Entertaining Arts in the Greater Philadelphia Area: August 2010

Sunday, August 29, 2010

August Finishes with Fabulous Fun along the Delaware, Faith-Filled Gospel Concert is Focus for Saturday

By Catherine J. Barrier

The end of August is fast approaching, but the weekend promises to be full of fun, fireworks, and faith in Philadelphia. A Thursday night film screening, some Friday night jazz, food at a local restaurant (an individual option), a friendly Bike Sharing Program Demonstration, and a Sunday morning event complete the weekend’s scheduled Penn’s Landing activities, but Saturday’s focus will be the Sounds of Gospel concert.

“The concert will feature songs of praise and various chorale styles, from traditional to contemporary Gospel,” said Laurie Heinerichs of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC), the organization that funds and produces the 2010 Summer Program of Free Events at Penn’s Landing. The concert’s line-up will include Spirit-filled performances by such groups as Calvary Baptist Church of Philadelphia, Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, Stellar Award-nominated artist (Reverend) Lonnie Hunter—with his choir, Structure, and the multi-platinum Grammy, Dove, and Stellar Award-winning songwriter/recording artist/producer Fred Hammond.

Fred Hammond, the featured headliner for the Sounds of Gospel concert has been involved with singing and creating Gospel music for the past 25 years. He first gained recognition as a bass guitarist for the Winans and helped form two major Gospel music groups: the trendsetting Commissioned, a six-member musical group, in 1984 and later Radical for Christ. Some of his most recognizable songs and albums include “Let the Praise Begin” from Pages of Life-Chapters 1 & 2 (1998 Dove Award winner, with Radical for Christ, for Best Contemporary Gospel Song), Purpose By Design (2001 Stellar Award winner for Male Vocalist of the Year), Just Remember Christmas (2001 Dove Award winner for Urban Album), Free to Worship (2008 Grammy Award winner for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album), and Love Unstoppable (2009), a #1 Billboard Top Gospel Album.

“God’s love for us all is unstoppable,” says Hammond. “I want to show [in my music] that God continues to love me where I am, even when I make mistakes—and He will love [others] right where they are, too.”

Reverend Lonnie Hunter III is an accomplished vocalist, organist, director, and actor. He currently serves as Pastor of Worship at Bethany Baptist Church in Lindenwold, New Jersey and is a daily radio show host on Praise 103.9 FM in Philadelphia. He will be joined in concert on Saturday with his choir, Structure.

“Lonnie is making an everlasting impact within Gospel music today,” said Heinerichs. In his many roles, Hunter claims to live by the truth of the Bible verse found in Philippians 4:13, which states, “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.”

The Sounds of Gospel concert will be showcased on the new RiverStage at Penn’s Landing, located on the Great Plaza, Columbus Boulevard at Chestnut Street, on Saturday, August 28th from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The concert is co-sponsored by WDAS-FM (part of Clear Channel Worldwide, the largest independent radio group, with six stations in Philadelphia), CBS 3, and CW PHILLY 57, along with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. The concert is Free. There are several parking lots in the area: $10-$17/day (oversized vehicles pay double rate). For more information or directions, see http://www.delawareriverevents.com/.

Fred Hammond’s influence has not been limited to Gospel music. He also produced The Gospel, a movie inspired by his life. Moreover, with popular TV judge Greg Mathis, he wrote and directed Been There, Done That, a successful musical drama. He has also appeared in various commercials and done other television appearances.

“I’ve faced a lot of giants myself,” Hammond has said. “I was fatherless, growing up in Detroit public schools—and God delivered me in so many different ways, just the way He delivered David.” Hammond also emphatically states, “God has never reneged on a promise to me.”

But the Sounds of Gospel concert is not the only event scheduled at the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing for this coming weekend. The DRWC has several other events on the calendar. Thursday evening, the Screening Under the Stars Series will show the film Monsters vs. Aliens; there will also be a Bike Sharing System Demonstration on Saturday; and Sunday morning, another event—My Morning Jacket—will be held (check the DRWC Web site for more information on these). However, Friday night is when the other fun-filled lengthy weekend program will take place, as the DRWC presents the final concert in its Smooth Jazz Summer Nights Series concert, followed by its Friday Night Lights fireworks.

Throughout the summer, smooth jazz artists have graced the new RiverStage at Penn’s Landing on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. To date, guitarist Nick Colionne, saxophonists Jackiem Joyner and Eric Darius (in two separate concerts), the band Urban Jazz Coalition, and trumpeter and bandleader Sean Jones have all entertained evening audiences along the riverfront.

This Friday night (August 27th), saxophonist Boney James will take the stage to deliver his jazz and R&B sounds. Raised on the East Coast but now based in Los Angeles, this songwriter/saxophonist has sold several million records and has worked with Morris Day, the Isley Brothers, and Bobby Caldwell. He’s received the Billboard rankings of #1 Hot Smooth Jazz Artist (2009) and #2 Top Contemporary Jazz Artist. Send One Your Love, his latest CD, has been on charts and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.

“James’s musical style has been influenced by Motown and (Philadelphia’s own) jazz saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.,” said Heinerichs.

“The DRWC is a non-profit corporation created in January 2009 exclusively for the benefit of the City of Philadelphia and its citizens,” said Heinerichs. The former Penn’s Landing Corporation had offered free concerts and events for more than 25 years, but there was a reformatting in January 2009, and the corporation’s name was changed to its present one.

“The fundamental purpose of DRWC is to design, develop, and manage the central Delaware River Waterfront in Philadelphia,” said Heinerichs. “DRWC intends to transform the waterfront into a vibrant destination location for recreational, cultural, and commercial activities for the residents and visitors of Philadelphia.”

One of the ways the corporation is making the area more vibrant this month is by offering its free, new Friday Night Lights fireworks series. On Friday night, August 27th (and again on September 3rd), the fireworks will begin at 9:15 p.m.

“The Friday Nights Lights displays [are] a chance to experience fireworks in a more intimate way,” said Heinerichs. “Watching fireworks dance over the river is a great way to cap off or kick off an evening at Penn’s Landing.”

So, whether you define fun as watching monsters and aliens, listening to jazz music, oohing and ahhing while fireworks explode in the sky, enjoying food or exercise along a waterfront, or as rejoicing to the sounds of a Gospel concert, Penn’s Landing along the Delaware is a great place to find it—especially this final weekend of August. Come on down and enjoy the fun!

"Broadway Rocks" in Bristol, Concert of Popular Show Tunes Closes Summer Concert Series

By Catherine J. Barrier

The house lights flash and go down. Suddenly, the curtain rises, and the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, Richard Rodgers, Andrew Lippa, Irving Berlin, Harold Rome, Jerome Kern, James Van Heusen, Leonard Bernstein, Frank Loesser, Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne, Arthur Schwartz, George Gershwin, or one of the other talented musical or film composers fills the renovated movie house. The audience is ready to “rock”—to a cornucopia of songs from Broadway shows or film. The Bristol Riverside Theatre (BRT) presents its final musical of the summer series: “Broadway Rocks”.

A cast of six skilled performers have come together to deliver a night of lively, entertaining show music that is sure to set feet a tapping and to take those in the audience on a journey back to what each remembers about life when he or she first heard these familiar songs.

“Demetria Joyce Bailey has been a summer favorite this year at BRT,” says Deborah Fleischman, a spokeswoman for the theater. Ms. Bailey, a Barrymore Award nominee for Outstanding Actress in the Musical Ethel Waters, has also appeared in this year’s two previous musicale programs at the Theatre. She also serves as Music Director for Gimme the Mic Philadelphia.

The other female performers in this ensemble are Lois Sach Binder, who has appeared in shows such as Hello Dolly at the Walnut Street Theatre and in Lies and Legends: The Musical Stories of Harry Chapin at the Act II Playhouse, in Ambler, PA, and Jennie Eisenhower, a two-time Barrymore Award winner—for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Forbidden Broadway) and for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical (The Wild Party). The Barrymore Awards are given annually by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.

