At The Dietrich

By
Hildy Morgan

We have such wonderful movies for you on this holiday weekend! Wall E is fantastic! I cannot speak more highly about a film than this stroke of genius by Pixar. Those Pixar folks are the most creative, funny, smart, delightful people on the face of the earth – I swear they are! The story of this precious little garbage compacter and his cockroach pal is too delightful to believe – and it comes with a very profound message attached. We are burying ourselves in our own garbage and we need to stop it! This is a movie that adults love and children from, I’ say…probably four and up will get a real kick out of. The problem for younger than four, unless the child is already a movie buff, is that the storyline is too complex and they can’t follow it, so that after the novelty wears off the tiny tyke starts to cry or run around or a million other distracting things. Of course infants are welcome (we understand that you can’t always get a sitter) but then if the baby starts to cry in a prolonged fashion, we ask that you please take him or her out to the lobby until calm is restored. That way everybody is happy.

Then we have Hancock – a bit of Will Smith flim-flammery that looks like great fun. And really, Smith is one of those actors that you simply gotta love, no matter what the movie is about. He’s a deft actor and a superb comedian so it looks to be fun. So we have one for the adults/kiddies and one for the not quite adults and adults or whatever Hancock would be interpreted as. (Whatever that means.)

So, the big bang holiday (as I tend to think of July 4th) is upon us. Summer is half over! Big, big sigh! Remember your pets on the fourth of July – if fireworks will be going off close by, do make sure they feel safe and secure and out of harm’s way. So many dogs are so frightened of fireworks and sometimes owners don’t take it seriously, but you really need to. Dogs can become so frightened that they literally get sick form fear. So take care of your pets if lots of noise is going on around you.

Remember that we have Land of Confusion coming up on July 16th at 7:00. Please mark that on your calendars – these are local men and women talking about getting ready to ship out to war and what affect that war has on their lives and the lives of their families. Please do them the honor of seeing what this war is about in terms of the families it leaves behind. It’s the least we can do for these brave kids – to come and see what’s been happening to them!

So, when you were kids what did you do for the fourth of July? Like all the other holidays, my parents made it special. My father was a WW2 vet, so he liked the patriotism associated with the fourth of July. He’d get up extra early to get the flag flying from the flagpole alongside the house. “There’s Old Glory, safe for another year,” he’d say as the great flag unfurled in the breeze. On the other hand, being a combat vet made him very leery of sudden loud noises. (He’d had quite enough of that with the endless kamikaze attacks on his small destroyer escort.) So we weren’t allowed anything that went boom in the night.

But what we were allowed were sparklers. We each got two packages of them, my sister and I, and Daddy got one for him. We knew he’d bought them days in advance, but they didn’t come out until the Fourth. The excitement was tummy-tickling, knowing that the boxes were there but we couldn’t touch them.

Of course, first we had to have my mother’s picnic supper – fried chicken (tastes just like candy, Mamma, my father would say) and her good German potato salad and rich, dark, chocolate cake. Full as little ticks we’d wait for the onset of the summer night when only the bullfrogs and the fireflies would be sharing our space. And then finally, around nine o’clock, it would be dark enough and out would come the boxes and my father would hand us each a lit sparkler and his two little girls would go dancing through the summer air, streaming light behind them, laughing and believing that life was a wonderment. And so it was.

May you and your family sparkle for the Fourth!

See you at the Dietrich

Live at The Dietrich

By
Erica Rogler

Magical is the best way to describe our Shakespeare in the Park event in Tunkhannock’s Riverside Park on Founders’ Day night. The Gamut Theatre Group of Harrisburg performed the finest version of A Midsummer’s Night that I have ever seen. It was so light and comedic. Over 190 people came out to the park for this evening of Shakespeare. It was delightful to hear the crowd of children and adults react with peels of laughter at this hour-long show. Margie Young is already busy working on booking the Gamut Theatre Group for next Founders’ Day. We would like to thank Samuel and Antoinette Hockman, Route 6 Auto Body, and Golden Wealth Management Group/UBS Financial Services for making this performance free to the public.

Last week was our first full week of summer camp. Amy Colley and Michaela Moore took campers on an in adventure creating Far Out Fairy Tales in theatre and visual arts camp. This week was chock full of activity – they created costumes and props, made puppets, developed characters and produced a casual play which they performed for family and friends. They even painted a cardboard castle, which was used as a backdrop in their play.

In the afternoon of that week, young thespians took to the Dietrich’s stage in Acting Camp for Kids. Michaela Moore of All About Theatre taught children acting techniques through games, improvisation and more. These students created a play, which they also performed for an audience of family and friends. Their performances are so dear. Seeing their shows is a highlight of the summer for me.

