The Valley is rich in many well-known blessings including, by a Lehigh Valley Stage count, 40 local and regional theatre producing companies, large and small, who this year are offering more than 140 plays and musicals.
Lehigh Valley Stage has gathered these shows into a single listing, month by month, to help theatre-lovers choose what they want to see this year. To help you make arrangements, each show is linked to a calendar giving the days, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and other information you need to order tickets.
We have included theatres in an area roughly bounded by Reading, Phonexville, Belvedere, N.J., Bangor and Jim Thorpe. If we have missed any, it is unintentional and we would appreciate hearing from you.
FEBRUARY 2020
Dust off your bell bottoms and anti-war signs, and hustle over to a confection called “Forever Young” opening at Bucks County Playhouse on Feb. 4. It looks at greatest hits from the ‘60s to the present in a The 2016 Tony-winning one-act revue that’ll have you a-rockin’-an-a-reelin’.
The Stephen Karam play, “The Humans,” at Civic Theatre Feb. 7-23, has a distant local connection as it examines old and new issues that confront a Scranton family. One of their daughters has moved with her boyfriend to a seedy New York apartment and the other has just lost a lesbian relationship. Add a mom with Alzheimer’s and perhaps you end up with the typical American family situation. This one-act is directed by Civic’s associate artistic director and production manager Will Morris.
From Feb. 11 to 15, Bucks County Playhouse will feature a one-man “Star Wars Trilogy,” Charles Ross condenses all of the famous characters with songs, impressions and nostalgia. The Playhouse will follow that up Feb. 15 and 16 with another one-man show, “Stranger Things,” a parody of the popular Netflix series. It’s probably best if you’re familiar with the originals to fully enjoy these take-offs.
An interesting play about the storied former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi will run at Northampton Community College Feb. 13-16. Based on his inspirational biography “When Pride Still Mattered,” it’s is appropriate for middle school students and up.
Pennsylvania Youth Theatre will present the musical “Peter and the Starcatcher” Feb. 13-16 at the Charles A. Brown Ice House in Bethlehem. The students will weave a tale of an orphan, ships, treasure and pirates in a re-fashioning of “Peter Pan” that’s suitable for the entire family.
Munopco Music Theatre of Allentown closes it’s 2019-2020 season with the quintessential musical “Gypsy” at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 1533 Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA, February 29 to March 8.
Regarded by many theater professionals as the greatest musical ever created, “Gypsy” is the ultimate tale of an ambitious stage mother fighting for her daughters’ success… while secretly yearning for her own.
February is a good month to experience some of America’s classic dramatic treasures:
-- Shawnee Playhouse at Shawnee-on-Delaware will revive the 1949 Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” Feb. 14-23. This is your chance to experience the self-deluded Willy Loman as he confronts his own failures.
-- Muhlenberg College Theatre will present Lorraine Hansberry’s story about a Chicago black family’s experiences in “A Raisin in the Sun” Feb. 20-23.