ArtsQuest Celebrates One Year of SteelStacks

The will celebrate its one-year anniversary this weekend with a fundraising party in the Musikfest Café and performances at PNC Plaza and the Levitt Pavilion.

Zany Umbrella Circus, which was a hit with audiences during Musikfest 2011, returns to Bethlehem with a series of weekend performances at PNC Plaza, to the north of the blast furnaces on E. First St.

The circus will present Cake, a real storybook acted out onstage. Bold colors and 1950s-era stylings highlight this family show in which a young child anticipates an exciting birthday surprise, but things don’t go as planned.

This highly physical show integrates aerial, trapeze, clowning, mask work and other circus feats. The performances will take place in the troupe’s Zany Tent, a colorful, one-city-block tent custom-sewn by Italian master craftsmen.

The shows are set for 7 p.m. tonight; 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $19 and $17 for ArtsQuest members.

After the circus tonight and Saturday, you can stay for the Squonk Opera and its performance of Astro-rama at the Levitt Pavilion.

Astro-rama is a large-scale outdoor event that joins the audience in a festive attempt to contact far-flung galaxies. A UFO is “discovered” and the next day a four-story radio telescope dish is erected to mount a planetary response. Squonk musicians rise in scissor lifts and cranes, squabble with a giant supercomputer and finally transmit their message – a self-portrait as a species. This communal revelry is a witty and timely exploration of science and belief, made accessible with pop sci-fi references.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called it “an American terrestrial and perhaps galaxy original … a unique mix of geek and polish, eccentric design and mocking wit,”

The performances, which are free, are scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight, Saturday and Sunday.

The fundraising anniversary party is a one-night event Saturday at the Musikfest Café, which will be built around that night’s Squonk Opera performance.

The pre-show bash starts at 6 p.m. with food, drink, jazz by Hot Bijouxx and an auction exclusive ArtsQuest experiences. The after party returns to the Café at 9 p.m. with dancing and music by the Philly Bloco group.

Tickets to the party are $100 and help to support the free arts programming ArtsQuest provides all year.

For a look back at some of the highlights of the first year of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks:

• ArtsQuest Center Dedication in Pictures and Quotes
• ArtsQuest Shows Off SteelStacks to Regional Media
• Wall at SteelStacks Center a Tribute to Steelworkers
• Viewfinder: Independence Day Weekend at ArtsQuest
• Viewfinder: Peace Celebrated at SteelStacks
• Blast Furnace Blues at SteelStacks
• Oktoberfest Opens with Keg Tap and Toast
• ArtsQuest Center Given Architectural Award