The Reading Theater Project has announced the 2025 In Nature’s Studio, an outdoor performance event at the Reading Public Museum Arboretum, 500 Museum Road, Reading.
The performance will take place next Sunday from 4-5:30 p.m. and is free to attend, thanks to grant support from the Reading Musical Foundation, Berks County Community Foundation and other donors. More information can be found at readingtheaterproject.org/in-natures-studio-2025.
The park has an accessible path with a route that takes about 10-15 minutes to walk. The audience, rather than sitting and watching, walks and stops to see the micro performances stationed along the path, with each performance lasting about five minutes.
The performances are inspired by the “Toytopia” exhibit inside the museum and are appropriate for all audiences.
The audience can choose to wander on their own or follow a guided path, which ensures they will see all performances.
“In Nature’s Studio brings theater outdoors to the people, and turns it into public art,” said Vicki Haller Graff, artistic director of the Reading Theater Project and director of In Nature’s Studio. “This production was born of necessity, during the pandemic, but now it’s a beloved annual tradition.”
Performing arts are the focus (theater, music, dance and large-scale puppetry), though visual arts will also be a part of the overall spectacle with plein air (outdoor) painters affiliated with Art Plus Gallery in West Reading situated throughout the park.
Henry Patterson’s Rally Rousers band will also play before the show. Jessica Warchal-King’s JCWK Dance Lab is an ongoing partner in this project.
The Reading Theater Project is a locally-focused, professional theater company, based in Greater Reading/Berks County. It values collaboration and creative challenges and believes theater is an inclusive experience that can reveal our shared human condition. For more information, visit readingtheaterproject.org or call 484-706-9719.
The Reading Public Museum is a dynamic center of lifelong learning and discovery that educates, enlightens and engages current and future generations through the collection, preservation and interpretation of objects of art, science and civilization. The museum is typically open daily from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission to is $10 adults (18-64), $6 children/seniors/students (w/ID) and free to members and children 3 years old and under. For more information, visit www.readingpublicmuseum.org
Music
The Borough of Wyomissing welcomes the Reading Pops Orchestra for the fourth performance in its 2025 Summer Concert Series on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Wyomissing High School auditorium and is free and open to the public.
This 55-piece professional orchestra, made up of musicians from Berks County and the surrounding region, has been a cultural staple in the community for more than five decades.
The Reading Pops Orchestra was founded in 1969 by conductor Wes Fisher, and since then, the baton has been passed through some of Reading’s most esteemed musical leaders, including J. Carl Borelli, Henry Gass, Frank Siekman, Lewis “Skip” Norcott and Paul Cusano.
More recently, Charles Weiser shared conducting duties with current Music Director Dr. Willis M. Rapp, former chair of the music department at Kutztown University. Together, they’ve continued the orchestra’s mission of performing music that blends popular classics and classic pop with professionalism and passion.
For the Wyomissing concert, the orchestra will be led by guest conductor Brian Mishler, director of orchestral studies at Parkland High School in Lehigh County and longtime youth conductor with the Reading Symphony Orchestra.
A talented cellist, Mishler has performed with the Altoona, York, Reading and Delaware symphonies, among others, and brings fresh energy to the stage with a program featuring beloved selections from Broadway, film and television.
“The Reading Pops is a true treasure in our region,” said Randy McKinley, director of recreation and communications for Wyomissing. “They’re a group of extraordinary musicians who bring high-quality performances to our community, and we’re honored to host them as part of this year’s Summer Concert Series.”
About the Reading Pops Orchestra: The mission of the Reading Pops Orchestra is to promote the musical arts in Berks County through the preservation of a professional orchestra for the performance of public concerts. The orchestra also provides a variety of historical and educational presentations of the classic pops repertoire, exposing the greater community to different musical art forms..
About Wyomissing’s Parks and Recreation Department: The mission of the Wyomissing Recreation Board is to meet the multigenerational recreation needs of our community year-round by enriching lives of all our residents through providing programming, events, safe and accessible park areas, recreational facilities and playgrounds.
Events
The Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading has announced the following events:
• Angela Aguilar, Oct. 26, 7 p.m.
• Cirque Dreams Holidaze (Touring), Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.
For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.
Books
Dr. John C. Morgan has published his ninth book, “Mr. Tux Finds a Home,” Resource Publications, 2025. The children’s book is about how a feral cat taught him a great deal about living and dying.
He said he wrote the book to help children facing losses to learn about death and to cope better with life.
Morgan taught philosophy and ethics for a number of years and writes a weekly column on ethics for the Reading Eagle.
