ICON Magazine by ICON Magazine

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SEPTEMBER

The intersection of art, entertainment, culture, nightlife and mad genius.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 20 | JOSE GARCES

John Slavin, 51 Ford, photograph. Artists of Yardley, Yardley, PA.

With CBD, new spots, new ideas, and new towns, the James Beard Award-winner and Iron Chef title-holder is just beginning.

FEATURES 18 | FRINGE FESTIVAL 2019 Each September, FringArts presents the annual Fringe Festival, a 17-day celebration that fills the city’s neighborhoods with more than 1,000 curated and independently produced performances.

Tom Chesar, Trawler. New Hope Arts, New Hope, PA

Raina Filipiak / Advertising filipiakr@comcast.net

Bob Beck

MORE FILM 26 |

OPINION 7|

Eugene Robinson Michael Gerson

Tom Chesar & Richard Lennox New Hope Arts Watchcraft by Eduardo Milieris New Hope

30 |

Robert Beck

The Wild Pear Tree

Jack Byer

The Biggest Little Farm

Peter Croatto

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Geoff Gehman

JAZZ LIBRARY

Eliane Elias Mark Sherman Marc Ponthus Antonio Adolfo

12 |

VALLEY THEATER

ETCETERA

14 |

CITY THEATER

34 |

HARPER’S FINDINGS

34 |

HARPER’S INDEX

38 |

L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD

39 |

AGENDA

CINEMATTERS The Peanut Butter Falcon

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Mark Keresman George Miller R. Kurt Osenlund Bob Perkins Keith Uhlich

JAZZ/ ROCK/CLASSICAL/ALT

NIGHTLIFE

24 |

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Wild Rose

10 |

FILM

Joey Fonseca

A. D. Amorosi

Freddy Cole 32 |

INTERNS

REEL NEWS

MUSIC

Annual Outdoor Juried Arts & Crafts Festival New Hope

The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

Rita Kaplan

Where’d You Go Bernadette

15th AOY Annual Members Show Artists of Yardley Art Center

Art at Kings Oaks Newtown

The Secret. Festival Unbound, Lehigh Valley.

Susan Danforth

The Farewell

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

28 |

PRODUCTION Richard DeCosta

FILM ROUNDUP Parasite

Jean Childs Buzgo: Explorations Silverman Gallery

ON THE COVER: Evan Harrington, Harvest, oil, 9 x 12 in. Silverman Gallery, Buckingham, PA. silvermangallerybuckscountypa.com

PRESIDENT Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com

Ten days of original theater, dance, music, art and conversations.

ART EXHIBITIONS

215-862-9558 icondv.com facebook.com/icondv

EDITORIAL Editor / trina@icondv.com

Since 1992

22 | FESTIVAL UNBOUND

ESSAY Un Poyo Rojo. Photo: ©Paolo Evelina. Fringe Fest 2019, Philadelphia.

ICON

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ESSAY ESSAY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

A DAY IN MAINE WHEN I WALKED INTO Bill and Barbara’s kitchen, Doug Dodge was standing by the sink holding a sizable watermelon. He was in town on an errand and stopped by to say hi, so naturally the four of us started carving the melon into chunks as we sat down and caught up with each other. I had been driving back from an early trip to the co-op when a view from the bridge at Cross Cove grabbed my eye. I saw a wharf stacked with yellow traps, and a red lobster boat grounded out beside it leaning into the mud. The bright colors glowed in the morning sun against the dark shadow of the tall pines behind. That was a painting, but there was no place to set up on the bridge or anywhere close by. That length of cove is an area I haven’t investigated because I’d have to go behind people’s houses. Bill and Barbara live nearby, so I drove over to ask how to contact the people on the cove and maybe get an introduction. The coffee was good, the melon was sweet, and we talked about what I’d been painting this trip. I mentioned that the company replacing the Beals Island bridge has rented properties I’d like to paint from, which makes them official construction sites. That adds a layer of complication getting access. Doug said, “You can always go over to my shop and paint the boat I’m working on.” The thought appealed to me, so I took him up on it. His shop is one of my favorite places to paint, anywhere. Doug wouldn’t be working there that day, so he told me how to get the door open. The lock has a trick to it, and the door sticks. You have to use your shoulder while balancing on the

plank over the rocks. I asked how to turn on the lights. Doug chuckled and said the panel was inside on the front wall, “Just twist the wires at the bottom together.” If you saw this place, you’d understand that’s not far from the truth. This image is 18”x24”, which is a lot of oil painting to do live in one shot. I was crammed between a ladder, an old upholstered chair, stacks of stuff on stuff, and a pile of cedar sawdust from the shaper. The sawdust had my attention the whole time I worked. If the painting slipped off the French easel—which can happen with a panel that size—and landed in that pile, I might as well leave it there. The shop was hot and I went through a lot of water. I found a fan under a box under a shirt under a board, that I pulled out and got running, but gently; I didn’t want the dust to start moving. An interior filled with a lobster boat is a challenge. You can’t get far enough away from it, so you have to modify the perspective. I was positioned much closer to the bow of the boat than the painting suggests, and what is more like a 90degree view has been compressed to about 60 for the painting. The hull shape gets tricky when you do that.

Every stage of the painting has to be reasoned through, to support the next one. A lot of what I depict is just implied, and I have to trust that when I give the viewers dots to connect, they will do it innately. An interior must express volume, and how the light reflects and decays identifies the dimensions of the space. I have to describe the subject the same way I read it, so that you encounter it like I do. These aren’t matters of detail. They are elements of language. All went without a hitch. Doug stopped in just as I was cleaning up, and he gave me a stem-to-stern tour of his boat plus a master class in how to construct a wood hull with a hard chine. We climbed up and down ladders, talked engines, knee joints, and scuppers, and told stories for another hour. When I stepped outside, the harsh light of mid-day had turned soft and warm. Barney Cove was filled with lobster boats, done for the day. The sun was over Sheep Island, the air was cooler, and the tide had come in. The board I walked across to get to the door when I arrived—the one over the rocks and mud—now had seawater lapping beside it. Doug followed me out and gave the door a sharp tug to get it to close. n

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EXHIBITIONS

Marc Schimsky, Abstraction, acrylic

15th Artists of Yardley Annual Members Show AOY Art Center, 949 Mirror Lake Road, Yardley artistsofyardley.org September 7–22, 2019 Friday, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5PM The 15th Annual Members Show is an exhibition and sale of art works including photography, oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media and three dimensional media. The AOY Art Center holds this exhibition each year for our 200-plus members to participate in and to make accessible their work and creativity with the region. It is a celebration of the diversity of our notable and distinguished artists and a chance to appreciate the wonderful pieces that will be displayed. All of the work is framed and ready for sale. Consider this an opportunity to not only see what new work our members have been producing, but also to visit the galleries in the beautiful and historic Janney House on Patterson Farm.

James Bongartz, Girard & Hewson acrylic 6

Moonlit Canal, 8 x 6 in., o/b

Jean Childs Buzgo: Explorations Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art 4920 York Rd., Route 202, Holicong, PA 215-794-4300 Silvermangallery.com September 28–October 27 Opening Receptions 9/28, 5-8pm & 9/29, 1–4pm Jean’s largest and newest body of work will have over 40 new pieces. Her distinctive, energetic brushstrokes are juxtaposed with balanced compositions and invigorated with a new color palette. “I’m translating my experiences with nature, architecture and an emotional reaction to these places. I want people to feel as if they are there in the moment.”

Bursting Bouquet, 30 x 24 in., o/c

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Self Portrait by Kouta Sasai, Oil pastel on Arches, 12.2 x 9 in., 2019

Art at Kings Oaks 756 Worthington Mill Rd., Newtown, PA 215-603-6573 Kingsoaksart.wordpress.com October 4–20 Opening reception Oct. 4, 6–9pm Closing reception Oct. 20, 2–5pm Paintings, prints, drawings, collage, sculpture, and ceramics by artists from the U.S., Japan, and UK. Artists: Younghee Choi Martin, Alex Cohen, Lois Dodd, David Fertig, Dorothy Frey, Naomi Grant, Nancy Gruskin, Eric Holzman, Leroy Johnson, Deborah Kahn, James Kao, Benjamin King, Robert M. Kulicke, Elizabeth MacDonald, David MacDonald, SaraNoa Mark, Ruth Miller, Melvin Nesbitt Jr., Sarah Norsworthy, Drew Panckeri, E.M. Saniga, Mayumi Sarai, Kouta Sasai, Pam Sheehan, Laura Vahlberg, Wells Vissar, and Scott Wheelock.

Song of the River by Younghee Choi Martin, o/l, 26 x 26 in., 2014

OPINION FROM THE LEFT

FROM THE RIGHT

Trump is panicking that his reality show presidency won’t be renewed

By siding with bigots, white evangelicals risk the reputation of the gospel

By EUGENE ROBINSON The Washington Post | Aug 19, 2019

By MICHAEL GERSON The Washington Post | Aug 15, 2019

Uh-oh. President Trump is in such a state of panic about his dimming reelection prospects that he’s getting his lies mixed up and occasionally blurting out the truth. “It’s tough for Apple to pay tariffs if it’s competing with a very good company [Samsung] that’s not,” the president told reporters Sunday—flatly contradicting the ridiculous and utterly false narrative he has spent months trying to sell. Trump apparently forgot his standard lie that China is somehow paying “billions of dollars” in tariffs, acknowledging instead that they are taxes paid by U.S. companies and, ultimately, the American consumer. This reflects more than just the difficulty of juggling multiple lies. Evidence suggests that Trump is melting down. Again. And for good reason. Fears of global recession, greatly exacerbated by Trump’s erratic and self-destructive trade policies, have sent financial markets tumbling. A sharp downturn would close off one of the principal lines of attack the president was hoping to use against his Democratic opponent. He tried it out at a rally in New Hampshire last week: “You have no choice but to vote for me,” he told the crowd, because “your 401(k)’s down the tubes, everything’s gonna be down the tubes” if he loses. “So, whether you love me or hate me, you gotta vote for me.” Fact check: No. Trump is flailing. He berates his handpicked chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, for not cutting interest rates fast enough to goose the economy. He practically begs Chinese President Xi Jinping for a meeting to work out a trade deal—any trade deal, apparently—and is met with silence. He threatens more tariffs but then backs down, at least for now. According to published reports, he sees himself as the victim of a conspiracy to exaggerate the growing economic anxiety in order to hurt his chances of winning a second term. He entertains grandiose, almost Napoleonic fantasies—purchasing Greenland from Denmark in what he calls “a large real estate deal,” perhaps, or imposing a naval blockade to force regime change in Venezuela. He apparently spent much of the weekend fuming about not getting credit for how his New Hampshire rally broke an attendance record for the arena that had been set by Elton John. And Trump can’t seem to stop railing against a recent Fox News poll that showed him losing to four of the leading Democratic contenders. The president seems to consider Fox his administration’s Ministry of Propaganda—indeed, that is the role the network’s morning-show hosts and prime-time anchors loyally play— but the polling unit is a professional operation. “There’s something going on at Fox, I’ll tell you right now, and I’m not happy with it,” Trump told reporters Sunday. He added a threat, saying that Fox “is making a big mistake” because he is “the one that calls the shots” on next year’s general election debates—the implication being that Fox might not get to broadcast one of them if it doesn’t toe the party line. For the record, Trump’s claim about his political standing is that it couldn’t be better—but could be better. “Great cohesion inside the Republican Party, the best I have ever seen,” he tweeted Monday. “Despite all of the Fake News, my Poll Numbers are great. New internal polls show them to be the strongest we’ve had so far! Think what they’d be if I got fair media coverage!” An hour later, he was back on Twitter to attack Anthony Scaramucci, who fa-

