Venice Island Performing Arts Recreation Center

The amazing Kay Sykora walks and talks with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation at home about the history of Venice Island and how and why the theatre was built!

As we round out Venice Island From a Distance we want to take a moment and highlight some of the incredible work that our hosts are a part of. Noah Herman is the community partnership and arts curator at Venice Island. He is a lifelong theatre artist, and has most recently earned his Masters of Fine Arts In Directing at Temple University. He is also a member of CSz Philadelphia - Home of ComedySportz, Philly's longest running improv show. Noah is the creator of this series as well, and we can't thank him enough for everything he has done for Venice Island.

ICYMI Our final interview for Venice Island From a Distance is with the incredible Shav'on Smith, founder and artistic director of Grounded Theatre Company. Shav'on is a truly inspiring person, and her work is some of the most genuine we've seen. We are immensely appreciative of her and every other guest that has been a part of this series. This week's featured restaurant is La Roca Manayunk and we have special end credit music by Ono Da Hybrid (Instagram @OnoDaHybrid)

We are wrapping up Venice Island From a Distance next week with a round-table discussion about this series as a whole with our amazing hosts Ryan Rebel, Daralyse Lyons, and Noah Herman! We were fortunate enough to have these 3 guide this series in such a real and honest way, and we can't wait to share their final thoughts with all of you.

Shoe Box Theatre Collective is hosting their short live stream play this Thursday 8/27 at 7 PM. It's a completely free event with donations strongly encouraged. More information can be found here! https://www.facebook.com/events/720816758766593/

After a brief delay, our Venice Island From a Distance interview with Broadway actor and dancer, James Lane, is now up on our YouTube and Website with auto-generated closed captions. Watch here, and be sure to support James by visiting his website at https://www.jamestlane.com/ or contribute to his Venmo @ James-Lane-40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlMe6LV8iyE

Our Dog Day of Summer pop-up is this Saturday from 12-4PM, and it's sure to be a tail-waggin' good time! For every Tito's Handmade Vodka cocktail sold, Tito’s w...ill donate $1 to help support your favorite Manayunk small businesses. Show your support at the following restaurants: The Couch Tomato, Manayunk The Goat's Beard Jake's & Cooper's Wine Bar Lucky's Last Chance - Manayunk Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant Ryan's Main Street Pub Manayunk Winnie's Manayunk http://manayunk.com/events/dog-day-of-summer.html

TONIGHT, Mask up and come down to Main Street for the Stroll the Street pop-up happening every Thursday from 5-8PM.

Our next, and final guest for Venice Island From a Distance is our great friend, and all-around amazing person Shav'on Smith, founder and artistic director of Grounded Theatre Company. We couldn't be more excited and grateful to have her and Ryan on this series and we can't wait to share this conversation with all of you.

Due to restrictions caused by the pandemic we weren't able to host Piano for Pets as we originally intended, but it's going to be happening virtually as part of the FringeArts 2020 Fringe Festival! https://fringearts.com/event/piano-for-pets/