If you’ve lived a long life in Harrisburg, you probably remember Alsedek’s Restaurant. How about JH Troup and Co. music?
In the end, it wasn’t really about the records that were sold at Troup’s on Market Square or what was on the lunch menu at Alsedek’s located across the Broad Street Market.
For generations, these were places for people to meet up, socialize and be a part of their city. And that, said Anne Alsedek, is what made life in Harrisburg so meaningful.
“It’s a story of community, of family, of sharing, and the fact that people really have a need to come together,” said Alsedek, education director at Open Stage of Harrisburg.
They were places that gave texture to city life, that tied together the people, gave them common cause and interests.
In June, Open Stage will recall those days with “Stories from Home: Market2Market,” a play featuring snippets of life in Harrisburg over many years, focused on two places: Market Square downtown and the Broad Street Market area in Midtown.
Alsedek said the idea of a play about Harrisburg came about as a kind of counter-balance to the negative attention the city often receives.
Harrisburg has a long, colorful history, but one that isn’t really about monuments of the Capitol or even its many floods and misfortunes. It’s a story about relationships and neighborhoods, which often focused around city markets—Harrisburg once had seven.
“There was so much material that it was difficult narrowing our scope, so we focused on two market areas,” she said, adding that other neighborhoods will featured in future years.
You won’t get a lot of what Harrisburg is known for today—petty politics, in-fighting, debt.
Instead, the voices of ordinary people will be heard.
Alsedek interviewed the few people still around who remember the city’s golden years, before post-war deindustrialization, to capture stories of colorful characters, teenage life, crazy old ladies. Historical research yielded more stories, which stretch back to the 19th century.
“The city needs a breather and a chance to pat itself on the back after a very difficult time,” said Alsedek, whose husband’s family owned the namesake restaurant. “So, we planned a little celebration.”
But it’s not just a story of what was, of what is lost. The play may leave many residents with a sense of what could be again, said Stuart Landon, Open Stage’s marketing manager.
Cities, after all, are designed so that people make connections and share experiences. Harrisburg, for all its problems, is no different in that regard.
“We’re re-living the past so that we can learn from it,” said Landon.
