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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260617
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DESCRIPTION:Jun 17\, 2026\nOn the eve of the 250th anniversary of the birth
  of our nation\, the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts travels 
 back in time to the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The Civil 
 War had ended just over a decade before. But the Long Depression that bega
 n in 1873\, triggered by overexpansion in railroads\, banking\, and heavy 
 industry\, still held the world economy in its grip. Against this backdrop
 \, the Exhibition was a beacon of hope and pride—and not just for the Un
 ited States. Some three dozen other countries came to Philadelphia with di
 splays of their own. Between May and November\, the City of Brotherly Love
 \, whose population hovered around 750\,000\, played host to no fewer than
  10 million visitors. The 21-acre Main Exposition Building was at the time
  the largest building in the world. Among groundbreaking technological inn
 ovations\, the sleek Corliss steam engine gleamed as the icon of industria
 l potential. In their new oratorio\, the librettist Mark Campbell and comp
 oser Peter Boyer imagine the intersecting lives of five visitors on a sing
 le day. (For some reason\, we’re envisioning Ragtime meets Assassins.) C
 ampbell and Boyer’s principals are Mary Dunleavy\, Meredith Lustig\, Eve
  Gigliotti\, David Portillo\, and Malcolm J. Merriweather\; Anthony Parnth
 er conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra and the choral ensemble known as Th
 e Crossing\; Tazewell Thompson directs.
LOCATION:Highmark Mann Center\, 5201 Parkside Ave\, Philadelphia\, PA 19131
 \, United States
SUMMARY:A Hundred Years On: A New Oratorio About the 1876 Centennial Exposi
 tion
URL;VALUE=TEXT:https://airmail.news/arts-intel/events/a-hundred-years-on-a-
 new-oratorio-about-the-1876-centennial-exposition
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