Under the baobab: Centre County is coming back to life with theater, ceremonies and more

“Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams, Now wash the gum from your eyes,

You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.”

-”Song of Myself,” Walt Whitman

Like many this past week, we ventured out into the sunny waking world. We went to Reservoir Park in Harrisburg to see the Gamut Theatre Group’s “Hamlet,” directed by Clark Nicholson. It was a bright and entertaining production featuring Ross Carmichael and Erin Shellenberger. It was a good night of theater — and it was free.

Centre County is not without its own theatrical extravagances. Produced by Elaine Meder-Wilgus and Cynthia Mazzant, the fourth annual Central PA Theatre and Dance Festival was held over the weekend. The pandemic meant the performances were virtual, but it was still a full and exciting lineup. Tempest Productions presented “Accidents of Being” and “Deranged Durang.” Other presentations included: “Heroes on Hand “by Adam Swartz Puppets; “The LASTree Toy Theatre” by Laurencio Ruiz, “Listen to the Rain” by TrioArts Project; “Seven Years of FUSE “ by Fuse Productions; “Worlds Collide,” Dmitry Myers with special guest Kai Phoenix. Dance programs included: “Nile Raqs,” by Black Cat Belly Dance; “Out of Isolation” by Allied Motion Dance Company; “Place of Stones and Dancing Waters” by VanDance Inc. Happy Valley Improv presented “An Improvised Evening on Zoom.” Loaves and Fish Theatre Company revived “God’s Trombones,” which we first presented in 1995. It was one of the first plays written by an African American to be presented in Happy Valley. It showcased several church sermons collected by James Weldon Johnson, the author of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Three of the original cast members, Carla Hargrove, Cynthia Henderson and C. Dumas were featured in this production.

There’s theater and film outside of Happy Valley. Steve Broadnax, head of the MFA actors program at Penn State’s School of Theatre, will be directing the Broadway premiere of “Thoughts of A Colored Man.” He directed the world premiere at Syracuse Stage before the pandemic closed everything down. It is Steve’s Broadway debut.

The positively delightful new film, Lin Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ “In The Heights,” lit up the screen this past weekend. It was brilliant and upbeat. Quiara got her start as a writer at Philadelphia’s Young Playwrights program. I was blessed to be able to direct a few shows for them.

Tyler Perry’s most recent project for BET is “All The Queen’s Men,” which is about ... oops I can’t tell you. I’m in it and have signed an NDA. It will be dropping early this summer. The other TPS project I was in, “A Jazzman’s Blues,” will premiere in 2022. As an “insider” I can tell you that even though he said he wouldn’t, Mr. Perry is going to make another Madea movie, No. 11 in the franchise.

Juneteenth, June 19, commemorates the day in 1865 when many enslaved African Americans learned that they had been emancipated; State College will have two celebrations. Juneteenth Jubilee will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Sidney Friedman Park and will be a benefit for Mama King, (the Rev. Donna King who passed recently) and the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church. Then on Saturday from 1-2:30 p.m., the NAACP will hold a Juneteenth Commemoration at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on Fraser Street. All are invited.

In sports, the Spikes are back playing baseball at Medlar Field. It’s a fun night out. A couple of local State College guys are on the team, Kevin Karstetter and Mason Mellott. There will be live fireworks on the Fourth of July and $2 beers on other nights.

The sweetest moment though came when we ran into friends at the market and the Pride parade couldn’t stop hugging. It’s been a long time, too long.