Worldly Mission: Trinity High School’s international students stand tall

February 28, 2023 | by Deborah Lynch

Adelphe Cisse & Mike Bednostin. Photos by Lisa Schlager.

All season long, opponents took notice of two towering Trinity High School boys basketball players. It was hard not to.

At 6-foot-11, Mike Bednostin is a head taller than much of his high school competition. The center, a frequent double-double threat, came to Trinity this season via Canada from Ukraine. His teammate, Adelphe Cisse, stands 6-foot-7 and came to Trinity in April 2022 when his school year ended in the Republic of Congo.

They are the first two international students to play for Trinity’s highly successful basketball program in coach Larry Kostelac’s 40-year tenure. His teams, which have made it to 12 final fours of the PIAA championships, have won two state titles and 18 District 3 championships.

They are also just two of 10 international students this year at Trinity High School, located just outside of Camp Hill. In the past, Trinity has had as many as 30 international students during a single year. Even before COVID, those numbers started to drop, but Trinity is again attracting a diverse group of students from around the globe.

Historically, many of Trinity’s international students came from Asian countries. While it welcomes students from all countries, the Catholic parochial school was particularly interested in helping a student from Ukraine this year.

“What was really powerful for us was to have the opportunity to have these students come from underrepresented nations,” said Principal John Cominsky. “We’ve never had a student from sub-Saharan Africa. We’ve had students from Ukraine before, but not in this context,” referring to the war.

To Cominsky, it’s a coincidence that both are basketball players.

“Trinity has had dozens and dozens of international students who have never played a sport,” he said. “You’re as likely to become an Ivy League student from here as to play a sport.”

Yet Bednostin and Cisse do play basketball—and quite well. While both hope to use the sport as their ticket to an American university education, both care even more about their academics.

“I just wanted to come because I know that here I’m going to have the opportunity to do both academics and my basketball skills,” Cisse said. “I knew it would be great for me for my English, my education, my language.”

Bednostin echoed a similar sentiment.

“I hoped to go to college in the U.S., to get a full scholarship to play basketball,” he said. “My parents always told me to study. Education is very important. If you get a USA education, it’s going to be appreciated in all the world. Basketball is a great opportunity to afford it.”

Since coming to Trinity, they’ve made good on their basketball and academic goals, as both are honors students.

“They’ve been embraced by the students here because of their example, their work ethic, and their desire to be in this community as full-fledged students,” Cominsky said. “The kids love them. They have very active social lives. They’ve really taken to what our school community has to offer in many ways.”

Kostelac agrees.

“Although Mike and Adelphe come from vastly different cultures, they are very similar in many ways,” he said. “Both are very intelligent and goal-oriented individuals. They have excelled in the classroom in their native countries as well as during their time at Trinity.”

Larger World

Bednostin and Cisse may stand out the most in public, but Trinity’s other international students also make an impact.

Guillemette and Marie Guiguet are sisters from France whose father’s position in the French army brought him to the Army War College in Carlisle. They will graduate from Trinity in June, but, until then, they are immersing themselves in typical American high school life like the school musical, “Cinderella,” which they just appeared in.

“It’s a good experience to be in Trinity—one year to learn a foreign language,” said Guillemette. “It’s really interesting. I love to be in the U.S. I love your culture, the way you live.”

That’s exactly what Vice Principal Eileen Poplaski likes to hear.

“We say that we want our children to be lifelong learners and to have an understanding of the larger world,” she said. “I think that the best way that we can do that is to give them those social and friendship experiences with children who are coming, whether for a year or two or three, with children from other parts of the world who’ve had different experiences growing up.”

Another international student is Mike Johnson from Windsor, Canada, whose brother plays football for Penn State. Canada’s extended online learning during the pandemic led him to seek a school in the United States near his brother where he could learn in person. He plays football for Trinity.

Lily Yeo from Seoul, South Korea, graduates this year after spending all of high school at Trinity. She also spent time in Canadian schools before going to middle school in Korea. She’s involved in several school clubs and said that she feels connected to Trinity and will always consider it a home.

Other international students include Sua Choi of Korea, Carmen Castro Angulo and Claudia Lafuente Pantoja of Spain, and Miroslav Skabrada of Czech Republic. Sometimes, as in Skabrada’s case, students from abroad live with relatives locally.

Others come via agencies. Trinity’s international students typically get F-1 visas, as Trinity is a Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified school. The Guiguets have visas through their father’s NATO status.

Public schools in the area generally welcome a handful of international exchange students each school year. Most come with J-1 visas, which means that they do not pay tuition to the schools, as they are part of a formally recognized cultural exchange program.

Hershey High School accepts as many as five international exchange students on J-1 visas each school year.

“We find this program valuable for all students,” said school Principal Lindsey Schmidt. “Students are provided experiences and opportunities that are vastly different from their experiences at home.”

On the other hand, as a private school that is allowed to charge tuition for students with F-1 visas, Trinity has the opportunity to welcome even more, which it embraces.

