Archive for the ‘Ongoing’ tag
Philly Live Arts + Fringe PREVIEWS
On Stage Philadelphia
Philly Live Arts + Fringe Preview Nights at Plays and Players Theatre
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Monday, August 31, 2009 at 8:00 PM
On Stage Philadelphia features ten minute sneak-peak performances of upcoming productions in the Philadelphia area representing a wide range of artistic disciplines. Following the performances, audiences will have an opportunity to meet and mingle with artists, and enjoy special offers to the upcoming productions at the post-show marketplace. Audiences are provided with an opportunity to see which performances are compatible to their interests, and frequently go on to attend the full versions of what they see at preview night.
Plays & Players Theatre
1714 Delancey Place
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 735-0630
Website: www.playsandplayers.org
Map & Directions
WHAT TO DO NEARBY?
As luck would have it, Plays and Players Theatre is centrally located in the Rittenhouse Sq area with lots and lots to do nearby. OnStage Philadelphia doesn’t start til 8pm, so you can hit up any of the local bars for happy hour or dinner. PhilaCulturati favorites include Tank Bar (upstairs at Friday, Saturday, Sunday), and the Black Sheep for a laid-back atmosphere with seriously good food. Rittenhouse also has some stellar window shopping opportunities. Check out all the cute boutiques and galleries, and specialty stores. Hello World, DiBruno Bros Gourmet Market, and Barney’s New York should top your list.
Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead
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William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead
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Tickets are $10 for PhilaCulturati Readers (orig. $20) Show Dates/Times: March 12 at 8pm* March 13 at 8pm March 14 at 8pm and 12am^ March 15 at 3pm March 19 at 8pm March 20 at 8pm March 21 at 8pm and 12am^ March 22 at 3pm March 26 at 8pm March 27 at 8pm March 28 at 8pm Click here to purchase tickets or call (800) 595-4TIX. *Preview performance – pay-what-you-can. Phone reservations or walk-up only. ^Zombie Costume Night – Tickets $10, with free drink coupon if you dress in costume.
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| Dinner at The Black Sheep at 17th and Latimer
15% off Dinner with ticket stub
For beer lovers, The Black Sheep maintains the staples on draught: your Guiness, Hoegarden, Stella Artois, Chimay and PBC Rowhouse Red are ready to fill your pint. The bottled beer selection fills in the gaps, and the bar also boasts a decent wine selection, as well. Order a glass of Ancoro Pinot Grigio, The all day bar menu features the classic american gastro-pub favorites such as the gourmet burger, steamed mussels, fried calamari, baked mac and cheese, and quesadillas. The dinner entrees offer a variety you may not expect at an Irish pub: NY Strip Frites, Grilled Filet of Salmon, Sauteed Crab Cakes, Crispy Duck with Orange Plum Glaze or Pan Seared Rack of Lamb.
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African Mariner Festival ~Penn’s Landing
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Saturday, March 14, 12-4pm Independence Seaport Museum Everybody loves an African Dance and Drum performance, so why not check out the African Mariner Festival at the Independence Seaport Museum at Penn’s Landing this Saturday, March 14th, from noon to 4pm. And to make it even better, the Museum is offering BoGo tickets to PhilaCulturati readers! Tickets allow you access to the entire museum collection and all of the Festival activities including arts and crafts, performances, interactive demonstrations such as ship caulking, and educational talks. To take advantage of this offer, click on and print the coupon below.
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Rittenhouse Sq. Gallery Openings
Thursday, February 26th, 5:30-7:30, Gallery Openings at The Print Center and the Center for the Emerging Visual Artist, FREE. Rittenhouse Square.
Dinner: Devon Seafood Grill. See PhilaCulturati home page or click for special offer.
Yes, you can avoid the First Friday crowds and craziness, and still enjoy multiple, nearby art openings on the same night!
