Arts & Culture

Ruben Studdard, who won the second season of “American Idol” in 2003 and followed up with two chart-topping albums that went gold and platinum, will perform at Symphony Hall as the “Special Guest Star” of singer/pianist Jim Brickman’s Comfort and Joy Holiday Celebration, at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23.

The owner of Smartivities Showcase has opened a second location at the Promenade Saucon Valley.

The event is organized by Interlace Cultural y Desarrollo Integral de Lehigh Valley in partnership with the Baum Art School and the City of Allentown.

Drake Bell, who is best known for his starring roles on Nickelodeon’s “The Amanda Show” with Amanda Bynes from 1999-02, and “Drake & Josh” from 2004-07, will perform at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at Signature Event Center, 137 Erin Lane, Brodheadsville.

11Fest will be from 5-11 p.m. Nov. 11 (11/11) inside the Main Library at 11 W. Church St., Bethlehem.

A four-man crew has been making haste since Oct. 1 in putting up the decorations, with most of the wreaths, ribbons, light wraps, trees and stars currently hanging on light poles above streets in South Bethlehem and along the city’s bridges.

The Indoor Auto Racing Series, in which the cars compete on the concrete floor, will drive into the area Jan. 3-4 for the ninth running of the Ironton Global Allentown Indoor Races.

The festival, which features which retailers, artisans and food in heated tents on the SteelStacks campus, will open for its 32nd year on the weekend of Nov. 15.

Easton's Frank Pintabone announced Wednesday that a Hispanic Resource Day, catering to the needs of the city's Hispanic population, will be hosted at the Easton Area Community Center in November.

About 48,000 people attended the two-weekend Oktoberfest festival Oct. 4-6 and 11-13, ArtsQuest said.

You can still get tickets to the show, but as of Sunday morning, just two premium balcony seats remained, and general admission floor tickets were up for resale at a 131% markup.

In his first public performance since the "American Idol" episode with him on it aired, Allentown singer Seth Witcher on Thursday was cagey about his status on the show.

Dashboard Confessional will perform at Archer Music Hall in Allentown on Tuesday, April 14. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13.

Black Stone Cherry, which is observing the 20th anniversary of its self-titled debut album and is best known for its hits "Lonely Train" and "White Trash Millionaire," will perform at 8 p.m. July 10 on the Univest stage, at 301 W. Mill St.

Box Fest XVII, a professional boxing card, will take over the new downtown arena at 8 p.m. April 3, it was announced.

Seth Witcher, 26, was shown for a total of 20 seconds of screen time in a montage of acts on which the judges disagreed during auditions for the show at Belmont University in Nashville.

Actor/comedian Patrick Roach, who plays the character Randy on “Trailer Park Boys,” will bring Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic to Signature Saloon in Stroudsburg on April 1 and to The Gin Mill and Grill in Northampton on April 4.

Colombian band Grupo Niche, whose album "Cielo De Tambores" hit No. 3 on that chart, will perform at 6 p.m. July 30, as a preview night for the festival, which will run July 31-Aug. 9.

Listen to the Dissonance will return for a third year Friday, Feb. 27, at Charles A. Brown Ice House at 56 River St., Bethlehem. Performers will be vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Judah Kim, singer-songwriter Clover, songwriter-producer Barney Cortez and Nashville-based songwriter Patty PerShayla.

John Melendez, who was known as "Stuttering John" on the Stern show, then spent years in the cast on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," will perform Friday, March 6, at Civic Theatre of Allentown's The Hub at Theatre514, it was announced.

Rapper Freddie Gibbs will perform at Allentown's Archer Music Hall at 7 p.m. June 4, it was announced. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6.

Buckcherry, known best for its 2006 quadruple-platinum hit "Crazy Bitch" and 2007's double-platinum "Sorry," says on its website that it will perform at Allentown's Archer Music Hall on May 19.