Lehigh Valley Charter HS For The Arts To Be First High School To Produce VANISHING POINT

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts) will be the first high school to produce Vanishing Point, A New Musical- Book and Lyrics by Rob Hartmann and Liv Cummins, Music by Rob Hartmann, Original Concept and Additional Lyrics by Scott Keys. This production is directed by Kelly Bickert and will run from October 16-20 and October 23-26, 2019, in the school's Black Box Theatre, located at 321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem.

The story centers around Aviatrix Amelia Earhart, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, and author Agatha Christie who each vanished mysteriously: Agatha disappeared for eleven days; Aimee disappeared for three weeks, and of course Amelia vanished completely. Vanishing Point, a musical comedy-fantasy, brings these three women together as they solve the mystery of their disappearances from their own lives. The show has a cast of three: the women play not only their central role but also each others' mothers, husbands, friends, reporters, and so on.

"This show really packs a punch, and in order to keep that feeling, that momentum, the show is simply staged keeping the focus on the women and their forward progress," says Bickert. "I think what was most intriguing to me was all the facts I learned about these historically famous women that I did not know. You learn about the woman behind the fame."

Bickert also shared: "A really fascinating aspect of the show is that the 3 actresses not only play Christie, Earhart, and McPherson, they also play 19 other characters that are woven into the fabric of these women's lives. The music is phenomenally diverse in style and genre and the story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking! This show has made me laugh, made me cry, made me doubt and above all made me soar!"

Charter Arts' production features outstanding performances by three of the school's senior theatre majors: Katie Conlon as Agatha Christie, Reagan Frankhouser as Aimee Semple McPherson and Marcella Karam as Amelia Earhart.

When asked why the school's theatre department selected this show, Charter Arts' Artistic Director of Theatre, Diane Wagner said: "A friend of mine introduced me to this play, after seeing a production of it at Carnegie Mellon some years back. I was immediately intrigued by the premise and the fact that it offered an opportunity to showcase three strong women. After reading the script and listening to the tracks, I knew this was meant to be explored by our students. I reached out to the writers and found them to be uncommonly generous with their time and insight. Since they will both be in NYC around the time of the production, they'll be making the trip in to see the final performance. I don't think our students have ever had the experience of performing for the playwrights so this is a rare gift."

The school's production will run from October 16-20 and October 23-26, 2019. Evening performances October 16-19 and 23-26, 2019 at 7 PM. Matinee performances Oct. 19 & 20 at 2 PM. Tickets are $5-$15 and can be purchased online at www.CharterArts.org. Seating is limited.

ABOUT VANISHING POINT:

www.vanishingpointthemusical.com

ABOUT THE LEHIGH VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS (CHARTER ARTS):

Charter Arts is an audition-based public charter school that provides a comprehensive curriculum for high school students, grades 9-12, who have a passion for the arts. Students major in one of seven artistic areas: dance, instrumental music, literary arts, production arts, theatre, visual arts, or vocal music.

Charter Arts' rigorous curriculum fosters both academic and artistic excellence for its students. The school's impressive Future Ready PA Index ranking, Advanced Placement (AP) exam statistics, Keystone Exam statistics, SAT scores, prestigious artistic accolades, and graduation rate, are testaments to the outstanding education that Charter Arts provides.

Charter Arts is proud to celebrate its seventeenth year as one of the most respected high schools for the arts in the nation. Charter Arts was one of only 349 schools in the nation to be named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education and earned a Silver Award for its impressive ranking on U.S. News & World Report's Best High Schools in America list. Recently, Charter Arts was listed as #1 Best Charter High School in Pennsylvania by Niche.

Charter Arts is located at 321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem PA 18015. For more information, visit www.CharterArts.org.

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