“When you walk our halls, there are kids of diverse backgrounds, upbringings and abilities, and they’re welcome here if they want to learn,” Cominsky said. “That’s the only caveat because it’s a challenging environment.”

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Picture Purrfect: Art show, sale to benefit cat rescues, encourage adoption

February 28, 2023 | by Barbara Trainin Blank

Talent and skill aren’t enough—an artist also needs ongoing motivation.

That’s what led Cheryl Kugler to the #100DayProject, an annual endeavor that promotes daily steps—even if small—toward creativity.

In 2020, the cat-loving, Carlisle-based artist and illustrator incorporated felines into her project. Then, in 2021, she decided to devote the entire #100DayProject to them.

Kugler has created drawings of 100 rescued Loving Care Cat Rescue cats and kittens still needing homes. It was from LCCR that the artist adopted two of her four cats.

In return, in recognition of International Cat Rescue Day—held this year on March 2—Loving Care Cat Rescue will sponsor an art show and sale featuring Cheryl Kugler’s #100DayProject drawings, taking place three days later.

Kugler is donating all proceeds from the show, entitled “Art Is in the Heart,” to LCCR and the Nobody’s Cat Foundation, another nonprofit that serves felines.

“Cheryl’s work has appeared on Loving Care’s social media pages to encourage adoption,” said Danielle Wadsworth, fundraising director at LCCR.

Lisa Snyder founded the Lemoyne-based Loving Care Cat Rescue in 2013, and it acquired nonprofit status three years later. LCCR’s mission is to provide loving care to every cat that comes through, regardless of its circumstances or medical condition, and to actively seek a permanent home for each rescued cat or kitten.

“Unless serious illness would warrant it, euthanasia is not an option for cats in the care of Loving Care Cat Rescue,” Wadsworth said. “The number of requests for us to take in kittens and cats grows every year.”

As of November 2022, the organization had saved 3,341 local cats and kittens, Wadsworth added.

An all-volunteer, foster-based organization without a brick-and-mortar facility, LCCR brings in an average of 900 kitties each year and places an average of 820. Foster parents are spread throughout the Harrisburg area.

The Nobody’s Cat Foundation promotes the use of “trap neuter return” as the preferred strategy for humanely stabilizing and reducing free-roaming feline populations in 15 southcentral Pennsylvania counties. This approach aims to reduce suffering among the cats and stress on wildlife, protect public health, and redirect desperately needed resources elsewhere.

Kugler took photos from Loving Care Cat Rescue as the basis of her drawings.

“Drawing was my way of creating 100 perfectly imperfect kitties,” explained Kugler. “I used the photos as a reference for the drawings and included brief stories provided by the organization to show how special each individual cat is.”

The artist varied each cat’s position and expression—also using different fur patterns, such as striped vs. calico—so the show would not be repetitive. Each drawing in the art show includes a little story provided by LCCR to demonstrate its temperament.

Kugler used mostly LYRA graphite, along with Prismacolor Art Stix, to create her drawings. Although she is actually a pastel artist and oil painter, these mediums would have been “too involved” for her to create so many pieces of art for the #100daysproject,” she pointed out.

In the end, Wadsworth hopes the show and sale will help encourage greater cat adoption, as the need is tremendous.

“The need for cat rescue is never-ending,” she said. “There will never be enough rescues to save them all.”

Creative Spark Arts is located at 335 Bridge St., New Cumberland. For more information, visit www.creativesparkarts.com. For more information on Loving Care Cat Rescue, visit www.alovingcarecatrescue.org or their Facebook page.

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One Man, Many Talents: Tory Gates recently published his latest novel, but that’s just part of the story

February 28, 2023 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

Tory Gates

So far in life, Tory Gates has proven himself something of a Renaissance man.

The publication of his newest young adult/contemporary fiction novel last fall is only his latest accomplishment of a multi-faceted career.

Besides publishing success in the science fiction genre, Gates, 57, of Harrisburg, also lists credits as a veteran broadcaster, journalist, producer and performing musician.

“Tory has a long career in radio and has worked for many stations in the area over the years,” said his publisher, Lawrence Knorr of Sunbury Press. “He also performed music for many years as a solo guitarist and played at my art gallery in Mechanicsburg when it was in operation.”

Back in 2013, Sunbury published “Searching for Roy Buchanan,” the first of Gates’ ongoing “Sweet Dreams” young adult fiction series. “Call It Love” followed 18 months later. Rounding out the series (so far) is “Shake Hands With The Devil,” published last September.

Gates described the ongoing series as “a trilogy of works that combine time travel, Japanese culture and the power of music.” His work, he said, takes readers to “exotic locales, everyday places, and brings to life characters that are relatable and real while addressing real-life issues.”

Other Sunbury Press titles penned by Gates include the award-winning “A Moment in the Sun” and “Live from The Café.” A premiere novel, “Parasite Girls,” was published by Amazon and Smashmouth.

Sunbury Press took Gates from a self-published author to a trade-published author some years ago, Knorr said.

“We have been publishing his books ever since, about one every 18 months,” he said.

Additionally, Gates assisted Knorr “for several years” in producing the publishing company’s podcasts.

