The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts) Theatre Department’s 2024-2025 season of original plays written by new as well as seasoned professional playwrights continues with its production of “The John Wilkes Booth High School for the Performing Arts Presents the Most Inclusive, Least Offensive Play Ever: An After School Special” by Stephen Kaplan, October 16-20, 2024. The production is directed by one of the school’s alumni, Marley Mathias.

In this story, the parents of The John Wilkes Booth High School for the Performing Arts threaten to remove the theatre program because they realize that all theatre is offensive, the scrappy students of JWB and their drama teacher race to save their beloved department by producing the most inclusive and least offensive play ever.

EVENING PERFORMANCES October 16-18 at 7 PM. MATINEE PERFORMANCES October 19 & 20 at 2 PM. TICKETS are $12 Adult, $7 Student/Child.  Purchase tickets at CharterArts.org.

ABOUT THE CHARTER ARTS THEATRE DEPARTMENT:

The Charter Arts Theatre Department offers a pre-professional training program for high school-aged performers. The goal is to provide students with the skills they will need to move on to competitive college programs as well as professional theatre experiences.Classes are designed to encourage students to create imaginative and compelling characters, to regard their voices and bodies as creative instruments, to expose them to theatrical literature and to instill in them a sense of respect and professionalism for the art form that will stay with them throughout their lives.

The department will also continue to engage alumni performers, directors and artists this year as part of its Alumni Artist-in-Residence program. Minner-Bickert shares: “The creation of this program was to keep our alumni connected to Charter Arts and to reinforce with our current students that they will always have a home here with us. We demonstrate that we value artistry and we want to instill in our young artists that when they reach a certain skill level of mastery in their art they have a right to be celebrated and paid for their contributions as professional artists.”

ABOUT THE LEHIGH VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS (Charter Arts):

Charter Arts is an audition-based public charter school that provides a comprehensive curriculum for high school students, grades 9-12, who have a dedicated passion for the creative and performing arts.  Students major in one of seven artistic areas: dance, instrumental music, literary arts, production arts, theatre, visual arts, or vocal music.

Charter Arts’ rigorous curriculum fosters both academic and artistic excellence for its students. The school’s impressive Future Ready PA Index ranking, Advanced Placement (AP) exam statistics, Keystone Exam statistics, SAT scores, prestigious artistic accolades, and graduation rate, are testaments to the outstanding education that Charter Arts provides.

Recently, Charter Arts was ranked #! Best Public High School Teachers in PA and #1 Best Charter High School in PA on Niche’s 2025 Best Schools in America Rankings.  In addition, Charter Arts was one of only four Lehigh Valley schools to be ranked on U.S. News & World Report’s Top 100 Public High Schools in PA.

To learn more about the school or to sign up for an upcoming admissions event, visit www.CharterArts.org.

Charter Arts is located at 321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem PA 18015.