I have a confession to make. I am one of the five remaining Americans who is uncomfortable with vulgarity, put off by profanity and offended by blasphemy. Swearing is now generally taken as a sign of authenticity; it is more often the expression of anger and aggression. I don’t think political discourse is improved by language more appropriate to a bar fight. I do think the presidency is diminished by public scatology and sacrilege. And I really don’t give a darn if you think this is old fashioned. So I probably had more sympathy than most for West Virginia state Sen. Paul Hardesty and his upset constituents. After a recent speech by Donald Trump, Hardesty— who is a conservative, pro-Trump Democrat—received phone calls from Christians complaining of the president’s use of the term “goddamn.” In a letter to Trump, Hardesty pronounced himself “appalled by the fact that you chose to use the Lord’s name in vain on two separate occasions.” This is hardly a national groundswell for decorum. But I don’t want to be dismissive of people revolted by the steaming, stinking cesspool of Trump’s public rhetoric. The problem is one of proportion. Interviewed by Politico, Hardesty admitted that evangelicals had been willing to overlook many of the president’s character flaws, but he ventured that on the matter of blasphemy, Trump’s “evangelical base might be far less forgiving.” Consider this statement in the light of some recent developments: • The Trump administration seems intent on sending to Congress a more than $4 billion package of budget cuts focused on diplomacy and foreign assistance spending. These proposed reductions would likely include efforts to fight the spread of Ebola,

From the Publisher to our Readers ICON receives many ideas and submissions from writers wishing to have their work appear in the magazine. Some of it is very good, but we have a great mix of talented contributors at the moment and opportunities are rare. We’ve decided to try an experiment. In a section titled “Morsels,” the magazine will devote space to a few short bits of writing, from a sentence to a paragraph in length submitted by readers. Original, isolated thoughts. Clever or pointed, profound or poetic, and previously unpublished. Or short observations and assessments of what is going on in the Delaware Valley or beyond. What they won’t be is abrasive, a political screed, or poorly written. These are not Letters to the Editor. Keep it smart. Send an email with the subject line MORSELS to trina@icondv.com. Include your name, address, and phone number. If your piece is going to be published we will let you know and only print your name. In another section titled “Voices,” readers are invited to submit longer pieces, such as an essay, short story, or poem. Professional writers, experts, and amateurs are all included. We want writing that is interesting, illuminating, challenging. Make us think. Make us smarter. Make us cry. Or laugh. Send an email with the subject line VOICES to trina@icondv.com. Include your name, address, and phone number. If your piece is going to be published we’ll let you know and only print your name. n ICON | SEPTEMBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

EXHIBITIONS

Richard Lennox, On the Edge

Tom Chesar & Richard Lennox New Hope Arts 2019 Legacy Exhibition New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope, PA 215-862-9606 Newhopearts.org Fri., Sat., Sun., noon–5 September 6–15 Opening reception Sept. 7, 5–8 These two esteemed painters of the regional arts community present more than 60 recent works including figurative subjects and landscapes of Bucks County and beyond. The result is an engaging dialog illustrated by each artist’s commitment to a careerlong fascination with representation, portrayal and interpretation. The New Hope Arts Board of Directors hosts a special reception on Thursday, September 12 from 6:30–8:30. For more information: info@newhopearts.org, or newhopearts.org.

Tom Chesar, Secret Entrance.

Diana Contine, Bracelet

Watchcraft by Eduardo Milieris Artist Visit | One day only Saturday, October 5th, 11am – 5pm Heart of the Home, 28 South Main St., New Hope, PA 215-862-1880 heartofthehome.com Heart of the Home welcomes Watchcraft artist Eduardo Milieris for an in-store appearance and trunk show of his exceptional watches. Born in Uruguay, Eduardo Milieris has always been fascinated by time. Alexander Calder influenced him at a young age. Building on a liberal arts background with photography, video art and sculpture, he creates more than 100 unique watch styles in his New York studio. The watches are created in limited editions. Wearable works of art, they are carefully handcrafted to ensure their quality and originality, made with distressed and oxidized, nickel-free solid jewelers brass and embellished with solid brass, solid copper and sterling silver. All watches are numbered and signed. Dials are individually hand painted by Eduardo himself; no two are the same. His work is available year round at Heart of the Home. This is a rare opportunity to meet the artist and explore the depth and breadth of his expansive collection.

Tom Chesar, Rambling About 8

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New Hope Annual Outdoor Juried Arts and Crafts Festival New Hope-Solebury High School, New Hope, PA Newhopeartsandcrafts.com September 28-29 Sat. 10–6; Sun. 10–4 Fine arts, pottery, woodwork, glass, jewelry, photography, fiber, mixed media, paintings, pastels, illustrations, and etchings. Chosen artists will receive cash prizes and ribbons. Located in the historic town of New Hope, known for its arts community, this quality juried event attracts an estimated 10,000 visitors. Outdoor, rain or shine; $1.00 admission; ample parking, food, a complimentary shuttle, and music.

Eli Helman, Etching.

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NIGHTLIFE CURATED BY A.D. AMOROSI

SEPTEMBER

Nights” tour stop in Camden. BB&T Pavilion, livenation.com/venues

7 – MAREN MORRIS

13 – MUTLU RECORD RELEASE PARTY

Country pop’s hottest new property isn’t afraid to speak her mind, whether it’s on her new album, Girl, or through her smart, raunchy interviews. The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com

Philadelphia percussionist and honey vocalist Mutlu has been a best pal and collaborator to and with Amos Lee and Hall & Oates, and now he’s got his first new record out, “Mutlu EP,” in a decade. Cheers. World Café Live, worldcaflelivePhilly.com

7 – ROYALTY TOUR WITH MARY J. BLIGE AND NAS

Blige may be making more of a go of her career as of late on film and streaming services with The Umbrel-

15 – SESAME STREET 50 YEARS AND COUNTING

Both an interactive trip through the education-heavy PBS kids’ classic and its characters, as well as a chance to see and hear Lehigh Valley locals such as singersongwriter Kira Willey, the area’s National Museum of Industrial History, the Da Vinci Science Center, and Wildlands Conservancy making family-friendly activities with a Grover/Big Bird theme. Zoellner Arts Center, zoellner.cas2.lehigh.edu

and Robert Fripp, can tear it down just as easy. Each tour that Fripp runs, with different musicians joining his frantic, stalwart rhythm section (Tony Levin, Pat Masteliano) gets weirder and denser and more dramatic. The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com 23 – TINARIWEN

17 – CHRIS BROWN

Controversy will forever swirl around R&B’s sultriest (sometime robotic, blame the AutoTune) singer, but his rough and racy new album, Indigo, shows that he’s in for the long haul, whether you dig him or not. Wells Fargo Philadelphia, wellsfargophilly.com la Academy, but make no mistake—she is still the queen of adult R&B hip hop. Ace rapper Nas always keeps everything real. Liacouras Center, liacourascenter.com

18 – LIZZO

The glossiest R&B debut of 2019, Cuz I Love You, is just one of the dynamic elements that makes Lizzo

The blues toast of the Sudanese desert, this team of string players and percussionist can rock a room rougher than the Rolling Stones. Union Transfer, utphilly.com 25 – TYLER, THE CREATOR/JADEN SMITH

Hip hop’s goofiest, golf-loving rapper and Will Smith’s kid—an experimental pop-star-in-the-making—attack the rolling hills of Parkside Avenue where his dad started off as the Fresh Prince. The Mann Center, themanncenter.com

9 – MORRISSEY

Britain’s angriest young man got a little older, looked into the sunset, found the songs of his youth that he loved and created a swirling, overstuffed cover album, California Son, that is one of his best. BB&T Pavilion, livenation.com/venues/ 14115/bb-t-pavilion

26 – STEREOLAB

12 – RECKLESS KELLY

26-27 – JOHN ADAMS

Idaho-born bros Cody and Willy Braun left the folksy potato pop behind for the whiles of Austin and an expansive country rock feel and frolic. SteelStacks, steelstacks.org

The composer behind the famed Nixon in China opera hits the Kimmel for two nights of his own com-

The Franco-American symphonic indie-pop act return to its aesthetic of glitches, boing, synth-strings and softly sampled things for a rare tour. Union Transfer, utphilly.com

13 – MEEK MILL AND FUTURE

The toast of Philadelphia hip hop, prison reform, and Amazon teams up with Future for a joint “Legendary

worthwhile. She puts on a hell of a live show, too, as witnessed by a winter 2019 show at Theater of Living Arts. The Met Philadelphia, TheMetPhilly.com 19 – THE B-52S

The punk-era new wave toast of Athens, Georgia, the kings and queens of “Private Idaho,” “Planet Claire,” and “Channel Z,” celebrate their 40th anniversary in the sun. The Mann Center, themanncenter.com 20 – ADAM ANT

British post-punk’s Burundi-drumming king of the wild frontier is still a sexy pirate with a T. Rex obsession. Merriam Theatre, kimmelcenter.com 23 – KING CRIMSON

They built progressive rock in their own wild image, 10

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positions. Should be magical as he rarely plays out. Kimmel Center, kimmelcenter.org

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VALLEY THEATER GEOFF GEHMAN

Smart People. Four intellectuals, including an AsianAmerican actress and a Caucasian neurobiologist, fiercely debate genetics, stereotypes, love and race shortly after the election of America’s first African-

Beautiful. This hit musical traces Carole King’s evolution from married, uncertain co-writer of hits for other acts (“One Fine Day,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday”) to confident solo performing star. The show weaves sexual politics, cut-throat competition, betrayals and the triumphant recording of Tapestry, a massively

was equally ravaging and ravishing. James Morogiello elevated Jesus with daring operatic leaps and countertenor flourishes. He stabbed and soared during Christ’s harrowing reckoning with God. Sam Kashefska’s rich, ringing singing elevated King Herod to a sinister ringmaster. He really cleaned the cobwebs when Herod dismissed Jesus as a false savior. Choreographed by Cristina Sohns Williams, the dancing acolytes were a whirling wonder of go-going, frugging and flapping. Director Bill Mutimer’s smart casting and blocking helped make the torture and death scenes even more painfully powerful. I’ll always remember Kashefska’s Herod wincing as Jesus bravely endures his lashing, lashing himself with wicked guilt. School House Rock Live! A nervous new teacher uses clever songs as catchy lessons in this adaptation of the revered ’70s kids’ cartoon show. Jazz pianist

Smart People playwright Lydia R. Diamond. Photo courtesy of the Huntington Theatre Company.

American president. (Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, Sept. 2720, Oct. 2-5) The Glass Menagerie. Kirk Douglas played the Gentleman Caller in the 1950 film of Tennessee Williams’

Carole King in 2005.

popular album, cultural cornerstone and lyrical autobiography of the natural woman who dreamed up “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” (State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, Sept. 25) The Improvised Shakespeare Company. The Chicago troupe turns a single spectator suggestion into a banquet of Elizabethan-American controlled may-

Kirk Douglas, left, and Jane Wyman, seated, in Glass Menagerie, 1950.

exquisite memory play/ballet about a family trapped by the potent past and impotent present. (Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, Sept. 25-30, Oct. 2-6) The Importance of Being Earnest. Oscar Wilde’s society satire involves two men with alter egos, two young ladies planning to wed a man with the fake name of Ernest, and the importance of not being earnest. (Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, Sept. 26-29) 12

hem. (Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, 317 Hamilton St., Easton, Sept. 25) Jesus Christ Superstar. Northampton Community College’s production of the rock ’n’ roll passion play

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Bob Dorough, who died last year at 94, wrote the delightful ditties “Three Is a Magic Number” and “Conjunction Junction.” (Samuels Theater, Cedar Crest College, Allentown, Sept. 26-28) Antony & Cleopatra. Shakespeare’s political/sexual slugfest is neither exciting nor revealing, fish nor fowl. The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s sluggish staging featured plenty of posturing and pacing, breast heaving and breast pounding. Nondumiso Tembe caged Cleopatra with clownish shrewishness, leaving herself in a void when empires were divided. Neal Bledsoe’s Antony was much more robust of voice and body than gesture. He and Tembe had a poor romantic rapport, sparking only when they were dying. Caesar was a bland businessman, the soothsayer was a campy distraction, and a tribaltrance, dance-club soundtrack was just plain annoying. Matthew Floyd Miller (Enobarbus) and Eleanor Handley (Agrippa) delivered what everyone else missed: grit, intrigue and curiosity. n

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CITY THEATER A.D. AMOROSI

Hamilton

comes to Philadelphia, where, of course, it all began WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED that The Kimmel Center’s “Broadway Series” had adopted Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway show Hamilton and was setting it down at Walnut Street’s Forrest Theatre for an unprecedented long run—until November 17—I was taken back to its Philly roots in historian Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton (2004) biography, and area singer Leslie Odom Jr.’s take on Aaron Burr, the man who killed this American Founding Father.