The male singers/performers in “Broadway Rocks” have very diverse backgrounds. Justin Gabriel Ballasy, a 14-year-old, has been a member of New York’s Tap City Youth Ensemble for the past four years and has appeared on television—on Nickelodeon, MTV, and America’s Got Talent. “[Justin] won BRT’s StarQuest 2010 talent show last spring,” said Fleischman, “[as] the most talented person in Bucks County with a self-choreographed solo tap dance routine.”

John D. Smitherman is a multi-award winning actor and has just finished a tour with Shirley Jones and the Hollywood Symphony. His acting awards include a Handy Award (for Best Actor in a Comedy—Out of Order), an Apple Award (for Best Actor in a Musical—Oklahoma!), a Grandview Award (for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical—South Pacific), and two Salt Awards (for Best Actor in a Musical—The Secret Garden and Jekyll & Hyde).

Anthony D’Amato has appeared in musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, the Who’s Tommy, and the Sundance Channel’s Hair: Let the Sun Shine In, having contributed direction to this last production. “Anthony [. . .] is a favorite performer with the Musicale Series,” said Fleischman.

“Broadway Rocks” runs through August 22nd at the Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, PA, with performances Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $36 (or $10 for students under 25, with ID and proof of age). For more information, call (215) 785-0100 or see http://www.brtstage.org/. The theater’s main floor is ADA accessible.

“The show follows the pulse of Broadway,” said Fleischman. It will highlight such well-known favorites as “Buenos Aires” from Evita, “December 1963 (Oh What a Night)” from Jersey Boys, “I Got Rhythm” (from Girl Crazy), “Luck Be a Lady” (from Guys and Dolls), “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (from Annie Get Your Gun), “Tonight” (from West Side Story), and many other pulsating and irresistible tunes. It will include ensemble singing, solos, and medleys.

As a genre, the musical is a form of theater that combines music, songs, plot, dialogue, atmosphere, and choreography, as well as technical aspects, such as staging and lighting, to tell a story in an entertaining way. Today, musicals are performed worldwide, but they have a long, elaborate history. Starting in the late 1920s, the musical began to move from a type of musical comedy show to a more fixed form focusing on a play involving music as a key element. Show Boat, which premiered on December 27, 1927, at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York, began to establish this new genre, and its success encouraged other writers and composers to try to use its basic format, integrating songs, choreography, and the serious and important questions of life. Later, Rodgers and Hammerstein, arguably the most important team of musical-play writers, further integrated all the theatrical and musical elements to communicate more clearly and effectively the meanings and messages of the plays—and to develop the genre further into what is generally understood as a musical today. Their early vehicle to do this was their renowned Oklahoma! (1943).

“Since 1986, [the Bristol Riverside Theatre] has brought consistently acclaimed professional theatre to Bucks County and maintained a long-term commitment to finding and developing new plays,” said Fleischman. As a winner of several Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater, the Bristol Riverside Theatre sponsors a new play series, called America Rising, and has, to date, developed a number of new works, namely the plays The Balkan Women by Jules Tasca, The Majestic Kid by Mark Medoff, Happy Ending by Garson Kanin, I Married Wyatt Earp by Shielah Rae, Thomas Edward West, and Michele Brourman, and two musicals by country music star Larry Gatlin: Alive and Well (and Livin’ in the Land of Dreams) and Texas Flyer.

In addition to its search for new plays and its summer musicale series, the Bristol Riverside Theatre produces plays in a 5-show season yearly (from September through May), sponsors a summer jazz weekend, holds a winter musicale (in December), and hosts children’s theatre productions, an annual Poetry Slam, and a summer camp called Artrageous.

As summer begins to wind down, Broadway songs, such as “America”, “Strikin’ Up the Band”, and “Dancing in the Dark” are able to keep one hopping—and rocking, so hurry and catch the “Broadway Rocks” concert. The curtain is about to go up.

Old and New Mix: Classics Roll into New Hope for the Annual Automobile Show

By Catherine J. Barrier

For more than 100 years, since Henry Ford employed the meat-packing assembly-line technology to car manufacturing, resulting in a significant increase in the number of cars produced, people from all walks of life have been intrigued by the automobile. Whether used primarily as transportation tools, or, at the other extreme, as luxurious or sporty vehicles for leisure outings, automobiles, with their distinctive features, styles, and performance capabilities have continued to delight owners, drivers, collectors, and the general public. This weekend, New Hope, PA will again serve as a summer gathering place for automobile enthusiasts and as a venue for the showcasing and competition of up to 500 classic cars—as it hosts the 2010 New Hope Automobile Show.

“It’s a 2-day show, and each day different cars are showcased,” said Deborah Lang, one of the show’s organizing committee members, who also serves as its sponsorship director. “That’s what makes the show unique.”

Each day’s show is limited to 250 vehicles, and Saturday’s divisions include, for example, “Senior cars”—all national prize winners to 1973; cars from between the ‘20s to the 70’s; cars from all years, models, and marques, such as Duesenberg, Packard, Avanti, Model “A”, Model “T”, Nash, Shelby, and Studebaker. Also on display that day will be antique trucks; “Woodies” (none with simulated wood); professional specialty cars; and in the case of fire engines, those to 1980.

On Sunday, the “Senior cars” return, but other marques on display will include Alfa Romeo, Austin Healey, Corvair, MG, Morgan, Triumph, and Viper. Foreign Exotic Cars will be among the Sunday entrants, as well as Jaguar models through 1985; Production cars manufactured by Chrysler/Plymouth, Ford/Lincoln Mercury, and General Motors; and authentic Vintage and Contemporary foreign racing cars; and many more.

One of the “Senior cars” that will be exhibited this weekend is a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe. “It’s national showroom quality; it’s beautiful,” said Lang.

This year, since the manufacturing of Pontiacs is being discontinued, the New Hope Automobile Show is saluting this particular series of cars. “All years of Pontiacs will be allowed to enter—even the later years—so people can see the full range of the car’s marque,” said Lang. This is something different compared to previous shows, and as part of this Pontiac celebration, Jeff Bliemeister, the curator of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Museum in Hershey, PA, will be bringing a Pontiac from the museum floorshow.

Among the other fabulous, unique cars that will be exhibited on Sunday is a 2010 Morgen. The Morgen has begun to be remanufactured, and there are currently only 11 in the United States, only 2 on the East Coast. To date, only a total of one hundred of these 2010 Morgans exist worldwide, and one will be on display in New Hope.

Another unique Sunday entrant is a tangerine-colored 1988 Porsche 959. This particular car was previously owned by Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld and is one of only 337 of that particular model ever manufactured. Very few of these are on the East Coast as well, but it, too, will be at New Hope this weekend.

“We showcase all these fabulous cars,” said Lang. “People just love cars. They have stories. They usually relate to one particular kind of car, or they come to show their children something different. A lot of guys come [to the show] together, too—it’s a buddy thing.”

Started back in 1957, this annual fundraising event will take place this year on August 14 and 15 at the New Hope-Solebury High School, located on Bridge Street (Route 179) in New Hope, PA. The hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, and admission is $5 per person; $3 for Seniors 62+; children 12 and under are free if accompanied by an adult; and active duty military and their dependents are free. Parking is $5. NO alcoholic beverages or tobacco are permitted on school property; no bicycles and no pets are allowed, except those animals assisting handicapped individuals. Beautiful magazine-sized program books will be distributed to all attendees. For more information, call (215) 862-5665 or see http://www.newhopeautoshow.com/.

Back in the 1950’s, the New Hope-Solebury High School needed a gym, and the community formed the New Hope-Solebury Community Association to try to raise funds for the project. At first, the Association held bake sales, then later a horse show. In the end, the horse show developed into the first automobile show in 1957. Since then, the Association has held the Automobile Show each year, during the second weekend in August, and the proceeds have helped build not only the high school gym, but the tracks at the school and community fields. They have also been used annually to provide scholarships to deserving area high school students. This year, 12 scholarships were awarded.

“[Organizing the Automobile Show] is a lot of work,” said Lang, who has a background in information management in the field of nuclear energy, “but the committee members are wonderful, and [the completely volunteer work] is just for the love of the community.”

