A play that recreates devastating letters sent during the Holocaust will have its Lehigh Valley premiere Jan. 23 to Feb. 8 at The Pennsylvania Playhouse, Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lucky Star\u201d is a gripping true story of resilience and truth-tracking determination spanning Baltimore and beyond based on Richard Hollander\u2019s book \u201cEvery Day Lasts a Year: A Jewish Family\u2019s Correspondence from Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lucky Star\u201d is the first show in Pennsylvania Playhouse\u2019s 2026 season with the theme \u201cReclaiming the Narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Playhouse website, the season will shine a spotlight on \u201cpowerful voices, untold perspectives, and stories that remind us of the strength of theater as a place where everyone belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Playhouse season includes \u201cLa Gringa,\u201d March 13-29; \u201cSpring Awakening,\u201d May 29-June 14; \u201cDisney Frozen Kids,\u201d performances TBA; \u201cLegally Blonde The Musical,\u201d July 31-Aug. 16; \u201cAgatha Christie\u2019s Murder on the Orient Express,\u201d Oct. 8-25, and \u201cAnastasia,\u201d Dec. 4-20.<\/p>\n
In \u201cThe Lucky Star,\u201d it all begins in an attic with a dusty old suitcase and the discovery of more than 200 letters in three languages that opens clues to an untold history of a family torn apart by war and fighting to emigrate, escape and survive.<\/p>\n
After Hollander\u2019s parents died in an automobile accident in 1986, he found letters in his parents\u2019 attic that told a story of a family he never knew, which included his father\u2019s mother, three sisters and their husbands and children.<\/p>\n
The letters, written from Krakow, Poland, between 1939 and 1942, document how his family was enduring progressively more devastating measures imposed by the Nazis.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Richard\u2019s father, Joseph Hollander, was fighting the United States government to avoid deportation which would mean certain death.<\/p>\n
In 2007, Hollander published \u201cEvery Day Lasts a Year: A Jewish Family\u2019s Correspondence from Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n
A stage adaptation of his book, written by Karen Hartman, opened Off-Broadway in 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lucky Star,\u201d formerly titled \u201cThe Book of Joseph,\u201d was commissioned by Chicago Shakespeare Theater for its world premiere in 2017.<\/p>\n
In Playhouse production of \u201cThe Lucky Star,\u201d Richard (Brad Campbell) narrates as the scenes alternate between past and present, and his father Joseph (Joshua Steinhouse) struggles to save himself and his family.<\/p>\n
The cast includes Kelly Herbert James, Amy Cramer, Jerry Brucker, Melissa Miller, Katie James, Cameron Kunsman, Amy Oselkin and Ericka Csencsits.<\/p>\n
The Playhouse production is directed by Sarah Elizabeth Yorke.<\/p>\n
The Jan. 31 performance is offered as \u201cPay What You Are Able.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lucky Star,\u201d 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23, 24, 30, 31, Feb. 6, 7; 3 p.m. Jan. 25, Feb. 1, 8, Pennsylvania Playhouse, 390 Illick\u2019s Mill Road, Bethlehem. 610-865-6665, http:\/\/www.paplayhouse.org\/<\/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
Brad Campbell<\/p>\n
Joshua Steinhouse<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lucky Star\u201d is based on the book, \u201cEvery Day Lasts a Year: A Jewish Family\u2019s Correspondence from Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A play that recreates devastating letters sent during the Holocaust will have its Lehigh Valley premiere Jan. 23…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-94402","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\/94402","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=94402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}