And that’s Hamilton. West Philly’s Quiara Alegría Hudes, who worked with Miranda on In the Heights, and celebrated its 10th anniversary last summer, once told me that the playwright’s sense of jubilation and elevation were contagious. “He is a joy genius,” said Hudes of her pal Miranda. She’s now working on the film adaptation of In the Heights, and the animated monkey musical, Vivo. “Lin wakes up happy, and his

Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr. Photo: Annie Leibovitz for Vogue.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, center, and the cast of “Hamilton,” at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York. Photo: Sara Krulwich-The NY Times-Redux

I was lucky to see Hamilton after its Off-Broadway debut at The Public (its Broadway run began August 2015 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre), with its buoyant blend of slam poetry, hip hop, R&B, and good old-fashioned show tunes—to say nothing of its conscious casting of non-white actors as the Founding Fathers and other historical figures. It ran to unheralded critical acclaim. Playwright-composer Miranda took Hamilton—the man, the founder of the nation’s financial system, and our first Secretary of the Treasury—and transformed his story into something dazzlingly rhythmic, forceful, frank, inventive, and allegorical. President of A&R for Atlantic Records Pete Ganbarg, who is responsible for bringing Hamilton and the upcoming Jagged Little Pill to the label, told me that having to pitch it to people inside the company before it existed—“only workshopped, not even at the Public Theatre as yet” — was a wacky endeavor. “Imagine me telling the deal committee that whenever you record a Broadway cast album, it’s super expensive due to all the union fees, actors, musicians, everything literally on the clock— stopwatch, even. Depending on the number of songs you’re recording, it can get even more expensive; [for instance] Dear Evan Hansen has 14 songs, while Hamilton has 46 songs. Then there is the further pitch—not just that it’s 46 songs, but a new musical about the Founding Fathers, the American Revolution, and its after effects. And, by the way, all of the Fathers are played by actors of color, and it’s all hiphop, and some of the raps are about states’ rights and the creation of a national bank…You can feel the window opening and you being prepared to be thrown out. But it’s art and it’s not supposed to be always logical.” 14

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good moods are infectious.” That infectiousness is surely something that caught up Leslie Odom Jr., Philly baritone and theater actor. He eventually came to win a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical in his role as Aaron Burr. “Did that all just really happen? Do I really have all these new friends?” the astonished Odom asked, laughing, of the sensation of victory. “It does take some getting used to,” he admitted recently, as he prepped for a concert at the Borgata in Atlantic City. “Whether performing as him every day since we were Off Broadway in 2015, or thinking about him while we were in development, Burr has been the center of my creative life. It’s like a dream.” Beyond the dream, what Odom had to steel himself for, truly present himself as, was a rapper extraordinaire. “The funny thing about the hip-hop of Hamilton—channeling my inner Kendrick Lamar—is that this was all new stuff to me, the unfamiliar. Rap is not what I grew up with or grew up singing. So it took me a year to find the MC within me, my authentic voice. For the audience to buy it, I had to buy it.” Beyond the rapping, however, was the magic that came from an equally agile stage partner, and an inventive playwright such as Miranda. “Everything that I had to do as Burr came from looking into Lin’s eyes on a nightly basis.” One thing Odom would advise to any other touring company who picked up the Hamilton mantle—especially the actor who would take on the role of Aaron Burr— is to share his passion for teaming with his co-star. “Pay attention to everything your Hamilton does. He’s the centerpiece. He’s the show.” n

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FEATURE A.D. AMOROSI

an Existential Dilemma of

ITH EACH NEW FRINGE Festival in Philadelphia, the first question that comes to mind when talking with Nick Stuccio (its artistic producing director, curator and founder) is…what does it all mean? What could be the grand scheme and big theme for the 2019 Fringe Festival’s 100+ shows—in dance, performance art, avant garde music, experimental theater, comedy, and circus arts—across a two-week-plus period (Sept 5–22) at a time in the world when division is all around us and unknowingness is the only certainty, even within the arts. “This is a good thing to question—what does this festival say, or what its overarching themes might be—as we all work in ephemeral things,” said Stuccio. “We do these things and poof, they’re gone. What’s so much fun is to assemble them and see the connections.” What threads together several of the top-tier curated shows of the Fringe Fest are two divergent things in Stuccio’s mind, both occupying different thematic areas.

Entertaining Proportions Is This A Room: Reality Winner Verbatim Transcription, by Tina Satter/Half Straddle, explores the question of one person’s Constitutional rights in a most peculiar and personal way. Reality Winner (real name) is “a brilliant linguistics expert” who worked for the State Department as a translator with a very high security clearance. In her possession was one document that she felt must be released to the press involving Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. “It was an act of treason to send that document to the press, and this play is a transcript of her actual interrogation by

“IT WAS AN ACT OF TREASON [FOR REALITY WINNER] TO SEND THAT DOCUMENT TO THE PRESS, AND THIS PLAY IS A TRANSCRIPT OF HER ACTUAL INTERROGATION BY THE FBI—BEING TRAPPED AND QUESTIONED ABOUT THAT DOCUMENT—WITH A CAT-AND-MOUSE THEME THAT IS SO GRIPPING, AS IT’S REAL,” NOTES STUCCIO.

The first is what he calls “some heavy existential shit” like Pig Iron Theatre’s Superteraranean show, an idea of “awesome super-structures of everyday living.” It inspired its director (Pig Iron co-founder Dan Rothenberg) and set designer (Mimi Lien) to look at and below the surface of the giant shiny new metropolises that millennials are moving to in droves. “How the hell do these cities exist? We only see the tip of the iceberg, the frontage of the infrastructure, when it is what lies beneath that is truly sustaining them.” Abandoned train tracks, old sewage pipes and other antiquated systems and structures are metaphors for examining lives and existence itself. “What’s truly holding us up is the question Pig Iron is asking here,” said Stucco. “They’re having an intense emotional reaction to all that is below them, these interstitial spaces. Life is precarious.” Other artists, such as politicized theater-makers Kaneza Schaal and Christopher Myers, are examining the things that are emotionally tolling on them with Cartography, a look at the global refugee crisis, and the migration of people. “A compelling documentary theater piece that tells the story of five young migrants leaving their countries and coming to the U.S.” Schaal dramatically intensifies their stories of the worlds we each live in, and our places within it. The Nature Theater of Oklahoma is a dance company of uniformed performance artists who have been to the Philly Fringe several times. It’s a wild romp of theater, a humorous but dread-inspiring story told by an imaginary dance company that examines the American Dream myth as presented in the Constitution. “The biggest philosophical question is, is this all still real, this dream?” asks Stuccio. “Is it still relevant? Is it still meaningful? It asks these questions not in a didactic fashion, but in a pure romp.” 18

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Nick Stuccio.

the FBI—being trapped and questioned about that document—with a catand-mouse theme that is so gripping, as it’s real,” notes Stuccio. “Yes, she’s in jail. It’s illegal. I see both sides. But the director saw the beauty and trickiness in all this.” The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons” from New York City’s famed Wooster Group is a beautiful piece about a young African American artist who found a record from the early 1970s by an ethnomusicologist who recorded inmates in a Texas state prison singing spirituals. “That album is performed on stage—that’s the show—and as they’re singing them, they give sly indications of what the songs really meant. And that’s often unsettling and compelling—and it’s clear that these prisoners were enslaved.” Stuccio said that a great work, when it’s not didactic, when it’s just a beautiful piece of art and intrigue, is more effective in communicating its objective. Stuccio promises that many of the shows in this year’s Fringe Festival are much the same and that, along with the intensity, there’s also an abundance of fun to be had. That intensity and the existential dilemmas that Stuccio describes sound undeniably delicious. n

Is This a Room: Reality Winner Verbatim Transcription premiered at The Kitchen, NYC, January 5, 2019. Developed in part at The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, New York Theatre Workshopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dartmouth Residency, and a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Residency in 2018.

Is This a Room: Reality Winner Verbatim Transcription. Photo: ÂŠPaula Court / The Kitchen, NY

Cartography. In 2016, theater director Kaneza Schaal and award-winning author for young people Christopher Myers flew to Munich, Germany, as 30,000 people a day were arriving in the city in the largest migration in recorded history. Listening to the stories of young refugees, they pondered how to create artwork that placed individual migrants squarely within this historical moment. Cartography maps the perilous physical journeys and the confusing interior journeys which brought five young people from their old homes to their new ones. Performed by a diverse company of actors from El Salvador, Syria, Lebanon, South Africa, and Rwanda, this is theater for our times, theater for all ages, theater at its most relevant.

Cartography. (L-R) Janice Amaya, Noor Hamdi, Malaika Uwamahoro, Vuyo Sotashe, and Victoria Nassif. Photo: elmanstudio. ICON | SEPTEMBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

INTERVIEW A.D. AMOROSI

An Award-Winning Visionary Reinvents Himself [again]

G JOSE

ARCES

With CBD, new spots, new ideas, and new towns, the James Beard Award-winner and Iron Chef title-holder is just beginning. found the multi-ethnic chef and his eager test THE THIRD WEEK OF August is always a subjects together testing the waters of humid mess, a summery moist mix of dense Cannabidiol, CBD, a major component of hot air, awesome flash thunderstorms, and every course and cocktail. blistering sunshine into its early evenings. If Beyond Stella, having fun at Volver and you’re not wet from sweat, you are skin working the waves of Atlantic City for his resoaked from rain. cently re-convened relaJose Garces, howevtionship with Ocean Reer, is cool as a cucumber. sort Casino and Hotel, This coolness is not an affect; it signals a re- I HAVE A FARM IN OTTSVILLE IN there is more in the offbirth and exciting new BUCKS COUNTY. WE’VE BEEN OUT ing. No, he won’t name names or flesh out conchallenges for Garces, THERE SINCE 2010. I JUST LOVE THAT cepts—yet. But he hints who just last year was awash in bankruptcy fil- AREA—BEAUTIFUL RURAL SCENERY. at another dining experiings and investor law- THE FARM IS GORGEOUS. I ENJOY ence in Bucks County that will further his relasuits. (When Revel CasiTHE LIFESTYLE.…SOMEHOW, ALL OF A tionship with the comno in Atlantic City closed in 2014 with four Garces SUDDEN, BEING OUT THERE MADE munity and other likeconcepts inside, his fi- SENSE TO ME. I LIKE THE CHARM OF minded farmers. There will he additional new nancial troubles began, and set his professional NEW HOPE, BEING NEXT TO THE spaces, plates big and life in a momentary DELAWARE RIVER AND LAMBERTVILLE. small, and portable downward spiral.) Now, THAT SCENE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL. feasts for Center City. Plus, after the August with all his ducks in a CBD dinner at his longrow, and his corporate standing dream test partner Ballard Brands kitchen, you get the feelstable, he’s in forwarding that Garces’ Volver will get the workout, focused, fighting shape. He looks revitalized, the pop-up experimentalism and the acclaim refreshed and lighter on his feet, has a new it was always meant to have. (Other August home in Manyunk, and a thick black pompop ups at Volver included a fried chicken padour to top it all off. feast, and in New York, a dinner of experimenDuring a back-to-back, two-day stretch tal Korean cooking with the crew at Garces’ last month, not only did this writer watch, sit, space in the LUNA Hotel, the Basque Countrydrink and eat his way through Garces’ brand inspired Ortzi.) new restaurant in a brand new town—New Starting with the August Volver dinner, Hope’s Stella, a location very near to his buGarces had apparently become interested, colic suburban home and his acres of farm like so many of us, in the use of CBD and set land, but I did the very same thing the next about finding collaborators in his “chilled out night at Garces’ most experimental dining dinner party.” (CBD, an active ingredient in boite, Volver, for a pop-up experience that

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Barnegat Light Scallops.

