both unsettled and illuminated when the Writer's Soiree presents fiction from GLVWG writers Ralph Hieb, Thomas Small and Nicole Derr that explores the dark and disturbing. An open mike will follow the featured readers.
Admission:
$5
Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689
ext. 221
New
This Season!
The Writer's Soiree will host a short Open Mike following our featured
readers. Bring 1-2 pages of poetry or prose and try your hand at reading
before a live audience. A limited number of reading slots are available;
sign up at the start of the reading.
Coming
This Summer...
Plan ahead for the May 11, June 8, and July 13 Writer's Soirees which
will feature the following themes: poetry, young adult fiction and humor.
Friday, November 17 - 9PM
HIP
HOP COLLECTIVE
with featured artist: Shaun Redwood
He’s
rocked the world with his TELL DEM! perspective.
He’s been your resident host of the Hip Hop Collective.
He got his shine on at the Diamond in He Speaks So Well. Join us on
November 17th for his final farewell. Hosted by RedSun
Productions and Touchstone Theatre.
Admission:
$5
Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689
ext. 221
Friday,
October 7 - 8PM 
Variety Night, Featuring
FUN
WITH EGGS
Come out and let this talented group of improv wizards tickle your funny bone.
Admission:
$5
Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689
ext. 221
Friday,
October 13 - 8PM 
Worldwide Screening
IRAQ
FOR SALE
The War Profiteers
Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.
Admission:
$3
Refreshments will be served
For more information, contact Max
at 610-867-1689, ext. 221
Friday
7/7/06 Blues Night
Hosted by The Lehigh
Valley Blues Network
Featuring Jean Avery & Band performing
blues and ballads
First set begins at 8pm, $10 at the door
Jean
Avery | It's About Time
- A classy chanteuse takes the blues uptown and downtown, and rides
the R&B trail from Memphis to Detroit.
Friday
7/14/06 Writer's Soiree
Hosted by Hispanic
American League of Artists (HALA) 7:00
p.m. FREE
Join us
for a reading of "The Picture," By Norberto Dominguez. When
a poet suffering from writers block finds an 8x11 picture of a beautiful
young woman discarded on the sidewalk, its love at first sight. His
comedic, but torturous romantic relationship with the "Girl In
the Picture" takes him from inspiration to heart ache.
Friday
7/21/06 HipHopCollective
Hosted by RedSun
Productions
9:00 PM. $5 at the door. Space is limited, and there are no reservations,
so we recommend coming early to make sure you get a seat. Doors open
at 8:30.
It's goin' down! Calling all poets, writers, MCs, Breakdancers, artists...Get
in where you fit in at The HipHopCollective
For the Love of Life and HipHop.
Friday
7/28/06 Comedy Night
Hosted by Touchstone Theatre
8-10:30pm. $5 at the door.
Think
you're funny? Love to laugh? Got a good joke? Is that a Banana
in your pocket...? Join us each Comedy Night for punch lines
and pratfalls. Enjoy and/or participate in an evening of prepared
performance, improv and open mic! Open auditions will be announced—for
more info, email max.
SEPTEMBER
Friday 9/2/05
Blues Night
Hosted by The Lehigh
Valley Blues Network
Featuring Midnight Shift...
...a
band dedicated to playing
down home rockin' Blues...
For more information on Midnight Shift, click
here
Friday
9/16/05 HipHopCollective
Hosted By Red Sun Productions
Featuring Shaun Redwood
Come gather at the place where HipHop and performance intersect! Bringing together artists known and unknown from the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Each show will showcase featured artists and present an ecclectic mix of spoken word, music, dramatic performance, beatboxing, dancing and whatever else we feel like doing! Make your presence known! Come share your voice and love of HipHop in the illest open mic in the Lehigh Valley—the second half of every show. It's goin' down! Get in where you fit in—at the HipHopCollective!
Shaun Redwood has been featured at the Nuyorican Poets Café. He is a two time New York City Teen poetry slam finalist, who opened for Def Poetry at Zoellner last October. He has performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England last fall, where he was a part of the /Big Voices /ensemble. He reunited with /Big Voices/ this summer to perform at the Apollo Studio Theatre in Harlem and the New York Hip Hip Theater Festival. Shaun has also been featured in national commercial spots for MTV.
