So much to do . . . so little time!
If you live in the western Pennsylvania area, the next few days are going to offer something for everyone: the world-premier comedy A New Death at The Throughline Theatre in Lawrenceville (currently running through July 26), the Confluence science fiction convention in Mars (July 25-27), and our monthly Storytelling Night at Riley’s Pour House in Carnegie (July 29).
Interestingly, some of the people central to this week’s Throughline and Confluence events were featured at last month’s Storytelling Night, which makes this a good time to post more Storytelling podcasts.
As regulars to this blog know, Storytelling Night @ Riley takes place on the last Tuesday of every month, and each night centers on a theme. Last month’s theme was theatre stories, and the event featured stories by Michael McBurney and Sean Sears (both featured in previous blogs); C. S. Wyatt, Joe Coluccio, and Pete Grubbs (all featured below), and Hazel Carr Leroy, whom I hope to feature in an upcoming blog.
C. S. Wyatt is the author of A New Death, which premiered last week at Throughline Theatre and continues through this weekend. I’m going to see it tonight, and–judging from the story C. S. told at Riley’s last month–I’m sure I’m in for a night of laughs and insights into the ironies of everyday life. You can listen to the audio of that performance by clicking the player below. Enjoy . . . and then be sure to scroll down for the stories by Joe Coluccio and Pete Grubbs.
In addition to being a fine storyteller, performer, radio personality, and all-around good guy, Joe Coluccio serves a president of PARSEC — an organization that bills itself as Pittsburgh’s Premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization. This weekend, PARCEC will be hosting its annual science fiction, fantasy, and horror convention at the Four Points Sheraton in Mars, PA. I’ll be there . . . and so will Joe Coluccio.
One of the appeals of Confluence is its strong literary focus. Whereas some events billing themselves as science fiction conventions focus more on movies and gaming, Confluence prides itself in being predominately a literary convention. It also features the work of artists who perform stories in the most ancient of all literary traditions — the art of song. So if you’re attending Confluence, be prepared to listen to some of today’s top genre writers talking about and reading from their work. But you can also expect to hear some incredible musicians. One of those musicians will be Pete Grubbs, who this year will be performing as Confluence’s Filksinger Emeritus. Yes, that’s filk singer. For more information on filking, click here. For a story by Pete Grubbs, click below.
I hope all of this is enough to encourage you to check out both Throughline and Confluence, and I definitely hope that the stories have you considering turning out for the July 29th installment of Storytelling Night @ Riley’s. Our theme this time will be Midsummer Night Stories (think summer vacation, first love, and campfire tales!), and — weather permitting — we hope to hold the event on Riley’s new outdoor stage.
Stories beneath the stars! What’s not to love?
Scop on!
The host of Storytelling Night at Riley’s: Bram Stoker Award finalist Lawrence C. Connolly is the author of the Veins Cycle books, the first of which, Veins, has just been released in a special Kindle edition from Fantasist Enterprises. The third book in the series, Vortex, will debut in print and ebook later this year.
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