“Tory is a multi-talented person who expresses his creativity in a variety of ways, cares deeply about his stories and his characters, and converts that empathy into engaging and thoughtful interviews of other authors on his podcasts,” Knorr noted.

Gates said that his “Sweet Dreams” series is commonly linked to his personal interests of Japanese culture and music. Aki, a Japanese teenager, is the series’ focal character, and music factors into many of her fictitious time-travel adventures, such as instruction with the late American blues musician, Roy Buchanan.

Make Them Think

A Vermont native, Gates recalled first “bouncing around radio stations in New England” before landing a broadcasting job in Boston. He then worked radio in Maine from 1990 to 2000.

“By 2000, I owed my wife a move,” he said. “She had family living in York, so I got work here.”

With that, he began reporting news in Harrisburg on Radio Pennsylvania Network, a position he maintains today and since has expanded to Maryland News Network. He also reports for “The Brown Posey Press Show,” an interview podcast for independent and self-published authors, and is further renown as “DJ Riff,” host of “The Music Club,” a blues program on the Radio-Airwaves Station based in London.

Gates later moved to Harrisburg “because I needed to be closer to work.”

“I stay here because the news here is old school, just the facts,” he said. “I have never lost the love of being in the studio.”

In the meantime, Gates played guitar with Ahltyrra, a “new age rock band,” performing locally for several years. Afterwards, he played intermittently with Dharma Fools, a local folk rock ensemble.

“Music has always been my inspiration and gives me a reason to go on,” Gates said. “I grew up in the late 1960s, early ‘70s. My two brothers exposed me to music of the day then. I was exposed to music as a DJ in the ‘80s when there was an incredible groundswell of musical styles, but I’ve always turned back to the blues.”

Although Gates said that he’s “been writing all my life” in news and songs, he didn’t try “full-length” storytelling until 2007. Today, he still has two more books in mind for the “Sweet Dreams” series, as well as other unpublished works.

“I hope people who read this find someone in the story that they would like to be friends with. That means they’re really invested in the story,” he said. “I hope my stories entertain people and make them think.”

For more information on Tory Gates, visit www.torygatesmedia.com.

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Celtic Skelter: Kilmaine Saints music isn’t only about drinking and fighting, but, yeah, there’s drinking and fighting

February 28, 2023 | by Dan Miller

Kilmaine Saints

In 2009, a Harrisburg-based Celtic punk band formed for the sole purpose of getting free beer. Now, they’re about to release their fourth studio album.

If all goes according to plan, the album will drop in mid to late spring, said Brendan Power, lead singer of the high-energy band, in an interview held, appropriately, downtown at McGrath’s Pub. But all might not go according to plan.

“Being an Irish band, we know what Murphy’s Law can do to you,” said Power, reciting the famous maxim that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

The group’s lineup has changed over the 14 years since bassist (and bagpipes and accordion player) Jon Heller teamed up with original drummer Mike McNaughton to form a new band to get free beer from Harrisburg bars on St. Patrick’s Day. The two founding members knew each other from being in the Harrisburg Pipe & Drum Band.

Turnover has fueled the band’s evolving sound.

“This is the best songwriting and the most diverse background of musicians we’ve had,” Power said.

It’s also Kilmaine Saints’ first full-length release without an outside producer. Band members are doing all the recording and producing at their own pace.

The band took the same approach on an earlier acoustic EP, which served as a dry run for this full album, said guitarist Erich Arndt.

“That’s just another reason why this particular album is so collaborative in nature,” said fiddle player Gary Eurice. “Not only did we all have such a heavy hand in the songwriting but then in the actual execution of getting the album done. We are all individually working on our own tasks.”

Formed on “good whiskey and bad intentions” as noted on the band’s website, Kilmaine Saints has seven members. Besides Arndt, Eurice, Heller and Power, there’s Bill Brown on bagpipes, bouzouki and whistle, Rich Lipski on banjo, mandolin and acoustic guitar, and Tommy Leanza on drums.

Only Power has true Irish roots. He was born in Ireland and moved to the United States at age four. His family still has a house and farm in the old country.

The band is named for a pub in Kilmaine, Ireland, close to Power’s boyhood home. A former band member whose family owned the pub suggested the name.

“We’re definitely not saints,” Power said. “So, it’s kind of an oxymoron to call ourselves that.”

Labor of Love

Much of Kilmaine Saints’ music fits into what Power jokingly calls the four categories of Irish music.

“I’m gonna fight somebody. I’m gonna drink and then fight somebody. I’m gonna sing a song about my family leaving and never coming home, and then we’re gonna sing a song about drinking and fighting somebody,” he said.

But there’s more to Celtic music than that. The songs tell stories of ordinary people and their struggles, sometimes funny and tongue-in-cheek, other times sad and poignant.

Celtic music, even the power punk that is Kilmaine Saints’ bread and butter, has a traditional base reflecting the land and culture from which it is derived, said Eurice, a fiddle player for 20 years.