Friday
10/21/05 HipHopCollective
Hosted by RedSun Productions
Featuring special guests Beatmaster & Friends and Linda Zhang
Come gather at the place where HipHop and performance intersect! Bringing together artists known and unknown from the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Each show will showcase featured artists and present an ecclectic mix of spoken word, music, dramatic performance, beatboxing, dancing, and whatever else we feel like doing! Make your presence known! Come share your voice and love of HipHop in the illest open mic in the Lehigh Valley—the second half of every show. It's goin' down! Get in where you fit in—at the HipHopCollective!
Linda Zhang- Writing for the past 3 years, Linda has performed and been a featured artists at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Bar 13, The Bowery Poetry Club, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), CUNY (City University of New York), Lincoln Center, George Washington Irving High School, Kings Highway United Methodist Church and Harlem Live. She was a member of the 2004 NYC Teen Poetry Slam Team representing Urban Word NYC in the Brave New Voices Slam in LA. The NYC team placed 2nd over two dozen slam teams, including a team from London, England. Linda has been published in the 2004 "Speak Your Mind" Urban Word Poetry Anthology and the 2005 "Legacy," a literary magazine from Prep for Prep. Artistically, she intends to teach through her poetry, and plans to study sociology in college "to better understand the group mentality of the world.
BEATMASTER- He's coming from the old school folks! Beatmaster self proclaims to be the hottest unknown artist on the planet. Just when you thought you saw it all, you haven't until you've seen this artist on stage. His display of raw acoustic hip hop can't be explained, only witnessed. A street performer with no formal training in the arts, he writes, produces and performs his material, resulting in shows that can't be compared to anyone! If you are interested in accomplishments and credentials in music and poetry, there are none. His hip hop style consists of beats, rhymes and sound effects performed simultaneously on a table or wall without the use of any musical equipment. On stage he uses a sound system for the sole purpose of volume enhancement to entertain an audience. Come witness BEATMASTER move the crowd!
Friday
10/28/05 Comedy Night
Hosted by Touchstone Theatre
Think you're funny? Love to laugh? Got a good joke? Is that a Banana in your pocket...? Join us each Comedy Night for punch lines, pratfalls and parental discretion (10-midnight). Enjoy and/or participate in an evening of prepared performance, improv and an open mic! Don't forget your tomatoes.
8pm
- 10pm all ages
10-midnight anything goes!
For audition info, email max.
Friday
11/4/05Blues Night
Hosted By The Lehigh Valley Blues Network
Featuring:
Mike Dugan and the Blues Mission
First set begins at 9pm
Friday
11/11/05 Writers Soiree
Hosted by The
Greater Lehigh Valley Writer's Group
Featuring
best-selling author and forensic psychology expert, Katherine Ramsland,
true crime author Steven Walker and Bethlehem attorney Lawrence B. Fox.
7pm: Free Admission
Hear all the true crime details – from gruesome accounts of serial killings to comic tales of practicing law in the Lehigh Valley – when Greater Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group authors Katherine Ramsland, Steven Walker, and Lawrence B. Fox take the Touchstone stage. Also reading: WDIY essayist Nancy Scott and Kunkletown poet Lynnel L. Jones.
Katherine
Ramsland, Ph. D., will read from her latest book, The Human Predator,
a historical chronicle of serial killers like The Boston Strangler, Ted
Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer and Aileen Wuornos. Walker will read from his latest
book, Blood Trail, a true crime accounting of the murder of Ginger
Gasaway. Fox will read from his most recent collection of humorous stories,
No Noose is Good Noose.
Please check out The Greater Lehigh Valley Writer's Group for more information about these talented local writers!
NOVEMBER
Friday 11/18/05 HipHopCollective
Hosted by RedSun Productions
Featured
Artists:
Camille & Special Appearances
CAMILLE is currently preparing here upcoming On-Woman show in February at the Touchstone Theatre incorporating spoken word, melodic vocalizations, and body percussion. Get a taste of what’s to come.
