Perhaps you noticed Polka Bandski marching in Wilkes-Barre’s recent St. Patrick’s Day Parade. They’re also part of the lineup for the In Concert With the Arts event on April 14 at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre.
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The Emerald Isle Step Dancers can be counted on to kick up their hells when they perform at the In Concert With the Arts Event on April 14 at Little Theatre.
From polkas to poetry to paintings taking shape while you watch, Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre will turn into a garden of delights for art lovers on April 14.
“We’ll have the Emerald Isle Step Dancers, and Polka Bandski performing with their brass and woodwinds, and the Mt. Zion Choir singing gospel songs,” Marty Wentz from the In Concert With the Arts committee enthused. “We’ll have a theremin. Do you know what a theremin is?”
You’ve heard a theremin if you’ve heard the haunting, high-pitched theme song to the original Star Trek TV show. And you can learn more about that unusual instrument and many other facets of the art world if you circle April 14 on your calendar.
“Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre graciously supplied the venue,” Wentz said, explaining doors will open at 1 p.m. and he expects guests will spend the first hour admiring the work of several artists that will be on display in the lobby.
Two artists also will be painting while people watch, including one whose chosen canvas is the human body.
Culinary artists will be on hand as well, Wentz said, offering tasty tidbits to the crowd.
“By 2 p.m. people will take their seats,” he said, explaining the two hours of stage performances (with a half hour intermission) will include performances by the Mt. Zion Choir, Polka Bandski, the Emerald Isle Step Dancers, the theremin player, poetry recitations and scenes from Little Theatre’s recent production of “The Secret Garden,” as well as from a Hazleton production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Trixy Valentine, the drag artist who won the People’s Choice Award in the recent Dancing Stars of Wilkes-Barre competition, will serve as emcee.
The In Concert With the Arts group formed several years ago, before Covid, “to promote all forms of art in NEPA,” Wentz said, recalling it was during a time when “there were cutbacks with the National Endowment for the Arts, schools were dropping art programs and politicians were saying ‘we support the arts but we don’t want taxpayers to have to pay for them.’ “
Wentz and his wife, Michele Millington, were part of the committee that held the first In Concert With the Arts event in 2017. “It was sold out,” he recalled. “It was obviously more than a concert; we had St. Stephen’s Choir, a dance group, instrumentalists … We received a lot of positive feedback.”
The family-friendly event on April 14 will mark the In Concert With the Arts comeback after Covid, and Wentz sees it as a way to showcase emerging artists, and for people to learn what is available as far as the arts in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“Too often we’re in silos,” he said. “People in theater know about theater but might not be aware of all the visual artists we have around here. I knew about music but didn’t know about theater until I saw a play and was hooked.”
Recalling the first time he visited a museum in his youth, he said, “I thought, ‘this is so much better than pictures in books.’ “
“We really have a lot in this area,” Wentz coninued, explaining that before he retired he traveled a great deal as a consultant and looked for things to do in cities he visited. “A lot of places are a desert as far as the arts,” he said. “They have nothing.”
All seats are reserved for the April 14 event. Tickets ae $20 general admision and $15 for students younge than 12. Tickets are available at the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre website.