Lang, who with her husband owns 2 antique cars, volunteered to help with the registration of the cars about 5 years ago. “The next thing I knew, I was totally involved,” she said. Her husband and daughter followed her lead and now volunteer as well. “It’s become a family affair.”

“We did a survey last year and [surprisingly] people gave us all these detailed answers,” said Lang. “We were shocked to learn that [the] visitors were not just from the Tri-State area.” Indeed, people from as far away as Maine and Tennessee have attended the show. “[We learned] some people even plan their visits back home around the dates of the show, so tradition plays a part in how many visitors we get each year.”

“It’s a pretty nice show; it’s one of my favorites,” said Charles Daily, a general contractor from Holland, PA, who has been entering his car in the show for the past 4 or 5 years. “There are a lot of very unusual cars, and most of them are pretty nice.”

Daily got involved with antique cars a number of years ago when a fellow contractor was given a Jaguar by one of his clients. Daily got the car and began work on it. “I totally redid the entire car from bumper-to-bumper,” he said. The car has won first place in auto shows and will be an entrant for the Sunday show in New Hope. A unique feature of this black 1959 Jaguar Mark IX Saloon Sedan is its dropdown backseat, which can be used as a picnic table.

“We have a vendor area, and we have live entertainment—an a cappella doo wop band, RB Express, from the Asbury Park area,” said Lang. “There are 5 guys and 4 girls, alternating, and they’re just terrific! They’ve been so popular that people want them back, and we set up a spectator’s tent across from them. People dance to their a cappella singing.” RB Express has been part of the New Hope Automobile Show for the past 5 years.

There is also a Car Corral, where vehicles are displayed for sale at the show. This area allows for the avoidance of “For Sale” signs in car windows, and the cost to display a car in the Corral for both days is $50.

The information for each vehicle is displayed in its window, and Automobile Show attendees are encouraged to vote for their favorite car each day by 2 p.m. in order to participate in that day’s People’s Choice Award. Ballots will be available at either gate, at the Awards Table, or at the show’s merchandise tent.

Finally, each day, all the award winners will parade through the awards area in a Parade of Champions, so owners can receive their trophies. All other show car owners are asked to remain on the show grounds until this cavalcade is completed.

“[The show] has unique people and unique cars, and they have pretty nice entertainment,” said Charles Daily. “The organizers are friendly and accommodating, and the judges are fair.” The judging guidelines in most divisions are those accepted nationally by owners groups such as the AACA. In marque divisions, the standards of the marque owners’ club are generally used.

“We hope everyone comes out and enjoys the show,” said Deborah Lang. “That’s what it’s all about,” and with such a large mix of old and newer cars, as well as a host of special model cars and other unique vehicles, the 2010 New Hope Automobile Show is sure to be a real crowd-pleaser.

Yesterday's Film Fashions and Contemporary Styles, Exhibits at the Michener Highlight Both

By Catherine J. Barrier

The Golden Age of Hollywood gave us many things: great entertainment, a type of American “aristocracy”, and a special set of cultural icons, but it gave us important, less obvious things as well, namely fashion influences that are still popular today.

Running now through August 8th at the James A. Michener Art Museum (138 South Pine Street) in Doylestown are two most unique exhibits: Icons of Costume: Hollywood’s Golden Era and Beyond and Michelle Berkowitz: Contemporary Costumes. Icons of Costume features movie apparel worn by numerous Hollywood stars: Audrey Hepburn, Loretta Young, Elizabeth Taylor, Errol Flynn, Gene Kelly, and James Dean among them. It includes Marlene Dietrich’s black velvet evening gown from Shanghai Express (1932) and (Governor) Arnold Schwarzenegger’s black leather jacket from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Several dozen film accessories, including rare publicity stills, props, lobby cards, and jewelry, are also on display. The Berkowitz Contemporary Costumes exhibit features the contemporary work of a native Philadelphian whose gowns are celebrated in the society pages of Greater Philadelphia newspapers. This Sunday, July 18th, at 1:00 p.m., Erika Jaeger-Smith, the Icons of Costume curator, and contemporary designer Michelle Berkowitz will team up to host a guided walking Gallery Tour that will focus on the influences of earlier film costumes and their designers on Berkowitz’s work (215-340-9800).

“People have been wild for both exhibits,” said Erika Jaeger-Smith, the Icons of Costume curator who has been with the Michener for 14 years. “People have loved the comparison because they can see how the early designers are still influential in today’s designs.”

The July 18th walking Gallery Tour is a repeat performance. “There was an overwhelming response [to the first walking Gallery Tour],” said Jaeger-Smith. “So many had to be turned away that we decided to repeat it. And people found it different to hear and talk to a fashion designer about contemporary fashion design and its influences.”

While the Berkowitz exhibit runs only until August 8th, the Icons of Costume exhibit will run through September 5th—and also includes an hour-long film comprised of movie clips with distinct connections to Bucks County, as well as the opportunity, on weekends, for would-be actors to star in their own Screen Test (for an additional fee of $20 per person in groups of 2, 3 or 4; advance, time-specific tickets are available). Admission to the Michener Art Museum is $10 for Adults; $9 for Seniors; $7.50 for Students (w/ ID); $5 for children (6-8), and children under 6 are free. Advance ticket purchase is recommended; the Michener is a Blue-Star museum; for more information, see http://www.michenerartmuseum.org/).

In The Golden Age of Hollywood, costume designers such as Edith Head ruled little “empires” in the movie industry. “The costume was the essential ingredient in setting the theme and period in the scene,” said Erika Jaeger-Smith. “Costumes were made largely by hand then, and the designers carried out their tasks like true artists.”

“People would flock to the theaters to see the latest fashions [during The Golden Age of Hollywood]”, said Jaeger-Smith. “The designers began to realize regular women wanted to look like the stars.” Adrian, one of the most famous Hollywood costume designers at that time, took this idea and “ran with it”. He did not copy the films’ clothes, but he built on Hollywood designs and opened sections in upscale department stores, such as Macy’s in New York, where he sold up to 50,000 fashion items a year. This kind of thing developed and new fashion houses were created.

“These designers are being written about [now],” said Jaeger-Smith, explaining that two new books about these talented “costume designers of old” were just printed in 2009. “During her career, Edith Head received 35 award nominations for her designed costumes. [That record] has never been eclipsed.”

Ten of the costumes on exhibit were used in films and were nominated for Oscars for Best Costume. Of these, half of them won the award.

“The fact that any of [these movie costumes] survived is a minor miracle,” explained Edward Maeder, a costume historian and the conservator for the Icons of Costume exhibit. “No importance was attached to them at the time they were created. They were simply looked at as tools—and expendable.”

“Our adoration of films is relatively new,” said Maeder, the former curator of Costumes and Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “Today, we realize the films of those eras were works of art [, but earlier generations did not see them that way]. [After they were used in the films,] the costumes were used for traveling fashion shows and never treated as the works of art they really are. The costumes were also used for TV commercials.”

“[Today,] there are particular light standards—and filters are used to filter out ultra-violet light, which is harmful to the costumes—and the temperature is controlled,” said Maeder.

Michelle Berkowitz studied interior design at Drexel University and then millinery at the Moore College of Art and Design. Her influences include Charles Frederick Worth, the father of haute couture, Philadelphia’s own Alzie Jackson, a milliner, the well-known designer Judith Leiber, and historic costumes, such as those used during The Golden Age of Hollywood.

“Even the actual lines of the [movie costume] gowns are copied and updated [by modern designers],” said Jaeger-Smith. This can be seen in some of Michelle Berkowitz’s gowns. For example, “princess seaming,” where the waistline of the gown at the back comes to a point in the front about 2 to 3 inches below the waist, rather than straight across, aiding the wearer to hide a “multitude of sins”. Some of these specific designs were used in the films in particular “. . . to make the actresses look like they had perfect figures,” said Jaeger-Smith. Other design features that still influence modern fashions include things such as pinpoint pleating and scalloped, or beribboned, underskirts, or petticoats.