Camille is
30 years of age, a singer, a songwriter, dancer, percussionist, choreographer,
mother of 4 amazing forces of nature, a homeowner, and a teacher.
Come out and catch a glimpse of this inspiring, rebellious, and joyful
performer.
Friday
1/13/06 Firehouse Fridays Writer's Soiree
Hosted by the Greater
Lehigh Valley Writer's Group
Complimentary refreshments provided by Pastaficio
Featured Readers:
William
Marley
William Marley will perform In Sepia Tone, a one-act
play set in a police station interrogation room Jackson, Mississippi
in 1943 that deals with the relationship between the races in Jackson,
Marley's birthplace. Bessie Mae Smith, a young black woman who irons
for a white family, dreams of one day becoming a dancer in Harlem. Through
her narrative, the details of Bessie's past, as well as her hopes for
the future, unfold; at the same time, so do the specifics of the altercation
she has had with the father of a white boy she is teaching to dance.
Marley will use paddle puppets to perform the play, which was written
and produced at the Hauska House Theatre in Saylorsburg in 1991, the
play was first professionally produced by Pennsylvania Playhouse in
Bethlehem in 1993, where it won the Judge's Choice award. In Sepia
Tone also won the Kentucky Contemporary Theatre one-act play contest
and has been produced in Louisville, KY; Brooklyn, NY; Allentown, PA
at Civic Little Theatre, and off-Broadway at Theatre 22 in New York
City.
Jack Cole, author of “Wandering Voices,” will read his poetry. A retired physician who had a private family medical practice in Bethlehem for more than 30 years and also served for five years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan, Swaziland and India, Cole writes articles, children’s stories and poetry. He took up writing after he retired in 1989 and studied creative writing at Northampton Community College. In addition to a collection of verse, “Wandering Voices,” published in 1999 by Mellen Poetry press, Cole is also the author of “Richard and Sabina,” a biography of the Rev. Richard Wurmbrand and his wife.
The following writers will also give readings:
- Mary Ann Broadhurst will read from her novel, Regaining My Senses
- E. V. Drake will read from his novel, A Deer with Really Fat Antlers
- Thomas Small, fiction writer, will read from his short story “Late Visit”
Discover our area's own authors when Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group members take center stage at the second Writers' Soiree Jan. 13. You'll hear a mix of fiction, poetry, and drama — both published and unpublished — read by the authors themselves, who will also be available to sign books, mingle over wine and hors d'oeuvre, and take questions from the audience. Find out more about the writing life as they answer your questions, from how nonfiction writers research a story to how a poet decides where to break lines to how a novelist finds the time and self-discipline to churn out and revise the hundreds of pages that will eventually become a published book
If writing happens to be your passion, too, membership information will be available for the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, www.glvwg.org, which meets monthly and offers its members writing support, critique groups, discussions on craft, writing workshops and an annual writing conference. Bring your love of the written word and an open ear! For more information, visit http://www.glvwg.org and click on Firehouse Fridays
Event begins at 7pm; Free admission
Friday
1/20/06
HipHop Collective
Hosted by RedSun Productions
Come gather at the place where HipHop and performance intersect! Bringing together artists known and unknown from the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Each show will showcase featured artists and present an eclectic mix of spoken word, music, dramatic performance, beatboxing, dancing and whatever else we feel like doing! Make your presence known! Come share your voice and love of HipHop in the illest open mic in the Lehigh Valley—the second half of every show. It's goin' down! Get in where you fit in—at the HipHopCollective!
Show starts
at 9pm; $5 at the door
Complimentary pizza provided by Lehigh Pizza
Friday
1/27/06 Comedy Night
Hosted by Touchstone Theatre
Think you're funny? Love to laugh? Got a good joke? Is that a Banana in your pocket...? Join us each Comedy Night for punch lines, pratfalls and parental discretion (10-midnight). Enjoy and/or participate in an evening of prepared performance, improv and an open mic! Don't forget your tomatoes.
