Monday, May 6, 2013
Student critics throughout the region honor the best of high school theater at the Cappies.
After a walk down the red carpet it was on to honors inside for high school performers from the West Chester area Sunday at the 2013 Cappies Awards. The annual awards honor student actors, technicians, musicians, designed and theater critics in the greater Philadelphia region. 37 public and private schools in the city and surrounding counties are nominated and awarded by student theater critics. The critics themselves are also among the award nominees and winners presented with trophies. Before the show at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center at Upper Darby High School, nominees walked the red carpet in formal wear and in some cases in costume from shows and musicals presented during the current school year. Honors for Students from …
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Sunday night is the biggest of the the year for area high school actors, musicians and designers and crews.
West Chester Area High School students will be walking the red carpet and keeping their fingers crossed Sunday night at the eighth annual Philadelphia Region Cappies. The Cappies are like the Tony Awards for high school theater and high school theater critics. Students from 37 public and private high schools are participating in this year's awards show which will be presented at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center at Upper Darby High School. Not only are actors, musicians, set, sound and costume designers honored the Cappies honor student theater critics. Since October 236 critics have written 1,240 reviews that have been evaluated by teachers. The best reviews have been published in more than a dozen local newspapers and online. And…
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
'Bam' Margera hosts an art show.
Artists are, according to the thread-bare stereotypes at least, tormented folks who use art to articulate and defuse their pain. Bam Margera, you could say, is used to a different kind of pain. The West Chester native, professional skateboarder, and oft-injured former star of MTV's "Jackass," held an art show in his West Chester home on April 3, where paintings by Margera and a handful of local artists were for sale. After the show, Margera's band performed. Patch contributor Catherine Quillman was on the scene. No word on if she made any purchases, but you can read here writeup of the unusual event here.
Monday, April 8, 2013
A local entertainment alliance plans to convert the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory to a theater.
Looks like West Chester will, finally, be getting a permanent home for the arts. On Friday, state Sen. Andy Dinniman and Uptown! Entertainment Alliance president Linda Foster announced the organization had reached an agreement to acquire the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory and convert it into a theater. “The arts have been a pivotal part of West Chester’s redevelopment, and now thanks to the work of the Uptown! Entertainment Alliance and so many others, the arts will have a permanent home right here in downtown West Chester,” Dinniman said from the Armory steps, according to a press release. Foster added that the organization, a non-profit volunteer group of local residents dedicated to creating a permanent theater in the borough, has …
Sunday, March 31, 2013
CoastalRise will play in Phoenixville on April 5.
Two West Chester rockers are returning to the area this week for a spring show in Phoenixville. Female lead Brenna Carnuccio, bass player David Thompson and their band CoastalRise will perform live, in concert, at the Colonial Theatre on Friday evening, April 5 at 7 p.m., with a show also featuring Coatesville's A. Jermaine & Ascension. In addition to Carnuccio and Thompson, CoastalRise includes several band members with area ties: Tim Whiting of Phoenixville, Eric Cogorno of Allentown, Nic Frishmuth of Pottstown, and Lance Mobley of Coatesville. CoastalRise has been creating music together since October of 2010, according to Bobbie Whiting, band manager. "This group of friends had no intention of becoming a band, but through a shared …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Crayola Experience in Easton will reopen in May with new features for kids to enjoy.
What will you get if you head to Easton, Northampton County to the new Crayola Experience? Ink that puffs up when you heat it. A 40-foot wall of crayon bins. An 85-foot water attraction. Those are all among the new features kids will be able to see and take part in when the Crayola Experience reopens in May. The children's tourist destination closed for renovations in mid-February, but on Tuesday, the company gave a tour of its soon-to-be-upgraded building to members of the media and local officials. "This really is going to be a reimagined facility," said Victoria Lozano, Crayola's VP of corporate strategy and development, who led the tour. Stops along the way included a look at a new two-story playground, and the Water Works, an 85-foot-…
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Highway billboards will show the pieces and invite tipsters.
FBI officials announced Monday they know who committed one of the biggest art heists in history, but they still need the public's help to locate $500 million worth of missing artwork, some of which they believe is in the Philadelphia area. The heist, which happened at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990, led to the theft of 13 works of art by by Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Govaert Flinck, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. Two thieves dressed as Boston Police officers infiltrated the museum, tied up the guards, and stole the artwork, according to the FBI. And for many years, that's where the case went cold. But thanks to a tip that came in in 2010, 20 years after the theft, FBI officials now believe the stolen artwork may be in …
Saturday, March 9, 2013
It's the fifth joint exhibit for Libbie and Alan Soffer.
In the fall of 1961, at a fraternity mixer at the Temple University School of Dentistry, Libbie Sommers of Wilmington and Alan Soffer of Northeast Philadelphia bonded over a book, Catcher in the Rye. “We both realized we were not too big on small talk,” Libbie says. They married the following year. These days, their lives revolve around art. “We talk it, we think it, we live it,” Alan says, taking a break from preparations for their upcoming show at West Chester University to speak with me in their home in Wallingford. “If you go to New York with us, you’re not going to be shopping!” Libbie adds, laughing. The Soffers’ duo art show—the fifth since their first show at the National Museum of American Jewish History in 1985—opens March 11 …
Monday, January 28, 2013
She passed away two days after a landmark birthday and a career spent entertaining generations of kids.
Philadelphia television legend Sally Starr passed away Sunday at a nursing home in New Jersey, according to numerous published reports. Starr died Sunday, just two days after her 90th birthday. Starr hosted a cartoon show on WFIL-TV/Channel 6 (now WPVI/6ABC). According to an obituary posted on the station's website Starr was "born Alleen Mae Beller in 1923, she had her name legally changed to Sally Starr in 1941. Affectionately known to fans as "Our Gal Sal," she began her decades-long career as a disc jockey in 1948. She became host of "Popeye Theater" two years later on the former WFIL-TV, now WPVI." Starr was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. The organization's website posted a long tribute to Starr with …
Saturday, December 15, 2012
See which books were the most popular at the West Chester Public Library 2012.
When it comes to books in 2012, it was all about mystery thrillers -- particularly by Scandanavian authors. West Chester Public Library director Victoria Dow said that's because of a trend started by "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." "The mystery thriller kind of genre books...are the ones that generally circulate the most," she said. "It doesn't surprise me that that type of book is [popular]." Dow said that all the books on West Chester's most circulated top 10 are available at the library, as well as at other branches. 1. "As a Pig Turns" by M.C. Beaton Checked out a grand total of 27 times -- each with a one-week checkout period -- this mystery thriller was West Chester's most popular of 2012. The book is an installment of a series …
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Stephanie Markstein
7:46 am on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
I am so happy and proud to be part of this wonderful organization. more ›