No doubt, 2025 has been a year of ups and downs for Lehigh Valley theater companies.<\/p>\n
Pines Dinner Theater, which had spent a year in limbo after losing its longtime home at 17th Street in Allentown in 2023, finally opened its new home at the Shops at Cedar Point, Allentown, in March, with a playful production of the comedy \u201cNunsense.\u201d<\/p>\n
MunOpCo Music Theater, Allentown\u2019s oldest community theater, postponed its February production of \u201cUrinetown: The Musical\u201d because of \u201cfinancial impacts and timing considerations,\u201d according to a press release.<\/p>\n
After no fall show either, MunOpCo came back after a year dark with a new board, a holiday production and plans to stage a musical in late spring or early summer.<\/p>\n
Between The Lines Studio Theater also faced financial struggles and leadership changes, postponing a planned May production of \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Woolf\u201d and a November production of \u201cDead Man\u2019s Cell Phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between The Lines is forging ahead with some new faces, plans for an \u201cActors\u2019 Gym\u201d and \u201cPlaywrights\u2019 Circle\u201d in the new year and \u201cDead Man\u2019s Cell Phone\u201d now scheduled to open Feb. 27.<\/p>\n
Area theaters\u2019 long-term goal of increasing diversity on stage continued in 2025 with outstanding productions, including \u201cRaisin in the Sun\u201d at PA Shakespeare Festival, and \u201cFences\u201d and a joyful production of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d at The Pennsylvania Playhouse.<\/p>\n
Local theaters tackled timely political topics with Northampton Community College\u2019s sly and smart production of \u201cPOTUS\u201d and Crowded Kitchen Player\u2019s terrifying ICE parable \u201cThe Watchers.\u201d Civic Theatre carried through with some political statements in its \u201cShrek the Musical\u201d and \u201cReefer Madness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are some of my favorite performances of the past year.<\/p>\n
Outstanding ensemble: The whole stage exploded in color, energy and music in Pennsylvania Playhouse\u2019s exuberant and uplifting \u201cIn the Heights.\u201d Energy infused the vibrant and dynamic production of Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s Tony-winning musical.<\/p>\n
The large and talented ensemble was showcased by director Jonathan T. Shehab in explosive production numbers like \u201c96,000,\u201d \u201cThe Club\u201d and the joyous, colorful \u201cCarnaval del Barrio.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outstanding use of multiple departments: DeSales University brought together all three majors in the School of Performing Arts, including Act 1 theater, the school\u2019s dance division and the TV-film department to stage a breathtaking production of the classic musical \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thrilling musical featured great performances, particularly by the suave and appealing Noah Schnabel as Don Lockwood and the phenomenal Tommy Gray as his comedic sidekick, along with outstanding tap dancing, eye-popping visuals and ear-worm songs.<\/p>\n
Adding another dimension to the show were the filmed scenes of silent pictures and the talking picture shown on stage. Director Anne Lewis made everything look smooth and flawless.<\/p>\n
Outstanding solo performance: Rachel Camp was riveting as Penelope in PA Shakespeare Festival\u2019s \u201cPenelope,\u201d a fascinating and evocative original musical focusing on the experiences of Odysseus\u2019 long-suffering wife.<\/p>\n
Camp\u2019s Penelope goes through emotions ranging from despair to determination as she navigates her situation as a woman alone, raising a child, running the small island of Ithaca and fending off increasingly insistent suitors.<\/p>\n
Camp delivers the original songs with mesmerizing passion and she brings a depth and complexity to Penelope, revealing her vulnerability as well as her cleverness and resourcefulness.<\/p>\n
Outstanding solo performance runner-up: Theater artist Susan Chase put her mother front and center in \u201cMother\u2019s Day: A Theatrical Homage to The Women Who Made Us,\u201d her joyful, heartbreaking one-woman show, which premiered at Bethlehem\u2019s Touchstone Theatre.<\/p>\n
The 90-minute performance used spoken word, music, dance and film to celebrate not just Chase\u2019s mother, but all mothers. Skillfully blending movement with home movies and old Kodachrome photos that displayed on a video screen behind her, Chase wove the heartfelt story of her life as seen through the filter of her mother.<\/p>\n