The more than 50 Icons of Costume exhibit items on display have been selected from John Lebold’s collection of movie memorabilia. Lebold served as an assistant to 8-time award-winning designer Edith Head. In this exhibit, the film accessories are set up in 4 cases, which include “a girl case” and “a boy case”. The first contains items used in a number of well-known films, such as Mommy Dearest (1981) and Cleopatra (1963), the latter starring Elizabeth Taylor. The second holds items used by Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, and the actual baseball bat used by Kevin Costner in Bull Durham (1988).

There were many connections between those working in theater in New York and/or films in Hollywood and the Bucks County area during The Golden Age of Hollywood. Many involved in theater and films had estates in the area and worked on now-famous scripts, music, and stories while living here. The area was known as the “Genius Belt”, and many who did not live in the area—Grace Kelly and Robert Redford, for instance—still got their starts in theater in Bucks County.

“We decided to do a project showing films where a Bucks County person was integral in the making of the film,” said Jaeger-Smith. The result is the hour-long film that is part of the Icons of Costume exhibit. It includes 35 memorable clips from films with a distinct Bucks County connection. Some of these include Lassie Come Home (1943), whose author was a Bucks County native; A Star is Born (1954), written by Bucks County resident Dorothy Parker; The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), the story of which was written by Bucks County resident Patricia Highsmith and published in 1955; and the Marx Brothers films—by the Bucks County team of Kaufman & Hart.

“We thought it would be fun for people to star in their own scene,” said Jaeger-Smith of the final part of the Icons of Costume exhibit, the Screen Test, which allows small groups of 2, 3, or 4 people to choose from three films: The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone With the Wind (1939), or Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and to choose costumes, use props, rehearse briefly, and be “shot” in front of a green-paint background (that will later have the appropriate film background added to it) for up to 2 minutes. The best scenes will be uploaded onto the Museum’s U-Tube channel.

“There was never any question that that would be a lot of fun,” said Jaeger-Smith.

The Screen Test is only available on Saturdays and Sundays, and $20-per group (of 2-4 people), time-specific tickets must be purchased in advance (http://www.michenerartmuseum.org/). Participants are requested to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled Screen Test.

The James A. Michener Art Museum, which opened in 1988, is an independent, non-profit cultural institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting the art and cultural heritage of Bucks County and was named after the Pulitzer-Prize winning writer, who was born in the area. The museum houses a permanent collection of over 2,200 objects, including Arts and Crafts as well as modern furniture, sculpture, works on paper, decorative art objects, and a world-class collection of Pennsylvania Impressionism. Among the Impressionist works are Edward W. Redfield’s twentieth-century landscapes. Moreover, the Michener hosts nationally-touring special exhibitions and features important regional artists.

“One of the nice things about this [Icons of Costume] exhibition is that you can get up close and see the detail; the costumes are not behind glass,” said Maeder.

Perhaps in these present exhibits more than anywhere, the fashion-minded can see yesterday’s film fashions “live on” in contemporary styles. For all others, whether movie buffs, historians, collectors, would-be actors, Bucks County residents, or simply appreciators of art in its many forms, the Icons of Costume exhibit and its companion Michelle Berkowitz: Contemporary Costumes exhibit are sure to be big hits as well.

ART PREVIEW: A Local, One-of-a-Kind Art Collection Features Word-Famous Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Early Modern Paintings Among its Many Works of Art

By Catherine J. Barrier

Summertime is perfect for lovers of art. As the temperature climbs outside, the environment inside an art museum remains constant, protecting the treasures within it (and those there to view them). While the Greater Philadelphia area is home to a number of fine art museums, one special art collection stands out among the rest: the Barnes Foundation’s collection in Merion.

“The number one thing we hear from people is that the art collection is overwhelming,” said a key Barnes official, speaking of the treasures collected for almost 40 years by Albert C. Barnes, the Foundation’s founder.

The Barnes Foundation houses one of the finest collections of modern paintings in the world, including a large number of masterpieces by Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Pierre August Renoir, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Claude Monet, and others. But while known mostly for its late 19th-century and early 20th-century European paintings, the Barnes Foundation also has among its holdings many important examples of American paintings, African sculpture, Native American art, Asian art, Medieval manuscripts and sculptures, some Old Master paintings of artists such as El Greco and Peter Paul Rubens, and examples of ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art, as well as samples of American and European decorative arts and metalwork. Approximately 2,000 of these extraordinary works are currently on view.

Albert C. Barnes chartered the Foundation in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts [and the] encouragement of arboriculture and forestry”. Today, the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces and other numerous works of art owned by the Barnes constitute an exceptional, unique teaching collection for art students. Moreover, they provide enjoyment for the art-appreciating public. And art and aesthetics courses, horticulture courses, and various summer workshops continue to be offered by the Foundation.

“The collection is unique just in how the paintings are hung,” said one Barnes official. “They’re not shown in chronological order, but grouped by things such as themes of color. There’s often a bilateral symmetry in the way the paintings are hung. For example, a larger portrait is flanked by two paintings, perhaps two landscapes, of an equal, smaller size sharing a theme or a color. Then metalwork, such as metal hinges or axe heads, is mounted in between the paintings. These echo the line(s) in the painting(s).” This kind of hanging of the different works of art, among other things, allows observers to contemplate the art in more diverse and non-conventional ways, enhancing the artistic experience.

The Barnes Foundation is located at 300 North Latch’s Lane in Merion and is open during the summer Thursdays through Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with special programs, such as book signings, guests’ lectures, and other staff-hosted events, offered on Wednesdays. Two hours is recommended to view the galleries alone; Bloom highlights in the Arboretum for June include rhododendron, hydrangea, roses, and various stewartia and magnolia; $15 per person (3 + older); Reservations are required. Limited, on site reserved parking is available for $15, and free street parking is available within 2-4 blocks (N.B.: the township enforces parking restrictions). For information, call (610) 667-0290, option 5. For the Foundation’s policies, directions, or details on gallery and garden tours, see http://www.barnesfoundation.org/.

The 2010 Summer Workshops being offered in Merion include: Matisse Paper Cut-Outs (June 14-15), Art in the Garden (June 15; Rain date June 29), Building the Landscape: From Arboretum to Container Gardening (June 22), The Nude in 20th-Century Art: The Artists, The Figure, and Sexuality (July 12-13), About Looking (July 19-20), and Surrealism: Inner Visions, Outer Limits (August 2-3). For details, see http://www.barnesfoundation.org/; to register, call Nancy Rosner at (610) 667-0290, ext. 3825 or register online.

Albert C. Barnes was born in Kensington in 1872, attended Central High School, where he befriended William Glackens—who later became a member of The Eight, a group of realist painters committed to the advancement of Modernism in the U.S, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He attended the University of Berlin in Germany and then studied pharmacology and completed a dissertation at Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat in Heidelberg, Germany. He worked as a consulting chemist for the H.K. Mulford Company in Philadelphia for a while, and shortly before marrying, did some experiments on his own which resulted in his developing Argyrol, a silver-based compound used to fight infections. By age 30, Barnes was a multimillionaire.

In 1901, Barnes married Laura Leggett from New York. They settled in Overbrook and then moved to Merion in 1905. In 1908, Barnes established his A.C. Barnes Company to begin manufacturing pharmaceuticals, including Argyrol. He set up company factories in Philadelphia, London, and Australia and had the first successful marketing effort of medical supplies directly to physicians and hospitals. As a businessman, he prospered, and his love of art continued to grow.

Barnes began purchasing modern paintings, including Van Gogh’s Postman, Picasso’s Woman with a Cigarette, and Paul Gauguin’s Haere Pape, in 1912. He then started to hang paintings in his factory building, so his employees could study and discuss the works. In his first article on art: “How to Judge a Painting”, he outlined a “scientific” method of evaluating art. He then decided to attend a John Dewey Columbia University seminar in order to study the latter’s method of education, and the two men began a lifelong friendship.

