Discover Music, Film, Art and Family Fun at the Ware Center This November

October 21, 2026 by Cori Jackson

From lively marimba rhythms and traditional flamenco to thought-provoking documentary film and family theater, November brings a wide variety of arts experiences to Millersville University’s Ware Center for the Arts in downtown Lancaster. With free community events, gallery exhibits, and performances for different ages and interests, there are plenty of ways to make the arts part of your month.

Here’s what’s coming up at the Ware Center!

Celebrate First Friday with Art and Music

Friday, November 6 | Free events

Make the Ware Center part of your First Friday plans with an evening of visual art and music.

At 5 p.m., visit the Regitz Gallery for the opening of Overshare: I Did This for Me, an exhibition by Lancaster-based artist Shauna L. Yorty. Through cardboard collage and mixed media, Yorty explores survival, transformation, and self-discovery in vibrant, deeply personal works. The opening reception runs from 5 to 8 p.m., with an artist talk at 6 p.m. The exhibition remains on view through November 24.

A cardboard collage animal by Shauna Yorty — Artwork from Overshare: I Did This for Me by Shauna L. Yorty. Photo courtesy of Shauna L.Yorty.

Then, at 7 p.m., discover the fascinating history and science of the marimba during the free Heartland Marimba Festival. Members of Heartland Marimba will explore the instrument’s international roots, its place in classical music, and its connections to Pennsylvania musicians.

Hear the Sounds of Marimbas, Xylophones and Flamenco

Heartland Marimba Jukebox Night with Friends
Saturday, November 7 | 7:30 p.m. | Adults $20, students $15

Heartland Marimba returns with an energetic evening of music spanning generations and genres. Hear the distinctive sounds of marimbas and xylophones bring modern pop inspirations, early 20th-century ragtime, Argentine tango, and irresistible grooves to life. With special guest performers joining the ensemble, this is a lively take on familiar musical styles and unexpected discoveries alike.

Members of Heartland Marimba throw their mallets in the air — *Heartland Marimba*

Flamenco y Sol: Flamenco at Its Essence
Friday, November 13 | 7:30 p.m. | Adults $29, students $21

Experience the passion and expressive power of traditional flamenco through live music, singing, guitar, and dance. Rooted in the tablao tradition, this performance celebrates the dynamic interplay between the artists and the spontaneity that makes each performance unique. Arrive early for a pre-show lecture by Dr. Ana Börger-Greco at 6:30 p.m.

Flamenco dancers pose at the end of a song — *Flamenco y Sol. Photo credit: Lisa Greenberg.*

Explore History Through Film and Conversation

Disposable Humanity
Tuesday, November 17 | 7 p.m. | Free

The Ware Center’s On Screen/In Person series presents Disposable Humanity, a documentary examining the Nazi Aktion T4 program and the systematic persecution and murder of disabled people under Nazi rule.

The evening offers an opportunity to engage with this difficult history beyond the screen. A pre-show community panel begins at 6:15 p.m., followed by the film at 7 p.m. After the screening, audiences can participate in a question-and-answer session with director Cameron Mitchell. The event is co-presented by the MU Disability Film Festival.

Angel statues on the Disposable Humanity poster — *Disposable Humanity*

Make Room for Family Arts Experiences

ExtraGive Junior
Friday, November 20 | 5–8 p.m. | Free

Bring the kids for an evening celebrating the joy of giving back! ExtraGive Junior features free entertainment and activities hosted by community benefit organizations. A puppetry workshop led by performers from Grand Pistachio begins at 6:30 p.m., offering another opportunity for young participants to explore their creativity while connecting with the spirit of community generosity.

Layer the Walls: Turn of the Century
Saturday, November 21 | 3 p.m. | Adults $15, students $10

Family Fun Fest welcomes audiences to discover the stories hidden within the walls of a New York City tenement. Using puppetry, masks, and live action, Layer the Walls: Turn of the Century brings to life the experiences of immigrant families, from an Irish immigrant helping build the Brooklyn Bridge to Italian brothers surviving the Great Blizzard of 1888 and Russian Jewish garment workers fighting for safer working conditions.

Recommended for ages 8 and up, this engaging production combines theater and history in a way that invites families to learn and imagine together. Free children’s activities begin in the lobby at 2 p.m., before the performance.

A puppet family — *A scene from Grand Pistachio’s* Layer the Walls: Turn of the Century. Credit: Hyphen Photography.

Plan Your November Visit

Whether you’re looking for a night of live music, a meaningful film experience, an opportunity to discover local visual art, or a creative outing with the family, the Ware Center has something to explore this November.

Explore upcoming events, find accessibility information, and plan your visit. We look forward to welcoming you!

A puppet play with a whole lot of heart explores the stories of immigrants

February 7, 2025 by Cori Jackson

With a performance that proved timely, emotional, and educational, the theatre company Grand Pistachio brought a puppet play with a whole lot of heart to the Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center in Millersville on January 25.

Layer the Walls: Midcentury asked some interesting questions – What if you discovered an old apartment covered with forty layers of wallpaper? What if each layer revealed the stories of past tenants? But on a deeper level, the questions posed by the play were much more resonant – Why do the stories of immigrants matter? And how have they shaped the America we know today?

The play, the second in the Layer the Walls series imagined by Grand Pistachio, explores the living history of a tenement apartment in New York City that was once home to hundreds of new immigrants and migrants. The performers use shadow and rod puppetry, along with half masks, to bring to life the stories of Jewish, Chinese, and Puerto Rican families between the years of 1930 and 1970.

