69 WFMZ-TV | Chad Blimline
The 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament is coming to a close, and Reading is inviting soccer fans to attend FIFA’s official World Cup Fan Zone at the Santander Arena on Penn Street this weekend. Admission and parking are free.
Soccer fans can get in on the global excitement on both Saturday and Sunday. The air-conditioned arena will transform into a high-energy hangout, where fans of all ages can cheer, chant, and catch every big moment of action together on the giant screens.
The outdoor festival on Penn Street will feature food and drink vendors, live music, elite youth clinics, mini tournaments, interactive games, and kid-friendly activities, creating a fun, welcoming experience for everyone. The event will offer families and friends the perfect opportunity to spend the day together and be part of the global excitement close to home.
69 WFMZ-TV | Chad Blimline
“Reading is a hard-working city built on culture, diversity, and community,” the city’s mayor, Eddie Moran, said when the FIFA Fan Zones were announced in March. “We know how to come together to celebrate, whether for the arts, music, or one of the biggest sporting events in the world this summer. We look forward to bringing folks together and inviting people from all over to experience the pride and energy that Reading has to offer.”
On Saturday, the featured game will be the World Cup bronze final at 5 p.m., with musical guest The Main Squeeze on the main stage. Also entertaining the crowd will be Mariachi Tierra Mia, DJ Evolution, Root Settaz, DJ Rizo.Ritmo, Grahamage, Nightshift, and DJ Johnny V.
On Sunday, the main event will be the World Cup Final at 3 p.m., with musical guests Sugar Ray and Ax & Hatchetman on the main stage. The entertainment lineup also features Bad Slice, DJ Q-Ball, Supreem & The New Experience, DJ DynaMike, Lost Dad, Milou Sky, and DJ Houdini.
Admission to the Fan Zone is free, however, online registration is required to attend.
Free parking will be available from 8 a.m. Saturday through 10 p.m. Sunday at the DoubleTree Hotel garage (750 Court St.), the South Penn garage (635 Franklin St.), and the Reed & Court garage.
Sherlock Holmes play
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival will premiere a Sherlock Holmes adventure with “Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty” at Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, which is located on the campus of DeSales University at 2755 Station Ave. in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County.
Playwright Ken Ludwig said he never planned to become an author of Sherlock Holmes plays. In 2015, Ludwig adapted Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous Sherlock Holmes adventure, “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” into a comedy/mystery titled “Baskerville.” The play used five actors to play more than 35 characters and gave the play “an antic theatricality that I liked,” Ludwig shared.
“Baskerville” was such a hit that Ludwig decided to return to Holmes and see if there was another play there.
Ludwig found himself intrigued by Doyle’s “The Final Problem,” the only Sherlock Holmes story in which Professor Moriarty, Holmes’ arch-nemesis, appears. Ludwig also was attracted to other iconic characters from Doyle’s books, including Irene Adler from “A Scandal in Bohemia” and Sherlock’s brother Mycroft from “The Bruce-Partington Plans.”
Ludwig created a back story in which Moriarty is Holmes’ professor from his days as a student at Cambridge University.
Ludwig said in his vision, Moriarty is “a beloved mentor who betrayed the trust of his young acolyte and escaped into the underworld to wreak havoc on London. Holmes, blaming himself for failing to see the evil in Moriarty, dedicates his life to bringing criminals to justice in an attempt to atone.”
Maboud Ebrahimzadeh
In the story, Sherlock Holmes, played by Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, and Dr. Watson, played by Doug Hara, take on the case of the Bohemian king’s stolen letters which quickly spirals into an international web of spies, blackmail, and deception. To take down criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, played by Ian Merrill Peakes, and his ruthless network, Holmes and Watson join forces with American actress Irene Adler, played by Cassia Thompson, whose razor-sharp wit and magnetic charm add a delicious twist to the chaos. The five-person cast, which include Karen Peakes, bring more than 30 characters to life.
Adding to the madcap mystery are a cast of puppets created by Angel D’Andria, who also created puppets for the children’s show “Sheila the Magical.”
“Moriarty’ is my attempt to give us all yet another opportunity to experience the comic joy and melodramatic pyrotechnics of the Sherlock Holmes legend,” Ludwig said.
The show features original music by Alex Bechtel, played by musicians Tyler Borneo, Arrianna Daniels, Darin F. Earl II, and Eli Lynn.
Understudies are Mariana Marcel, Teddy Novak, Ryan Plunkett, India Proffit, and Shawn Taylor.
The creative team includes Matt Pfeiffer as director; Brian Sidney Bembridge as scenic designer; Alison Roberts as costume designer; David M. Greenberg as sound designer; Thom Weaver as lighting designer; and Daniel Espie as music director.
“Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty” will play in repertory with William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and July 23, 25, 29, and 31; at 6:30 p.m. July 21 and 28; and at 2 p.m. July 22, 26, and Aug. 1.
The July 23 audience can meet the actors for an informal discussion after the show.
An audio-described and open-captioned performance for the blind and visually-impaired and deaf and hard-of-hearing will be performed at 2 p.m. on Aug. 1.
“Epilogues,” a free discussion and a behind-the-scenes look at the show, will be presented at 10 a.m. on July 25. It will allow audience members to gain deeper insight and ask questions.
