the list
VALLEY
CITY — GEOFF GEHMAN
— A.D. AMOROSI
The South Bethlehem Greenway is an evergreen, split-screen experience. The naturalist in me likes the oasis of trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers planted along a paved path snaking over a demolished passenger railroad line. The journalist/voyeur likes eavesdropping on backyard gardens and side-yard cookouts, a skateboard plaza and a craftbeer tap room crafted from a former funeral parlor. The urban planner likes a linear park shadowed by a steel plant transformed into an entertainment center and a steel workers’ bank transformed into a restaurant/distillery. The sociologist likes the Asian casino visitors practicing tai chi near a Chinese pavilion, a homeless shelter and a luncheonette benefitting people with mental-health issues. The historian likes the bisecting streets named for James Polk, Zachary Taylor and other easily forgotten 19th-century U.S. presidents. The architectural recycler likes the brick warehouse converted into an apartment complex with a grassy courtyard under a missing roof with beams. The lifelong train buff—I’ve always lived near railroads--likes the footprint of freedom, that liberating feeling of passing through worlds in two-odd miles. (Runs between 4th Street and 3rd Street/Route 412 from South New Street to the Wind Creek Casino; parking in ArtsQuest lots; bethlehem-pa.gov) Trains run under the Emmaus Theatre, serenading spectators with a rumbling, comforting lullaby. The special effect makes this old-fashioned, no-frills house much more special than all those cookie-cutter, soul-less multiplexes. Another distinctive attraction is a robust lineup of comedians, hip-hoppers, burlesque queens and envelope-ripping films. Last month I enjoyed “Hedvig and the Angry Inch,” a rollicking rock musical about a German transsexual touring American family restaurants while tracking the glam-rock protégé who stole his songs and his thunder. On March 11 I plan to watch “Crock of Gold,” Julien Temple’s documentary about Shane MacGowan, the notorious leader of the Pogues, the notorious Irish punksters. I’ll savor the cylindrical, bundled wall lamps with Tequila sunrise colors and the marquee that blinks “EMMAUS,” a hot shot of cool Americana. (19 S. 4th St.; 610965-2878; emmaustheatre.com) Lehigh University’s permanent art gallery samples a vaunted collection of 18,000-plus objects and serves as a valuable lab for student curators. A jewel box with pristine white walls and a high-gloss, almost glassy wood floor, it contains everything from Rembrandt prints to a sculpture of a Salvador Dali painting of two people cradling a melting watch, a manger masquerading as a confessional. Three glass “tanks” showcase artifacts from ancient cultures; especially notable is an antelope/anteater headdress, a piece of West African spiritual performance art. A gathering of contemporary African American and Indian works were acquired and interpreted by 14 students with a $25,000 budget. The gallery was the brainchild baby of the late Ricardo Viera, who over
March is a very tricky month. The weather is weird, and nobody knows what the hell the Ides of March is (or are) any longer. Everyone forgets what sports are being played because no one local is winning any of them. And the Philadelphia Home Show goes on forever, occupying too much brain space selling trellises. Here’s the good stuff. RENT: THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY FAREWELL TOUR, 3/4–6 Merriam Theater on the Kimmel Cultural Campus Do you know that when it first came out, I hated Rent? Didn’t get the feel for its ornately complex rush of rock, pop and art-show tunes or its overly emotive lyrics and bloviating singing. It just wasn’t me 25 years ago. Seasons change, however (dur), and my appreciation for the late, great Jonathan Larson has since escalated to the point where debut director Lin Manuel-Miranda’s musical biographical take on the process of becoming Larson with Tick, Tick….Boom! is my favorite film of 2021. With no Oscar noms for TTB!, save for a deserved one for Andrew Garfield as the musical author (hey, I didn’t really dig Garfield until this shaggy dog role, wow, I’m all about Larson now), you can celebrate Larson’s finest with a run at what might be Rent’s last live showing for a time. Savor that. PHILADELPHIA AUTO SHOW, 3/5-3/13 PA Convention Center Don’t you read or watch the news? There are no cars to be had from dealers or the lots. Nobody stuck in Covid is making or shipping them, and haven’t for 2+ years. That’s why automobile theft and car stripping are at their highest peak ever. The automotive industry’s latest creations spread across Arch Street’s half-a-million-square-foot display is going to look mighty lonely. Or the hundreds of classic, luxury, and exotic cars will just get pilfered. Fun. KEITH HARING, A RADIANT LEGACY, 3/12–7/31 James A. Michener Art Museum This is where I get to sound like the bad guy. Keith Haring was a genius, the man who brought inner city graffiti-inspired Pop artist to the masses—yes, he was a Caucasian appropriating a legendarily longtime African American art form, and watered down its edges—and made it all so greeting card and mug design worthy. Yes, the Michener Art Museum will display a private collection of more than 100 works, including rare drawings that Reading, PA-native Haring drew in New York City subways. His famed Medusa Head, his largest ever print, will also be displayed. But, like The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, howamigettingouttofucking Doylestown? JAZMINE SULLIVAN’S HEAUX TALES TOUR, 3/18 The Met Philadelphia
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