The 2024 Philadelphia Film Festival presents Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 and Sean Baker's Anora
The 33rd Philadelphia Film Festival kicks off with two great new movies
The Philadelphia Film Festival kicks off its 2024 screenings with September 5 and Anora, two great films sure to draw a lot of buzz as they head into their upcoming releases. Stephen Silver reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
The BSR Podcast: Season 9, Episode 3: Morgan Bassichis presents Can I Be Frank? at the Wilma
Exploring the life of historic queer comedian Frank Mara
Podcast host Darnelle Radford sits down with Morgan Bassichis, the creator of a new show about comedian Frank Maya, one of the first openly gay performers on mainstream airwaves like MTV. Can I Be Frank? comes to Philly Oct 25-26, 2024.
Podcast
1 minute read
Teatro Esperanza presents Tanaquil Márquez’s Nichos
Capturing Philly’s Mexican American experience
An ambitious, sold-out world premiere at North Philly’s Esperanza Arts Center combines real-life stories from Mexican American locals and their families with rich, fantastical cultural elements. An Nichols reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
The Institute for Contemporary Art presents Where I Learned To Look: Art from the Yard
Art without walls
A new exhibition at Philly’s ICA explores what artists express in work made for the outdoors, from shrines to found objects to decorated cars, and a mirrored orb by Jeff Koons. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
EgoPo Classic Theater and Abrahamse & Meyer Productions present Tennessee Williams’s The Knightly Quest
Reviving a modern queer fable
To kick off the “B-Side” series of its current Queer Revolutions season, EgoPo welcomes longtime collaborators Abrahamse & Meyer Productions with The Knightly Quest, a relatively little-known piece by Tennessee Williams. Melissa Strong reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
Philly artists get out the vote with To the Polls 2024, now on view in Love Park
“If you are voting, you are hoping for the future.”
Prolific curator and Streets Dept blog founder Conrad Benner is back with To the Polls 2024, a bi-annual nonpartisan project from Mural Arts urging Philadelphians—who may decide this Presidential election—to vote. Alaina Johns visits.
Features
4 minute read
The Wexler Gallery presents Jomo Tariku’s Juxtaposed
A fresh take on old and new art
Ethiopian American artist and design star Jomo Tariku, whose work spans from the PMA and the Smithsonian to Marvel’s onscreen Wakanda, gets his first-ever solo show at Fishtown’s Wexler Gallery. An Nichols reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
Angel Corella opens up about his new Le Corsaire and 10 years at the helm of Philadelphia Ballet
“A star of his generation in dance”
Ten years ago, when Angel Corella became artistic director of Philadelphia Ballet, the company needed new ideas. As the premiere of his revamped Le Corsaire approaches, he speaks with Camille Bacon-Smith about what he brings to the company, and what’s next.
Features
6 minute read
Piffaro and TENET present Triomphi: Petrarch’s Triumphs Expressed in Music of the Italian Renaissance
A musical tribute to the founder of humanism
In a glorious season opener, Renaissance band Piffaro and the vocalists of TENET explored the musical world of the great poet Francesco Petrarch, including his unfulfilled lifelong love (concert streaming November 1-14). Gail Obenreder reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
BSR Classical Interludes, October 17-31, 2024
More classical music in the Philly area
Offerings from Pyxis Piano Trio, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Jasper String Quartet, and more round out the rest of the month. Gail Obenreder previews.
Previews
3 minute read
Hedgerow Theatre presents Dave Droxler’s Robin & Me: My Little Spark of Madness
A marvelous madcap journey in time
This solo show from Delco native Dave Droxler mixes his real-life childhood in the Philly burbs with his love for a slew of comedians, especially his imaginary friend and real idol Robin Williams. Erin Dohony reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
Theatre Horizon presents Jonathan Larson's tick, tick…BOOM!
In Norristown, Larson lives
Jonathan Larson’s early 90s one-man show continues to find new life in light of his legacy with a production by Theatre Horizon. Stephen Silver previews.
Reviews
3 minute read
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Also on BSR
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, October 17-23, 2024
Halloween laughs, WEIRDO Fest, Undue Burden, and NICHOS this week
PHILADANCO!’s new show, Crossroads Comedy Theater gets hilariously spooky, a new accessible workshop series at Painted Bride, and Esperanza Arts Center opens its new show NICHOS. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Previews
4 minute read
The Strides Collective presents Matt Shvyrkov’s Confabulation
Having a lot of character
The Strides Collective presents Matt Shvyrkov’s Confabulation, a frequently engaging portrait of misfits that seems at odds with its overly ambiguous structure. Kiran Pandey reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
1812 Productions presents This Is the Week That Is 2024
Outdated election-year satire
1812’s popular political satire revue This Is the Week That Is returns to Plays & Players to take on the 2024 election in its 19th edition. But out-of-touch sketches offer mostly limp laughs. Josh Herren reviews.
Reviews
2 minute read
Philadelphia Theatre Company and Edgewood Entertainment present Erlina Ortiz’s La Egoísta
Who gets to be selfish?
In Erlina Ortiz’s La
Egoísta, now getting its Philly
premiere at PTC, two very different sisters (one an irreverent comedian and the
other a devoutly Christian bank employee) navigate the demands of career and
caretaking. Krista Mar reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
The BSR Podcast: Season 9, Episode 2: Widener U and Lone Brick Theatre Company's Frankenstein
Hear all about a limited engagement of an imaginative new take on Mary Shelley
Podcast host Darnelle Radford sits down with Dave Ebersole and Mick Loro, who share about their new adaptation of Frankenstein, onstage at Widener University Oct 10-20, 2024.
Podcast
1 minute read
The BSR Podcast: Season 9, Episode 1: Erlina Ortiz on the Philly premiere of her La Egoista
Philly playwright Erlina Ortiz talks with Darnelle Radford about her new show
Erlina Ortiz's new play, La Egoista, gets its Philly premiere at Philadelphia Theatre Company. She sat down with podcast host Darnelle Radford ahead of the October 9, 2024 opening.
Podcast
1 minute read
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, October 10-16, 2024
OURfest, Indigenous Peoples Day, Confabulation, and more
Celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day in Philly all weekend, Confabulation by Strides Collective, and block parties for the vote. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Previews
4 minute read
Quintessence Theatre Group presents Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, adapted by Martin Crimp
A classic tale with contemporary flair
Quintessence kicks off its 15th anniversary season with a bold adaptation of Cyrano, casting the charismatic yet insecure hero as a defiant poet fighting against mediocrity and bourgeois conformity. Josh Herren reviews.
Reviews
2 minute read
Philadelphia Artists’ Collective presents August Strindberg’s The [Happy Hour] Dance of Death
Back to PAC’s creative roots
Philadelphia Artists’ Collective continues its history of inventive productions by staging August Strindberg’s Dance of Death at the Franklin Inn Club, with a chance for the audience to mingle with the actors in character. Cameron Kelsall previews.
Previews
3 minute read
Fever Dream Repertory presents Steve Yockey’s Mercury
A queer, occult delight
Fever Dream Repertory, a new local company, lands at Plays and Players for the Philly premiere of Mercury, a pitch-black horror comedy that evokes Hitchcock’s comedy and a queer and bloody Twilight Zone. C.M. Crockford reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read