Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown will say goodbye to the Impressionists Immersive Exhibition with “Mind over Monet,” a Nerd Nite-style celebration of art from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday.
Guests can enjoy an evening of color theory, floating paint, live marbling, and D.J. Romeo G.
Artist Keith Garubba and painter David Sommers will give a presentation on Impressionism.
There will be themed food and a cash bar. One free drink for those 21 and older is included with admission.
There will be free caricatures from 7 to 9 p.m. on a first come, first served basis.
Also included is admission to Impressionists Immersive Exhibition. Guests will journey through the works of legendary masters, including Van Gogh; Monet; Renoir; Morisot; Manet; Degas; Pissarro; Cézanne; Gauguin; and Toulouse-Lautrec, and discover how impressionism changed the world after the Renaissance.
More than 1,000 masterpieces will be projected across an immersive screen with narration and music that reveal stories, techniques, and innovations behind the artists. The exhibit will end Sept. 7.
Tickets cost $30 for age 18 and older only.
‘Sweat’ reading
Basement Poetry, a Bethlehem-based devised theater group, will present a staged reading of the play “Sweat” at Between the Lines Studio Theatre in Allentown.
Set in Reading, Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat” is a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama that examines friendship, identity, economic hardship, and the lasting impact of deindustrialization on a working-class community.
The New York playwright set her play in Reading during the decline of factories from 2000 to 2008 after seeing a New York Times article on the city. She began working on the play in 2011 by interviewing Reading residents and was influenced by the effects of job loss on the city and the economic struggle its people were facing.
Despite the grim premise, the play is full of warmth, humor, and heart as it tells the story of a group of friends who work together on the factory floor and have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs. When layoffs and picket lines start, it begins to chip away at their trust, and they find themselves pitted against each other in a fight to stay afloat.
“Sweat” premiered on Broadway in 2017 and was nominated for three Tony Awards, including for best play. It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for drama, the second for Nottage. She is the only female playwright to have won the prize twice.
“Sweat” contains strong language and mild violence.
Deirdre Van Walters directs the staged reading by members of the group. Van Walters is a spoken-word poet and president of Basement Poetry.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Between the Lines Studio Theatre, which is located at 725 N. 15th St. in Allentown.
Mystery at Pines
Pines Dinner Theatre will begin its fall season by staging the campy murder mystery “Whodunit… The Musical,” a farce written by Broadway veteran Ed Dixon and loosely inspired by Mary Roberts Rinehart’s classic 1908 mystery novel “The Circular Staircase.”
A wealthy American spinster and her Cockney maid arrive at their summer home in Connecticut, only to discover a body in the living room. Then, another body turns up. What did the strange butler and other house guests see? When the inspector calls searching for a clue, the knives come out and things get really strange.
Food and beverages will be ala carte.
Times through Oct. 24 are:
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays: noon dinner, 1:30 p.m. show
Fridays and Saturdays: 6 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. show
The theater is located at 315 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. in Allentown.
60th annual Duryea Day
The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles and the Pottstown Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America will host the 60th annual Duryea Day Antique & Classic Car & Truck Show & Flea Market on Saturday at Boyertown Community Park, which is located at 450 Madison St. in Boyertown, Berks County.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., hundreds of vehicles will be on display. Shuttle service will be available between the park and museum.
Vehicles will compete for trophies in categories of antique pre-war, antique post-war, antique motorcycle, antique truck – pickup, antique truck – commercial, street machine, street rod, and sports car.
Duryea Day benefits the museum and helps it to continue its mission of collecting, preserving, and exhibiting Pennsylvania’s transportation heritage. The museum, like Duryea Day, began in 1965 and continues to tell the commonwealth’s industrial, cultural, and technological history through the lens of road transportation.
Spectator admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and free for ages 12 and under. Spectator admission includes both the park and museum.
The museum is housed in the former home of the Boyertown Auto Body Works, which operated at the site from 1872 to 1990. As visitors make their way through the museum’s main gallery, they will still see remnants of the old factory and trucks that were built there. Along with the various vehicles and carriages on display, the museum also features the famous 1938 Fegely’s Diner, a 1921 Sunoco gas station, and a 1920s tourist cabin. On the second floor, guests will see the original 1872 Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory, where vehicle building began in Boyertown. The museum also presents a reconstructed blacksmith forge and early, belt-driven machine shop, along with a display of buggies and wagons built in the carriage works.
Taste of Hamburg-er Festival
There’s no better place to find a big, juicy hamburger than Hamburg, Berks County, which will celebrate the 23rd anniversary of its Taste of Hamburg-er Festival on Saturday.
The festival, which started as a three-block event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the burger, is now spread out over eight blocks. It will fire up 48 grills and feature four stages of musical entertainment, contests, children’s activities, beer and wine gardens, professional burger-eating competitions, 75 arts and crafts vendors, shopping in Hamburg’s historic downtown, and more.
The event, taking place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., draws as many as 50,000 people from across the East Coast and beyond. The festival is a family-fun day celebrating America’s favorite food – the hamburger.
Third, Fourth, Pine, and State streets in the downtown business district will be closed to vehicular traffic to allow more than three dozen restaurants, caterers, and community organizations to grill their most tantalizing burgers and whip up sensational side dishes for visitors to enjoy.
The burger stands will grill and serve creative and unique combinations of burgers, all competing for the best burger award.
The professional burger-eating competitions will take place at 3:30 p.m. at 222 State St. The mooing contests for age 14 and under will be at 11:45 a.m. and for age 15 and older at 2 p.m.
Twenty bands will perform on the Sizzler Stage at the Fourth and Pine municipal lot; the Slider Stage at 61 N. Third St., the Savory Stage at 222 State St., and the Skillet Stage at 40 S. Fourth St.
Also performing will be Magic Rich at 31 N. Third St. with magic shows hourly from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Malulani Polynesian dancers of Culture Shock Performing Arts Center from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. at 61 N. Third St.
The Beer and Wine Patty-O and the State Street Square Beer Garden will feature for beer, wine, cider, and slushies.
Admission to the festival is free.
Two Part Invention
Satori, a mixed ensemble of winds, strings, and piano, that plays both traditional and contemporary chamber music, will present “Two Part Invention“ in concert at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Charles Brown Ice House, which is located at 56 River St. in Bethlehem.
Flutist Nora Suggs and guitarist John Arnold will perform tangos and other romantic music from Argentina, Spain, Brazil, and more.
Tickets cost $10 at the door only.
Bach at Noon returns
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem will begin its Bach at Noon concert series in Bethlehem with a performance at noon on Sept. 8 at Central Moravian Church, which is located at 73 W. Church St.
The choir and Bach Festival Orchestra along with guest artists will present a free, inspiring concert as a musical gift to the community.
The audience will also hear remarks from Christopher Jackson, the choir’s artistic director and conductor.
Food trucks fest at zoo
The Lehigh Valley Zoo will present its 10th annual Labor Day weekend Food Truck Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The zoo is located at 5150 Game Preserve Rd. in North Whitehall Twp., Lehigh County.
In addition to visiting the animal residents, guests can buy offerings from at least eight food trucks. Those that are scheduled are Geakers Tacos, The Udder Bar, The Greek Shack. Kona Water Ice, Mediterranean King, Bananarama Sundaes, Charlie’s Italian Sausages, The Rolling Brew, Scrumps and Yum, Rooster & The Chick, and Bodega Bistro.
Tickets can be purchased on the zoo’s website at the regular general admission prices of $18 for adults and $14 for seniors and children.