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Arts & Entertainment

Local Coffeehouse Finally Gets Center Stage After Five Years

Burlap and Bean, a favorite place in Newtown Square to see live music outside of Philly, takes a step up with their brand new stage.

NEWTOWN SQUARE–When Burlap and Bean opened in November 2006, there was plenty of coffee, community and music. Since then, this local Newtown Square coffeehouse has been named as one of the top venues in the Philadelphia area by CBS Philly and was the 2007 Best Coffeehouse according to the Main Line Times. After five years of establishing themselves as a great place to catch a show, it was about time to make their music venue legitimate. They got a stage.

Many musicians have shared in the past that they love playing at Burlap and Bean because it's more of a listening room, where the audience can really become engaged with the performers. The casual atmosphere almost makes it a living room, but after years of success and plenty of crossed wires (literally) Burlap and Bean reached out to the community for funding.

In April the coffeehouse held a fundraiser, which yielded $3,000 to help build the new stage. Regulars like Bob and Phyllis Markowitz, along with Ray and Linda Hickethier, were one of the top, generous donors.

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Over Memorial Day weekend the build-a-stage project began with a team of family and friends. In about a week, it was finished. Charlie Kramp and Phil Bachetti worked together to create a stage that would be functional, but also keep the same vibe as before.

Professional mason Bachetti had done the brickwork around the coffee roaster and the main counter so he was ideal to bring back for the brickwork on the stage. He normally works on lager projects like schools, hospitals and office buildings, so the stage was a nice change. This was the first stage he had ever worked on.

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"The smaller fancy work is sort of fun," said Bachetti. He shared that one of the interesting parts of building the stage was working with a radius (semicircle) instead of a traditional straight wall.

"To construct a radius wall or radius steps with bricks that are shaped like rectangles, its no trick but it is different. It looks neat when you're all done because you are making something circular out of something straight," explained Bachetti.

After Kramp and Bachetti had their original design, they went back and forth with township architects to find an ideal plan that fit both the coffeehouse's ideas and was compliant to the township's regulations.

On Saturday, June 4, Burlap and Bean celebrated the unveiling of their new stage with jazz provided by Equinox and a BYOB martini bar. The coffeehouse provided all the mixers and garnishes, while guests just had to bring their favorite vodka.

Musician and resident sound technician Kyle Swartzwelder did double duty as he monitored the audio board between mixing an array of cocktails that included fruity favorites like Lemon Drops, Cosmos, and blackberry martinis. They also featured a menu of non-alcoholic concoctions for kids or designated drivers. Swartzwelder wasn't taking any tips that night, and simply pointed to the new stage saying, “that's our tip."

Ken Rimple was thrilled when his the unveiling. He felt honored to have his band be one of the first on the new stage. Equinox has been playing at Burlap and Bean for almost two years.

"It was always nice because you felt you were with everyone, but it is nice to be above the crowd," explained Rimple. Audiences can get a better view of all the diverse acts that will take this stage in the coming months. Rimple admitted he was a little nervous while setting the band up.

"I didn't want to scratch anything," he joked.

When Burlap and Bean opened, they wanted music but wasn't sure how well it would do so they held off on building a stage. Saturday night celebrated not just the construction of the stage, but what it meant.

The stage represents their original commitment of bringing the best coffee and music to the suburbs. Whether you sipped on a chocolate martini or a virgin mimosa, or even a standard cup of joe, there was bound to be a smile on your face. And, as always, there was good music to be enjoyed.

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