UPCOMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, March 13 at 2 p.m. -- "The Ladies of the Street" at the Falls of Schuylkill Library -- 3501 Midvale Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19129
One of the few bright spots of the Sesqui-Centennial was the High Street of 1776, a recreation of a Federal-era Market Street lined with 22 reconstructions of vanished historic structures, from William Penn's Slate Roof House to the Jefferson Declaration House. Created by the Women's Committee, the Street of 1776 was the Sesqui's most popular single attraction, and one of the few to turn a profit. Other popular attractions created by women included Sulgrave Manor, a replica of the ancestral English home of the Washington family. The Ladies of the Street describes how Philadelphia women defied the corrupt Republican Organization to create some of the fair's most memorable monuments. A joint presentation of East Falls Village and the East Falls Historical Society.
For more information or to register, click here.
"THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY" at ALLENS LANE ART CENTER -- April 4-21
Tom Keels returns to the stage in "The Trouble with Harry," a lighthearted murder mystery set in a bucolic rural village. Based on the 1950 novel by Jack Trevor Story (which served as the basis for a 1955 Alfred Hitchcock film starring Shirley MacLaine and John Forsythe), this stage adaptation devised by Noel Hanley and adapted by Josh Hitchens describes the confusion caused when a corpse named Harry turns up on a hillside. Which of the quirky yet charming villagers could be responsible for his demise? Surely it couldn't be Tom's character, a crusty but kindly retired sea captain named Albert Wiles, whose potshots at rabbits and squirrels have been terrorizing the locals for years? Find out for yourself!
"The Trouble with Harry" will run from April 5-21 at Allens Lane, with Friday and Saturday evening performances starting at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees beginning at 2 p.m. Besides yours truly, the talented cast includes Larry Arrigale, Samuel Fernandez, Susan Mattson, Alycyn Roye, Samantha Simpson, and Janet Gannaway Wasser. Advanced reservations are strongly recommended. For information or tickets, visit the Allens Lane Art Center website.
Saturday, April 27 at 11 a.m. -- "When Rich People Spend Good Money on Bad Art" -- Glen Foerd, 5001 Grant Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19114.
Join me at beautiful Glen Foerd on the Delaware for a fascinating look at how the newly rich, attempting to climb into high society by collecting fine art, have been taken for a ride by unscrupulous dealers. Among the Philadelphia pigeons I'll discuss are P.A.B. Widener (who purchased a 17th-century Old Master where the paint was still wet), John G. Johnson, and the Foerderer family, owners of Glen Foerd. For more information or to buy tickets, click here.
Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m. -- "Designing for the Dead: Art and Architecture at Laurel Hill" -- Laurel Hill Cemetery (East), 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19132.
Noted architects like John Notman, William Strickland, Frank Furness, John J. McArthur, C.C. Zantzinger, Horace Trumbauer, and Napoleon LeBrun competed fiercely for the chance to design for the dead. Join us on a walking tour of Laurel Hill East, where we will see monuments created by these early architects, as well as artists such as Alexander Milne Calder, his son Alexander Stirling Calder, and sculptress Harriet Frishmuth, whose works grace many of Laurel Hill’s memorials. The tour will examine changing tastes and fashions in grave markers over the past two centuries, from the classical obelisks and urns of the Federal period to the richly decorated crosses of the Gothic Revival, and the massive mausoleums of the Gilded Age. For more information or to buy tickets, click here.
Wednesday, May 8 at 6 p.m. -- "The Ladies of the Street" at the Ambler Library -- 209 Race Street, Ambler PA 19002
One of the few bright spots of the Sesqui-Centennial was the High Street of 1776, a recreation of a Federal-era Market Street lined with 22 reconstructions of vanished historic structures, from William Penn's Slate Roof House to the Jefferson Declaration House. Created by the Women's Committee, the Street of 1776 was the Sesqui's most popular single attraction, and one of the few to turn a profit. Other popular attractions created by women included Sulgrave Manor, a replica of the ancestral English home of the Washington family. The Ladies of the Street describes how Philadelphia women defied the corrupt Republican Organization to create some of the fair's most memorable monuments.
For information on talks, fees, references, etc., please contact Tom via the Contact page on this site or email him at mailto:thkeels@gmail.com.