Stella Ballroom.

Stella Interior.

Pecorino Panna Cotta.

Chef Jose Garces. Photo Â©Reese Amorosi.

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FEATURE GEOFF GEHMAN

FESTIVAL

HOW CAN WE MAKE our city healthier? That big question binds “Festival UnBound,” an Oct. 4-13 banquet of concerts, plays and community interactions

nBound

tainment venues, restaurants and medical complexes. Dialogues and debates will be delivered by church choir singers, female military storytellers, African drummers, sustainability experts, community-supper diners, Latino actors, Polish actors, bicycling actors and ex-steelworker actors. The festival is a swan song of sorts for longtime Touchstone ensemble member Bill George, who launched the company with his wife Bridget, longtime executive director of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, an “UnBound” participant. “We’re asking: How do you unite divided groups?” says George, an activist and active philosopher. “How do you learn to listen better? How do you rebuild your spirit? How would you like to expand at being a human being?” A complete schedule of events appears at festivalunbound.com. Below is a preview of four of the most fascinating projects.

Poets, Troubadours & Troublemakers

coordinated by Touchstone Theatre, which for five decades has been building communal bridges in Bethlehem, a city of bridges. “UnBound” is the ambitious sequel to Touchstone’s 1999 festival exploring life in Bethlehem after the death of the local steel plant that ruled the city for nearly a century. This time the actor-led ensemble and its partners examine how the arts can improve a place that has branched into industrial parks, enter22

WHAT: Musicians perform their new songs about the meaning and meaningfulness of place in concerts organized by Anne Hills, a prominent singer, composer, producer, social worker and cultural citizen. WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m. Oct. 9, Sigal Museum, 342 Northampton St., Easton; 7 p.m. Oct. 10, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. 6th St., Allentown; 8 p.m. Oct. 11, Godfrey Daniels, 7 E. 4th St., Bethlehem BACKGROUND/FOREGROUND: Hills picked the four primary performers—Andrew Dunn, Amanda Penecale, Katherine Rondeau and Rhys Williams— from songwriting workshops she supervised with

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Anne Hills in Poets, Troubadours, and Troublemakers.

such luminaries as John Gorka, who has written about keeping Bethlehem’s South Side free from yuppies and Lehigh Valley farms free from developers. Dunn, a finalist in the Great American Song Contest, developed a road/railroad talking folk-blues about Bethlehem’s post-Steel stronger-than-steel harmonies (‘In

the end I say our differences are the way that we stay strong”). Hills, who will perform with special guests, may debut her song about food, flavored by Bethlehem’s recent rise as a culinary bazaar. In two South Side blocks you can eat Italian, Indian, Mexican, Malaysian, Japanese, Ethiopian and Southern. “PT&T” is another outreach venture for Hills, co-founder of a folklore center in her native Chicago and author of a silky song about the closing of Allentown’s last silk mill. The series, she points out, extends the venerable folk-music tradition of rabblerousing to “open people’s ears and eyes to a different reality that needs to be considered. The ground is always shifting; you have to learn to settle, change, and dance.”

cise, passionate images from such poems as “The Sheltered Garden,” H.D.’s pilgrimage toward being wild rather than tame. H.D.’s lines are amplified by sung improvisations, a Greek-style chorus and seven H.D./Hilda puppets. The Secret portrays a brave visionary who acted with Paul Robeson, was analyzed by Sigmund Freud, and spun modern myths from ancient archetypes. Roysdon considers H.D. a community role model who belongs on the same radical playing field as industrial titan Charles Schwab, architect of the modern Bethlehem Steel. “She proved that a woman doesn’t have to be likable,” adds Gilrain, “that a woman can be unlikable—and amazing.”

Kitchen Chronicles The Secret WHAT: Humans and puppets perform the words,

deeds and dreams of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle.), the highly innovative, influential poet, memoirist and sexual adventurer born and buried in Bethlehem. WHEN/WHERE: 5 p.m. Oct. 5 (with talkback), 1 p.m. Oct. 6 (with panel discussion), 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8, Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. 4th St., Bethlehem BACKGROUND/FOREGROUND: Doug Roysdon, founding artistic director of Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre, decided to create a show about a pivotal female writer after his wife, Christy, a retired Lehigh

WHAT: Mary Wright, Touchstone ensemble member and zesty family chef, invites spectators to join her in swapping recipes and stories about making, eating and celebrating food as the spice and yeast of life. WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m. Oct. 6-7, kitchen of PBS 39, 839 Sesame St., SteelStacks campus, Bethlehem.

Mary Wright in Kitchen Chronicles.

The Secret.

University librarian, attended the 2017 Women’s March on Washington. He settled on H.D. (18861961) as a literary revolutionary and feminist beacon who wrote lyrically about her magical Bethlehem/Moravian childhood to help her heal from traumas, including the death of a soldier brother in World War I. Roysdon is collaborating with director Jennie Gilrain, a former Touchstone ensemble member who teaches theater at Lehigh. Aided by actors, musicians and scholars, they wove a tapestry threaded with pre-

BACKGROUND/FOREGROUND: Wright makes a dessert pizza from scratch as she tells guests about her first kitchen epiphany. She was eight when her maternal grandmother revealed that dough.is ready when it’s “as soft as a baby’s bottom.” The youngster giggled at her queenly grandma acting common, even though she didn’t actually know what a baby’s bottom feels like. Long before she made dough by herself, long before she became a baker-mother, she understood that Melva Farnum’s advice was much more than practical wisdom. It was a zen-like example of the organic relationship between bread and body. “Food strengthens our family ties, our shared history and memory,” says Wright, “It tells us: This is how family works.” Wright learned how other families work while testing her show in seven kitchens around the

Lehigh Valley. A Pennsylvania Dutch woman, part of a four-generation audience, said she hated raw oysters, declaring they tasted like “honkers,” or phlegm balls. Two sisters debated who made their mother’s recipes first and best, arguing over a chocolate cookie’s secret ingredient. Tales of baking for mothers spurred Wright to recall an unforgettable Mother’s Day gift. Wright and her sister Beth decided to thank their mom by making their first cake from scratch. Unaccustomed to cooking frosting, they kept adding powdered sugar in their quest to get the right texture. They recognized their disaster after frosting the cake halves. “There were two leaning towers in opposite directions with this huge gorge, this Andreas fault, between them. My poor mother--I think she cracked a tooth when she ate that cemented frosting. ‘Here mother, we love you so much we’re going to crack your tooth.’ It was a clown act—a very sincere clown act.”

Prometheus/Redux WHAT: Touchstone and community actors, including former steelworkers, christen a musical play revolving around Prometheus, a dying ex-steelworker nicknamed after the mythic (anti-) hero who stole fire from the gods for humans, struggling with industrial comrades, medical professionals and new tribes. WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m. Oct. 4, 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 5 (with panel discussion), 7 p.m. Oct. 6, Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, 321 E. 3rd St., Bethlehem; spectators encouraged to arrive 20 minutes early for pre-show activities. BACKGROUND/FOREGROUND: Redux, written by Gerard Stropnicky, is a sequel to Steelbound, a 1999 Touchstone co-production where a recently unemployed, angry Prometheus was shackled to a 24-ton ladle in Bethlehem Steel’s Iron Foundry, a 19th-century stone ruin. Ensemble members researched the new production by interviewing former steelworkers, relatives of steelworkers, social workers and healthcare specialists. Reprising Prometheus is Touchstone veteran Bill George, who paid for his last year of Lehigh University by working in Bethlehem Steel’s Combination Mill. Acting while chained to a massive piece of machinery in a massive space was an “out-of-body experience,” he says. “You run on pure instinct; you just let the river take you and hope you come out on the other side of the rapids.” Performing will be less taxing this time around, since Prometheus is tied to IV tubes in an auditorium version of a hospital. His first character was “a mural”; his second is “a framed picture in your living room.” George’s list of physical improvements for Bethlehem includes the building of cafes and performance spaces along the strangely undeveloped Lehigh River. Prometheus/Redux contains some of his emotional improvements: (1) Shut up and listen. (2) Wear someone else’s shoes, even if they hurt. (3) Find the song and sing it loud and proud. “Having fun,” says George, “certainly helps the medicine go down.” n

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CINEMATTERS PETE CROATTO

Zack Gottsagen and Shia LeBeouf.

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The Peanut Butter Falcon

HATE TO THINK how many people will deem The Peanut Butter Falcon “a winner” and “inspirational” because the filmmakers duped them into feeling that way, but what I really hate is that one of the few stories available to actors with disabilities is the feelgood story, more so one that made me feel terrible. Zack Gottsagen, who has Down’s Syndrome, delivers a sturdy, joyful lead performance. I hope to see him in films that don’t make me want to punch a wall. In The Peanut Butter Falcon, he plays a wrestling-obsessed, mentally challenged young man who flees the drab retirement home where he’s confined and ends up with troubled roughneck Tyler (Shia LeBeouf), a young man targeted by an angry fisherman played by a frightfully gaunt John Hawkes. Tyler doesn’t have the heart to leave Zack behind, so the two become refugees with a common goal. Both want to go south—Tyler to Florida for a new life; Zack to Ayden, NC, where he can attend a wrestling school run by his hero, the Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church). Directors Mike Schwartz and Tyler Nilson, working from their script, give their cast few chances to express their pain. Instead, everything gets handed to us. Zack and Tyler get close as they trek through marshes and cornfields, but the relationship comes with no aha! moments when the armor drops. When Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), Zack’s handler at the retirement home, finds the pair—and improbably joins them on a barge constructed with odds and ends from a trash-strewn back yard—more woe with a heartbeat get shoehorned into the story. Tyler accuses Eleanor of treating Zack like a “retard.” She launches into a this-is-who-I-am speech, a screenwriter bailout that demonstrates the movie’s non-stop effort to find a short-cut. A scene of Eleanor tackling her job’s grim responsibilities, the same one she details, would have been more effective to eliciting sympathy. (Think of how bad Broadcast News would have been if Holly Hunter had said she cried all the time.) Zack confesses that his family abandoned him, which reinforces my suspicion that the young man’s condition is his burden, a conceit I can’t begin to comprehend. At least Tyler’s relationship with his late brother (Jon Bernthal)—the reason behind is mopey nature—is presented through a series of silent flashbacks. We know the motivation behind the shifty demeanor, and it colors LeBeouf ’s fine performance. When it comes to these fine touches, that’s it. If characters are portraits, then Nilson and Schwartz are working with paint rollers. Every character is defined in broad strokes: kindly redneck, menacing redneck, spiritual black man—who offers a baptism in a scene that—you know what, don’t ask. Nuance is absent. We only know the three main characters through the travails strapped to them like provisions on a pack mule. Everyone leads with their issues, like guests on a talk show. Who cares if we don’t know why Tyler clashes with Hawkes’ character or if we can’t figure out what Eleanor’s job is at the nursing home. Time to speed up the narrative and have Eleanor admit she’s a widow. Bring on the drama! And a lack of compassion. The story emphasizes Zack’s intelligence, only to render him dumb to craft another memorable moment. That was when my mild distaste for The Peanut Butter Falcon flared into rage. The filmmakers want the audience to fall in love with elements, the same way we get tickled by aphorisms on throw pillows or videos of puppies playing with babies. The Peanut Butter Falcon has lots of heart, some brains, and oily motives. [PG-13] n

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FILM ROUNDUP

The Farewell.

