Salisbury Press

Lehigh Valley residents and visitors can travel back in time aboard the Josiah White II canal boat which plies the Lehigh Canal.

Instead of pulling a canal boat laden with coal, produce or other items, today's mules, Hank and George, pull a canal boat of tourists.

The 40-minute trip passes canal-side greenery to the Locktender's House and Guard Lock No. 8. An on-board tour guide tells the story of the Lehigh Canal and what life was like for those working and living along the...

A little "Gruff!": The world premiere of the musical, "Gruff!," continues through July 26, 10 a.m., 1 p.m. Wednesday - Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday, Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre (MSMT) , Studio Theatre, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. Lana Gallo (Gruff the Goat), above, with Aquifer the Troll (puppeteered by Christopher Sheer), leads the interactive, puppet-filled musical. MSMT commissioned the show from the theater group, Doppelskope. Tickets: muhlenberg.edu/SMT, 484-664-3333...

"Earth To Echo" echoes several summer sci-fi and coming-of-age movies, notably "Cloverfield" (2008), "The Goonies" (1985), "Stand By Me" (1986), "E.T." (1982) and "American Graffiti" (1973).

While "Earth To Echo" is derivitive, it is "the" discovery of the 2014 summer movie season so far, with performances by four pre-teen relative unknowns in their big-screen leading role debuts.

"Earth To Echo" is simply a lot of fun. It's uncomplicated, unassuming and naive in its story of...

Exploring the obstacles that females face might seem centuries beyond Shakespeare. Suffragettes and coffee klatches do not form the stuff of Elizabethan plays.

But "Women of Will" playwright and star, Tina Packer, says the Bard's sensitivity and empathy enabled him to uncover the depths of the female psyche.

"Shakespeare actually saw the predicament women were in," says Packer, founding artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, Mass.

"Women of Will," July 20...