Dateline: Williamsport, Pennsylvania, a.k.a. “Billtown.” Writer April Line has embarked on a mission to raise the profile of literature with Billtown Blue Lit. I recently caught up with April to talk about her progress with getting a reading series off the ground—and her dream of starting a writers’ retreat, scholarship fund, and online literary journal under the…
The theatrical performance of “Max & Ruby: Bunny Party” came to Williamsport. I freelance for Showcase on the Arts and Nightlife, and in covering the show I got to interview Rosemary Wells. I was beside myself. I hoped maybe some success juju would eke through the phone. I was eager to look inside the mind…
In part one of this interview, I focused on the artistic side of Williamsport Sun-Gazette Arts and Entertainment Editor Matt Parrish. The second part of my conversation with him focuses on other areas of interest in his professional and personal life. WG: How do you combine your writing with your art? How do they flow…
Recently, I was able to catch up with the überbusy Matt Parrish. Matt, the Entertainment and Arts editor at the Sun-Gazette, has art featured at the Grey Gallery and is part of a current group show at Lycoming College. Perhaps fittingly, we met up at the hub of all things creative—the Pajama Factory—to discuss his…
There is a new player in the revitalization of Williamsport’s downtown—the Grey Art Gallery, located at 140 West Fourth Street next to the venerable Plankenhorn Stationery shop. The gallery is the brainchild of owners Casey Gleghorn and John Yogodzinski, who believe that downtown is ready for a true contemporary art gallery. “There isn’t another for…
22ND ANNUAL BILLTOWN BLUES FESTIVAL Sunday, June 12 Gates open 11 am, showtime Noon to 10pm Lycoming County Fairgrounds, Hughesville www.billtownblues.org The Porkroll Project, George Kilby Jr., The Laurie Morvan Band, Big James and the Chicago Playboys, Mark Hummel’s Blues Harmonica Explosion featuring special guests Phil Wiggins, Jerry Portnoy, Steve Guyger, Charlie Baty, plus the…
Most people think of summer as a time for movies with action—car chases, heists, shootouts, pirate sword fights. I don’t disagree; I love the Fast and Furious movies as much as the next woman (or truthfully, even as much as the next teenage boy with a souped-up Mazda). But perhaps at some point this summer…
In 1864 after seeing photos of the majestic sequoia trees in California, President Abraham Lincoln saved them from the lumberjack’s axe by signing the Yosemite Land Grant. He was moved by the incredible images of the massive trees published by photographer Carleton Watkins. Images have an immediate and visceral effect on our emotions. Images are…
On Saturday night, April 2, Williamsport turned back the clock and recaptured the bawdy humor and titillating performances of the early 20th century with “A Night of Burlesque.” This spirited, high-energy show was delivered by the newly formed Williamsport Burlesque Troupe at Club Z downtown. The event was a fundraiser for WXPI Williamsport Community Radio.…