KEITH UHLICH

The Farewell (Dir. Lulu Wang). Starring: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Shuzhen Zhou. Writer-director Lulu Wang based this gentle and moving family drama on her own real-life experience. Her onscreen surrogate is Billi (Awkwafina), a down-on-her-luck Manhattan artist who discovers her China-residing grandmother, Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhou), is dying of cancer. But Nai Nai is in the dark about her diagnosis, since Billi’s traditional family believes, as many Chinese clans do, that it is 26

better to keep such dire news from her, lest she be consumed by despair. As one of the family members notes, it’s better that those who love Nai Nai carry the emotional burden. Though there is plenty of room here for both characters and viewers to disagree with that assessment. The cast is uniformly splendid. And Wang mines much tension, comic and tragic, from the scenario, though rarely to the tempestuous or fulsome ends you might expect. The strain on Billi and her rel-

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atives proceeds with much more serene ebb and flow, as if even in their heated moments they all, at heart, accept the rightness of this particular “wrong.” [PG] HHHH Parasite (Dir. Bong Joon-ho). Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Jo Yeo-jeong. The latest project from Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (Okja) won top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and it’s easy to see why. On the surface, it’s a supremely confi-

dent piece of work, a class satire about a poor, back-alley dwelling Seoul brood, led by Bong regular Song Kang-ho, secretly leeching off a wealthy family that lives, literally, high on a hill. The first half details the often comical infiltration of the haves’ home by these resourceful have-nots, who pose as drivers, tutors and maids to ensure their rapid socioeconomic as-

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REEL NEWS DVDS REVIEWED BY GEORGE OXFORD MILLER

Wild Rose (Director: Tom Harper. Starring Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo). Lynn Harlan (Buckley) steps out of a Glasgow prison (for dealing heroin) with one desperate dream—she is determined to move to Nashville and become a country music star. But besides being an ex-con, she has a few obstacles to overcome, like her ankle tracker, being jobless, and being a single mom saddled with two children. Her mom (Walters) took over the parenting responsibilities, which is fine with Lynn, whose wildness and country singing obsession started early. She had both kids before age 18 and named them Wynonna and Lyle. Now in her 20s, she still has that long-deterred dream to chase. The story powerfully dramatizes two classic dilemmas that bookend Lynn: The balancing act between parenting and career, and between selfishness and self-realization. Unable to cope, Lynn’s mood swings and temper outbursts ricochet like a Sidewinder missile. Meanwhile, Walters wrestles with the nuances of the pressures she faces. She wants her daughter to be a responsible parent but realizes how important singing and her Nashville dream is and how easily Lynn could be crushed. Don’t expect A Star is Born success story, but a resolution that veers more towards gritty Glasgow working-class reality than a Hollywood fairy tale. [R] HHHHH The Wild Pear Tree (Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Starring Aydın Dogu Demirkol, Murat Cemcir, Hazar Ergüçlü.) When Sinan (Demirkol) graduates from college, infatuated with newly-acquired knowledge and

and position he arrogantly imagines he deserves. It’s a surprise only to him that he can’t raise money from the mayor, imams, or businessmen to publish his novel. Each exchange evolves into an intellectuallyrich dialogue about the social, political, cultural, and generational issues facing Turkey, and society in general. The discussions add dimension and empathy to our understanding of Sinan and his neighbors. Many of the highly allegorical interactions involve the idealistically judgmental Sinan and his father Idris (Cemcir), who has fought the realities of life and made his compromises. The pace of the story resembles paint drying, but the canvas is large and the director-writer layers on the colors with hues and themes until an absorbing, engrossing picture of human nature and the conundrums of everyday life emerge. Turkish with English subtitles. [NR] HHHH The Biggest Little Farm (Director John Chester. Starring John Chester, Molly Chester, Alan York). This documentary follows the classic hero’s journey of an unexpected disaster that launches a long and arduous path to redemption and self-fulfillment. Nature documentary filmmaker John and his wife Mary, a professional chef and foodie blogger, get into big trouble when they adopt a rescue dog who barks constantly. They’re evicted from their LA apartment, but instead of reinventing their humdrum routine, they decide to reinvent themselves and the traditional style of selfsufficient farming. A vision well-funded can produce a beautiful and inspiring creation. They buy a 200-acre, bone-dry, dead-earth farm an hour from LA with the goal of turning it into a living, organic Eden where farming depends on harmony with nature instead of monoculture crops and chemistry. They soon learn that harmony means that sometime coyotes, snails, gophers, and birds consider chickens, crops, and orchard fruit as bountiful buffets. With the help of Zen farm-master Alan York, the Chesters create a model of how farming can enrich the planet instead of (according to the latest UN report) creating thirty percent of the pollution responsible for the climate change calamity. John’s eight years of incredibly detailed and adsorbing photography and the couple’s inspiring dedication and persistence elevate us to a view of the future where, if we give nature a chance, the planet can heal itself, and save life as we know it. [PG]

HHHHH

The Wild Pear Tree.

worldly experience, he returns to his home village in Turkey to write a literary masterpiece about the dreary, pointless life of his family and friends. Yet, he’s unemployed with only the prospects of either joining the military or following his father’s example and becoming a local schoolteacher. Both are beneath the respect 28

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Director Joe Talbot. Starring Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover). It’s easy for the house of one’s young, impressionable years to loom large in the adult’s personal history, self-image, and even world view. For Jimmie (Fails), the Victorian his grandfather built in the Fillmore District encapsulates the happy family and security of the child within. It also represents his hopes for a stable and productive future. Jimmie stares pensive-

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ly at the dilapidated house and deep in his soul wants to return to it, possess it, to make it whole again. But

The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

can a person ever return to a previous house, or city, or life? Like the overgrown yard and decaying house, Jimmie and his best friend and artistic colleague Mont (Majors) face insurmountable obstacles both in their personal lives and in a city where runaway gentrification has displaced entire low-income neighborhoods. They both live with Mont’s grandfather (Glover) while they work day jobs and try to launch their artistic careers. The heart of the movie is inseparable from San Francisco, not just the gestalt of the cosmopolitan city but the microscopic view of street corner vignettes, jive-talking gang members, and the everyday profane and profound experiences that impact and define Jimmie’s life in unexpected ways. Jimmie faces the reality that how he reconciles the fate of the fading house— i.e. his past—will ultimately determine his destiny. Lyrically shot and metaphorically told, the story captures the beauty of the city and the soaring spirit of one of its reflective, yet ambitious, native sons. [R]

HHHH n

Leslie Odom Jr.

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JAZZ LIBRARY

BOB PERKINS

Freddy Cole WOE UNTO THEE WHO decides to enter the same field of endeavor in which a parent or sibling has already become a legend if he doesn’t come close to matching their talent. Often, if the progeny is very good, he will still be measured by too long a yardstick. This situation sometimes manifests itself when an older sibling establishes a major name in the entertainment or sports industry first. A classic example of this involves Nat King Cole and his younger brother, Freddy. Both played piano and sang, but Nat became a superstar. He appeared in the best nightclubs, foreign and domestic, sold millions of records, and remained a top name in show business for decades, while Freddy’s career lagged and didn’t catch fire until well after his older brother died. Through all of the disappointments of slow bookings and no bookings, Freddy never gave up or doubted his talent. He started piano lessons at the age of five. All five Cole siblings played music—Nat, Ike and Eddie played in many of the local bars and clubs in and around their native city of Chicago. The boys’ sister, Evelyn, played piano, although unlike her brothers, she never played professionally. Their mother also played piano and directed the

choir in her preacher-husband’s church. It was she who encouraged Freddy to take piano lessons, a musical education he broadened later by earning a bachelor’s from the Julliard School and, later, a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. Freddy may have been inspired by all of the music generated by his older siblings, and by the big names that dropped by the house, like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and others. Of course, the big draw for the visits was Nat, who was fast making a name for himself with his voice, piano playing, and trio. The breaks were finally ready for Freddy around 1990, after he’d labored some forty years for things to turn in his favor. He can thank in great part the Telarc and High Note labels for having the patience and confidence in his artistry to support him until the folks who now enjoy his way with a song got to hear him. When I interviewed Freddy, he said that over the years he’d become a citizen of the world, had called many places home, and knew Philly like the back of his hand, because he’d lived in many sections of the city. He said that Nat appeared in Philly many times early in his career. This has been corroborated by veteran local entertainers, who were around before Nat made it big

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and was a frequent Philly visitor. Such news is not surprising, given that Philadelphia has a storied history of producing great entertainers and attracting talent to perform here because of the great theaters and nightclubs that prevailed in the early- and mid-1900s. One of the CDs Freddy recorded during the more successful part of his career is Rio De Janeiro Blue, a combination of standards and Brazilian songs. I play it often on my show, and get requests to feature it more—it’s Freddy Cole at his best. Lionel Frederick Cole is just shy of his 88th year, and lives in Atlanta. In 2007, he was inducted into the Georgia Hall of Fame. And, yes, he is still performing. For the record, the Cole family surname is actually Coles. Early in his career, an emcee made the mistake of not placing the “s” on Nat’s last name when he introduced him. The inventive Nat made the most of the mistake by inserting “King” in the middle of his name, thus linking his new middle and last name with that of the fairy-tale character. n Bob Perkins is a writer and host of an all-jazz radio program that airs on WRTI-FM 90.1. Listen to Bob Mon–Thurs from 6–9p.m. & Sunday 9–1.

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JAZZ, ROCK, CLASSICAL, ALT MARK KERESMAN

Eliane Elias HHHHH Love Stories Concord Jazz How can someone so good be so [gasp] popular? All [lame] sarcasm aside, jazz pianist/vocalist Eliane Elias (born Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1960) has quite the career, playing with jazz combo Steps Ahead, bassist/husband Marc Johnson, the Brecker Brothers, and the late Joe Henderson (Double Rainbow). Love Stories somewhat continues the “tribute album trend” but thankfully doesn’t over-reach with the concept—namely, mostly songs by/associated with

biance that’s both restrained and irresistibly languid. Sometimes This Thing Called Life produces goods that make up for some of the nagging, gnawing nonsense assaulting us from nearly all quarters. (9 tracks, min.) concordjazz.com Mark Sherman HHHHH My Other Voice Miles High Records Call it the jazz sphere’s version of stereotyping, if you will—Count Basie was/is best known as a bandleader/pianist, but he also played organ; Jack DeJohnette is one of the finest modern drummers/bandleaders extant but he’s been known to play a nifty piano. Mark Sherman carved himself a niche as a vibist (player of vibraphone/vibes) but he began as a pianist and My Other Voice features a “return” to that instrument. He’s assembled a crack-shot quintet featuring the searing Cannonball Adderleyesque alto sax of Vincent Herring and the ruff-andtumble trombone of Nana Sakamoto for eight sterling slices of hard boppin’ grooviness. John Lewis’

Photo courtesy of Concord Records.

Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. (In the 1960s the pair collaborated on approximately one and one-half an album, currently available as the single-disc Sinatra/Jobim, The Complete Reprise Recordings. Get it, now.) Elias, with a small group and a lush strings section arranged by Rob Mathes, renders tunes from the throats of Sinatra and Jobim as well as a few Elias/Johnson originals. Elias has a gentle, melodious voice not unlike that gal from Ipanema, Astrud Gilberto (in the ’60s wife to Joao Gilberto, oft-known as the Father of Bossa Nova) but deeper and far more supple. The string arrangements are lush but enhance and enrich rather than smother the charm and romanticism of the songs (including three Elias/Johnson originals). “Angel Eyes” is SUCH a treat, as Elias coolly wrings the lyrics with offhanded/understated passion (“the drinks and the laughs on me”). Elias sings with a misty maturity and the wisdom of an heartbreaker and one whose heart has been broken…and she’s a pretty good (playfully sophisticated) key-cracker, too, as Ol’ Blue Eyes’ ode to travel “Come Fly With Me” will attest. This disc features excellent vocalizing, tastefully restrained arrangements for strings, and an overall sultry am32

“Milestones” is a healthy hard-swinging bit of bop in the Charlie Parker mode essayed with churning swing (no small thanks to drummer Carl Allan and bass ace Ray Drummond). The following Sherman original “Ale” ups the ante a bit with harder swing, a genially, playfully spiky piano solo, some gloriously greasy-as-fried-fish-night alto, and smart, crackling drumming. (Somewhere, Art Blakey is smiling with pride.) The ol’ Cole Porter chestnut “Ev’rytime We Say Goodbye” has Sherman waxing wonderfully wistful, essaying every note with great (delightful/slightly jaunty/heartrending) with sublime, deceptively blithe care. (Where some pianists overplay, Sherman “un-

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derplays,” drawing you in deeper.) Whereas this could’ve been a nice “pleasant” set, Sherman’s lot plays with some hot-bloodedness leavened by some cozy restraint—these guys go to town to be sure, but they save a bit in (tantalizing) reserve. Superficially, Voice is a “routine” mainstream hard-bop session but these cats slyly up the ante with inspired, slightly volatile soloing—this gets two and a half thumbs-up. (8 tracks, 52 min.) mileshighrecords.com Marc Ponthus HHHH Fantasie/Kreisleriana/Kinderszenen Bridge Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was not a happy fellow. He was beset with mental illness (and perhaps syphilis and schizophrenia…jeez) but he made his mark nonetheless as a composer (and to an extent a conductor). This piano music is, not surprisingly, filled with great melancholia. French pianist Marc Ponthus (who has lots of experience with real-gone modern cats such as Pierre Boulez) has at three of his pianistic works with profound fervor. Ponthus has a style that’s both driving and rhapsodic, subtly giving prominence these pieces’ drama while he also knows the effectiveness of less-can-be-more. “Kreisleriana Opus 16” is full of contrasts—crackling, almost nervous energy and deep, poetic anguish—there’s even a bit of gospel-like exposition in the “Ser Langsam” section. Few would accuse Schumann of being lighthearted, but the contrasts within “Kreisleriana” are both genial and bracing, light and dark balanced divinely if it didn’t feel occasionally playful. “Kinderszenen” has the briefly manic “Hasche-Mann (Blind Man’s Bluff)” followed by the achingly poignant “Traumerai (Dreaming).” The conclusion “Der Dichter Spricht” (“The Poet Speaks”) has a bit of grand drama before it gets wistful, then mournful, anticipating (or absorbing, depending on how one might view) the measured minimalism of Morton Feldman, Ponthus keeping vital distance between notes. No, not exactly an up-and-at-‘em listen, but for times of contemplation, this platter can be a captivating cohort. (23 tracks, 71 min.) bridgerecords.com Antonio Adolfo HHHH1/2 Samba Jazz Alley AAM Certain albums aim (via their performers and/or producers, natch) to pay informal tribute to a time and place (as opposed to a particular inspirational artist—you know, the omnipresent “Tribute To...” albums) and Samba Jazz Alley is one such project. Pianist/arranger Antonio Adolfo has constructed a dandy homage to a time (early/mid-1960s) when bossa nova, samba, modern American jazz of the

time, and combinations thereof were impacting the Brazilian cultural landscape in a big way. Adolfo picks tunes by Baden Powell, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and other Brazilian icons and near-icons to conjure that era. High points include “Casa Forte,” a tastefully torrid hunk of hard bop featuring the Freddie Hubbardish trumpet of Jesse Sadoc, which sounds quite a bit like Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers might after spending a few weeks off (with pay) in Brazil. In a somewhat similar manner is Joao Donato’s “The Frog”— it’s got a somewhat restless, Horace Silver-like brassy mid-tempo theme and a darn punchy solo from trombonist Raphael Rocha and Adolfo’s piano rings determinedly. The Messengers vibe is continued with Adolfo’s original “Obrigando,” in no small part to Sadoc’s rippling trumpet and the husky Wayne Shorter-esque swagger of Marcello Martin’s tenor sax. The horns sizzle, the rhythms bubble, and the leader’s

piano is lovely, lyrical, at times balm-like. Pick-to-click hit: “Hello Herbie,” a homage to Herbie Hancock with a killer minor-key theme, a crystalline guitar solo (Lula Galvao) that’s more Burrell than Montgomery, and a crackling trumpet solo. Edgy? Not especially. Nostalgic? A little, but this set doesn’t come off as a nostalgia project. If one enjoys the confluence of early ’60s Brazilian jazz with its American hard bop counterpart(s), this platter is your ticket to paradise, a veritable portable vacation. (9 tracks, 52 min.) antonioadolfomusic.com n ICON | SEPTEMBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

harper’s FINDINGS Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg biochemists climate-change–proofed the potato. Environmental pressure was expected to shrink mammals by an average of 25% in the next century, and a further reason aging populations will contribute to global warming, beyond living longer, is that the old use more air conditioning. Tens of thousands of tons of banned CFC emissions were traced to eastern China, and although scientists were unable to explain the atmosphere’s recent methane surge, U.S. fertilizer plants alone were revealed to be emitting three times the EPA estimate of methane for all U.S. industry. Lower air-pollution levels are expected to make heat waves 25% hotter and 41% longer by 2100. Air pollution from the agricultural fires of the Roman Empire cooled Europe, and strategic Native American forest burning was far more responsible for prehistoric alterations in vegetation cover in the eastern United States than were climate shifts. Warming is causing forests to grow faster, but also to store less carbon as trees die younger, and is causing growth spurts among mature Dahurian larches on northeastern China’s permafrost plains. A survey of striped maples in New Jersey found that more than half the trees changed sex in a four-year period and that a given tree was likelier to die if it had lived the previous year as a female.

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Climate change will require koalas to supplement their water from eucalyptus with drinking stations and was encouraging sockeye salmon to leave natal lakes a year early. Marine ecosystems were being devastated by artisanal fish fences, and European eels, in consuming their own skeletons while returning to the Sargasso Sea to breed, were poisoning their ovaries with heavy metals their bones absorbed when young. A conservative estimate indicated that each American annually consumes between 74,000 and 121,000 particles of microplastic, wild Argentine bees were found to be building nests entirely out of plastic, and the third human expedition to the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench found a plastic bag. The potential to store CO2 under the seafloor has been compromised in many places by leaks from earlier oil and gas drilling. The shrinking of the moon is causing moonquakes.

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A cryptic species of blotched rat snake was named for the vanished kingdom of Urartu. The grip strength of anole lizards on Dominica increased tenfold following Hurricane Maria. The highveld mole rat is immune to the pungency of mustard, radishes, and wasabi. Young tiger sharks who had their stomachs pumped were found to prefer terrestrial songbirds to seabirds. The alarm call vervet monkeys use to warn of martial eagles is nearly identical to the call green monkeys use to warn of drones. Human activity is destroying the cultural diversity of chimpanzees. Gabonese chimpanzees were observed cracking tortoises open against tree trunks and preparing them on the half shell, and Tanzanian chimpanzees intimidated a leopard into surrendering its blue duiker. Bonobo mothers act as lookouts while their sons have sex. Cold mothers cause premature aging in their offspring. Children find technology to be “creepy” when it mimics other entities, when it inexplicably knows about them or laughs, and when it manifests visually as an ominous black spirit; one child reported concern when he asked his digital voice assistant whether it would kill him in his sleep and was told, “I can’t answer that.” An A.I.—the training of which can produce more than 300 tons of CO2—can now detect when students’ written work is not their own, can combat deepfakes by means of an authentication chain, and can detect fake news with exceptional accuracy if it is first trained to create it. Scientists who revived the brains of decapitated pigs kept anesthetics and anti-epileptic drugs on hand for fear the brains might regain consciousness. Japanese cats know their own names, and Schrödinger’s Cat can be saved. 34

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INDEX Percentage of Indian M.P.s elected in 2019 who are facing criminal charges : 43 Percentage of those M.P.s who are being charged with murder or attempted murder : 18 Amount a Danish parliamentary candidate paid to run an election campaign ad on a pornography website in May : $500 Percentage fewer votes he received in that election compared with his previous run : 75 No. of proposals in the Ontario premier’s 2019 budget that focus on making alcohol cheaper : 3 Number of times that “beer,” “wine,” or “alcohol” is mentioned in the budget : 52 That “climate change” is : 17 Factor by which more migrants with criminal records are apprehended at the Canadian rather than the Mexican border : 3 Estimated percentage of Mexican immigrants to the United States who are undocumented : 45 Of U.S. immigrants to Mexico : 95 Rank of Texan among U.S. accents that Americans find sexiest : 1 Of “general American” : 32 Portion of white Americans who lived in an almost exclusively white neighborhood in 1980 : 1/3 Who do so today : 1/20 Percentage of Americans who say that ethnic and racial diversity is good for the country : 57 Who say they wish their own communities were more diverse : 24 Percentage of white U.S. men who say it’s a dangerous time for men in this country : 37 Who say it’s a dangerous time for women : 32 % chance that a U.S. woman who is denied an abortion will be in poverty six months later : 61 That a U.S. woman who receives an abortion will be : 45 Minimum percentage by which doctors are less likely to order cancer screenings if the appointment is in the afternoon : 10 Percentage change in median CEO compensation for S&P 500 companies last year : +6.6 In median shareholder returns : −5.8 % of U.K. financial sector employees who have a parent who has worked in finance : 41 Estimated annual cost to U.S. consumers and businesses for every job saved by the Trump Administration’s steel tariffs : $900,000 Min. amount the R.N.C. & Trump campaign have spent on legal fees since 2016 : $16,246,687 Minimum amount the Trump Administration has spent on golfing trips : $106,000,000 % of Americans who say they are dissatisfied with “the way things are going in the U.S.” : 63 Rank of Americans among nationalities most likely to say their country is the best in the world : 1 Factor by which more Americans died in school shootings than in combat last year : 3 Number of service members whose names were accidentally etched into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial more than once : 13 Number of Vietnam War survivors whose names were accidentally etched into it : 31 Percentage decline in annual visitors to major Civil War battlefields since 1970 : 42 Average percentage by which U.S. military spouses earn less than their professional counterparts married to civilians : 27 Percentage of U.K. residents who say they don’t leave home as often as they’d like to because of a lack of public toilets : 20 Who say they have deliberately dehydrated themselves for this same reason : 56 Number of the top-ten requested funeral songs in the United Kingdom that are traditional hymns : 0 Portion of U.K. adults who say they want the music at their funeral to make people laugh : 1/4 “Harper’s Index” is a registered trademark.

SOURCES: 1,2 Association for Democratic Reforms (New Delhi); 3 Office of Joachim B. Olsen (Copenhagen, Denmark); 4 Statistics Denmark (Copenhagen); 5−7 Ontario Ministry of Finance (Toronto)/Harper’s research; 8 U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 9 Pew Research Center (Washington); 10 U.S. Department of State/National Institute of Migration (Mexico City); 11,12 Big Seven Media (Dubai, United Arab Emirates); 13,14 New York Times; 15,16 Pew Research Center; 17,18 YouGov (NYC); 19,20 Diana Greene Foster, University of California, San Francisco; 21 Mitesh Patel, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia); 22,23 MyLogIQ (San Juan, Puerto Rico); 24 KPMG (London); 25 Peterson Institute for International Economics (Washington); 26 Center for Responsive Politics (Washington); 27 Huffington Post (Washington); 28 Gallup (Atlanta); 29 YouGov; 30 Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, Calif.)/U.S. Department of Defense; 31,32 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (Crystal City, Va.); 33 U.S. National Park Service; 34 U.S. Council of Economic Advisers; 35,36 Agne Kajackaite, WZB Berlin Social Science Center; 37,38 Royal Society for Public Health (London); 39,40 Co-op Funeralcare (Manchester, England).