8pm - 10pm
all ages
10-midnight anything goes!
$5 at the door
Complimentary refreshments provided by the Olive Branch
Auditions will take place on Friday, 1/13 from 4-6 pm, and Saturday, 1/14 from noon to 2pm. For more information, email Max at max@touchstone.org or call 610-867-1689.
Friday
2/3/06 Blues Night
Hosted by the Lehigh
Valley Blues Network
Featuring:
The Mississippi Pig Farmers
First set
begins at 8pm - $10 at the door
Get ready for Valentines Day – sample chocolates provided free of charge by Tallarico's Chocolates.
Friday
3/3/06 Blues Night
Hosted by the Lehigh
Valley Blues Network
Featuring:
Texas Stranger Band
Blues, R&B, and a Little Soul
First
set begins at 8pm - $10 at the door
Refreshments will be served
Friday
3/10/06 Firehouse Fridays Writer'sSoiree
Shakespeare
& Friends
People, Poetry and Plays of Elizabethan England
Free Admission
Show begins at 7pm
For the next Firehouse Fridays Writer's Soiree, Fran and Peter Carnahan,
Bill George and Cora Hook bring us Shakespeare & Friends.
The program will include scenes from Shakespeare, The Taming of the
Shrew, King Henry V, and Twelfth Night, from Christopher Marlowe;
Doctor Faustus, Ben Jonsons Volpone and Thomas Dekker The Shoemakers;
Holiday, as well as poetry by John Donne, Michael Drayton, Sir Walter
Ralegh, Sir Philip Sidney and John Heywood. There will be an optional
audience participation segment: ;Who Said That?
Friday
3/31/06 Comedy Night
Hosted by Touchstone Theatre
Featuring Fun with Eggs
Think you're funny? Love to laugh? Got a good joke? Is that a Banana
in your pocket...? Join us each Comedy Night for punch lines, and
pratfalls. Enjoy and/or participate in an evening of prepared performance,
improv and an open mic! Don't forget your tomatoes.
8pm - 10pm, $5 at the door
Friday
4/7/06 Blues Night
Hosted by the Lehigh
Valley Blues Network
Featured
performers:
Slim and the Maxwell Street Band
First
set begins at 8pm - $10 at the door
Friday
4/14/06 Writer's Soiree
Event begins at 7pm
Footprints Among the Ashes
A South Bethlehem Retrospective: 1900 - 1950
This evening's readings of three short stories feature collective
accounts of immigrants who contributed to the fabric of South
Bethlehem's neighborhoods:
Our Folks, Our Heritage, establishes their families;
Silent Voices in the Land of Sleep, reveals their journey's
end; and
Portraits of a South Bethlehem Odyssey, gives their children
a future.
Feature stories from South Bethlehem Historical Society's newsletter,
Southern Exposure, were written by Ken Raniere.
Friday
4/21/06 HipHopCollective
Hosted by RedSun Productions
Event begins at 9pm. Tickets are $5, available at the door. Space
is limited, and there are no reservations, so we recommend coming
early to make sure you get a seat. Doors open at 8:30.
Come gather at the place where HipHop and performance intersect!
Bringing together artists known and unknown from the Lehigh Valley
and beyond. Each show will showcase featured artists
and present an ecclectic mix of spoken word, music, dramatic performance,
beatboxing, dancing and whatever else we feel like doing! Make
your presence known! Come share your voice and love of HipHop
in the illest open mic in the Lehigh Valley—the second half
of every show. It's goin' down! Get in where you fit in—at
the HipHopCollective!
Friday
5/19/06 HipHopCollective
Hosted by RedSun Productions
Event begins at 9pm. Tickets are $5, available at the
door. Space is limited, and there are no reservations, so we
recommend coming early to make sure you get a seat. Doors open
at 8:30.
Come gather at the place where HipHop and performance intersect!