“I think, instinctively, everybody at some base level loves Celtic music,” he said. “Anytime you are in a bar and a traditional Irish jig comes on, you see people look at each other and smile.”

The band isn’t full-time for any of the members, who have jobs ranging from computer nerd to product rep to painter to, yes, chemical engineer.

“It’s a labor of love,” Power said. “We hope to one day be rock stars by the time we’re 90.”

Several members came to Kilmaine Saints out of the central Pennsylvania punk band scene.

Tired of toiling in cover bands, Lipski responded to a craigslist ad the band posted seeking new members.

“I was drawn more to the harder edge coming from the punk side of it,” he said, citing Dropkick Murphys, a Celtic punk band that’s been around since the mid-‘90s. “These guys have kind of the same sound, so I thought it would be a cool fit.”

Arndt, of Hanover, joined Kilmaine Saints after filling in for a member who had taken leave due to a new baby.

“I’ve always been a pop punk guy,” he said. “This is just pop punk with all kinds of weird instruments.”

Between the new album and reopening of life post-COVID, Kilmaine Saints sounds like a band poised for bigger things.

“There are a lot of big Celtic festivals and Irish festivals around the country,” Eurice said. “We’re hoping the next album kind of breaks down those doors to get us a more national reputation.”

The band is planning a new video. A first-ever European tour—starting in Ireland, of course—could be in the offing. Plans for a trip to the old country fell through a few years ago due to the pandemic.

Kilmaine Saints also looks forward to plenty of live shows to plug the heck out of the new album.

“There is something to be said about the songwriting and how it sounds and the production on an album,” Power said. “But there is also a different experience to seeing it live and see the sweat that goes into it and the energy and the fun we have on stage, not only with the crowd but amongst ourselves.”

For more information on Kilmaine Saints, visit www.kilmainesaints.com.

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Retooled & Ready: Post-pandemic, Whitaker Center opened with a new look, new offerings

February 28, 2023 | by Gina Napoli

Purposeful Gaming Studio

The pandemic left dents on every person and business, and Whitaker Center was no exception.

Somewhat more delayed than others to fully reopen, the “crown jewel of Harrisburg” stayed in its jewelry box just a little longer. As it turns out, they were taking that time to be cleaned and polished.

We’re stoked that Whitaker Center has since swung their doors wide open to the public. With familiar mainstay offerings accompanying some exciting changes, Whitaker Center is showcasing a remodeled layout along with rejuvenated programming that’s enough to get your kids excited, even your sullen teens.

Picking Up STEAM

Where the ticketing center and the gift shop once stood is now PNC Innovation Zone, a Purposeful Gaming Studio. This new area (separate from Harrisburg University’s professional e-sports arena) provides a collaborative, experiential learning space to engage kids in STEAM through videogames.

Whitaker Center’s board and staff feel a responsibility to inspire kids and expose them to technology, providing access to those who don’t always have it. The gaming aspect of Whitaker Center is so cool that “people tend to forget we’re nonprofit,” said CEO Ted Black.

Innovation educator Steve Lockhart encourages parents to talk to their kids while they’re playing together “about possible future STEAM professions in videogames: coding, storytelling, 3-D modeling, designers, hardware, software, streamers, influencers, sound and music engineering—endless careers.” Kids in grades two through eight can learn STEAM concepts through structured class offerings.

And if you’d like to bond with your co-workers or friend groups through a videogame experience, Innovation Zone is a great hub for getting creative and building virtual bridges.

“We’re the first science center in the country with a space like this, and one of the first STEAM buildings that has everything intersecting all under one roof,” Black said.

Community Needs

During the pandemic, Whitaker Center’s doors weren’t bolted shut. Rather, they were propped open slightly ajar to meet needs within the community. In response to emergent virtual educational pivoting, Whitaker Center, along with help from Rep. Patty Kim and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, hosted the Community Classroom within the Innovation Zone space.

Community Classroom provided a place for students (and overwhelmed parents) to log on with Wi-Fi to complete classwork and homework. Black credits this program as “fulfilling, rewarding and sobering, because it met needs at a granular level within the community,” while helping Whitaker Center to grow in an unexpected, yet still mission-driven manner.

Whitaker Center also assisted the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra during the pandemic when the Forum building was under construction by providing virtual delivery.

“We have an obligation to be the cultural center of Harrisburg, and we lean into that where we can,” Black said.

Window Opens

During the pandemic, the sudden need for virtual programming drove the Whitaker Center team to create virtual delivery and remote outreach for some of their key programs.

Surgery Live! presents high school students with a unique opportunity to view routine surgeries telecasted live from Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Because Surgery Live! influences high-schoolers to think about multiple careers in the operating room (not just as a surgeon), it’s a program that Black did not want to pause.

Pre-pandemic, students filed in to the Digital Cinema to watch surgeries on the big screen, while a doctor visited the kids in-person to narrate the procedures and answer questions. Then the pandemic pushed Whitaker Center staff to offer the program completely virtually instead of the hybrid format. This expanded the audience for Surgery Live!, allowing virtual field trips for even more students, regardless of their geographic locations.

