Kansas, Brit Floyd coming to Reading; Genesius staging 'Brilliant Traces' [Spotlight]

Mar. 24—Tickets have gone on sale for two new shows coming to the Santander Performing Arts Center, Reading: Brit Floyd will return with its "Pulse" tour on July 23, and Kansas will bring its "Another Fork in the Road" 50th anniversary tour on Dec. 8.

Brit Floyd, formed in 2011, uses state-of-the-art production to recreate a Pink Floyd concert experience, led by Damian Darlington. After 17 years as a musical director for the Australian Pink Floyd Show, Darlington severed ties to begin Brit Floyd, envisioning an even deeper exploration of the Pink Floyd concert experience. Darlington has fronted more than 2,500 live performances between the two touring incarnations.

Kansas celebrates 50 years of the band's illustrious music history with concerts featuring two full hours of memorable hits, fan favorites and deep cuts rarely performed live. The tour has been hallmarked by energetic and spellbinding performances at some of the foremost theaters and performing arts centers across the United States and into Canada.

To celebrate the band's 50th anniversary, InsideOutMusic has released "Another Fork in the Road — 50 Years of Kansas," a three-CD career-spanning collection featuring carefully selected tracks from the band's sizable discography. It also includes a new version of the song "Can I Tell You." Originally released on their 1974 debut album, the song is updated by the current lineup.

Tickets for both shows are on sale at ticketmaster.com.

Theater

Genesius Theatre will present the third production of its 2024 season, the poetic and intimate two-character play "Brilliant Traces," from Friday through April 6 at its 10th and Walnut streets theater in Reading.

As the play opens, Henry Harry is hiding from a blizzard, civilization, and, perhaps, himself in a rugged cabin in the backcountry of Alaska. Then, with a wild banging at the door, Rosannah DeLuce, frantic, freezing, and dressed in full bridal regalia, bursts into his sanctuary.

As the story unravels, so do the characters. Emotions are high, reactions are raw, and the two alternately repel and attract one another. With the deadly storm still raging outside, the two are eventually forced to face what they are running from.

"'Brilliant Traces' is a show about love, and how love can be the most beautiful yet devastating emotion we experience," said the show's director, Gabrielle Lewis. "It is about how love shapes our lives and drives how we interact with others and the world around us, I think anyone who has experienced love in any form — as a parent, a child, a partner, or a friend — will be moved by this show."

"Brilliant Traces" was first presented to critical acclaim by the Circle Repertory Company at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City in 1989, starring Kevin Anderson and Joan Cusack. Brandon Reimer and Sarah Althen play the roles of Henry Harry and Rosannah DeLuce for the Genesius production, which runs 90 minutes without intermission.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and April 4, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 6. Tickets cost $15-$20.

For tickets and additional information, visit www.genesiusdifference.org.

Arts in Education

Marabella Enterprises has announced that Santo D. Marabella has been accepted as a Rostered Artist with South Central PaARTners at Millersville University, an Arts In Education Partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for Region 7, which includes Berks, Lancaster and Schuylkill Counties.

The way the Arts in Education program works is the teaching artist and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts regional partner work together to recruit prospective hosts with whom the teaching artist collaborates and provides programming. The host can be a school or college, or it might be a community center or established arts organization. Through agreements with the PCA partner, the host receives funding to support the program and the Teaching Artist.

Marabella said that his career as a college professor at Moravian University will come in handy as a Rostered Artist, but more than that, he notes, "By sharing my own experiences and struggles as an artist who writes plays and films, I want to inspire 'artists-to-be' of all ages to believe their stories are worth telling, especially when you get to pick how you want to tell it!"

For his first residency,, he plans to work with South Central PaARTners at Millersville University to promote What's Your Story,? a program he developed last fall designed to engage "students" of all ages and types to share their story. In the five-session FUNshop (a workshop that is fun), participants will identify a favorite experience, create a story from that experience, select a medium such as a short story, song, one act play or social media reel and then, tell their story through the medium they selected, culminating with a performance of each participant's story in the final session.

Organizations interested in hosting Marabella and the "What's Your Story? program can contact Julie Pyle Childs at JuliePyle.Childs@millersville.edu. Additional information can be found at www.arts.pa.gov.

Art

Reading Pride Celebration and GoggleWorks Center for the Arts have issued a call for artists for their second LGBTQ+ Art Showcase. The exhibition, in celebration of Pride month, will be held in the Schmidt Gallery at the GoggleWorks from May 30 through June 27 and is open to all local LGBTQ+ artists in different media.

The showcase aims to promote and celebrate the artistic talents of the local LGBTQ+ community of Berks and surrounding counties and to create a platform for their voices to be heard. The exhibition is open to all forms of art, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography and mixed media. This year, the showcase will be a juried art show and artist will have the opportunity to win up to $250 for the best piece.

"Visibility is more important than ever," said RPC Executive Director, Enrique Castro Jr. "The art show highlights LGBTQ+ artists providing that much needed visibility. Art often interprets something through the artist's eyes. This show provides a platform to display that interpretation to the general public."

Submissions are open through April 28, and artists are may submit their applications at goggleworks.org.

The exhibition is open to all levels of artists, from emerging to established, and the pieces will be selected by RPC's Art Committee. Selected artists will be notified by May 7. Awards will be presented during the reception to be held on June 9 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the gallery.

For more information, email info@readingpride.org or call 610-457-1960.

Poetry

Berks Bards will celebrate its 25th anniversary on April 4 at 6 p.m. in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, with an evening of readings by former Berks County Poets Laureate and other notable poets, and a few surprises. Refreshments will be served during the celebration, including a Bardic birthday cake, followed by an open mic.

The public is invited to celebrate with the Bards, by bringing a poem to read and enjoying the good company of poets who share the power and the beauty of language. The event is free of charge; goodwill donations

are gratefully accepted.

In addition to the April 4 event, Berks Bards will present "One-Minute Poems" on BCTV each day

throughout the month. These will also be archived on the BCTV YouTube channel.

Also, Bards founder stevenallenmay will return to Berks County on April 20 to host a reading by 25 Berks poets, including Berks Bards President Jayne Brown and several former Berks County Poets Laureate, from 1 to 5 p.m. at St. John's U.C.C., 257 W. Walnut St., Kutztown.

In April 1999, Berks Bards became an official nonprofit organization and held its first Bard Fest to celebrate the then-newly designated Poetry Month. Local poets held poetry readings throughout Berks County at various locations, every day of April.

Through the years, the Bards have held weekly readings by regional poets with open mics every Thursday, as well as workshops, Bard Fests and special events, building a community of poets that has won the admiration of many who visit from outside the county.