This Thursday, Feb 26th, the Rittenhouse Square area will be host to two quality art openings at non-profit galleries. The Print Center at 1614 Latimer between Spruce and Locust and The Center for the Emerging Visual Artist (CFEVA) at 237 South 18th Street in The Barclay, Suite 3A. Both receptions run from 5:30 to 7:30pm. The Print Center’s Curator John Caperton will be speaking at 5:30, so you may want to hit there first. Not two blocks away, CFEVA will have an artist reception at their opening and Devon Seafood Grill is just next door, making it a perfect place to finish for dinner and impress your companions with your impressions on the evening’s art.
The Print Center is debuting “Pulling from History: The Old Masters,” a group exhibition bringing together the work of contemporary artists whose work has been influenced by old master prints. Exhibiting artists include: Jennifer Bornstein, Ernesto Caivano, David Fertig, Sarah McEneaney, Norm Paris, Andrew Raftery, Kiki Smith and Anton Würth.
The Center for the Emerging Visual Artist gives out travel grants to its alumni and will be exhibiting the work produced during the grant recipients’ travels in “Alumni Travel Grant Exhibition by Michael Froio, Jill Greenberg, James Mundie, and Ann Northrup.” The four local artists travelled to different parts of the world and were inspired by extremely different experiences. This exhibition features prints, photographs, and installations of their work.
DINNER: Located in the prime real estate of Rittenhouse Square, Devon Seafood Grill offers an extensive menu of large-portioned entrees, a well-ranged wine list, eclectic cocktails, elegant seating (intimate booths or stylish bar seating), all without the noise and chaos of other Rittenhouse bars and restaurants.
First Hand: The only other restaurant where I’ve enjoyed such good tuna tartare is the original Bookbinders. The waitress appropriately recommended some wine choices in our price range. We were able choose our fish to-order. And the dessert portions were so generous, a) we could’ve shared and b) we had enough carrot cake to take home for dessert-seconds (you know what I’m talking about).
For a great review written by Elizabeth Halen, check out www.foodaphilia.com.
Institute of Contemporary Art’s Whenever Wednesdays ~University City
Wednesday, February 18th, 6:30pm. FREE. Whenever Wednesday’s at the Institute of Contemporary Art @ 36th and Sansom in University City.
Dinner: 10% off food total at the White Dog Cafe, 3420 Sansom Street, 215-386-9224 (about one block east on Sansom from the ICA; when you leave the ICA with the building behind you, walk straight on Sansom. The White Dog is on the right hand side.) www.whitedog.com
What does a 28-min film about French pop-musician’s Serge Gainsbourg’s love songs have to do with a feature-length film about puppy love? Well, for starters they were both filmed in 1971; are both titled “Melody;” and they are both part of this week’s aptly named “Melody, Melody and Meg” Whenever Wednesday programming at the ICA.
Starting at 6:30pm, the ICA will host a wine and cheese screening of filmmaker Jean-Christophe Averty’s music video to Gainsbourg’s provocative album Histoire de Melody Nelson. Directly after the screening, artist Anthony Campuzano and curator Kate Kraczon will tour and discuss the exhibition “Touch Sensitive” on view till March 29th in the Project Space at the ICA. 
And then at 8pm the International House at 3701 Chestnut Street will play a different Melody. This film is much lighter and quasi-innocent, Waris Hussein’s Melody is a love story between two twelve year-olds who want to get married ASAP. The film features hit music by the BeeGees and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Following the film at the International House, Philadelphia-native Meg Baird, a founding member of the folk band Espers, will perform.
There are enough cultural things to do in University City any given Wednesday to make a full night of it, so pick and choose wisely and don’t forget to eat! Just down the road from the ICA is the lovely, socially active White Dog Café. With both a magnificent bar & grill menu and full dinner menu, White Dog Café has something for everyone’s tastes and pocketbook. The bar menu has mouth-watering burgers, gourmet wraps and a free-range chicken cobb salad with avocadoes and apple smoked bacon that puts ‘salad’ on the dinner table as an entrée. Not to go unmentioned, the bar also has nachos, calamari and organic chicken wings that pair flawlessly with the reputable beer list, if you’re dropping in for a small bite.