Other field trips became virtual and socially distanced, too. Whitaker Without Walls provides education from afar. And for the younger kids, WOW (Whitaker on Wheels) delivers interactive STEAM education to preschools, daycare centers and elementary schools.

“We didn’t have the need for virtual programs before COVID,” Black said. “Now, we’ve developed the delivery because of COVID, and we’re able to reach into more areas, even other states.”

The pandemic also pushed many outdoors to seek safer, socially distanced activities. New in October 2022 was Whitaker Center’s Wildwood Preserve partnership: “Weekends with Whitaker.” Weather permitting, kids can become immersed in woodsy topics such as birdwatching, dip netting, tree identification, citizen science and nature appreciation.

New at Harsco

Brand new at the Harsco Science Center through Memorial Day is the temporary exhibit “Questioneers,” originally from the DuPage Children’s Museum. Based on the children’s series of New York Times bestseller chapter books, the bilingual exhibit focuses on problem-solving, featuring its beloved early elementary characters who hold such jobs as engineer, architect, scientist, leader and artist. Whitaker Center’s director of education, Sarah Throckmorton, is planning public outreach community days to highlight the bilingual aspect.

Documentaries Aplenty

The Digital Cinema features a rotation of 10 nature- and space-themed educational films—eight in 3D. Especially for the 3D movies, there’s nothing like watching a movie on a giant screen that’s 40-feet high and eight stories wide, like aerial shots soaring above the Grand Canyon, deep-diving through a coral reef, or watching monarch butterflies migrate through North America. You can even watch a videogame tournament on the big screen.

Culture Change

Despite the lean workforce that has become part of the post-pandemic culture, Black sees the current Whitaker Center staff as “energized, bringing their passion to the job for their particular areas.” He’s looking to build a culture of collaboration and purposeful insubordination [no “yes” people], providing staff members with opportunities to pursue their passions.

This enthusiasm has already influenced creative programming with an emphasis on STEAM, continued growth and fulfilling community partnerships.

Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts is located at 222 Market St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.whitakercenter.org.

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Acts of Kindness, Consequence: Humanity, compassion take stage in first-ever Good at Heart Festival

February 28, 2023 | by Sammi Leigh Melville

As spring approaches, Open Stage prepares for its first annual “Good At Heart Festival” this month.

The festival will consist of Open Stage’s 23rd presentation of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Sankofa African American Theatre Company’s presentation of “Anne and Emmett,” and several nights of conversation surrounding social justice, including Black NewsBeat with Dr. Kimeka Campbell, The Obstructed View and more.

What inspired the idea of the Good At Heart Festival? That is an honor that can only be attributed to Anne Frank.

“Anne Frank wrote, that, despite everything, she believes people are good at heart,” said Stuart Landon, artistic director of Open Stage. “And that is the driving force of her writing, in many ways, that we as an institution come back to again and again.”

This will be the 23rd year that Open Stages presents “The Diary of Anne Frank,” featuring four dates for morning matinees and one evening performance. As many as 4,000 students will be able to see Anne Frank’s story at the Scottish Rite Cathedral for the morning matinees (with limited available seating for the public), with a post-performance presentation by Holocaust expert, Lilian Rappaport. There also will be a Wednesday evening performance for the general public (with no post-performance discussion).

Landon thinks the content will hit a bit differently this year, as it’s the first time since the pandemic hit that “Diary” will be staged live.

“There’s something really special about it, because we went through an international trauma together, but not really together at all—we were isolated, living in a tumultuous time in our country,” he said. “Many countries are, when it comes to divisiveness politically, and there are so many echoes of our current world [in the play], and at the very least the emotions around what we’re dealing with.”

Another cornerstone of the Good At Heart Festival are some familiar characters.

“Anne and Emmett,” based on the book of the same name by Janet Langhart Cohen, and presented by Sankofa African American Theatre Company, is an exploration of what a conversation might be like between Anne Frank and Emmett Till from the beyond, or “in memory,” as Sharia Benn, artistic director of Sankofa, puts it.

The play joins these two young teenagers who experienced parallel hate and explores the topics of race, the times they lived in, and even gender perspective.

“There will be moments where the audience will be uncomfortable,” Benn said. “But we need to get into spaces where we go beyond just being uncomfortable—which leads us into silence and complacency—to where we can start to have healing, understanding and even acceptance that this happened… this is how it has impacted people, and that is real. Explore that.”

Benn described her process for choosing pieces for Sankofa as not only looking for content by and about the Black community, but also, “things that we can gather around—a diverse community, our diverse community, not just for a Black audience or a white audience, but to attract both, and different races and backgrounds, into one place so that we can have these meaningful and crucial conversations.”

And that is exactly what “Anna and Emmett” brings to the table—an invitation to delve into the shared experience that people across different races and religions have.

Hand in hand with the nights of conversation scheduled for that week, these two plays are sure to create a thoughtful, encouraging space for the type of discussion that the Good At Heart Festival was created to spark.

“Anne Frank wrote that she wanted her writing to live beyond her,” Landon said. “And has it! It is a great responsibility, and an honor, to take on this story every year and explore all the stories that need to be told.”