20 | JOSE GARCES

cannabis derived from the hemp plant, is quickly being accepted in pain, insomnia, and anxiety management.) So, Garces, Chef John Mooney, cocktail curator Le of Hop Sing Laundromat, and consultants from Rockville, Maryland’s Georgetown Hemp, collaborated on a lush, cool vibe, four-course meal comprised of Ajo Blanco almond and garlic soup with himachi and CBD-infused hemp oil, a tender wild greens frittata with caviar and hemp leaves, and a hemp flower-smoked duck breast with pumpkin seed escabeche. Also included were kale chip tuna nachos, strawberry & lemon consommé, crunchy tiny chocolate donuts, a chipotle mousse, and salt-

Volver Lounge.

ed white chocolate gelato. All of these plates reflect Garces’ interest in cooking from his soul, his Ecuadorian-American heritage, as well as his sense of adventure and invention. Plus, his need to chill and keep everyone else chilled. Stella, part of New Hope’s reinvention, as well as its parent space—the Ghostlight Inn, formerly known as the Playhouse Inn (though you wouldn’t recognize that from the reformation), and its neighbor, the Bucks County Playhouse was another story. Stella’s space is the first new Garces spot under the deal with Louisiana-based Ballard Brands and local investor David Maser for a new brand, Ideation Hospitality. It has the look and feel of a tony, modernist, open-air, dark wood lodge with high industrial ceilings. New Hope once had a grooving after hours scene, which may now be coming back—a cool wide bar overlooks the river on the right, a wide dining area with a foyer-like lounge, is just perfect for late night drinks.

till, it is the Garces cuisine that will drive you to Stella. He calls it New American, “Which means I can pretty much do anything I want,” he said. Garces’ Stella borrows the feel of cozy area traditionalism, and zips it up with subtle flavor twists and occasionally bold designs for—and this is no superlative—the best all-around, new tasting Garces culinary experi-

ence I have had with him in some time. From his first course spreads of duck liver mousse and tactile Maryland peekytoe crab dip with tomato and olive escabeche, to his second courses of Quinoa Tabbouleh, and a killer innovative Spaghetti Pie—pasta with white cheddar and black truffle and wild mushroom sauce—to its third course of dense, rich Barnegat Light scallops with Husk cherries and apricot kernels, or a juicy pork chop with a flaxseed and parmesan crust and stewed field peas, were all hearty, all magnificent. If you still have room for Stella’s deconstructed soft cheesecake with rhubarb, cherried plums and pistachio biscotti, or the dark chocolate fondant with coffee mousseline and raspberry sorbet, I’d say you were a better man than I, save for the fact that I did manage to finish my meal with both desserts. With that, Iron Chef Jose and his partners have added Stella to the Garces Group/Ideation Hospitality list of tasty spaces that include Buena Ondo, Amada, Tinto and more. But make no mistake about one thing: as Garces stated to a dining guest who was curious about the state of his partnership, “I make all the decisions when it comes to what goes in and goes out to each of my restaurants. I am 110% tasting every mouthful of every item that comes from all of my kitchens. This is me. My life.” I caught up with Garces while he was living and cooking his very best life right before the Stella and Volver dinners.

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What drove you to New Hope, make you want to do something in Bucks County in the first place? I know you have a 40-acre farm nearby. Yes, I have a farm in Ottsville in Bucks County. We’ve been out there since 2010. I just love that area—beautiful rural scenery. The farm is gorgeous. I enjoy the lifestyle. I did this event for the Bucks County Opportunity Council with the farm and was introduced to Sherri and Kevin Daugherty (the people behind the multi-million-dollar restoration of the Bucks County Playhouse with the nonprofit Bridge Street Foundation), and they told me about their reformation project. Having my connection with my farm. Somehow, all of a sudden, being out there made sense to me. I like the charm of New Hope, being next to the Delaware River and Lambertville. That scene is something special. How did the conversation about Stella go with Ballard Brands? This relationship in New Hope and the move toward building Stella preceded our kind-of marriage. [laughs] This was already in the works. With that, Kevin and Sherri —while we were going through our merger, our difficult time—were behind us all the way. “Jose,” they said, “we know you’re going to be fine once you’re on the other side. When you get there, let’s do this.” So we did. They were totally supportive.

Does Balllard want you to do new spaces? In terms of new projects and decision making, it is and will be a collaboration going forward. And we will have projects. I can tell you that we are really high on the Buena Onda concept of fast casual taquerias that we opened first in the Callowhill area. We’re currently looking at several locations and different opportunities for that brand. That’s forthcoming. There are other things that are less concrete, but I will say that this first year of collaboration has been focused on getting to know each other, to understand the dynamics of both organizations and feel out how we could best work with each other. That’s a process on its own, and a really new one for you. Definitely. That’s not something that I’m used to or have been in before. It’s interesting and challenging, but good. Positive. It’s all about continuing to build on the foundation that I set into place. And I look forward to doing many cool, fun projects with the folks from Ballard. What went into crafting a physical design aesthetic for Stella? The design firm was Ralph C. Fey Interiors and Architects. It was a collaboration among all of us and our teams, and actually went through several iterations of design and concept. We were first inspired by our own Old Bar in Old City. Then we talked about being guided by an idea of Spanish tapas and small plates. It eventually morphed into what it is now New American, small plates with my style in the mix. That fluctuation made design hard to pinpoint for a minute, but we certainly knew that we needed to make it happen. And it did. What is New American? That opens the doors to be eclectic, as you can bring in inspiration from Italy, France, Asia. America is a melting pot. We love that open canvas. What was nice about creating the menu was that my team and I spent six months revamping all the menus at all the other restaurants. The place and culture that Stella is in and part of certainly had to play a huge part. Oh, yeah. The river, the greens, the rolling hills that are there—that became both backdrop and inspiration. There’s wood, marble, metal and tile. It’s a nice palette. Once we settled on the American concept, we could layer on objects that made sense. Do you feel that you and Stella are at one with New Hope? I do. I really do, one hundred percent. I feel at home. I can provide everything from a culinary and hospitality standpoint. And, based on the time I’ve spent out there, and the contributions to making my farm my own, I’m there. I’m really invested into turning my small plot of land into something that produces food for the area. I embraced Bucks County, and Stella is just a natural extension of who I am and my appreciation for the area. n

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10 | NIGHTLIFE

27 – BRITTANY HOWARD FROM ALABAMA SHAKES

She’s a big woman with a big voice. Of course, she would outgrow the shambling rock and soul sound of Alabama Shakes. The Fillmore Philadelphia, thefillmorephilly.com

OCTOBER 2 – HUGH JACKMAN

Back for a second sold-out show in Philadelphia, the X-Man-turned-Music-Man does high kick turns and belts out Broadway classics loud and clear. Wells Fargo Philadelphia, wellsfargophilly.com 3 – MELANIE

The high-pitched ’70s folkie lost her skate key, yet managed to find her candles in the rain. SteelStacks, steelstacks.org 4 – CHANCE THE RAPPER

Hip hop’s most amenable MC and its longest-ever mixtape maker just dropped his debut artist album, The Big Day, to the tunes of one billion streams! Bet the Chicago native wishes he did that sooner. Wells Fargo Philadelphia, wellsfargophilly.com n

7 | OPINION FROM THE LEFT

mously spent 11 days as White House communications director and recently became the latest Trump supporter to hit the “eject” button. Predictably, Trump called him a “nut job,” claimed to barely know him, and dusted off the ultimate insult, calling him “bad on TV.” The astonishing thing is that the president of the United States is, let’s face it, raving like a lunatic—and everyone just shrugs. The nation is still reeling from two mass shootings. The financial markets are yo-yoing by hundreds of points. A bomb in Afghanistan, where we’re still at war, killed 63 revelers at a wedding. Tension between the United States and Iran continues to mount. North Korea keeps testing new missiles. India is playing with fire in Kashmir. Hong Kong has been convulsed for months by massive protests seeking to guarantee basic freedoms. And Trump obsesses about buying Greenland. The truth is that we don’t have an actual presidency right now. We have a tiresome reality show whose ratings have begun to slide—and whose fading star sees cancellation on the way. n Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group 36

26 | FILM ROUNDUP

cent. Then the film segues into horror territory when the contents of a hidden room in the mansion come to light. It’s at this point that the shallowness of Bong’s tiered-existence metaphor (which worked brilliantly, in slightly different form, in his post-apocalyptic speeding train allegory Snowpiercer) becomes apparent. Parasite strains to direct unsparing rage and poignant regret at the world’s inequities. But it falls way short. Like its central setting, it’s a captivating structure with a hollowed-out core. [N/R] HHH Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Dir. André Øvredal). Starring: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur. Guillermo del Toro came up with the story for this adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s popular horror children’s books, each of which contained eek!-eliciting moral tales that ran for a mere page or two. Del Toro and director André Øvredal’s conceit is to group several of the stories—like the one about the severed toe that ends up in a stew— under one socio-politically-charged umbrella narrative. It’s 1968 in small-town America, just a few days before the election of Richard Nixon. Teenager Stella Nichols (Zoe Margaret Colletti) and her friends spend the last Halloween of high school doing supernatural battle with Sarah Bellows, a vengeful spirit who writes scary stories (in blood!) that have a terrible tendency to come true. It’s not a stretch to say that our protagonists, among them a runaway Hispanic teen (Michael Garza) who bears plenty of racist stares and taunts, are also battling the sick, marginalizing soul of America itself, and not just in their own time. Sadly, the themes and the analogies consistently trump the scares. This is basically Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone, but, you know, for kids. [PG-13] HH Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Dir. Richard Linklater). Starring: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Emma Nelson. Richard Linklater’s long-delayed dramedy is a failure, but not an uninteresting one. Based on a novel by Maria Semple, Where’d You Go, Bernadette is a story of a woman, Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett), on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Once a very promising architect, she’s become a mentally unstable recluse, wiling away the days in a decrepit Seattle mansion with her wealthy computer-tech husband (Billy Crudup) and their precocious teenage daughter (Emma Nelson). The broad comic stylings of the film’s first half seem to reflect Bernadette’s own fragile state of mind. At different points she might be in a taut thriller or a manic musical (a certain Cyndi Lauper perennial is very well-employed). The second half reveals the film as a bogus piece of uplift, one that says psychiatric problems are easily fixed if you just abscond to another continent. And yet, Linklater’s empathetic portrayal of each and every character, even the ostensible villains, cuts against the mawkishness in consistently intriguing ways. [R] HH1/2 n

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7 | OPINION FROM THE RIGHT

programs to encourage food security and nutrition across Africa, aid to countries taking the brunt of the refugee crisis, and democracy support in Venezuela, Ukraine and Tibet. • The president continues to vilify refugees as national security threats without the slightest bit of evidence. This year, the Trump administration capped the number of refugees that can resettle in the U.S. at 30,000—the lowest ceiling since the refugee program was created in 1980. And now the administration is considering cutting that number to nearly zero next year. • At the southern border, the Trump administration has tightened the rules on asylum, making it harder for applicants to seek protection when family members face threats and barring migrants seeking asylum if they have passed through a third country on their trek. The administration’s policy of family separation, its abusive treatment of migrants, its policy confusion, and its general incompetence have contributed to a humanitarian crisis on both sides of the border. There is an obvious response to Hardesty and other offended evangelicals. Massive budget cuts to hunger-relief programs in Africa, refusing to take in desperate Syrian refugees and separating crying children from their parents at the border are tolerable, but using the Lord’s name in vain is a bridge too far? Pathological lying, spreading conspiracy theories, misogyny, making racist comments and dehumanizing others are permissible, but swearing somehow crosses the line? How we order our outrage says much about us. Do we feel the violation of a religious rule more intensely than the violation of human dignity? Do we prioritize our religiosity above our anthropology—above our theory of human beings and their rights? This kind of Pharisaical preference for rules over humans reveals a large gap of spiritual education. In a poll last year by the Pew Research Center, only 25% of white evangelicals said the United States has a responsibility to accept refugees, while 65% of the religious unaffiliated affirmed that duty. What could possibility explain this 40% gap in inclusion and compassion? For a certain kind of secularist, this reveals cruelty, corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Christian faith. But traditionally, many of the institutions that do refugee resettlement have been Christian. The problem does not lie in Christianity but in the moral formation of Christians. Are they getting their view of refugees from Christian sources? Or are they taking their view from Fox News, talk radio and Donald Trump? I suspect the latter. And the worship of political idols is ultimately a spiritual problem—a different kind of blasphemy. These challenges run deeper than politics. Many white evangelicals hold a faith that appeals to the comfortable rather than siding with the afflicted. They have allied themselves with bigots and nativists, risking the reputation of the gospel itself. And, in some very public ways, they are difficult to recognize as Christians at all. n Michael Gerson’s email address is michaelgerson@washpost.com. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

