MunOpCo Music Theater returns after more than a year on hiatus with a holiday show and Civic Theatre of Allentown presents a family show based on a beloved children\u2019s book.<\/p>\n
MunOpCo will present \u201cTree of Lights: A Musical Celebration of Christ\u2019s Birth,\u201d Dec. 13, Lipkin Theatre, Northampton Community College.<\/p>\n
Civic will stage \u201cHershel and the Hannukah Goblins,\u201d Dec. 12 to Dec. 21, Civic Theatre514.<\/p>\n
MunOpCo is holding its first production since it staged \u201cRock of Ages\u201d in September 2024.<\/p>\n
The company, Allentown\u2019s oldest community theater, postponed its production of \u201cUrinetown, The Musical\u201d that was scheduled for February because of \u201cfinancial impacts and timing considerations,\u201d according to its board of directors.<\/p>\n
In spring, the company sent out a survey looking for suggestions from the public about the future of the organization.<\/p>\n
Newly-elected board president Daniel Petrovich says the company\u2019s 98th season opens with the holiday show and the new board is reviewing shows for late spring or early summer. The board includes Cheryl Dreas, vice president, and Darice Hoffman, secretary.<\/p>\n
\u201cTree of Lights\u201d is a contemporary Christian cantata compiled and directed by Terri Williams.<\/p>\n
Terri and her late husband Larry Williams, were leaders of MunOpCo for 22 years before moving to Florida in 2015. After Larry died in 2019, Terri founded Green Room Productions and presented the first \u201cTree of Lights\u201d as a one-act concert in Palm Coast, Fla., in 2020.<\/p>\n
The concert became an annual Christmas tradition in Palm Coast, and this year, Terri decided to bring it to Pennsylvania for the first time to direct it at MunOpCo.<\/p>\n
Written and arranged by Phil Barfoot, \u201cTree of Lights\u201d takes the audience on a journey through the Biblical Bethlehem using pop, gospel and country versions of Christmas classics and new creations.<\/p>\n
MunOpCo was established in 1927 in Allentown, and is the sixth-oldest municipal opera company in the United States and is the oldest theater group linked to a recreation commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cTree of Lights, A Musical Celebration of Christ\u2019s Birth,\u201d 2 p.m., 7 p.m. Dec. 13, MunOpCo Music Theatre, Lipkin Theatre, Northampton community College, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township. 610-437-2441, https:\/\/www.munopco.org\/<\/p>\n
Civic Theatre of Allentown will bring to life \u201cHershel and the Hanukkah Goblins\u201d with actors and puppetry in Civic Theatre514.<\/p>\n
\u201cHershel and the Hanukkah Goblins\u201d is based on the Caldecott Honor children\u2019s picture book written by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman in 1989.<\/p>\n
The story is about the Jewish folk hero and trickster figure Hershel of Ostropol, challenging and defeating through guile a series of goblins during the eight nights of Hanukkah, culminating in a showdown with the King of the Goblins on the final night.<\/p>\n
In 1999, Minneapolis theater Z Puppets Rosenschnoz adapted the book for the stage.<\/p>\n
In the show, Hershel uses wit, bravery and a bit of trickery to outsmart the goblins who have stolen Hanukkah from a small village.<\/p>\n
The production is directed by Nick Conti and Kelcie Kosberg, the latter creating the goblin puppets. Kosberg\u2019s puppets was last seen on stage in Civic\u2019s production of \u201cShrek The Musical.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHershel and the Hannukah Goblins,\u201d 6 p.m. Dec. 12, 18, 19, 20; 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m., Dec. 14; 2 p.m. Dec. 21, Theatre514, Civic Theatre of Allentown, 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
Terri Williams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MunOpCo Music Theater returns after more than a year on hiatus with a holiday show and Civic Theatre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-58967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58967","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=58967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}