Thought-provoking theater, home-grown songwriters, visiting luminaries and an abundance of art are all found in the fabric of a culture-rich community like the Valley. Here are a few highlights this fall to make you feel entertained, enlightened and human.
1. Samara Joy
Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College | October 18 | williamscenter.lafayette.edu
Jazz prodigy Samara Joy picked up a couple of Grammys this year on her way to Easton to perform at the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College this fall. Best New Artist with the Best Jazz Vocal Album, she’s serenading the Valley with old-school velvety jazz, voice leaping and percussion tap dancing in concert. With original songs as well as covers of golden-age favorites, her command of the genre will sweep you away.
2. The Laramie Project
Civic Theatre of Allentown | September 14-24 | civictheatre.com
The Civic Theatre of Allentown is closing in on its hundredth year as a hub for the arts in this area, providing theater experiences for audience and actor alike. This month their production of The Laramie Project takes the stage, a script formed from the painstaking interview of citizens in the town whose outskirts saw the kidnap and murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998. More than 200 interviews over the year after and the trial of the killers provide an exploration of the best and worst of human potential.
3. Art in the Park
West Park of Allentown | September 16 | art-in-the-park.org
Now in its 48th year, this festival of art vendors is a major event, bringing the painters, potters, glassblowers and weavers of the Valley and beyond out of their studios and to one place for your perusal. Enjoy live music and food in the heart of Allentown at West Park and check out the work of dozens of artists sharing their expertise across the universe of artistic media. Something special will catch your eye and come home with you!
4. Neil Gaiman
Zoellner Arts Center | October 8 | zoellner.cas.lehigh.edu
Flush with colleges and universities, the Valley enjoys the privilege of their guest speakers, like British fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, visiting Lehigh’s Zoellner Arts Center in October. A suitably spooky month, as this renowned author brought us such skin-tingling stories as Coraline and The Sandman comic book series. Wise and whimsical, his insight on storytelling inevitably enriches the imagination of the listener.
5. Nashville Meets Bethlehem
ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks | November 17 | steelstacks.org
Underground Music Collective is a media company that started here in the Valley hyping local acts with dogged enthusiasm. It returns from Nashville in mid-November for a songwriter showcase in the style of that music mecca. Make your way to ArtsQuest in Bethlehem to hear eight of the area’s talented performers all in one place.
Published as “5 Things” in the September 2023 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