Looking for something a little more substantial? Walk through the bar to be seated in the White Dog Café’s elegant dining room. Pepper Crusted Hawaiian Ahi Tuna, Maine Diver Scallops, Fennel Crusted Wild Striped Bass, Berkshire Pork Tenderloin, and Sesame Crusted Tofu top the menu of delectable favorites, but really I could list the whole menu for you because there’s no going wrong here. Supporting local, organic, sustainable farmers and paying employees a living wage, the White Dog Café is in a class of its own. And with entrées ranging from $17-$28 in the dining room (about $12 at the bar) its an affordable way to have gourmet food while being socially and environmentally concerned. 
Image: Anthony Campuzano, Domestic Affairs/Foreign Affairs (P. Mondrian, Pier and Ocean, 1915), 2008.
Mütter Fun
19 South 22nd Street, Mütter Museum, 215 563-3737
When it comes to being “disturbingly informative” there’s weird and then, there’s Mütter weird. Quirky, slightly eccentric and 100% unique, the Mütter Museum is basically the Marilyn Manson of the museum world. Boasting some of the world’s strangest medical pathologies, the museum was once a surgery professor’s personal collection (aka Dr. Mütter). Building on his collection, the museum now has some 20,000 + objects including anatomical specimens preserved in fluid (think: baby in a jar), archaic medical tools (before laser surgery it was approximate-and-cut surgery) and plain old weirdness.
Want to see the world’s largest colon? A lady who decomposed into soap? Conjoined twins attached at the chest? Yeh, they’ve got that.
Well before I oversell it with tantalizing facts about the body’s abnormalities and medical wonderment, let me pass one more tidbit by you: the museum is open late every Friday evening. With normal hours of operation M-F 10 to 5, the Mutter has decided to accommodate all of the Friday weird-date-night business by staying open until 9pm.
So make a date of it! The Mütter Museum is on 22nd St between Market and Chestnut (easy access from the trolley stop at 22nd and Market). Ideas: walk a half block south to Sansom St and check out the Helium Comedy Club (2031 Sansom St.) and hit up the Rum Bar or Monkey Bar both easy-going bars with a hip vibe on Walnut St just before 20th.
Chemical Heritage Museum
315 Chestnut St., 215-925-2222, chemheritage.org
The words “chemical” and “heritage” don’t usually get us excited — and let’s face it, the combination is worse. But the Chemical Heritage Foundation, which opened the doors to its 17,000-square-foot museum and conference center in Old City earlier this month, is definitely worth a visit. Ten years in the making, this $20 million project uses contemporary art, history, current events, artifacts and technology to examine science in our everyday, beaker-phobic lives.
“A museum is a visual place, and we really wanted this one to be captivating,” says curator Erin McLeary. “Even if you don’t know what something scientific is, you’ll find it interesting here.” From birth control to computers, explosions to pasteurization, the permanent exhibit conveys the roles science has played — and continues to play — in shaping modernity. The first of the changing exhibits, “Molecules That Matter,” takes a look at 10 organic molecules that have influenced the world, including familiar faces such as nylon, DNA and aspirin. “We’re not as interested in teaching science as much as we are exploring how it occurs in our world,” says McLeary.
If the science doesn’t draw you in, the striking renovation of the First National Bank (built in 1865) is worth a look. The large arching windows let in plenty of natural light — a rarity in the museum world — and the eco-friendly construction included wall tiles and floors made from recycled materials. Then, of course, there are our favorite two words: free admission.
When Visiting: so the museum will be closed from Jan 19 – 23rd for construction. Normal hours are Monday to Friday 10-4. Not exactly conducive for a “night out” but listen up: It won’t take you more than an hour to go through the exhibits, so aim to be there around three o’clock and then march over to Second St, do some shopping and hit up the bars for happy hour! Old City is chock full of great places to go for food and libations. Some PhilaCulturati favorites include the church-turned-bar National Mechanics, a local brewery with a contemporary vibe, Triumph Brew Pub, and the Khyber the city’s best hipster hangout.