“The Good at Heart” Festival runs March 14 to 19 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg, and on March 15 at Scottish Rite Cathedral, 2701 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.openstagehbg.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

At Open Stage
www.openstagehbg.com
717-232-6736

Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine’s
“Into the Woods”
Running through March 11

The Good at Heart Festival

Festival Kickoff
“Theatre for Good: Social Change & Performance”
Features performances from Reclaim Artist Collective & Narcisse Theatre Co.
Free to the Public
Tuesday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Black NewsBeat
With Dr. Kimeka Campbell
Wednesday, March 15

“The Diary of Anne Frank”
At Scottish Rite Cathedral
March 14 to 17
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 9:45 a.m.
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Morning shows followed by short break and presentation from Holocaust educator Lillian Rappaport at 12:15 p.m.

“Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America”
Documentary Screening at Midtown Cinema
Thursday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.

“Anne & Emmett”
A new play by Janet Langhart Cohen
Presented in partnership with Sankofa African American Theatre Co.
March 17 to 26 (various times)

The Obstructed View
Queer talk show taping
Saturday, March 18 at 6 p.m.

Lobby Talk
A discussion about “Anne & Emmett” with the cast
Led by Professor Ellen Stockstill
Free to the Public
Sunday, March 19 at 3 p.m.

An EDI Conversation
With Una Martone (Leadership Harrisburg)
And Joe Robinson (MLK Jr. Leadership Development Institute)
Sunday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Free to the Public

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Melodic March: Something for every taste this month

February 28, 2023 | by Belle Frank

This is the month when my resolution to go to more live shows really kicks off. Harrisburg has a jam-packed March—from homegrown bands like Yam Yam to major artists like Third Eye Blind. I’m personally going to three concerts this month just because the Harrisburg area is being blessed with so many amazing artists. Some of them are new to the music scene, and some of them have made a name for themselves for decades. Either way, I’m pumped.

Certainly So, 3/3, XL Live, 8 p.m.

Certainly So is a semi-new band that formed in September 2019. Drawing inspiration from artists like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, John Mayer and many others, they have an eclectic singer-songwriter vibe. Two of the members, Tanner Gray and Colby Wilson, were childhood friends who parted ways for college. While in college, Gray met the rhythm section, Chase Porter and Zach Corder. However, the band didn’t form until a couple of years after they finished school. Certainly So has curated a unique sound with a range of music that can feel melodic and down-to-earth or speedy and upbeat. I’ve personally had their song, “Dizzy,” on repeat for weeks. It’s got an exciting start, which carries through till the end.

alt-J, 3/16, XL Live, 8 p.m.

Forming in 2007, alt-J has made a splash on the music scene. Originating from Leeds in the United Kingdom, their first few years were spent in college creating music, as well as their debut album, “An Awesome Wave,” which came out in 2012. Alt-J’s music has a full sound. If you listen to a single song enough times, you can pick apart the layers that make it up. Some have been featured on shows and movies, such as “Left Hand Free,” the theme song for the Netflix show, “Outer Banks.” Their debut album was the only one I had in my car when I was in high school. I could honestly listen to the whole thing on repeat for hours. It’s hard to compare alt-J to another band because their sound is so distinctive.

Yam Yam, 3/17, H*MAC, 7 p.m.

Yam Yam got their start in Harrisburg in 2015, but the band now performs around the country. This funky band has an interesting styling. They have the typical guitar, keys and drums setup, but the addition of a saxophone gives their music greater quality and depth. I would describe Yam Yam as having a “groovy” sound, as they pull in influences from 1970s-era soul music, often overlaid with a jazzy vibe. These Harrisburg boys also have a killer stage presence, and their music makes me want to get up and move. It’s upbeat and positive, which makes it hard to stay still while hearing it, especially when experiencing it live.

Mentionables

The Grateful Shred, March 1, H*MAC
Everclear, March 2, XL Live
Kings Of Thrash, March 5, H*MAC
Jxdn, March 15, XL Live
Cold, March 23, Lovedraft’s Brewing Co.
Third Eye Blind, March 23, Hershey Theatre

March Concerts:

3/3
Certainly So
XL Live
8 p.m.

3/5
Kings of Thrash
H*MAC
7 p.m.

3/16
alt-J
XL Live
8 p.m.

3/17
YAM YAM
H*MAC
7 p.m.

3/23
Third Eye Blind
Hershey Theatre
8 p.m.

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The Rain Is Falling, but the Air Is Kind: Creating and recreating Old Ireland at Gamut Theatre

February 28, 2023 | by Francesca Amendolia

J. Clark Nicholson, Michael Bush & Ryan Hicks. Photo by John Bivins Photography.

What a wealth of images Ireland calls up in the American imagination—green hills and Guinness, the Blarney stone and peat bogs, leprechauns and banshees, car bombs and the Troubles, shamrocks and sea cliffs.

There’s a reason that almost everyone seems to be Irish come St. Patrick’s Day (and it’s not just for the beer). There’s something about the layered and ancient complexity of Ireland that takes an iron grip on our imaginations.