In 1922, Barnes purchased the 12-acre Merion site where the Foundation is currently located. The property included a small arboretum, started in the 1880’s, with trees and flora from around the world. Barnes expanded it, and in 1940, Laura Barnes established classes in botany, horticulture, and landscape there, in the Foundation’s Arboretum School.

“She [Laura] knew every tree and bush by its Latin name,” wrote Florence McElroy, a later secretary to Mrs. Barnes.

Barnes had the current gallery, the residence (now the administrative building), and the service buildings all designed, in the Beaux-Arts style, by Paul Philippe Cret, the architect of the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, and constructed in 1923 and 1924. The Gallery dedication ceremony was held on March 19, 1925. Leopold Stokowski, the legendary conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, was one of the speakers, as was John Dewey, whom Barnes had named the Director of Education at the Barnes Foundation in 1923.

Barnes’s first book: The Art in Painting was published in 1925, and it is still used today as the basis for the art education courses offered by the Foundation.

Barnes had bought Henri Matisse’s Le Bonheur de vivre in 1922, and in 1925, he purchased Paul Cezanne’s The Card Players (Les joueurs des cartes). Barnes believed that Henri Matisse was the greatest living artist, and when Matisse visited the Barnes Foundation in 1931, Barnes commissioned the artist to paint a mural, The Dance, for the three lunettes above the windows in the Main Gallery in Merion. It was installed in the Gallery in May, 1933.

“Barnes was still acquiring art up until his death in July of 1951, but no new works of art have been added since then,” said the Barnes official.

“The collection is a permanent collection,” said the key Barnes official. “And [the Foundation] doesn’t lend from its collection.” Thus, the Merion site is the only place where one can view these incredible masterpieces.

“The Barnes has the largest Renoir collection in the world,” stated the official, as we discussed the upcoming Late Renoir exhibit that will debut at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on June 17 and run through September 6. In all, the Barnes Foundation owns 181 works by Renoir, and several are exhibited continuously in its galleries.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibit will feature approximately 80 paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Renoir, as well as works by other artists. It opened at Le Grand Palais in Paris last fall and was at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art through May. For more information on this art exhibit, contact Visitor Services at (215) 763-8100 or via e-mail at visitorservices@philamuseum.org.

In celebration of the upcoming Late Renoir exhibit, the Barnes will have exclusive tours of its premier Renoir collection on Tuesday afternoons starting June 22 and running through August 31, at 3:00 p.m.—when the Barnes is closed to the public. $75 per person; $65 for members; call (610) 667-0290, option 5.

“People might want to travel the few additional miles [from Center City—about 5 miles] to see [both collections],” said the Barnes official. “It’s a great way to appreciate Renoir this summer.”

This past January, Judith F. Dolkart, an expert on the art and culture of 19th-century France, joined the Barnes Foundation as its Chief Curator. Dolkart previously served as Associate Curator of European Art at the Brooklyn Museum and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from Harvard-Radcliffe College in 1993 and a Masters of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.

“We will be moving to the Parkway in Philadelphia in 2012, but we’re still open here in Merion through June 2011,” said a Barnes official. The new, much larger building, with its “Gallery in a Garden” design, created by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, with landscape architect Laurie Olin, will provide the needed additional space for classrooms, an auditorium, painting and research facilities, a café and gift shop, an internal garden, and a 5,000 square-foot Special Exhibitions Gallery with a 16’ high ceiling, but it will also preserve the distinctive nature of the Barnes Foundation and replicate the hanging of the art groups presently on exhibit in Merion. “The new building will include a new Exchange Exhibiting Gallery, something we don’t currently have in Merion, and one of Dolkart’s jobs will be to organize shows for that.”

The Merion site will remain the property of the Barnes Foundation and will house its rich archives. The Arboretum will remain open to the public, and the on-site horticulture programs will be expanded.

“The new building will be finished by the end of 2011, but it takes time to prepare the building environmentally for the paintings and other art,” explained a key Barnes official. While waiting for the new building to be prepared, coming in out of the heat this summer to contemplate the art in this one-of-a-kind collection sounds like an enjoyable and educational way to spend a few hours—or an entire day.

THEATER PREVIEW: A Sampling of Theatrical Experience Through Comedy and Classes

By Catherine J. Barrier

Throughout the centuries, multi-faceted human nature has been the treasure-trove of material used in theatrical works to entertain and often provoke laughter.

The Greater Philadelphia-Bucks County area is rich in theatrical experience. Large, well-known theaters, as well as smaller, more intimate, locally known ones abound, and many of these offer programs that open up the world of artistic expression both to theatergoers and would be theatrical performers. For the next week or two, three area theater groups present a variety of thought-provoking, fun comedies. Moreover, throughout the summer or the regular school year, each group works to develop new talent and to help young people further explore the bountiful world of theater.

The Actors’ NET of Bucks County Proffers a Classic by the Bard

“It’s a magnificent set,” says Joe Doyle, the managing director and a founder, in 1996, along with his wife Cheryl, of the Actors’ Non-Equity Theatre (NET) of Bucks County. “It’s circa 1810, and the show is being extremely well received.” Set designer George Hartpence, who co-stars in the show with Carole Thompson, has chosen this unique set, which includes a working fountain (on stage right).

Running through June 6, Shakespeare’s timeless comedy Much Ado About Nothing is being performed Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. at the Heritage Center, located at 635 N. Delmorr Avenue, in Morrisville. Second Fridays (May 28) are “Talk Back Fridays”, when the audience can question cast members after the show. Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for Seniors (62 years +), and $10 for children up to 13 (http://www.actorsnetbucks.org/; (215) 295-3694; actorsnet@aol.com).

“We try to include at least one classical show per year,” says Doyle. “It was time for a Shakespearean comedy.” And comic the show is—and full of slapstick. In it, two young lovers, Hero and Claudio, while awaiting their upcoming wedding, decide to set a “lover’s trap” for a confirmed bachelor (Benedick) and his favorite (Beatrice). Meanwhile, the evil Don Jon accuses Hero of infidelity to try to prevent her marriage. A chain of events is set in motion, but ultimately, it is all “much ado about nothing”.

The production’s director is Janet Quartarone. “She’s a 4th-season founding member who made her directing debut with us in March 2000, with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” says Doyle.

The Actors’ NET of Bucks County is an actor-driven, not-for-profit regional theatre company run by actors for actors. It uses non-union talent, and its productions range from modern classics and musicals to Shakespeare and new and original works. The group also seeks to celebrate the region’s historical significance and illuminate the issues and personalities that shaped the area, the commonwealth, and the country. The theater company’s venue is a converted municipal garage that provides an intimate (fewer than 100 seats) theatrical experience.

The Actors’ NET is now accepting applications for its 2010 Summer Stars Program, a theatre training program for young people. This popular four-week course meets Monday through Friday at the Heritage Center and professionally trains students, ages 7-12 (9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) and 13-17 (1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.) in acting, singing, and dance. Designed to be pressure-free and fun, it includes an end-of-course student performance of an original musical show, to be written by Joe Doyle. The cost is $450, and the final deadline for enrolling is May 31st.

“In August, we will do our 6th revival of 1776, as part of the Morrisville Revolutionary Weekend,” says Doyle. The play, written by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards, depicts the actions and words of those who attended the historic Second Continental Congress in May through July that year and finally signed the Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary Weekend is August 20-22 and is sponsored by the Morrisville Business Association.

The Lantern Theater Company Presents an Original Adaptation of a C.S. Lewis Classic

“This show tends to attract people interested either in the material [C.S. Lewis’s work] or in Anthony Lawton,” says Anne Shuff, the managing director of the Lantern Theater Company. But Lawton, the author of the original theatrical adaptation of The Screwtape Letters, is committed to presenting drama about spiritual life that will interest all audiences, secular or religious. He wants to “dialogue” with the audience, discussing and considering what is or is not Eternal in all of us.