Outstanding musical (professional): Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series presented an exciting \u201cEvita,\u201d filled with powerful performances at Northampton Community College. Matias de la Fleur proved a charismatic and effective Ch\u00e9 who commanded the audience\u2019s attention as he prowled the stage like a panther ready to pounce. Olivia Hudson-Fuentes was a dynamic and confident Eva with a soaring voice.<\/p>\n
Director and choreographer Gustavo Wons, who is from Argentina, added elements to give the show an authentic feel and brought elements of tango into the show\u2019s energetic dance numbers.<\/p>\n
Outstanding musicals (non-professional): Cedar Crest College Department of Performing Arts presented a hilariously dark and humorously tragic \u201cHeathers The Musical.\u201d The cult classic musical was tight, clever, tuneful and featured great performances. The production was laugh-out-loud funny and featured eye-catching choreography and crisp direction.<\/p>\n
Treading a fine line between satire and mayhem, Civic Theatre of Allentown gave audiences a \u201cReefer Madness,\u201d that was funny, sly and hilariously clever. The musical comedy based on a 1930s anti-marijuana film took a comedic jab at the authoritarian use of propaganda to control people, specifically to stop them from smoking the \u201cdemon weed.\u201d<\/p>\n
With tongue firmly in cheek, the musical follows two stereotypically clean-cut teens who meet cute and then fall victim to the lure of marijuana and descend into an eye-popping nightmare of sex, indulgence and violence.<\/p>\n
Outstanding plays in repertory: PA Shakespeare Festival has been doing two plays in repertory for years, but this year the plays, Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cHamlet\u201d and Tom Stoppard\u2019s existential comedy \u201cRosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,\u201d dovetailed perfectly. Seeing the same actors approaching Shakespeare\u2019s tragedy in very different ways definitely enhanced the experience.<\/p>\n
Cerebral and funny, \u201cRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead\u201d took two minor characters from \u201cHamlet\u201d and put them on a stage, mostly alone, to ponder whether they control their own existence or are simply pawns in something bigger and beyond their control. Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Guildenstern and Sean Close as Rosencrantz skillfully held a mostly empty stage, impressively trading Stoppard\u2019s rapid-fire wordplay as the \u201creal\u201d play occasionally interferes.<\/p>\n
PSF\u2019s stark production of \u201cHamlet\u201d was dark, moody and fascinating with a passionate performance by Biko Eisen-Martin as Hamlet. The production was marked by an industrial set with unadorned angular set pieces backed by a fluorescent light bar with dramatic and harsh lighting creating a nightmare-like quality.<\/p>\n
Outstanding play (professional): Harrowing, yet hopeful, PA Shakespeare Festival\u2019s \u201cA Raisin in the Sun\u201d paints a picture of a troubling American landscape but also makes the case for standing up for what is right, even when the odds are stacked against you. In this devastating, but determined production, the entire cast delivered heartfelt, emotional and outstanding performances in this important show that still resonates today.<\/p>\n
Outstanding play (non-professional): Pennsylvania Playhouse staged a powerful and emotionally rich production of August Wilson\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning play \u201cFences.\u201d Haunting and compelling, the play explored familial conflicts in which all the characters rang painfully true under the deft direction of Adam Newborn.<\/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
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOSusan Chase, \u201cMother\u2019s Day: A Theatrical Homage to The Women Who Made Us,\u201d Touchstone Theatre.<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY COREY MULLINSLeft to right: TyRonn Brewington (Lyons Maxson), Marquett Ferrell (Cory Maxson), Devin Dobson (Bono), Willy Wo (Troy Maxson), Jalianna M. Miller (Raynell Maxson), Juanita Renay (Rose Maxson), Jaciel Cordoba (Gabriel Maxson, \u201cFences,\u201d Pennsylvania Playhouse.<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO\u201cEvita,\u201d Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series, Northampton Community College.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No doubt, 2025 has been a year of ups and downs for Lehigh Valley theater companies. Pines Dinner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-83141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83141","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=83141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}