Bringing together artists known and unknown from the Lehigh
Valley and beyond. Each show will showcase featured
artists and present an ecclectic mix of spoken word, music,
dramatic performance, beatboxing, dancing and whatever else
we feel like doing! Make your presence known! Come share your
voice and love of HipHop in the illest open mic in the Lehigh
Valley—the second half of every show. It's goin' down!
Get in where you fit in—at the HipHopCollective!
Friday
6/2/06 Young Playwrights' Festival
7p.m., Pay What You Will
On June 2, local children will transform into playwrights as
Touchstone Theatre presents the Young Playwright's Festival,
the culminating event of the pilot year of Touchstone’s
Young Playwright's Lab. Elementary school students participated
in this project, each developing and writing their own play.
Seven were chosen to be produced; experienced actors will appear
in the works, directed by members of the Touchstone Ensemble.
For ticket reservations and more information, please call 610-867-1689.
Friday
6/9/06 Writer's Soiree
7:00 p.m.
Hosted by the Greater
Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group
Hear an Irish storyteller and learn something buggy about
Mark Twain when four fantastically-talented Greater Lehigh
Valley Writer's Group fiction writers take the stage June
9 at the next Writers’ Soiree. Featured writers: novelists
Juilene Osborne-McKnight and John D. Evans.
Also reading: J.Z. Sharpe and Sarah Ongiri.
Juilene
Osborne-McKnight is the author of a quartet of Celtic
novels that includes the recently-released Song of Ireland
(May St. Martin’s/Tor Forge). A traditional storyteller
and teacher at DeSales University as well as an author,
McKnight has taught for more than 25 years at the middle
school, high school and college levels. She is also a former
newspaper and magazine columnist and feature writer for
publications such as Parabola, The Antioch Review, Dutchess,
Highlights for Children, and Hudson Valley Magazine. For
more information about Osborne-McKnight and her novels,
visit www.jmcknight.com.
John
D. Evans is the author of a young
adult novel, The Cut (2003 Beachhouse Books), and A Tom
Sawyer Companion (1993 University Press of America). Evans
has a special interest in Mark Twain and has reviewed books
for the Mark Twain Forum, an on-line website of Twain scholars
who share an interest in Twain’s life and writings.
“Getting the Bugs Out of Tom Sawyer,” a humorous
look at an entomologist obsessed with insects mentioned
by Twain, was published in McGraw Hill’s 2000 edition
of Tom Sawyer. A teacher with more than 30 years of experience
in the public schools, Evans teaches literature at Lopatcong
Township Middle School in Phillipsburg, NJ and was just
named Teacher of the Year for 2006. Evans lives in Bangor
with his wife and daughter and is currently at work on another
novel, A Sure Thing, an action mystery.
J. Z. Sharpe
has been writing fiction for more than 10 years after struggling
to overcome a 20-year case of writer’s block. She
has been published in various Internet venues and print
anthologies; at the Writers’ Soiree, she will be reading
“Lenore,” a humorous short story about the smoldering
office secrets behind a desktop candy basket, and “Rings,”
a reflective essay about what happens when the author decides
to remove her wedding ring.
Sarah Ongiri, a registered nurse at Muhlenberg Hospital,
writes fiction and personal essays about women who are dealing
with the wicked world of marriage and motherhood. Her essay,
"She's Mine" was awarded fifth place in the category
of personal essays/memoirs in the 74th annual Writer's digest
awards and was recently published in the West Coast zine,
Hip Mama. She will read from her unpublished novel,
"How to Kill a Husband in Ten Easy Steps." She
lives in Bethlehem with the love of her life, Ray, and her
children, 10-year-old Ray and two-year-old Olivia.
The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group
(GLVWG) provides its members with
a network of writing support and resources, acts as a central
information point for writing and publishing activities,
and advances the writing interests of its members. The group
meets monthly from September through June on the fourth
Saturday of the month at the Palmer Library, Palmer Township.
These meetings focus on an aspect of craft or publishing
as well as a “Spotlight” reading by one member.
GLVWG also fosters critique groups, holds monthly “Writer’s
Café” discussions, offers special writing workshops,
and sponsors an annual spring writing conference. For more
information about GLVWG, visit their website at www.glvwg.org.