Now through June 6, the Lantern Theater Company presents The Screwtape Letters, adapted by and starring Anthony Lawton as Screwtape and Philadelphia actress Kim Carson as Screwtape’s dutiful secretary, Toadpipe. Performances are held Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:00 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Theater, located at 923 Ludlow Street in Philadelphia. A post-show discussion, held on June 2, will provide the audience interaction with the creative artists involved in the production and is free to ticket holders. Tickets are $25-$35 (http://www.lanterntheater.org/; (215) 829-0395). With valid ID, 10 minutes before curtain, students may purchase tickets for $10 (cash only). Additional senior and group discounts are available.

“We have a long-time partnership with Tony [Lawton]”, says Shuff. “We’re doing The Screwtape Letters this year and have been alternating that with [Lawton’s adaptation of Lewis’s] The Great Divorce, which we did last year.”

Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, first published serially in the U.K. paper The Guardian in 1941, features a look at human nature from the perspective of a mid-level demon in Hell. The demon, Screwtape, writes letters to his nephew, Wormwood, advising him on how to corrupt a human soul. Instructions on how to prey on human frailties and wickedness abound. But Lawton’s lively adaptation not only explores the philosophical and visceral landscape of Hell but is filled with music, tap-dancing, fire-eating, and numerous illustrations of the seven deadly sins discussed in the letters.

“Our venue [St. Stephen’s Theater] has 135 seats arranged in an ‘L’ on two sides of the stage,” explains Shuff. “The more intimate space pulls people in. Because there are only 135 seats, the action is right in front of you.”

The Lantern Theater Company was founded in 1994 by Charles McMahon and Michael Brophy and is committed to “an authentic and intimate exploration of the human spirit”. It performs classics as well as modern and original works, seeking to create an innovative and stimulating theatrical experience and to evoke thoughtful reflection and continuing discussion. A 13-time winner of Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre, including the 2009 Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service, the Company has more than 16,000 people attend their productions yearly.

The Lantern Theater Company’s Barrymore Award-winning Illumination program gets local students involved in the world of theater by providing student matinees and by partnering with educators to enrich classroom curriculum. Discounted tickets, lesson plans and study guides, and post-show talkbacks with casts and creative teams are all offered. The Company also brings theater to the classroom. Lantern teaching artists will lead class discussions, act out scenes, or tailor fit workshops to particular curriculum needs. Finally, In-School Residencies are available, where Lantern teaching artists visit a classroom for 10 sessions to supplement literature or drama programs. (This latter program is offered free of charge to Philadelphia public high schools with demonstrated financial need. For more information, contact Joshua Browns, Education Director, at (215) 829-9002 x104 or jbrowns@lanterntheater.org.)

The Town and Country Players Offer a Contemporary Comic Treasure

Modern playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s hilarious Wonder of the World is currently playing, until June 5, at the Town and Country Players Theater, located at 4158 York Road in Buckingham, PA.

“People were laughing hysterically,” says Alana Caraccio, the show’s director, about the first few performances. Caraccio has been with the Town and Country Players Theater since 2005 and is on its Board. She brings to the production two decades of directing experience and once had her own theater company, The Other Vic, in Long Island.

In the crazy comedy Wonder of the World (2000), Cass, a comfortable housewife, already has a long-neglected wish list of things she wants to do to make life interesting and meaningful when she learns a shocking secret about her husband and seizes the opportunity to recklessly throw herself back into life. She sets out on a bus to Niagara Falls on a journey of self-discovery and crosses paths with a number of characters: a suicidal alcoholic, a lonely tour-boat captain, and a pair of bickering private detectives. These encounters push her dangerously close to the water’s edge. Insane things happen along the way and people’s lives are unexpectedly and inexplicably changed forever.

Performances are Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available at http://www.townandcountryplayers.org/ or by calling (215) 348-7566.

“This was one of the most complicated shows, presenting a number of challenges,” says Caraccio. When deciding how to stage the play, a decision to either perform it on a blank stage or to show everything had to be made. In the end, the latter was chosen, and the play’s scenery includes two helicopters, a barrel going over Niagara Falls, a greyhound bus, and the Maid of the Mist boat. “We have something called ‘Living Scenery’ in the play,” explains Caraccio. “This consists of fully-painted, cute, cartoon-like cut scenery that cast members sit inside of and hold up. It was just the right thing to do for this play.”

The Town and Country Players Theater is a non-profit community theater that has been providing Central Bucks County with quality theatrical experiences for more than 60 years. Its dedicated members focus on providing high-quality theater and on enjoying the process of doing so. It has a 5-show season, and its venue is a renovated, air-conditioned barn built in 1767. It has often been a showcase for original plays and little-known gems.

“Most of the actors in this show are new to Town and Country,” says Caraccio. “Only three of the cast members have been with Town and Country previously. We’re welcoming in a lot of new people.”

This year, the Town and Country Players also present an expanded schedule for their 2010 Summer Theater Workshops. “We started these about 7 or 8 years ago,” says Anne Odland, the workshops’ director. “They were established as an opportunity to let students know what goes on behind-the-scenes. It’s more about the nitty-gritty [of theater]—learning about auditions, hair and make-up, improvisation, acting, dance, slapstick, stage combat, singing.”

“Last summer, we had two 1-week sessions and an early deadline,” says Odland, who is very involved in the musicals at Town and Country and is the vocal musical director for their Annie this summer. “We were at capacity well before the deadline and had a waiting list of 12-15, so this year we have four sessions.” The first two sessions are already sold out, and Workshop 3 (August 2-6, for ages 8-11, 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) and Workshop 4 (August 9-13, for ages 12-15, 9:00 a.m.-4 p.m.) are filling up quickly. Tuition: $300 until June 1, $325 after that. Contact Anne Odland at marketing@townandcountryplayers.org or at (215) 918-2503.

So, whether in the mood for some comic relief born of the foibles of human nature or for some classroom hands-on theatrical experience, opportunities abound right here in our local area.

Chocolate Show Offers Trends, Taste, and the Preservation of World Treasures

By Catherine J. Barrier

Trends in chocolate! Most definitely! And this year’s 3rd Annual Bucks County Chocolate Show will feature the chocolatiers and artisanal chocolates that will help set the trends for 2010.

The world of chocolate is much bigger than many realize, and this world opens up to all on Sunday, May 23, 2010 from 10 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Chocolatiers from around the country will offer their special creations, infused with a variety of high-quality local ingredients, and invite other professional makers of artisanal chocolates, members of the general public, and all those passionate about chocolates to come sample, savor, and buy the fresh, flavor-filled amazing chocolates that will be available at the New Hope Eagle Fire Hall, located at 46 N. Sugan Road (off Route 202), in New Hope, PA 18938.

“People just really love it!” says Gretchen Tartakoff, the show’s founder and the owner of The Chocolate Bar. “I see that on peoples’ faces. [And] . . . it’s almost like getting to go on vacation to another country—with all the different tastes.”

A couple of years ago, Tartakoff was looking to switch careers. She thought she wanted to begin baking with dark chocolate, so she took classes at the French Culinary Institute and at local restaurants—trying to learn as much as she could. Finally, she realized her primary role was, rather, to be a support to others. While she still bakes for Valentine’s Day, she focuses more on using this chocolate show to connect not only those involved in the World of Chocolate but those working to see sustainable agriculture, water conservation, and entire eco-systems preserved in areas where cacao (ca-cow) beans grow and are harvested.

“It was really a personal interest that got me to connect the need to find ways to increase awareness of the importance of preserving the rainforest regions of the world with the World of Chocolate,” says Tartakoff, “and Fox Chase Bank offered to sponsor the “The Journey of the Pod” exhibit.” This multi-media presentation highlights the history of the communities where the cacao beans take as long as five years to mature and flower on tree trunks. The exhibit also explains the historical influence of these “bean communities” and the need to preserve them and the cycles of life that exist there. “I try to support various organizations throughout the year,” says Tartakoff, who has decided to donate a portion of this year’s Chocolate Show admission proceeds to the National Wildlife Federation, a group concerned with preserving endangered wildlife and our world environment.