So, it’s surprising that there has never been a local production of the work of J.M. Synge, perhaps the most famous writer of the Irish Literary Renaissance and a playwright whose openings twice caused riots because of their intense scrutiny of the many conflicts woven into Irish culture—between paganism and Catholicism, the old ways and the new, Gaelic and English, women and men, the land and the sea, life and death. Synge’s plays not only capture that uneasiness but they do so in language so delicate and lyrical that they sometimes feel more like poetry than plays.

The poetry of Synge’s work is exactly why director Frank Henley wanted so much to bring his plays to Harrisburg audiences, their “intrinsic beauty,” as he puts it.

“This is beautiful writing for the sake of beautiful writing, but more than that, the things that Synge is writing about in such beautiful words are universal,” Henley said.

To further highlight that intricacy and universality, Henley decided to pair two one-acts: one set by the pitiless sea and one set in a lonely strath (a wide and empty field). He also decided to frame the plays with the poetry of W.B. Yeats, a friend and mentor to Synge, and the man who encouraged Synge to live on the Aran Islands, so that he could truly come to understand his fellow Irish. Thus was born the upcoming Gamut-Narçisse joint production of “Thistle & Salt: The Ireland of J.M. Synge; Riders to the Sea and In the Shadow of the Glen.”

When Henley started Narçisse Theatre Company in 2016, it was because he wanted to embrace and connect all the diverse theater scenes in Harrisburg, to create a theater that was for Harrisburg, by Harrisburg. “Diversity, inclusion, and access,” he said, “is the touchstone of Narçisse,” and it’s one reason why Henley likes to partner with longer-established companies like Gamut. While Narçisse has been a community partner for Gamut productions in the past (most recently for “A Winter’s Tale,” the 2022 Shakespeare in the Park show) “Thistle and Salt” is their first true coproduction, and it’s an exciting shift.

Henley never wants to give an audience a simple answer; he never wants an audience to feel like he’s telling them what to think. So like Chekhov, he said that his mantra is simple: “No happy endings.” This makes him an ideal director for J.M. Synge, who was himself uninterested in simple answers and heroic endings. The characters in “Thistle & Salt” struggle and mourn, they torment themselves and each other, but they also always look beyond their narrow lives. As one character says, “The rain is falling, but the air is kind and maybe it’ll be a grand morning by the grace of God.” In that one sentence is a sense of the divine, an acceptance of the inevitable, and a determined hope that makes even bad days good. And yet, there is no promise of happiness, and isn’t that life in a nutshell?

It would, however, be a mistake to think that a lack of happy endings makes for depressing theater. These plays are deliciously dark in their comedy (such as a man pretending to be dead but waking up for a sip of whiskey) and compelling in their tragedy (like the beautifully eerie keening that is how the Irish must mourn between death and burial). There will also be fiddle music and even Irish dancing from the McGinley School of Irish Dance.

“Audiences should be ready to push aside all their preconceived, stereotypical images of Ireland and see that this is a culture that is immensely old, one shaped by millennia of hardship,” said Henley. “And yet the Irish, despite their tragedies and troubles, have an enchanted spirit that lives and breathes till this day.”

And that’s what awaits audiences at Gamut—living, breathing enchantment.

“Thistle and Salt: The Ireland of J.M. Synge” runs from March 4 to 19 at Gamut Theatre, 15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.gamuttheatre.org/thistle-salt or www.narcissetheatre.org/current.

UPCOMING EVENTS
At Gamut Theatre
www.gamuttheatre.org
717-238-4111

“Thistle & Salt: The Ireland of J.M. Synge”
March 4 to 19
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

“Improvapalooza”
March 25 at 7:30 p.m.

“The Jungle Book”
March 31 to April 2
Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Sound of Silence: A deep humanity permeates ”The Quiet Girl”

February 28, 2023 | by Sammi Leigh Melville

Photo Courtesy of Super LTD.

Director Colm Bairéad brings us a devastatingly beautiful film about a quiet girl. But it’s the reasoning behind why she’s quiet that is key.

Cáit (Catherine Clinch) has multiple siblings, a mother (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) who would rather get through her current pregnancy than spend time with her children, and a father (Michael Patric) who barely lifts a finger to help. There is much to say about the psychology of a neglected upbringing, but the film does a great job of depicting one of the outcomes, in the form of Cáit—a timid girl with no desire but to be invisible, hiding in fields and under the bed, trying not to be noticed in school, etc.

Cáit is sent off for the summer to live with her Mam’s cousin, Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley), and her husband, Seán (Andrew Bennet), to help ease the load at home. Eibhlín works hard to treat Cáit like her own, and in time, so does Sean. But Eibhlín promises no secrets in the household, and it is not long before Cáit discovers there is one.

Really, that secret is not the true conflict of the film, though it definitely pulls on your heartstrings and helps flesh out the family. “The Quiet Girl” is less about active conflict than it is about a story we wish we never had to see come to fruition in the first place. It is more a mood piece, simple and to the point but flooded deep with humanity. Like its title, the film is quiet, and that is kind of what makes it magical. There is at least one moment where the narrative arc feels a little too on the nose (probably as an attempt to give the film more conflict), but Bairéad makes up for that with the love he’s coaxed out of the characters.

