Page 4 - Downtown Newark

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The Chapel Street Players organizes at least four performances per year.
Art is the Heart of Newark
The city has a long history of supporting culture.
just can’t tell you how exciting it is for the orchestra, and how much it’s grown,” says Laura Rogers, a longtime board member. The orchestra is in good company. Newark is steeped in the arts, and it has been for some time. The Chapel Street Theater traces its roots back to 1934, and the Newark Arts Alliance has been serving the community since 1993.
Not surprisingly, many of the groups have benefited from the presence of the University of Delaware, which for decades has had a strong offering of arts programs.
The Chapel Street Theater was originally
n the early 1960s, Harley Hastings, then Newark High School’s band director, started an orchestra
founded as the University Drama Group, or UDG for short. The first members included UD faculty and local residents. As the university’s theater program blossomed, stage time became hard for UDG to book. Consequently, the group shifted its spotlight to off-campus locations. In 1968, UDG became the independent Chapel Street Players.
The Chapel Street Players organizes at least four performances a year. This season includes “The Fantasticks,” scheduled for June, and a bonus July performance of “The Pillowman.” The players have some
to give violinists and cellists a place to perform. The informal organization filled
a need. More string players asked to join, partly to keep their fingers nimble, and by 1966, there were 30 performers. At that time, Hastings called the group the Newark School-Community Orchestra.
Now in its 50th season, the Newark Symphony Orchestra boasts 80 performing musicians and features four symphony and four chamber music concerts each year. “I
N4 I www.DelawareToday.com I MAY 2017