Gwok Sing & Yuk Laan (1930-1965) follows the story of Gwok Sing, who traveled to New York City in 1930 and undergoes an epic journey to enter the country—including jumping into the freezing Hudson River—before he can finally reunite with his family in 1965. Based on the true life story of the company’s choreographer’s father, the piece also explores a young woman’s challenges in adjusting to a new life in America and her discovery of Chinese dance as a way to communicate.

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Sadie & Lazer (1948) explores the journey of Lazer Rosenberg, a Holocaust survivor who writes over 400 letters to find his last remaining family member and travels to New York City to start a new life. As he gets to know his long-lost cousin, he tries to find a way to honor his family and previous life amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. In the end, his story makes you wonder—when taking in someone who has survived the unthinkable, who is really saving who?

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Finally, Josefina & Carlos (1970), tells the tale of young Josefina, who comes from a family of Puerto Rican immigrants. Watching her mother go in and out of the hospital, Josefina is desperate for change. Her cousin joins the Young Lords to fight for the rights of Puerto Ricans, but Josefina has much to learn about the power of protest and the importance of community.

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The engaging use of puppetry and masks made the show a moving experience for both adults and children alike.

“We LOVED this performance,” said one attendee. “It was incredibly moving, visually stunning, and had us engaged in conversations for days afterwards with our kids. These stories have uncovered more stories!”

As part of our ongoing efforts to make the arts more accessible, our young audience members were invited to a pre-show touch show for blind and low-vision patrons, ASL interpretation was performed throughout the play, and the members of the cast hosted a bilingual post-show workshop on shadow and rod puppetry with children who are involved with the PA Migrant Education Program.

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The event was typical of the incredible experiences offered by Grand Pistachio.

“While visiting the NYC Tenement Museum, we learned that 40 layers of wallpaper were found on the walls of an old apartment,” says the company’s show information. “Each piece had been applied by a new immigrant family in an attempt to make the space their own – every layer filled with hopes, dreams, and incredible stories of survival. We created Layer the Walls to honor the voices of people often forgotten in history books. As layers of the set are peeled away, the characters’ stories of immigration are revealed; reminding us of the prejudice our country has faced in the past to more effectively examine the prejudice we face today.”

By highlighting the stories of people who might not be in the history books or cultural records, Grand Pistachio helps young audiences build empathy, see resiliency in action, and provide a broader sense of the world and how their own stories fit into that history.

Don’t miss another incredible Family Fun Fest with the Arts at Millersville! Sign up for our mailing list or head to our upcoming events page to see what’s next.

A day “packed” with drumming, dancing, and family fun!

November 20, 2024November 19, 2024 by Cori Jackson

Members of the Pack Drumline perform at the Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center in Millersville.

It’s no secret that The Pack Drumline brings big energy – it came roaring through the screen when they performed on America’s Got Talent to widespread acclaim. But when they arrived at the Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center in Millersville, Pennsylvania, for a Family Fun Fest, the Pack Drumline brought an energy that could have filled an entire stadium.

During the performance on Sunday, November 17, 2024, the sold-out audience of 650, including over a hundred children, found it impossible to sit still in their seats as The Pack performed Southern show-style drumming to heart-thumping tracks like “All I Do is Win” by DJ Khaled. The group drummed upside down, in human pyramids, and on moving scaffolding, making beats on actual percussion instruments but also on buckets, stools, and ladders—blending in Step dance and a healthy dose of audience call-and-response to keep everyone on their toes.

The White Wolf, director of the Pack Drumline, drums on garbage cans on top of a moving scaffold. — *Photo by Taylor Ann Photography*

The Pack’s musicality was top-notch, but their showmanship and ability to involve the crowd in creating the spectacle set them apart from other percussion shows. Ending with an audience Q&A, one young man wanted to know, “How do we start a petition to get you guys on the Superbowl?” The audience roared its approval as the White Wolf, the group’s director, answered, “We’re working on it!”

The Pack Drumline's trap set drummer, The Battery, riles up the crowd at the Winter Center. — *Photo by Taylor Ann Photography*

The Family Fun Fest began with a packed lobby filled with creative kids’ activities led by numerous campus and community organizations, from Millersville’s “Creative Experiences for the Young Child” class to Girls on the Run to the North Museum of Nature and Science. Children made drums out of paper bowls and kazoos out of popsicle sticks and tried their hand at real instruments, enriching their experience through arts education and cultural learning. (Check out LNP’s excellent photos of kids enjoying the pre-show activities.)

Free School Show

On Monday, November 18, The Pack Drumline gave an encore performance—this time during a free school show that hosted over 600 students from 14 local schools. The energy of the students, from elementary through high school, was palpable. “We live for this,” said the group’s DJ.

The free school show is part of the Arts at Millersville’s youth and community outreach programming, which relies almost exclusively on grants and donations from generous individuals and organizations in the community. Include the Arts at MU – The Ware Center in your giving day plans on November 22 during the ExtraGive and help us to lift all voices, reflect all cultures, and open all doors through the arts!

Students from local schools enjoyed a free school showing of the Pack Drumline at the Winter Center. — *Photo by Cori Jackson*

Stay in Touch

Don’t miss another incredible concert with the Arts at Millersville! Sign up for our mailing list or head to our upcoming events page to see what’s next.