This year’s demonstrations and presentations include creating chocolate truffles, decorating with chocolate dough, testing out recipes with cocoa nibs, and learning new uses with Callebaut Chocolate. Paris-trained Antoine Amrani, who honed his skills as the Executive Pastry Chef at Le Bec Fin, will demonstrate creating ultra-creamy smooth European-style truffles—his flavored with caramel and sea salt. Lali, from Nana Pearl’s Wooden Spoon will show how chocolate can be transformed into a pliable dough and then used to create fun and festive desserts. Pierrick Chouard’s “Recipes with Cocoa Nibs: Pure Energy Vintage Plantations Chocolates” will inspire chocolate lovers to test out his recipes with cocoa nibs and inform them about his work with Rainforest Alliance. And the special Callebaut Chocolate session will feature new uses of Callebaut Varietal Chocolates and offer chocolatiers new techniques and product offerings to integrate into their line of chocolates and chocolate desserts (a Special Session ticket is available for this last session).

“He’s so engaging with his stories,” says Tartakoff of Pierrick Chouard’s narratives.

Those planning a wedding, an anniversary, a graduation, a birthday, a themed party, or any event where exquisite taste and fine chocolates will be included will want to attend the Chocolate Show’s “Exquisite Taste” Sessions. Chocolatier Diane Pinder from Donna and Company, winner of the Wedding Wire’s 2010 Bride’s Choice Award, and chocolatier Tom Sciascia of The Painted Truffle, whose fresh cream-infused truffles bathed in premium chocolate are national award winners, will each host a session full of ideas to make anyone’s planned day a very special, easy-to-organize event (tickets are required for these Special Sessions).

“Dessert is important to me,” says Tartakoff, “and making it easy to do the planning process is a pleasure. It takes the stress out of the planning—when ‘tasteful’ is part of the mission.”

Two Wine and Chocolate sessions will also be held—from 12:30-1:15 p.m. with Chaddsford Winery and Raymer’s Chocolates and from 3:00-3:45 p.m. with Chaddsford Winery and Cheri Lee from The Chocolate Box.

“[The show] is a little of everything,” says Tartakoff, “and it’s starting to happen [i.e., grow].” More than 500 people have attended each year and news about the event has been spreading greatly by word-of-mouth.

Tartakoff says she was most encouraged when one day she overheard someone say to a friend, “Don’t you know about the Bucks County Chocolate Show? Aren’t you going?” The woman was full of enthusiasm. “It makes my heart sing,” says Tartakoff.

Close to 1,000 people are expected to attend the event this year and experience these flavorful chocolates—and to join in on the fun of living in this World of Chocolate. General admission tickets will be available at the door for $13.00 for adults and $10 for seniors 62 and older and students with IDs. Special Session tickets are $15.00 and include the general admission. To avoid the lines, purchase tickets online at http://www.buckscountychocolateshow.com/ (online price includes a small processing fee and the Google confirmation of your order is your ticket). To facilitate parking in New Hope, a shuttle bus will transport show attendees back and forth from the high school to the fire house between 11a.m. and 4 p.m.

“I’m looking forward to seeing people enjoy the Chocolate Show on May 23rd,” says Tartakoff. There certainly will be a lot to learn and enjoy in this trendsetting World of Chocolate.

EVENT PREVIEW: Distinctive Tile Craftsmanship at the 2010 Moravian Tile Festival

By Catherine J. Barrier

The 2010 Moravian Tile Festival is all about tiles and tile making.

“It’s a specific show; it’s not a craft show, but a tile show,” says long-time curator Vance Koehler. “Any profits benefit the educational programs and go to conservation of the site and/or to collection enrichment. There’s a display in the building for interpretation.”

The Festival, held at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, at 130 Swamp Road (Route 313) in Doylestown, offers visitors a rich display of decorative tiles, history about tile making, insight into the site’s founder, Henry Chapman Mercer—and his (architectural) preferences, and a better understanding of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Sponsored by the Bucks County Department of Parks and Recreation, which owns and operates the site, this year’s event takes place on Saturday, May 15 (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) and Sunday, May 16 (10 a.m.-4 p.m.).

“This year, there will be 40 booths—and an even larger number of ceramic artists and tile dealers,” says Koehler. These tile makers will display their contemporary and historic tiles, including rare historic handcrafted tiles.

“The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works is a really important site, a National Historic Landmark,” explains Koehler. At this “working history” museum, hand-made tiles are still produced in the way the Tile Works’s founder and builder, Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), made them years ago. Free self-guided tours of the Tile Works will be available during the festival. These take place every 30 minutes and include a 17-minute video as well as demonstrations of various ceramic production techniques, including design pressing, glazing, and mosaic cutting. The last tour of the day is at 4:00 p.m. Today, artists at the Moravian Tile Works create decorative tiles in all different sizes, hand-painted tiles, tiles with four-season designs, narrative fireplaces, and a new, limited-edition tile every year, just to name a few of their creations.

Henry Chapman Mercer, a major proponent of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America, founded the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in 1898. By that time, he had already graduated from Harvard, studied law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1880-1881; he never practiced law), and traveled through France and Germany (1881-1889), where he garnered much of his knowledge of tile making. Finding the effects of industrialism aesthetically displeasing, Mercer favored simple forms and traditional craftsmanship. Known for his ancient tool making, ceramic tile creations, and engineering, Mercer was also a designer of three distinctive poured-concrete structures: Fonthill, his Bucks County residence (made with reinforced concrete), the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, a unique and fascinating building in and of itself, and the Mercer Museum, which inspired Henry Ford’s own museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Some of Mercer’s tiles are used in several very famous buildings. A series of 400 of his mosaic images are set in the floor of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg and tell the story of the Commonwealth’s history from prehistoric times. His tiles also appear in Rockefeller’s New York estate, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and the Casino in Monte Carlo.

The international Arts and Crafts Movement began in Britain in the 1860’s. Artist/writer William Morris, inspired by John Ruskin’s writings, started the movement, which became popular there circa 1880-1910. A movement which valued expressing a thing’s inherent beauty, avoiding ornate detail, and deliberately leaving something slightly unfinished, the Arts and Crafts movement influenced creative ideas in architecture, domestic design, and decorative arts (e.g., tiles, wallpaper, textiles, furniture, stained glass). In America, the Chicago Arts and Crafts Society began in October 1897, and the movement soon began affecting American decorative arts, furniture, and architecture—in the latter, such things as the bungalow housing style and Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Prairie School” buildings.

Artists of the Arts and Crafts style believed art had a moral purpose. They sought simple but bold forms, medieval designs, and patterns inspired by flora and fauna. They believed ornamentation should be appropriate to what it was embellishing and that the inherent qualities of the materials used should be preserved and highlighted, that is, that a “truth to materials” should be achieved. This reactive movement pitted itself against many of the emerging industrialized styles.

The Moravian Tile Works offers several educational programs to those wishing to develop their artistic talents. An apprenticeship is offered to ceramists wanting to explore tile making, and a volunteer internship is made available for those desiring to train in plaster mold making. There are also beginning classes in tile and mosaic making and 3-day intensive workshops for those with some experience in ceramics.

“In this economy, people aren’t selling homes as often but renovating them,” says Koehler. “They seek out artists to do work on their fireplaces, to do kitchen renovation projects. Many artists not only sell their tiles at the show but get commissions as a result.”

If one’s in the market for tiles—or an education in tile making—the festival may be an ideal event to attend. A $6.00 donation is suggested for adults 18 and over. There is ample free parking on the premises. Food and refreshments will be available. No dogs are allowed. (215-345-6722; mptw@co.bucks.pa.us).

Saturday, August 28, 2010

ART PREVIEW: The 3rd Annual Elephant's Eye Artist Studio Tour, or Touring Bucks County Offers Beauty in Many Forms

By Catherine J. Barrier

Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day! Years ago, the scenic beauty of Bucks County inspired those famous lyrics in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! The song was written amid the natural wonders of this historically artistic area. Today, the song and beautiful Bucks County itself continue to unite and inspire a whole new generation of contemporary artists and art lovers. Another line from the song (The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye) served as the source for the name of a growing artists’ studio tour in the region: the Elephant’s Eye Artist Studio Tour, a free, self-paced, self-guided driving tour that leads the art lover to the studios of contemporary artists living and working in Bucks County. This year’s third annual studio tour will take place on the weekends of May 15-16 and May 22-23.

