Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Lunch N Learn with Friends of Pete

With the Office of DEI at Moravian University

At the Lunch N Learn event, I had the privilege of weaving my way around my alma mater. I sat with some new and old friends, not sure who would wish to be outed on my platform here but I will say I ran into Nick Forouraghi of NScreen Studios, who, like me, is spending more time on his creative endeavors now that, like me, he’s left the Stitch Fix warehouse.

Maybe part of the reason I’m such a sucker for history, now that I think about it, stems from my immersion in it through my life in the Slate Belt, so close to the Delaware and Lehigh Canal Corridor and then shipping off to Moravian University, founded in 1742 and pretty much a center point of 18th Century Bethlehem, Pa.

Dean of DEI at Moravian Chris Hunt, Ph.D., delivered a very accurate summary of not only the historical practice of redlining, but also the familial, financial and health impact of it.

Following him for the “learn” portion of the day was Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley. They did a dynamic job summarizing and urging us to participate in their programming. Mentoring can really benefit everyone– from all walks of life.

Why am I mentioning all of this networking stuff?

It’s important to realize that anyone can publish a book, but it takes a special community to connect people. I work hard to build community between my authors and fine artists who can support them and their vision, but as a publisher I also have to dedicate myself to staying involved with the different businesses, professions and towns around me to know what opportunities exist.

That is the power of people.

Now, some photos from Moravian.

The pavilion where we had our Friends of Pete lunch opened at the end of my time there. We hated it, because the food court replaced our hang-out, dowdy, on campus coffee shop. But, the one nice thing about it was that it always has the flags of the students who attend the (then) college.

I included the nearby “Arena Theatre stairs”– which are the side stairs of the building that lead to the theater-in-the-round where MCTC (Moravian College Theatre Company, are they MUTC now? Not as catchy) held their performances. Yes, I was a theatre kid. Mostly stage-managing but an occasional on stage performance.

It never occurred to me that I might have always gotten the comedic side roles because of my cerebral palsy. In always assumed the director didn’t think I had any talent. I’m not saying anything definitive here, but as I get older, I have these thoughts… And if any of my peers read this… My favorite productions is still Flora the Red Menace and my favorite role was when I was the librarian reciting poetry in Summer and Smoke. And my favorite piece… was the soliloquy in Habeas Corpus.

It surprises me how few photos exist in the University archives of the performances.

From the University web site about Theatre at Moravian:

When Jack Ramsey assumed direction of the theatre efforts at Moravian in 1970, he brought with him the view that in the course of four years a student should be presented with a broad sampling of major periods and forms of theater. Productions have ranged from Greek tragedy to black comedy; from farce and musical comedy to Shakespeare; from Feydeau to The Fantasticks. Summer Dinner Theatre was introduced, as were children’s theatre and student-directed productions. In 1981, with the opening of the Arena Theatre, the Blackfriars gave way to the Moravian University Theater Company, which continues to thrive.

Now, over* one hundred years old and under the direction of Christopher Shorr, Theatre at Moravian University has expanded to include opportunities for students to major or minor in Theatre, to work with the community on large scale theatre projects, and to bridge to the profession with the University’s affiliated professional ensemble company Touchstone Theatre. The most recent addition to the University’s theatre-related offerings is the launch of it’s first Master of Fine Arts degree–an MFA in Performance Creation. Moravian is building new traditions in a second century–a standard-bearer for a College tradition in drama.

*more than, Angel’s note

The photo of me is me, after the event, outside the HUB, with the outcropping on the roof from the outside. I’m standing on the exact spot I used to sit and wait for the van that shuttled us the mile between north and south campus (if I didn’t just walk). Now, they have a fancy mini tour bus. We literally climbed in and out of a van.

Times have changed.