MunOpCo Music Theatre is presenting its first full-length production in two years, and Civic Theatre of Allentown is staging two original one-act plays by a local playwright.<\/p>\n
MunOpCo Music Theatre presents \u201cGodspell,\u201d Sept. 11-20, Between the Lines Theatre, Allentown.<\/p>\n
Civic Theatre of Allentown presents \u201cIn Tandem: The Salacious Sins of Sister Cuthberta & Sheep!,\u201d Sept. 11- 20, Civic\u2019s Theatre514, Allentown.<\/p>\n
As it looks ahead to its 100th anniversary next year, MunOpCo Music Theatre is returning to producing full-length musicals, starting with \u201cGodspell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGodspell\u201d has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by John-Micheal Tebelak. The two-act show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Biblical book of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymns.<\/p>\n
It is a welcome return for Allentown\u2019s oldest community theater, which has been on hiatus since it staged \u201cRock of Ages\u201d in September 2024. MunOpCo postponed its production of \u201cUrinetown, The Musical,\u201d scheduled for February 2025, because of \u201cfinancial impacts and timing considerations,\u201d according to its board of directors. The company staged musical revues in December 2025 and April.<\/p>\n
MunOpCo, established in 1927, is the sixth-oldest municipal opera company in the United States and the oldest affiliated with a recreation commission.<\/p>\n
The production is directed by Rody Gilkeson, who says he is retiring from directing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my very last show as a director, and I am hoping to deliver a fun, meaningful production,\u201d Gilkeson says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first directorial effort was Godspell in 1993, so it makes sense to bring it full circle 33 years later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cast includes Ryan Zickafoose (Jesus), Colin Sergent (John The Baptist, Judas), Rob Adams, Matt Redline, Elizabeth-Marsh Gilkeson, Lori Sivick, Moriah Faith, Lisandra Espiritusanto, Deb Jacoby and Tracy Weaver.<\/p>\n
Music director is Nancy Shumaker. Choreographer is Kayla Courtney. Lighting and sound design is by Jon Tobias, Stage manager is Michelle Cerrone.<\/p>\n
\u201cGodspell,\u201d 7 p.m. Sept. 11, 12, 18, 19; 2 p.m. Sept. 13, 20; MunOpCo Music Theatre, Between the Lines Studio Theatre, 725 N. 15th St., Allentown. 610-437-2441, https:\/\/our.show\/4b8ywjth6s<\/p>\n
Two strange and wildly imaginative one-act plays by local playwright J. Gulotta will be brought to the stage for \u201can evening of dark comedy, absurdity and unexpected heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
In \u201cThe Salacious Sins of Sister Cuthberta,\u201d two grieving nuns are determined to bring their beloved cat back from the dead, leading them down a hilariously unholy path involving secrets, schemes and a little bit of satanic intervention.<\/p>\n
In \u201cSheep!,\u201d audiences step inside a rundown theater populated by animals of all kinds, where a human narrator reveals the origin story of two circus sheep dreaming of freedom from their cruel ringleader and searching for a life beyond the confines of the circus ring.<\/p>\n
The two works are said to \u201ccelebrate the imagination of local theater, blending sharp humor, theatrical chaos and surprising moments of humanity and show great stories can come from the most unexpected places.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Tandem: The Salacious Sins of Sister Cuthberta & Sheep!\u201d is directed by Rae Labadie, Civic Theatre of Allentown Associate Artistic Director.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Tandem: The Salacious Sins of Sister Cuthberta & Sheep!\u201d 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11, 12, 18, 19; 3 p.m. Sept. 13, 20, Civic Theatre514, 514 N. 19th St., Allentown. 610-432-8943, https:\/\/civictheatre.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
Ryan Zickafoose<\/p>\n
Colin Sergent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MunOpCo Music Theatre is presenting its first full-length production in two years, and Civic Theatre of Allentown is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-283604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283604","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=283604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}