Lesser known songs of a beloved composer are explored in a one-night-only performance and a jukebox musical of 1950s and 1960s songs opens at a dinner theater.<\/p>\n
Antrobus Arts presents \u201cMostly Secret Sondheim,\u201d 7:30 p.m. May 2, Muhlenberg College.<\/p>\n
Pines Dinner Theatre opens \u201cThe Marvelous Wonderettes,\u201d May 2 to June 30, Shops at Cedar Point.<\/p>\n
Antrobus Arts is a project of Allentown actor, playwright, director and producer Peter Schmidt.<\/p>\n
Schmidt, a veteran of Muhlenberg College Summer Theatre, produced a concert version of \u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d at Muhlenberg\u2019s Seegers Union in 2024.<\/p>\n
Schmidt envisions \u201cMostly Secret Sondheim\u201d as a way to celebrate the more obscure songs written by Sondheim, one of the most important figures in 20th-century theater.<\/p>\n
\u201cLehigh Valley audiences have had many opportunities to hear Stephen Sondheim\u2019s music and lyrics in shows like \u2018A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,\u2019 \u2018Company,\u2019 \u2018Into the Woods\u2019 and \u2018Sweeney Todd,\u2019\u201d Schmidt says. \u201cBut some of Sondheim\u2019s most beautiful songs were cut from shows or composed for movies and TV.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the show will give the audience a chance to \u201chear what they\u2019ve been missing.\u201d Schmidt adds the show may also include a \u201cfamiliar tune or two.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sondheim, who died in 2021, grew up in Bucks County where he was mentored by Oscar Hammerstein II. Sondheim won eight Tony Awards, an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards, five Olivier Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize.<\/p>\n
Performing with Schmidt are: Elliot Adler, Brian Ming Chu, Adin Gast, Dan Harel, Christopher Hodson, Isaac Levin-Delson, Emma Maurer, Nick Nelson, Kate Pistone, Francine Roussel, Carole Silvoy, Mackenzie Till, Vincent Trovato, Julia Urich and Abigail Zuckert.<\/p>\n
\u201cMostly Secret Sondheim,\u201d 7:30 p.m. May 2, Seegers Union, Muhlenberg College, 2346-2508 Chew St., Allentown. Tickets: http:\/\/antrobus.ticketspice,com\/mostly-secret-sondheim\/<\/p>\n
Pines Dinner Theatre presents \u201cThe Marvelous Wonderettes,\u201d a musical comedy by Roger Bean, about high school friends Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy. They perform at their 1958 prom and the 10th reunion, singing 1950s and 1960s pop hits.<\/p>\n
The musical has more than 30 songs, including \u201cLollipop,\u201d \u201cDream Lover,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s My Party,\u201d \u201cStupid Cupid,\u201d \u201cSon of a Preacher Man,\u201d \u201cYou Don\u2019t Own Me\u201d and \u201cRespect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Food is a la carte. Pines is now offering beer and wine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Marvelous Wonderettes,\u201d Noon, dinner; 1:30 p.m., show Thursdays, Sundays; 6 p.m., dinner; 7:30 p.m., show Fridays; noon, dinner; 1:30 p.m., show; 6 p.m., dinner; 7:30 p.m., show Saturdays, May 2 to June 30, Pines Dinner Theatre, 315 S. Cedar Crest Boulevard, Allentown. 610-433-2333, https:\/\/www.pinesdinnertheatre.com\/<\/p>\n
\u201cCurtain Rises\u201d is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lesser known songs of a beloved composer are explored in a one-night-only performance and a jukebox musical of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-181110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}