Clinch is a joy in her role, and watching her inadvertently opening up (and also inadvertently closing down) is wonderful. And Crowley and Bennet do a fantastic job of creating a comfortable atmosphere for their new guest. The film toes the line between heartwarming and heartbreaking—a real tribute to the efforts of both Bairéad and the crew.

“The Quiet Girl” will play at Midtown Cinema in March. Make sure to catch this gem of a film.

Midtown Cinema is located at 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.midtowncinema.com.

March Events At Midtown Cinema

First-Run Films Opening
“One Fine Morning”
“Close”
Friday, March 3

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Re-opens at the Cinema
Friday, March 3

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
Oscar-Nominated Doc, One Day Only
Sunday, March 5

First-Run Film Opening
“The Quiet Girl”
Friday, March 10

Down in Front! Presents
“Terror Is a Man” (1959)
Friday, March 10 at 9:30 p.m.

Red Carpet Evening
Celebrate Hollywood’s Biggest Night!
Sunday, March 12 at 6 p.m.

Open Stage’s Good at Heart Festival presents
“Who We Are”
Thursday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.

3rd in the Burg Movie Night
“Neverending Story” (1984)
Friday, March 17 at 9:30 p.m.

“All that Breathes”
Oscar-Nominated Doc, One Day Only
Sunday, March 19

“The Breakfast Club” (1985)
Friday, March 24, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 25, 10:30 a.m.
with breakfast cereal bar!

First-Run Film Opening
“No Bears”
March 24

“The Room”
With Greg Sestero, Live
March 25 at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Brain Gain: Creative Craniums aims to strengthen memory for seniors

February 28, 2023 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

Anne Shadis signed up for Greg Brown’s inaugural session of Creative Craniums at Hershey’s Leader Center for Active Life to stave off senior memory loss.

“I think every older person’s nightmare is, ‘Oh my God! I’m losing my memory!’” stated Shadis, 76, of Derry Township.

Brown, a third-year MD/Ph.D. student at Penn State Hershey who plans to enter a neurology residency after graduation, designed the four-week workshop with just that goal in mind.

“The workshop is an engaging way to exercise your brain and practice cognitive flexibility, short-term memory and emotional awareness,” he said. “The goal (of Creative Craniums) is to create a sense of play and curiosity for everyone through activities like charades, improv comedy, dancing, storytelling.”

“The biggest thing is that it’s fun,” Brown said. “Brain health doesn’t have to be this difficult thing.”

In turn, participants of Brown’s initial October 2022 session noted “a significant increase in quality of life” in their post-course assessments, along with feeling increases of energy and “joy in everyday life,” Brown reported.

“I liked it all,” Shadis said. “(Brown) would start every session with a song and end it that way. The minute he started to talk, we liked him. There were no wrong answers.”

Creative Craniums is just one of many enrichment activities offered at Leader Center, an independent, nonprofit organization based in Hershey. The center welcomes individuals over age 50 to participate in its “wide range of physical exercise opportunities, games, travel, educational courses and social and volunteer opportunities.”

Founded in 1983, the organization first utilized two rooms above the Hershey Public Library, eventually moving to other venues as membership grew. Last June, the center settled into its current 9,000-square-foot home at 605 Cocoa Ave.

Safe, Fun

For Creative Craniums, the group’s first exercise, Shadis recalled, involved seniors stating what part of life they’d like to be remembered for. Further challenges involved acting out common activities like housecleaning, plus one-on-one rock/paper/scissors sequencing and group memory sequences.

“You have to keep active (at this age),” said Shadis, whose other activities at the center include zumba, scrum fitness and tap-dancing. “You have to keep doing things.”

Sharon Sterns, 74, of Derry Township, said that she signed up for Brown’s October workshop because she already was involved with the Leader Center, and the Creative Craniums course “sounded interesting.”

“It was fantastic,” Sterns said. “After the first week, I looked forward to going there every week after that. It was lots of fun, and we shared lots of laughs. At the end of the four weeks, I knew everyone there very well. Even when we see each other now, we remember things that we learned about each other there.”

Sterns said that her favorite activity at the workshop was rock/paper/scissors “because everyone did it. You felt safe and could get into the fun of it.”

She readily admitted, though, that remembering during such activities “could be difficult. I had to force my brain to work.”

Brown said that workshop participants seemed to enjoy the chance to get together and have fun again after pandemic quarantining.

“COVID caused everyone to be so isolated,” he said. “Now that we’re finally getting out of that, we can all get together again.”

Brown said that he planned to conduct a second Creative Craniums workshop round soon at the Leader Center and “hopefully keep it running after that.”

To register for upcoming Creative Craniums sessions or other Leader Center events, visit www.leaderactivelife.org or call 717-533-2002.

Other area community or senior centers interested in hosting the workshop are invited to email Brown at [email protected].

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