“The name gets people talking,” says Lisa Naples, the ceramic sculptor who founded the tour in 2008. “I wanted to acknowledge and refer back to the group of artists from the 1920’s, 1930’s, and 1940’s—and to the legacy of the geniuses of Pearl S. Buck and the Pennsylvania Impressionists—who were all ‘speaking in their own voices’ at that time.” It was Naples’s husband, Andy Cleff, who suggested the name, drawing from the famous song’s lyrics, and it seemed fitting.

Naples had thought about organizing a Bucks County studio tour ten years ago, but only sat down to flesh out the idea on paper about seven years later. This year, the 3rd Annual Elephant’s Eye Bucks County Artist Studio Tour (http://www.elephantseyetour.org/) will feature some of the area’s finest contemporary artists and their studios, allowing the public to see both the work of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists working in 2-D and 3-D—in a variety of media—and the environments in which they create. The hours for the free tour will be Saturdays from 10-6 and Sundays from 11-5.

“The tour always features ten studios, on a rotational basis, so there are always several different artists from one year to the next,” says Naples, “but artists working in contemporary art are always re-inventing themselves.” Naples exemplifies this, for as a nationally recognized ceramic artist, who currently has work exhibited in the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, she has focused on functional pottery, on garden objects, and more recently, on narrative, figurative sculpture.

“Most of the artists make their living from art,” says Naples. “They are chosen for their excellent work; the art work is juried; there’s a definite standard of work required.” However, the featured artists are not only chosen for the quality of their work, but “. . . [they] must have a studio and a great building, with enough parking,” says Naples.

“Artists [usually] work in isolation,” says Naples, who has chosen six artists to be featured again this year and, thus, to share their creations and their creative processes as they interact with the public. Featured returning artists this year include: Alex Cohen, whose realist paintings hone in on moments of mystery and fuse the real and the invented; David and Wendy Ellsworth, internationally known for their beaded sculpture/jewelry and hollow vessel wood turnings, respectively; Stacie Speer Scott, who in her hilltop studio creates paintings and collages that combine found objects, ephemora and fabrics; husband and wife Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee, internationally known photographers whose photographs are collected in over 140 museums worldwide and who are not only the publishers at Lodima Press but who self-designed their home/studio—reached by fording a stream—down to the door handles; Ken Vavrek, a member of the Philadelphia Sculptors group and an artist who creates abstract artwork in glazed stoneware and wall platters, glazed with geometric imagery related to the sculptures; and Naples herself.

“Michael and I are honored to be a part of the tour,” says Paula Chamlee, including her husband Michael in her comments. “From the beginning, we’ve had complete confidence in Lisa Naples, in the way she has organized things and made decisions. She has such enormous, vibrant energy—and intellect. We knew immediately [upon meeting her] that we’d be happy to be involved with the tour. We very much believe in it and support her efforts in every way we can.”

“Having a unique venue to present your work in is a very exciting thing,” says Chamlee. “You never know what’s going to happen.” What Chamlee says has happened over the past three years is that the crowds have grown larger and the caliber of the audience has changed. More visitors are now seriously—and actively—interested in the art and the artists’ lives, and more come from further away. “There’s an even more engaging crowd now,” explains Chamlee.

The four new studios joining the tour this year are those of Linda Guenste and Jonathan Hertzel, who have their studio in a stone farmhouse and create painting and sculpture that explores the human condition and examines life with a contemporary eye; Pat Martin, an abstract artist who works with oil to create layered veils of color, rich textures, and gestural lines in her paintings and creates abstract drawings and collage; John McDevitt, a steel sculptor whose work is displayed both outdoors and in the sculpture gallery of his Phillip’s Mill Award Winning artist’s studio; and Louis Pruitt, who has been creating sculpture in a Bucks County dairy barn for fourteen years after retiring to the area from SoHo and Williamsburg in New York.

Naples encourages new artists and focuses on bringing people and art closer together. “Getting started [as an artist] in my late teens, I had no role models to allow me to see art as an option, as something I could create a world around,” says Naples, and it wasn’t until she had finished college that she realized that this was possible.

As a result of her experience, when developing the studio tour, she found it seemed “natural” to include an “educational piece”, and each year’s tour is now preceded by an Educational Outreach Program, where ten artists’ studios host students arriving on field trips, provide art lectures and demonstrations, and enable the students to engage in one-on-one discussions with the artists. In 2008, seventy-five students visited the art studios on that educational day. This year, two hundred and fifty are scheduled to attend on Friday, May 14—from twelve local schools. John McDevitt, one of the featured artists this year, is now managing the educational component of the Elephant’s Eye Studio Tour. “It’s thrilling [for me], as the organizer, to see that people are coming on board [to help out]”, says Naples, and she and McDevitt hope to see the number of children benefitting from this yearly event increase by about fifty percent.

“The tour really brings people to the work of new artists [as well],” says Naples, who, keeping with her commitment to encourage new artists, also invites visiting artists to participate in the tour. There are five of them this year: Annelies van Dommelen, who works mostly in oils, watercolors, and monotypes; Gloria Kosco, a ceramic artist who, for a while, studied at the Moravian Pottery and Tileworks in Doylestown; Holli Hollingsworth, who receives artistic inspiration from landscapes, which the artist says remind us of who we are in the inner and outer worlds; Jo-Ann Maynard, whose images focus on exploring the visual and conceptual complexities of the female figure, sometimes celebrating beauty, sometimes expressing a social or political connection; and Shellie Jacobson, whose current work explores cylindrical, textured forms enhanced by layers of stains and glazes.

The visiting crowds benefit from the tour, and so do the artists. “My husband and I have met some very interesting people that we probably wouldn’t have met otherwise,” says Chamlee. “And we’ve met many new artists, some who’ve become good friends.” Chamlee is well aware of how artists inspire one other.

“Of course, we always hope there will be some sales,” says Chamlee, “but we aren’t counting on that. That’s not why we participate in the tour. Rather, it’s to meet all these good people, . . . and we all reap such benefits from each other. It’s just a very rich experience.”

Naples says that people find it hard to believe the tour only started a few years ago. She credits her husband with helping her tremendously with the management of all the details involved in organizing the tour, and says people have repeatedly said, surprised, “This is only your third year! It seems like the [tour’s already] an institution.” And she says people have expressed appreciation for the good discernment used in choosing the artists and for there being no admission fee. But the fact that several high-functioning autistic elementary students attended an educational program and at first disliked the “dirty work” only to become fully engrossed in the artistic experience is what Naples considers some of the best “feedback” she has received.

The tour route, which takes an hour and a half to drive even without stopping anywhere, leads the visitor through Central and Upper Bucks County to studios in many locations—to a hilltop, to a landlocked property across a stream—and to many types of buildings—a farmhouse, a dairy barn, even converted industrial buildings. Moreover, several demonstrations are planned during the event. For instance, Ken Vavrek will be demonstrating “Press Molding a Platter” daily at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., and John McDevitt and Lisa Naples will be providing on-going demonstrations of their work.

“There’s no reason why this tour shouldn’t be able to grow,” says Naples. She would like to see the size of the tour—the number of studios—remain small but the knowledge of the tour’s existence move onto the national scene. To help the event grow and to make it easier for small businesses to help with future tax-deductible contributions, she has acquired 501(c)(3) status for the tour. She hopes that eventually adequate funds will be available to offset more of the tour’s operational costs and for such additional things as identifiable tour banners at each studio and financial assistance to cover the bus rental fees required for the student field trips.

“The tour is valuable for people because it lets them see the artists at work—it makes it all visible,” says Naples. Bucks County, replete with its many nice Bed & Breakfasts, good restaurants, and scenic landscapes, and with its Elephant’s Eye Studio Tour, offers not only the possibility of a beautiful day but perhaps a beautiful, art-filled weekend—or two.