For teens and adults who would rather be behind the camera instead of on the stage, the Dietrich Theater is offering Move Over, Mr. Spielberg: Digital Film Making Workshop with Rand Whipple during the week of July 14 to 18 from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. Students will create a digital film from shooting, editing and scoring a film. Last year many of the films that were created in this workshop were entered in the Endless Mountains Digital Film Festival. Rand will also be teaching a Digital Arts Camp for students ages 8 – 13 that week which has already filled.

Tonight please join us for the film "The Battle of Wyoming” co-produced by Penn State Wilkes-Barre communications faculty member Bill Bachman, Lake Lehman music educator, Jonathan Pineno and Florence Howanitz of Kingston. Audiences will experience patriotic music of the colonial period prior to the introduction of the film. Actors from the film will be on hand to greet the audience and a question-and-answer period will follow each show. Military firearms replicas and other military gear will be exhibited as well. We will have showings at 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm.

More than the Movies at the Dietrich Theater

Acting Camp for Kids, ages 6 -11

Use your imagination and learn all about acting through theater games, improvisation, storytelling, play making, character creation and more! Students will create their own characters and stories while learning how to act and how much fun theater is. A casual performance will end the week.

Monday - Friday, August 11 - 15 from 3:00 - 4:30 pm.

Admission: $50

Instructor: Michaela Moore, All About Theatre

All Kinds of Sculpture Camp

Create sculptures using an assortment of media including string, paper, clay & recyclables.

Monday - Friday, July 21 - 25. Ages 5 -8: 10:00 - 11:30 am. Preschoolers: 12:00 - 12:45.

Admission: Ages 5 -12: $50. Preschoolers: $35

Amy Colley

Dance! Dance! Dance!, ages 2 - 17

Learn different styles of dance with Judy Weist of Stage Door Dance Studio. No dance experience is required. Special needs students invited. Call for info.

July 7, 8, 10. Ages 2 - 4: 9:00 - 10:00 am. Ages 5 -7: 10:30 - 11:30 am. Ages 8+: noon - 1:00 pm.

Admission: Free

Instructor: Judy Weist, Stage Door Dance Studio

Decorative Painting, ages 16 and up

Learn decorative painting techniques while creating decorative pieces for your home or to give as gifts. Preregistration required. Call 570-996-1500 to sign up.

Wednesdays from noon - 3:00 pm. July 16, 23, 30. August 13, 20, 27.

Admission: $20/class plus the cost of painting surfaces

Instructor: Eileen Balboa

Dig Art!

Create and explore seeds, leaves, bugs, and more! Investigate the world around you this July at the Dietrich. Based on the Everhart’s exhibit, Art of the Land, learn about and be inspired by the plants, animals, ground, and sky that make up our Pennsylvania terrain.

Mondays, July 7, 14, 21, 28. Ages 5 - 8: 10 - 11 am. Ages 9 - 12: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm.

Admission: Free

Instructor: Everhart Museum Educator

Digital Arts Camp, ages 8 - 13

Explore the arts through claymation, robotics, and special effects.

Monday - Friday, July 14 - 18 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm.

Admission: $50

Instructor: Rand Whipple of Box of Light Theatre.

Fantastical Inventamania Camp

Join us as we go on a Dr. Suess-like adventure where we learn all about inventions. We will create characters, stories and amazing inventions! We will learn about innovations that have changed our world and talk about what wonderful inventions we would like to invent in the future!

Monday - Friday, July 14 - 18 from 10:00 to noon

$50

Amy Colley and Michaela Moore

Intergenerational Quilting - Summer

"Tea Gardens" - Learn quilting techniques as you create a charming tea cup quilt that will bring back memories of clinking cups and giggles of childhood friendships. Learn how to use fabrics to create different effects. For ages 13 and up.

Wednesdays through July 30 from 6:00 - 7:30 pm.

Admission: $6 per class; materials provided.

Instructors: Ingrid Rogler, Peggy Lane, and Terry Keller

Jammin' in a Jugband, ages 13 - adult

Join Timothy Walker and David Driskell, PCA rostered artists, as you create and make music with homemade instruments such as a washboard, washtub bass, spoons, whistles, saws, and a jug, as well as the conventional guitar, banjo, clarinet and saxophone. Find out that music is fun!

