It was another great First Friday event last Friday in downtown Scranton with crowds of art-lovers at each venue enjoying local music and art.

This month’s event also featured the grand opening of Greenbeing, an eco-friendly boutique, at 334 Adams Ave.; and Scranton residents turned out to support the new business. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church hosted a lively event with dancing dogs, paper mache animal sculptures and more.

Any artists or venues interested in taking part in the November event should visit the First Friday site and sign up today.

The Scranton area’s art community continues to support bigger and better First Friday events each month. This month’s Oktoberfest-themed First Friday includes 26 venues across the downtown area.

And it’s not just the number of venues - several venues this month are loaded with art and activities for visitors to enjoy. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 232 Wyoming Ave., will offer trained dancing dogs, an animal CPR demonstration, dogs available for adoption from the Humane Society, art by Dianet Grant-Dzajkowski, Sandi Korshnak, Ed Davis and Keystone Community Resources artists and more. And the Electric Theatre Company, 326 Spruce St., 2nd Floor, will feature a silent art auction with a signed original illustration by iconic costume designer Edith Head and works by local artists.

Music this month will include accordionist Tony Angeli at Cami Mari, 226 Linden St.; Pete Michaels Trio at Dionysus Downtown, 244 Penn Ave.; DJ Steven Wallace at LAVISH, 600 Linden St.; Beautiful Vision  at Northern Light Espresso Bar, 536 Spruce St.; and Keygan Bodman at Electric City Tattoo Gallery, 620 Spruce St. Fans of jazz and blues will also enjoy pen and ink illustrations of jazz and blues legends by Sam Barrese at Blues Street, 222 Wyoming Ave.

Be sure to check out the great local art on display at all of this month’s venues this Friday, Oct. 3, from 6-9 p.m. in Downtown Scranton.

We introduce you to another local resident driving the revitalization of the arts and culture in Scranton today with a profile of Scranton-area designer Lea Phillips.

Phillips launched lealeawashere*, her line of handbags and accessories in October of 2007. She worked an office job at the time and, when presented a plain black binder by her supervisor, Phillips couldn’t resist taking it home and giving it a new paint job.

Phillips created lealeawashere* by applying the same concept (and her talent for design) to purses and accessories. In her own words, she takes “vintage handbags and modern jewelry and paint(s) them interesting.”

Her merchandise is on sale at shops around the Scranton area like Duffy Accessories, 218 Linden Street, Scranton; Pretty in Pink, Viewmont Mall, Dickson City; Magpie Vintage, 67 North Main Street, Carbondale; and Dress Me Up, 1355 North Main Avenue, Scranton; as well as, Oak in Boston, Massachusetts. Or shop from the lealeawashere* line on Etsy.com.

Phillips is also a regular at craft fairs and festivals around Northeastern Pennsylvania. Upcoming events where you can pick up lealeawashere* products include the YMCA Craft and Street Fair in Wilkes-Barre on September 20, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; the October 3 First Friday art walk in downtown Scranton, 6-9 p.m. (her work will be featured at Electric City Tattoo Gallery); and the Lions Club Craft Fair in Falls on October 11 at 11 a.m.

Bingo will never be the same! Community Film Project members Jim Holeva (writer, star, executive producer) and Jeff Fowler bring a little creepin’ to Bingo Night with “The Wingman: Bingo Night Creepin’”.

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It was another great First Friday art walk last week. New venues like the University of Scranton and Lackawanna College galleries, Dionysus Downtown and the Times-Tribune injected new energy into the monthly event.

The Melberger Arts Center was crowded with parents and kids participating in the Hexagon Project which kicked off a month of Interdependence Day activities in Scranton.

Anthology New and Used Books showed off its recent expansion to First Friday visitors who hadn’t stopped by the shop recently.

Any artists or venues interested in taking part in the October event should visit the First Friday site and sign up today.

The new First Friday map is here and this Friday’s event brings several new gallery spaces displaying the work of local artists.

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The Electric Theatre Company (formerly the Northeast Theatre) will soon open its 17^th season with a production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man.”

For the first play produced under its new name, the Electric Theatre Company chose this Shaw comedy that begins with a Swiss mercenary from the AustroSerbian army who finds refuge in the bedroom of a young upper class Bulgarian lady during a 10-day proxy war in 1885 between Austria and Russia. Shaw’s characters explode illusions into dust and throw neat convention into a topsy-turvy mess.

“We chose ‘Arms and the Man’ because we love it and it fits the company beautifully,” said producing artistic director, David Zarko. Coincidentally, it was the same play that launched The Northeast Theatre 17 seasons earlier. “That was just a wonderful serendipity,” said Zarko, “and makes this new direction we’ve taken seem just right.”

Previews of “Arms and the Man” begin September 17-19. Opening night is September 20 at 8 p.m.; the play then runs September 21 through October 5 - Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. All performances are held at the Electric Theatre, 326 Spruce St., 2nd Floor, Downtown Scranton.

David Zarko directs, and the cast includes Resident Artistic Company members James Langan, Conor McGuigan, Mary Ethel Schmidt, and Heather Stuart, along with New York actors Tom Patterson, Jim Fitzgerald, and Maura Malloy (a Scranton native), and Griffin Conservatory graduate Pat Brogan.

For tickets and information, call 570-558-1515 or visit the new Electric Theatre website at www.electrictheatre.org.

We continue to introduce you to the local residents driving the revitalization of the arts and culture in Scranton today with a profile of local artist and jewelry-maker Lara Lewis.

Born in San Diego, California, Lara took an early interest in art, dance and voice, attending classes at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. She graduated Humboldt State University with a degree in art before making her way to the Scranton area. Lara continues to pursue painting, illustration and jewelry-making while making her living as an elementary school teacher.

“I’m working like crazy making prints of all of my original art and hunting down the necessities for my jewelry making habit,” Lara said. I’ve been featured at Northern Light on Spruce Street this last February and I’m going to have some of my art hanging there again this November. I’m still trying to find more places to show my work and sell my jewelry, prints and originals.”

She subscribes to no set style of drawing or painting, using water colors or colored pencils on smaller works and acrylic paint on most larger pieces. Check out Lara’s site for samples of her art and updates on her latest showings.

And you can visit Lara’s shop to browse through her art and handmade jewelry and buy something you like.

Check out great local theater this weekend when The Bracken Theatre Company presents “Closer” directed by Alicia Nordstrom and starring Will Moore, Kerry Kane, Eleanor Gwyn-Jones and John Morris.

The play upon which the Julia Roberts, Clive Owen film was based, “Closer” tells the story of four people whose lives and relationships intertwine as they pursue each other in a struggle to find intimacy.

The play includes adult language and romantic situations. It was the winner of the 1998 Olivier Award for Best Play and the 1999 New York Drama Critics Award for Best Foreign Play.

Bracken Theatre’s production is scheduled for August 9, 10, 15, 16 and 17 at 411 Studio, 411 Lackawanna Ave., Olyphant. Tickets are $12; you can get yours at the door or by calling (570) 822-7106.

The Aug. 1 First Friday was the biggest of the year. The downtown was packed with local art- and music-lovers enjoying the gallery exhibitions as well as the first night of the Scranton Jazz Festival.

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