BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The documentary "Rooted: A Story of Artists Embracing Place" is filled with seeds of emotion and speaks of the creatives who sprang into action to revitalize the city after the decline of Bethlehem Steel.
The riveting film made its debut Sunday to a standing ovation at Zoellner Arts Center, as the conclusion of the 21st annual SouthSide Film Festival.
The creative forces behind the 75-minute film are: Doug Roysdon of the Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre; Dave Fry of Godfrey Daniels folk music club; Bill George, co-founder of Touchstone Theatre; and George's wife, Bridget, of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and Touchstone Theatre.
All the longtime friends, they attended the debut, along with "Rooted" director Aidan Gilrain McKenna, an independent filmmaker and graduate of Liberty High School.
With equal time on camera, the group shared how they opened the theaters or, in Fry's case, a music venue, and how they relied on each other for creative input — off and on the stage.
The film also is filled with commentary by Lehigh University English professor Seth Moglen, who founded the Southside Initiative; Molly Bidlack, daughter of the late Jerry Bidlack, co-founder of the Young People's Philharmonic; and Touchstone Theatre Managing Director Lisa Jordan.
Also, ArtsQuest President Kassie Hilgert; Camille Armstrong, author, poet and dance instructor; Jennie Gilrain, member of Touchstone's ensemble (1983-2005); Lehigh Theater Department Chairwoman Kashi Johnson; Pennsylvania Youth Theatre Artistic Director Jill Dunn; Touchstone Theatre Artistic Director JP Jordan; and Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds.
Among the commentary, there is colorful footage from performing arts productions held in the city and collaborated on by the film's producers.
The 'pioneers'
The 75-minute film is narrated by Anisa George, an arborist, performer and daughter of Bill and Bridget George.
In "Rooted," she uses trees as a metaphor for how her parents and others planted themselves into Bethlehem's "rich cultural soil."
"Trees have things that they need and ways that they grow in the same way that artists have things that they need and ways that they grow and things that sustain them."Anisa George, narrator of "Rooted: A Story of Artists Embracing Place."
"Trees have things that they need and ways that they grow in the same way that artists have things that they need and ways that they grow and things that sustain them," she said.
"In an ecology study, if a landscape is wiped out because of fire, because of flood, and the whole area is devastated, there are certain trees that will move in first, they're called early succession or pioneer trees."
Keeping with the arbor theme, a ceremonial planting of trees was filmed at seven locations in the city, including Central Moravian Church, Yosko Park, Godfrey Daniels and Touchstone Theatre.
"Rooted" also features posthumous interviews with the People Theatre Company's co-founders, Barbara Pearson, who passed in 2018, and Ricardo Viera, who passed in 2020.
Viera, a Lehigh University professor from 1974-2018 and director of Lehigh's Art Galleries, touched on the camaraderie among artists on the heels of Bethlehem Steel's decline in the 1970s and '80s.
"Most of the people in the arts, we were rare birds, but humans like anybody else," Viera said. "We had to pay rent, we had to do things.
"Little by little, we started getting together in the community because we were noticing what we needed and what was missing."
A kinship
The kinship they felt, as evident in other poignant moments onscreen, was shared by Bill and Bridget George, who talked about their late friend John Pearson.
Pearson, the former head of Lehigh University's drama department, was the husband of Barbara Pearson.
He died in 1976 of an aneurysm.
" I remember my first summer in Bethlehem standing with my brother on the Hill to Hill bridge and looking at the north side and the south side, and feeling very special about this place."Bridget George, co-producer of "Rooted"
" I remember my first summer in Bethlehem standing with my brother on the Hill to Hill bridge and looking at the north side and the South Side," Bridget George said.
"And feeling very special about this place — the calmer of what John Pearson started."
Before he passed, John Pearson had talked to Bill George about opening a theater.
"He was now dead, and what was I going to do? It took me about four or five years, and his widow [Barbara Pearson] really held my hand," Bill George remarked of Touchstone, founded in 1981.
Bach and the Moravians
While the focus of "Rooted" is the beginnings of the arts some 50 years ago, another segment speaks of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem's history.
The choir, known as the oldest Bach Choir in the country, was founded in 1898 and traces its origins to the early 1700s when the Moravians settled on the north side of the city.
Greg Funfgeld, who served as artistic director and conductor of the Bach Choir for 38 seasons until 2021, touched on Bethlehem's earliest settlers.
The Moravians, he said, brought a "musical and spiritual" heritage.
"They were bringing music and manuscripts and instruments and a love of singing and the tradition of the Brave Love feast," Funfgeld said.
"That music was from them a part of it, like it was bread."
Funfgeld referred to Bach's resilience — a community spirit he said he sees within Bethlehem.
"He knew loss, he knew sorrow, he knew great joy," Funfgeld said. "And I think he puts all of those emotions in his music, and I think we feel more deeply because of what he helps us understand."
Bridget George, who served as executive director of the Bach Choir from 1997 to 2021, credited Funfgeld for "reinventing" the choir.
"Greg led a family of musicians who make the music here in Bethlehem, yet at a standard and with a spirit that attracts people from across the country and beyond."
Under the direction of Funfgeld, the Bach Choir expanded its programs from the annual Bach Festival to a year-round season of 40 concerts and educational programs.
Those include the Bach at Noon series and the Bel Canto Youth concerts — a total audience of more than 25,000.
How to watch "Rooted'
As the film wrapped up, Anisa George recited her final lines.
Her earlier metaphors were replaced with factual statistics.
" Since the decline of Steel steel in the 1970s, the city of Bethlehem has gained more than 40 non-profit arts organizations, galleries, and historic sites," she said.
The film's budget was about $50,000, and a campaign for donations continues.
"Rooted" will be available to rent and eventually be housed at the Special Collections branch of the Lehigh University Libraries.