July 21, 22, 23, 25 from 1:00 - 2:15 at the Dietrich. Tuesday, July 22 from 3:00 - 4:00 pm at Tunkhannock's Senior Center

Admission: Free

Timothy Walker and David Driskel, PCA rostered artists

Jammin' in a Jugband, ages 6 - 12

Join our jugband as you create and make music with homemade instruments such as a washboard, washtub bass, spoons, whistles, saws and jug, as well as the conventional guitar, banjo, clarinet, and saxophone. Find out that music is fun!

July 21, 22, 23, 25 from 10:00 - 11:15 am.

Admission: Free

Instructors: David Driskell and Timothy Walker

Jewelry for Kids - Glass Fusing - Filled

Students will learn about glass fusing as they design and create two glass pieces which can be turned into jewelry - pendants or pins!

Tuesday, July 8th from 2:00 - 4:00 pm.

Admission: $25, materials provided.

Instructor: Esther Harmatz

Knit a Hat, ages 10 through adult

Learn how to knit a hat using round knitting needles. Choose from three hat styles. All materials are included.

Tuesdays, July 29 & August 12 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm.

Admission: $20.

Instructor: Sarah Sidorek

Mount Olympic Theater & Visual Arts Camp

Learn all about the Olympics, its orgins in ancient Greece and Beiing China in this unique camp that arrives just in time for the summer Olympics. Become an Olympic hero or super talented gymnast while creating a fabulous play! Plus make medals, trophies, laurel wreaths, togas, torches, and flags to celebrate this wonderful tradition and our fantastic country! Tons of fun and lots of learning! For ages 5 -12

Monday - Friday, August 11 - 15. Ages 5 -12: 10 am - noon. Preschoolers: 1:30 - 2:30 pm.

Admission: Ages 5 - 12: $50. Preschoolers: $35.

Instructors: Amy Colley & Michaela Moore.

Move Over Mr. Spielberg: Digital Film Making

Learn how to create your own digital films using a digital camera and a computer. Using everything from clay actors to human ones, the class will edit, score, and output a short film in the course of a week. Script Writing Workshop - July 7, 8, 10 at 6:00 - 7:30 pm.Instructor: Ann Vitale. Admission: Free.Write a script for your digital film and be ready to start filming in your Move Over Mr. Spielberg project.

Monday - Friday, July 14 -18 from 6:00 - 8:30 pm.

Admission: $50.

Instructor: Rand Whipple, Box of Light Theatre

Open Studio for Painting, Drawing & Pottery

Students of all ages and levels of experience will have the opportunity to work at their own pace and with the medium of their choice.

Tuesdays from 7:00 - 8:30 pm August 5, 12, 19, 26.

Admission: $15 per class or $50 for four classes.

Instructor: Steve Colley

Pottery & Sculpture, ages 13 to adult

This class is designed for students of all levels of experience. Students will work on pottery wheels and learn hand-building and sculpture techniques.

Mondays from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Session 5 - June 30, July 14, 21, 28. Session 6 - August 4, 11, 18, 25.

Admission: $50, materials provided.

Instructor: Steve Colley

Quilting for Kids - Summer

"Tea for Two" - Learn quilting techniques as you create a charming teac cup quilt. Come with a friend, be a mom and me team, or bring any family member. Work on a quilt together or make your own. We'll end the class with a tea party.

Wednesdays through July 30 from 3:30 - 5:00 pm.

Admission: $6 per class.

Instructors: Terry Keller, Peggy Lane, and Ingrid Rogler.

Woodwinds Master Class

David Driskell, a classically trained clarinet player, will conduct a woodwinds master class for all ages. Call the Dietrich at 570-996-1500 to register.

Monday, July 21 from 2:30 - 3:30 pm.

Admission: Free

Instructor: David Driskell

Writers' Group

Come and read your work or listen and be inspired. Learn the craft of writing as you write. All genres and levels of writing are welcome.

Thursdays from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Meetings are ongoing.

Admission is free.

group format - no instructor

Yoga for Kids, ages 8 and up

Explore yoga postures, relaxation, and breathing techniques with Melissa Russo, certified yoga Ed. instructor, that will help calm the body, strengthen muscles, and stretch your mind. Bring a yoga mat or beach towel.

Wednesdays, July 30, August 6, 13, 20 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm.

Admission: $35.

Instructor: Melissa Russo

Yoga for You

This class will teach and reinforce the basic yoga poses (asanas)which gently stretch and strengthen the body. Attention will be given to breathing and alignment in postures. Call 570-996-1500 to confirm dates. Please bring yoga mat or beach towel.

Wednesdays, 10:00 am - 11:00 am, Call 570-996-1500 for class dates.

Cost: $10 per lesson. Children are free.

Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor: Melissa Russo