‘They found joy in the simplest things’
Hill teens build homes for the homeless in Guatemala
by LEN LEAR

All the Teens, Inc. volunteers and chaperones who traveled to God’s Child Project in Guatemala met the project’s founder and director, Patrick Atkinson, Sunday evening at “A Taste of Chestnut Hill.” They are, front row, from left, Olivia Dean, Jane Idler, Michael Dwyer, Meghan McDermott, Anne Dwyer, Jaylan Temple, Arianna Neromiliotis, Autumn Temple and Devon Cobb. Back Row, from left, are Meghan Dwyer, Marianne Dwyer, Mary Dwyer, Brendan Dwyer,Patrick Atkinson, Patrick Dwyer, Patrick O’Donnell and Matthew George.

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up food at the table, cross their legs and tyrannize their teachers.”

BLUESMAN SWIMS INTO MERMAID: Randy Lippincott (seen here) with his band and special guest Georgie Bonds, who has been the subject of articles in the Local, will perform at the Mermaid Inn, 7673 Germantown Ave., on Friday, Nov. 20, 9 p.m., with a $10 cover charge. Lippincott has performed and recorded with many great blues artists, traveled the world and been nominated for a Grammy as a bassist. The band plays blues, soul and New Orleans jazz. For more information, email phillybase@aol.com or visit www.randylippincott.com.

The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill played host to “A Portuguese Advent Vespers” concert Friday night, Nov. 13. The performance featured Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, and core members of the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia. The program was a re-creation of a 17th century Vespers service as it might have been celebrated in Lisbon, Portugal, when the tiny European country was still in the vanguard of worldwide exploration and colonization.

Piffaro’s co-directors, Joan Kimball and Robert Wiemken, and the Choral Arts Society’s Matthew Glandorf (who is also the artistic director of the Chestnut Hill-based Bach Festival of Philadelphia) chose to focus on the tradition of emphasizing the Blessed Virgin Mary in God’s plan of salvation. They pulled together the Gregorian chants, polyphonic music and instrumental music (often based on sacred choral works and vice versa) that might have been heard during the celebration of a Vespers service held late in the afternoon on the Sunday in Advent nearest the celebration of the Immaculate Conception.

Though not a precise re-creation, the concert’s program did, indeed, follow the broad liturgical outlines of a Vespers service. Glandorf sang the Propers of the day in simple plainsong. Piffaro provided music for the entrance procession as well as music to link one portion of the liturgy to the next, and the 19-member professional contingent from the Choral Arts Society sang the music appropriate to an Advent Vespers.

500th play at Stagecrafters

The second production of the current season at The Stagecrafters, “The Matchmaker” by Thornton Wilder, will open on Friday, Nov. 27. This joyous farce, directed by Yaga Brady, is one of the most enduring and endearing classics of the American stage. Set in New York City near the end of the 19th century, the action transpires over the course of a single day.

“This is a really bad idea,” I said to my wife Kara as I switched on the ignition. The dog jumped onto the center console and licked Kara’s cheek. The baby’s feet kicked up and down in his car seat like he was trying to paddle the car into motion. After a moment, we were rolling out of the driveway in the Toyota Matrix that we used to call “the big car,” but which no longer seemed deserving of the title.