Festival Debuts Saturday AfterTunes—Launching this Weekend and Free to Attend “On the Green” at DeSales University
Center Valley, PA: June 6, 2024—Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (PSF) launches Saturday AfterTunes beginning this weekend, June 8, 4:30pm to 7:00pm, and is free for all to attend and enjoy “On the Green” in front of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the bucolic campus of DeSales University. The event will feature live music from local and regional bands, beverages from Lehigh Valley breweries, and a variety of food offerings.
“We love telling people that PSF is so much more than Shakespeare, and Saturday AfterTunes is the perfect example of that,” said Jason King Jones, PSF Artistic Director. “The concerts from a variety of artists, along with the themed food and beer from local brewery partners are our way of inviting everyone from the area to spend a great afternoon with us—and maybe catch a great theatre experience before or after the concert.”
The event kicks-off this Saturday with the rock band The Audio Files with Cathy Ritter on vocals, food by Mediterranean King and The Burger Shack, and beer from Coopersburg’s Sage Alley Brewery. Tables and chairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.
Patrons can make it a full day of festivities by attending the 2 PM or 7:30 PM performance of the hilarious comedy The Play That Goes Wrong before or after this Saturday’s AfterTunes. Tickets for The Play That Goes Wrong can be purchased at pashakespeare.org or by calling the box office at 610.282.WILL (9455).
Below is the full schedule of the upcoming Saturday AfterTunes musicians:
June 8 · The Audio Files with Cathy Ritter Music
June 15 · Joseph A. Ferko String Band
June 29 · Big Chill
July 20 · Ian Holmes
July 27 · The Jazz Catz
August 3 · PSF Cabaret
Beer vendors include Lost Tavern Brewing (6/15), McCall Collective Brewing (8/3), Sage Alley Brewery (6/8 & 6/29), and Yergey Brewing (7/20 & 7/27). In addition to food trucks, food offerings include buffets themed to PSF’s productions provided by DeSales Dining Services.
The 2024 Season Sponsors are Lee & Dolly Butz. The Associate Season Sponsors are Linda Lapos & Paul Wirth, Kathleen Kund Nolan & Timothy E. Nolan, The Szarko Family, and Harry C. Trexler Trust.
The Festival’s 33rd season runs now thru August 4 featuring three Shakespeare plays The Comedy of Errors, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Cymbeline; along with two musicals, The Color Purple and The Last Five Years; and, in a new collaboration, PSF presents 1812’s production of The Play That Goes Wrong. Additionally, there are two children’s theatre productions, Winnie-the-Pooh & Friends and Shakespeare for Kids.
Single tickets, subscriptions, and packages are on sale now and can be purchased online at pashakespeare.org, by calling the Box Office at 610.282.WILL [9455], or in person at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of DeSales University.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, the official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, boasts acclaimed actors from Broadway, television, and film. It serves as the summer home to over 200 artists from around the country, including winners and nominees of the Tony, Obie, Emmy, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Jefferson, and Barrymore Awards.
Learn More about Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s 2024 Season here.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Artistic Leadership
JASON KING JONES (Artistic Director) Prior to moving to the Lehigh Valley with his family, Jason spent ten years at Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center, where he served as Senior Associate Artistic Director and Artistic Director of National Players, America’s longest-running touring theatre company. In the past twenty-five years Jason directed over seventy-five productions, mentored hundreds of early-career theatre makers, and established various in school and summer educational programs. He is an Acting Company alumnus, a proud member of the PSF Board, and a member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association’s IDEAA Committee, and Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Nonprofit & Business Partners Council. Jason holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Missouri State and an MFA in Directing from Boston University.
CASEY WILLIAM GALLAGHER (Managing Director) has worked at PSF for 26 seasons. Over the years he was a box office intern, a stage management intern, the assistant house manager, box office manager, company manager, assistant producer, director of development and worked directly with PSF Founder Jerry Schubert in the early years of the organization. Since 2004, in his role as general manager and later managing director, he served as the administrative leader of the festival, working very closely with former Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy and the box office, business, development, marketing and production departments. Casey now serves as co-leader of the Festival with Artistic Director Jason King Jones. Beyond PSF, Casey was treasurer for the Shakespeare Theatre Association, director of audience services for The People’s Light & Theatre Company, a board member for Civic Theatre of Allentown, a peer panelist for the New Jersey Council on the Arts and a judge for the Greater Philadelphia Barrymore Awards for excellence in theatre.
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