If you had the luck of walking around campus this summer, you might have been fortunate to hear the impressive music coming from the Center for the Arts when the Arts Bubble performed “City of Angels.”
The Arts Bubble is a new and growing theater organization established in May of 2022 in Pottstown, led by the executive director Aileen Lynn-McCulloch. The organization was created by a group of students from Pottsgrove and Pottstown High School. They were inspired to join to collaborate and share their ideas. The goal is to build up the community and to support curious and interested students with new theater opportunities.
Hill students Joy Booth-Genthe ’24, Ryann Holladay ’24, Jahiem Pratt ’26 and Devon Smith ’24 participated in the Arts Bubble’s summer production. They worked both on the stage and behind the scenes bringing this production to life.
The production of “City of Angels” was directed by Lynn-McCulloch, and the music was led by Scott and Paige Byerly.
The musical “City of Angels” is set in the 1940s in Hollywood, with the main character, Stine, a well-known author of detective books, who is struggling to transform his novel into an interesting, sellable movie. Stine uses the main character in his novel, Stone, who works as a private detective, to investigate crimes and uncover criminals.
Booth-Genthe ’24 played the role of Gabbi and Bobbi. Gabby is the wife of Stine, and Bobbi is the fictional ex-wife of Stone.
“The experience was very rewarding. I learned so much not only about acting and performing but also about new people,” Booth-Genthe ’24 said. “We had rehearsal once a week at the start, but then it started picking up as we got closer to the show date, where rehearsals would be almost 8 hours every day. Even though it was tough, it was fun working with all of my close friends.”
Pratt ’26 played the character of Lieutenant Munoz, a police detective.
“It was nice to explore more about, more things about the theater I didn’t already know, and to perform in the black box which I haven’t done,” Pratt said. “I think the production has helped me be ready for it.”
While Smith ‘24 was not an actor in this production, due to a conflicting schedule, he was the assistant director and liaison between Hill and the Arts Bubble.
“It was an interesting, fun, and new experience for me, being on the more organizational and behind-the-scenes side of things for the first time,” Smith said.
Hosting the Arts Bubble is a great opportunity for Hill to expand its role in the community. Booth-Genthe ’24 believes that “Hill already plays a role in the arts community in Pottstown, but I believe we can do so much more. This production opens the door for so many new possibilities and I hope we continue to reach out and expand our connections with the community.”
