Touchtone Theatre Presents The World Premiere of THE PAN SHOW, 5/13-22

THE PAN SHOW will be presented by Touchstone Theatre (321 E. 4th Street, Bethlehem, PA) from May 13-22. Shows are at 8pm Thursdays and Fridays, and on Saturdays there will be an 8pm show and a special late night, 10:30pm performance. Writing and design for the off-Broadway style musical are by two Lehigh Valley artists- James Jordan of the Touchstone Theatre Ensemble and Christopher Shorr, Theatre Director of Moravian College. THE PAN SHOW offers a re-imagining of both the musical, and a classic figure from Greek mythology, as the half-man, half-goat god Pan is dropped into a contemporary milieu of sex, drugs and rock and roll.  The music features a variety of styles, including marches, techno, house, and rock, and has all been newly created by Jordan and Shorr.

The idea for the musical has been germinating for several years, and Shorr and Jordan have been developing the piece intensively for the past six months.  The play allows the Greek god of wine, music, fertility to manifest as a modern day pop icon – a god of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  “We follow Pan’s exploits  - he encounters larger than life characters, and audiences should expect comedy that’s outrageous and sometimes provocative.  Still, the trouble he gets into is very classic – when he mixes too much with the human world, that’s where things start to really heat up for him,” explains Shorr.

The live musical integrates recorded video featuring Surender Dayal, a member of the board of the Indian American Association of Lehigh Valley, as THE PAN SHOW host and the animation work of Luke Schantz, a video designer for the Blue Man Group of New York City.  Touchstone artists will play all other characters; Jordan will play the lead role of Pan. 

Tickets are $25 or $15 for students and seniors, and are available at the door, or in advance through touchstone.org, lvartsboxoffice.org or by calling 610-867-1689. THE PAN SHOW is recommended for mature audiences only. A gallery exhibit featuring visual art by local artists Michelle Guglielmo and Tim Davies will complement the play. Visit touchtone.org for a complete performance schedule.

Celebrating nearly 30 years, Touchstone Theatre produces and presents both original and classic productions, with a dedication to the renewal of theatre as a vital art form. Touchstone works to foster collaboration on a local and national level through educational and youth empowerment programs, using theatre as a community-building tool.