IT’S A PLUS By Pam Amick Klawitter

ACROSS 1 Roadie’s burden 4 It isn’t meant to be taken seriously 9 Fateful day for Caesar 13 Control 17 Like Richard of Almanack fame 19 Schools of thought 21 “Carmen on Ice” Emmy sharer Brian 22 Wall Street threat 24 With 98-Down, Broadway’s first Evita 25 Sharply focused 26 Amber and silver 27 Emmy winner for 1997’s “George Wallace” 28 Brutus’ 551 29 What gym members try to get in 31 Medical screening tool 33 Occupy, as a bar 35 Overseas seas 37 Source of sticker shock? 39 Some window units 41 Sandal feature 43 Google __ 45 Program blocker 47 “Way to go!” 50 Rock memoir 51 “Oh, and another thing,” on a ltr. 54 Market section 55 Idaho exports 57 Its “C” once stood for “cash” 58 Crop up 60 Match play? 62 Spoke from memory 64 Corn Belt sight 65 With 67-Across, what appears in each set of circles 67 See 65-Across 70 Spanish painter who influenced Pollock 71 Ballet need 73 Freeze over 75 Red Sea nation 76 South end? 77 Dangerfield’s “There goes the neighborhood,” e.g. 80 Refuse 83 RNs’ workplaces 84 Soda purchase 86 Puts an early stop to 89 Rusty with a bat 38

90 Retro photos 91 Mercedes subcompact 94 “No prob” 95 Word in a White House title 96 Leatherwork tools 99 Exams for future 88-Downs 101 Winter driving aids 103 They’re driven 105 Collar wearer, often 106 Celebrate an anniversary, say 108 F equivalent 112 Take-home 114 Drum major’s move 115 Buttery Boston bread 118 Sci-fi figure 119 “Agnes Grey” novelist 120 Galleria filler 121 Match 122 De-grayed? 123 Hard rain? 124 Astonished cries

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 21 23 27 30 31 32 34 36 37 38 40 42

Ladybug snacks Like a romantic evening Sticky-edged squares Gunk and grime Gator follower? Wrap again, as an ankle Fossil fuel freighter Paul’s “The Prize” co-star “__ that”: “On me” League parts: Abbr. Shoe box spec Armenia, once: Abbr. Do, as business Preemptive action, proverbially Team with a skyline in its logo Buffalo’s county GPS suggestion Anthem contraction TV kid in Miss Crump’s class Good way to take things RR map dot Theater opening? Maier with a swimwear label Maker of CarbSmart ice cream bars Part of NCAA: Abbr. Part of the NCAA: Abbr. Whip __ d’oeuvres More genuine Org. for shrinks

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98 See 24-Across 44 Prefix with scope 100 Individual manners 45 Tom Cullen’s title on “Downton 102 “__ Lang Syne” Abbey”: Abbr. 104 When it all started 46 Excuses 106 LAX postings 48 Wrath, in a hymn 107 Off the mark 49 Ceremonial pile 108 Shore bird 51 Muted colors 109 LAX posting 52 Job that takes precedence 110 Right-to-left lang. 53 Popular charity event 111 LAX postings 56 Parisian possessive 113 __-la-la 59 “Mamma Mia!” song 115 Increase fraudulently 61 Decides not to go 116 “__ luck?” 63 “__ Mine”: 117 Sporty ride, for short George Harrison book 65 Red letters? 66 Checks 68 Sign of neglect Answer to August’s puzzle, POETRY SLAM 69 Deep-water beauty 72 Kitchen additive 74 Novelty “pet” 75 “Just wait ... ” 78 Levels 79 iPhone downloads 81 Bakers get a rise out of it 82 “Manifest” airer 85 Over the moon 87 CIA relative 88 See 99-Across 92 Largest city on the island of Hokkaido 93 Cat burglar’s asset 95 Tailor’s concern 97 Pop artist from Pittsburgh

AGENDA FESTIVALS 9/21 & 9/22 Riverside Festival of the Arts, in Scott & Riverside Parks, Easton. Artists, fine crafters, & performers, music, food vendors, educational & performance tents. Eastonriversidefest.org 9/28-9/29 New Hope Arts & Crafts Festival, 170+ Exhibitors, food, music and free shuttle. Sat. 10am-6pm, Sun. 10-4. New Hope-Solebury HS, New Hope. Newhopeartsandcrafts.com ART EXHIBITS

6-8. 510 W. Linden St., Allentown, . 610-433-0032. Baumschool.org 9/21-10/27 Annual Juried Art Show at Phillips’ Mill. Phillips’ Mill, 2619 River Rd. (Rte. 32), New Hope. 215-862-0582. Phillipsmill.org 9/28-10/27 Jean Childs Buzgo: Explorations. Silverman Gallery, Bucks County Impressionist Art. In Buckingham Green, Rte. 202, 4920 York Rd., Holicong. 215794-4300. Silvermangallery.com

THRU 9/8 The Color of the Moon, Lunar Painting in American Art. The James A. Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown. 215-340-9800. Michenerartmuseum.org

10/4-10/20 Art at Kings Oaks. Prints, paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, collage. Reception 10/4, 6-9 & 10/20, 2-5. Art at Kings Oaks, 756 Worthington Mill Rd., Newtown. 215-603-6573. Kingsoaksart.wordpress.com

THRU 9/22 Fresh Perspective: Modernism in Photography, 1920-1950. Allentown Art Museum, 3 N. 5th St., Allentown. 610432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org

10/8-4/12/2020 Angela Fraleigh: Sound the Deep Waters. Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 302-571-9590 delart.org

THRU 10/5 Summer Show, Bethlehem House Gallery. Closing reception 10/5, 6-9. 459 Main St., Bethlehem. 610-4196262. Bethlehemhousegallery.com THRU 10/20 Laura Beth Reese: Thank you for the Flowers. Martin Art Gallery, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. 9/3-10/12 Common Ground, Kim Thomas Malm, Michael Kondel. Lafayette College Art Galleries, Easton. 610-3305361. Galleries.lafayette.edu 9/6-9/15 Tom Chesar & Richard Lennox Legacy Exhibition. New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave. New Hope. Opening Reception 9/7, 5-8. 215-862-9606. Newhopearts.org 9/7-22 Artists of Yardley 15th Annual Members Show. Reception: 9/6, 6-8. Hrs: Fri, Sat, Sun 12-5. AOY Art Center, 949 Mirror lake Rd, Yardley. artistsofyardley.org 9/13 Comedy Cabaret. Chris Coccia, Marc Kaye, Joan Weisblat. 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Rd., Ewing, NJ. 609-392-6409. 1867sanctuary.org 9/19-10/18 Kacper Abolik: Year of the Dog, The Baum School of Art. Reception 9/19,

LECTURES / TALKS

10/5 Homecoming. Highlighting the African-American community. Bob Cohen Room, Bethlehem Public Library, 11 W. Church St., Bethlehem. Festivalunbound.com 10/5-10/10 Hidden Seed: Bethlehem’s Forgotten Utopia. Single Sisters House, 50 W. Church St., and PBS 39, 839 Sesame St., Bethlehem. 610-867-1689. Festivalunbound.com THEATER

9/5-22 Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2019, featuring 1000+ performances, visual & digital works, contextual events and late night parties. FringeArts.com or call 215-413-1318 for tickets/ info. 9/14 MOMIX: Viva Momix. Zoellner Arts Center, Baker Hall, Lehigh University, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. 610758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 9/25-10/6 The Glass Menagerie. Act 1 Performing Arts Center, DeSales U., Labuda Center, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley. 610-282-3192. Desales.edu/act1 9/25 The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Williams Center for the Arts. 317 Hamilton St., Lafayette College, East-

on. 610-330-5009. Williams-center.org 9/26-29 The Importance of Being Earnest. Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. 484-664-3333. Muhlenberg.edu/theatre

FESTIVAL UNBOUND THEATER 610-867-1689 Festivalunbound.com

10/4-6 Prometheus/Redux. Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, 321 E. Third St.

bass-baritone. Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 W. Hamilton St., Allentown. 610-434-7811. pasinfonia.org 9/29 Fiona Joy Hawkins and Rebecca Daniel. 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Rd., Ewing, NJ. 609-392-6409. 1867sanctuary.org 10/5 Pink Martini. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. 610758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org

10/5, 6 Starry-Eyed, Payrow Plaza, 10 E. Church St.

10/11 The Four Italian Tenors. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. 610252-3132. Statetheatre.org

10/5-8 The Secret. Mock Turtle Marionette Theater. Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Third St.

10/17 Judy Collins. Merriam Theater, 250 South Broad St., Philadelphia. Kimmelcenter.org

10/6, 7 Kitchen Chronicles, Mary Wright. PBS 39, 839 Sesame St.

10/26 The Queen’s Six. Cathedral Arts. Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem. . 610-8650727. Nativitycathedral.org

10/9-12 The Hunt for Utopia, Agile Rascal Bicycle Touring Theatre. Begins at Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St. 10/9, 10 Forward March: The Future of Our Warriors, Women Veterans Empowered & Thriving. Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Third St. MUSIC

9/13 Jazzmeia Horn. Williams Center for the Arts. 317 Hamilton St., Lafayette College, Easton. 610-330-5009. Williams-center.org 9/19 Reigakusha, Williams Center for the Arts, 317 Hamilton St., Lafayette College, Easton. 610-330-5009. Williamscenter.org 9/21 Jazz. Danny Tobias & Friends, featuring Larry McKenna. 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Rd., Ewing, NJ. 609-392-6409. 1867sanctuary.org 9/28 Stefon Harris + Blackout. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 9/28 Mozart & Bach, soloists Rebecca Brown, violin and Anthony Sharp,

10/26 Coronation of King George II. Theatre of Early Music, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem 2019 GALA, 3pm, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 37 S. 5th St., Allentown. 610-866-4382, ext. 115/110. Bach.org

FESTIVAL UNBOUND MUSIC Various locations in Lehigh Valley. Festivalunbound.org 10/4-12 Cabaret. Evening performances by the area’s most unique musical and performing artists. Food, drinks, ambience, conversation. Visit Festivalunbound.org for schedule. Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem. 10/6 A Joyful Noise. Choirs and bands gather together to sing and make music. 4-6. Zoellner Arts Center, Baker Hall, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. 610-867-1689 POETS, TROUBADOURS & TROUBLEMAKERS Live original music, in collaboration with Godfrey Daniels, and headed by Anne Hills, folk musician. Festivalunbound.org. 610-867-1689 10/9, 7-8:30 Sigal Museum, 342 Northampton St., Easton.

10/10, 7-8:30 Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown

10/11, 8-9:30 Godfrey Daniels, 7 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem, PA MUSIKFEST CAFÉ 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem 610-332-1300 Artsquest.org SEPTEMBER 6 Ozomatli 8 Marianas Trench 12 Reckless Kelly OCTOBER 3 Melanie 6 An Intimate Evening of Songs & Stories with Graham Nash 8 An Evening with Dawes 10 John Waite 13 Comedian Michael Ian Black DINNER THEATER

Murder Mystery Dinner Theater: Crime of Thrones, Fridays & Saturdays. Peddler’s Village, Lahaska. 215-7944000. Peddlersvillage.com Every Thurs.-Sat., Dinner and a Show at SteelStacks, Bethlehem. 5-10. Table service / valet parking. steelstacks.org EVENTS

9/8 Autumn Wedding Show. Peddler’s Village, Lahaska. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 9/9-10/27 Scarecrows in the Village. Peddler’s Village, Lahaska. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 9/14 The Craftery Market Bucks County, 11-4. Mercer Museum, Doylestown. Mercermuseum.org 9/14 -9/15 Scarecrow Festival, , Peddler’s Village, routes 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 9/27-9/29 Celtic Classic Highland Games & Festival, Bethlehem, PA. Six stages of entertainment, featuring international, national, and regional artists. Pipe band competitions, US Highland Athletic Championships, and much more. Visit Celticfest.org. 10/5 Watchcraft by Eduardo Milieris Artist 11-5. Heart of the Home, 28 South Main St., New Hope, PA. 215-8621880. Heartofthehome.com n

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