The following article is by Amos Wolf, our multimedia editor, who is helping to organize this festival
On January 23rd, 1956, a B-25 bomber crash-landed in the Monongahela River, right near the steel mills of Homestead. The three crew members were rescued, but the plane was never recovered, sparking decades of investigations and speculation about what happened to the missing plane, including rumors that the bomber carried top-secret cargo or experimental government technology.
This Saturday, The Giltterbox Theater, a grassroots, nonprofit, volunteer-run theater in Homestead, PA is holding their second annual “Mystery on the Mon Festival,” named after the plane disappearance.
For transparency, Payday Report contributor Amos Wolf is on the board of the theater, which calls itself “a place for weirdos” and aims to make grassroots performing arts affordable and accessible for performers and patrons throughout the area.
These stories include important chapters in labor history, including "The Millionaries and the Masses".
The film, which was produced for the educational film company LCA, is more dramatic, poetic, and action-packed than anyone would expect from supplemental grade-school material. Released in 1973, the 25-minute film follows the paths of a Slav coal heaver, an Irish labor organizer, and both Frick and Carnegie through the bloody events of the 1892 Carnegie Steel Strike.
It was directed by William Francisco, who is also known for his work in theater and opera. Francisco went on to become a beloved professor at Wesleyan University, where he mentored many prominent actors, writers and directors, including Lin Manuel Miranda and Bradley Whitford.
Saturday’s screening will also feature a short documentary about Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski.
The festival will continue through the afternoon and evening with a plethora of activities including pro wrestling, puppetry, live bands, a rock-paper-scissors tournament, and a crankie performance. Crankies are a pre-cinematic Appalachian folk art, in which a large illustrated scroll is “cranked” along to tell a story, often accompanied by narration, music, and shadow puppets.
The event is provided free to the community through support from the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area, whose funding was provided in part by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