Local farce
Reading Theater Project will present a staged reading of “Just What the Doctor Ordered,” a farce by local playwright Judd Lear Silverman, at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Wyomissing Public Library, which is located at 9 Reading Blvd. in Wyomissing, Berks County. A question-and-answer session with the playwright will follow.
In this Moliere-meets-Orton farce, a Jewish mother, on her deathbed, insists her son should be married to inherit the family fortune, but with gay marriage legal, he should marry a gay doctor. Counter-plots ensue and complications follow. The show is directed by Kimberly Patterson.
Silverman, a Berrilla Kerr Foundation grant recipient, sets the play sometime after 2008, when Connecticut legalized gay marriage, using the farce to explore desire, obligation, and family sabotage against the backdrop of early 21st-century America. While not autobiographical, Silverman said the work draws on the same contemporary, farcical instincts as his literary influences.
Silverman’s plays have been published by ArtAge, Samuel French, the Pirandello Society of America, and Applause Theatre Books’ “Best American Short Plays.” They are featured on the New Play Exchange. His play “Proud” opened RTP’s 2025–2026 “Embracing Our Humanity” season.
Tickets cost a suggested price of $10 or pay-what-you-will and can be purchased online.
Jason Robert Brown cabaret
Star of the Day will present a cabaret titled “The Last 30 Years: The Music of Jason Robert Brown” at Between the Lines Studio Theatre, which is located at 725 N. 15th St. in Allentown.
The production brings together 17 of the Lehigh Valley’s finest vocal talents, accompanied by Erica Silver, to showcase the songbook of the three-time Tony Award-winning composer.
Known for his intensely personal, jazz-infused, and emotionally complex scores, Jason Robert Brown has shaped contemporary musical theater with iconic works like “The Last Five Years,” “Parade,” and “Songs for a New World.” This immersive cabaret will spotlight a stellar, diverse lineup of regional artists performing beloved fan-favorites, soaring ballads, and hidden gems from across Brown’s expansive 30-year catalogue.
“Jason Robert Brown’s music is a masterclass in storytelling,” said Kirsten Almeida, founder and managing artistic director at Star of the Day. “His songs capture the raw, messy, and triumphant realities of ordinary people navigating extraordinary moments. Bringing these powerhouse vocalists together under one roof guarantees a breathtaking evening of vocal power and theatrical magic.”
Performers will be Gail Brown, Mike Daniels, Nathan Chipman, Mel Nichols, Safran Astra, Wendy Borst, Lauren Cirami, Darrah Connelly, Katy Hartzell, Rich Kliman, Zoey Lambert, Alexis Leon, Elisa Osorto, Sebastian Paff, Dave Scarlatella, and Jack Warnke.
Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets cost $18 to $23 and are available online or with cash at the door.
ABBA at ASO
The Allentown Symphony Orchestra will present “Dancing Queen–The Music of ABBA” on Saturday at Miller Symphony Hall, which is located at 23 N. Sixth St. in Allentown.
Featuring four vocalists from Jeans ’n Classics, backed by a rock band and the orchestra, the concert will have audiences dancing, singing, and reliving the magic of ABBA, from high-energy anthems to heartfelt ballads.
John Devlin will serve as guest conductor, and Katalin Kiss, Andrea Koziol, Callandra Dendias, and Kathryn Rose will be the vocalists.
They will be joined by Adam Martin, guitar; Mich Tyler, bass; Jeff Christmas, drums; and Steve Holowitz, piano.
Songs will include hits like “Mamma Mia,” “Knowing Me Knowing You,” “Waterloo,” “SOS,” “Fernando,” and “The Winner Takes It All,” all performed in stunning symphonic glory.
Performances will be at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets cost $30 to $81.
Blues stars at State
Alison Krauss & Union Station will appear at the State Theatre Center for the Arts, which is located at 453 Northampton St. in Easton at 7:30 p.m. on July 20.
For nearly four decades, Alison Krauss & Union Station have upheld their legacy as one of the most influential and widely celebrated acts in bluegrass and roots music. Known for an immaculately crafted but endlessly surprising sound that transcends the boundaries of roots, country, rock & roll, and pop, Alison Krauss & Union Station released their highly anticipated new album, “Arcadia,” in 2025. This marked their first studio album since the 2011 masterpiece “Paper Airplane,” a critically lauded, multiple Grammy Award-winning LP that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country, Bluegrass, and Folk Album charts. Over the years, Alison Krauss & Union Station have taken their phenomenal live show to sold-out performances at famed venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre, The Greek Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, and London’s Royal Festival Hall, in addition to supporting Paul Simon in Hyde Park for his 2012 Graceland reunion. They now continue the celebration of their new music with the Arcadia 2026 Tour.
The players, Krauss on fiddle and lead vocal; Jerry Douglas on dobro, lap steel and vocals; Ron Block on banjo, guitar and vocals; and Barry Bales on bass and vocals; along with celebrated tenor Russell Moore on guitar, mandolin and lead vocals, are five distinct personalities, each of whom enjoys a flourishing solo career. But when they get together, they transform into a peerless group of musicians who share a singular focus.
Tickets cost $130 to $210.