
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, January 25-31, 2023
Prints honoring bell hooks, more Lunar New Year festivities, film screenings, and more
This week features an exhibit inspired by bell hooks’ poetry, film screenings featuring stories from Iranian and Iraqi perspectives, a play on Jewish emigration in the early 90s, and the Lunar New Year vibrations continue. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.

Previews
2 minute read

PBS presents Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines
Documenting the history and future of queer comics
The documentary film chronicles the timeline of queer comics, from Mary Wings to contemporary artists today. Kathryn Smith Pyle previews.

Previews
4 minute read

1812 Productions and Jennifer Childs present Broads
Legendary “naughty” comedy
1812 Productions presents Broads, a hit cabaret that celebrates the bawdiest, boldest, and funniest ladies of the 1920s through the 1960s. Kiran Pandey previews.

Previews
2 minute read

Legendary DJ Jerry Blavat spun a whole new world for Philly teens in the 1960s
Live from Wagner’s Ballroom
Local music icon Jerry Blavat, a South Philly native, passed away on January 20, 2023. Susan Schaefer remembers how a whole new world opened up when she danced to Blavat’s tunes at Wagner’s Ballroom in the 1960s.

Essays
5 minute read

The Clay Studio presents Figuring Space
An American self-portrait
A new sculpture exhibition at the Clay Studio features diverse artists from across the country whose figurative works demand a deeper look. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read

Roundabout Theatre Company presents Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play
Marching against racism
Charles Fuller’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning play takes a look at racism in the US from 40 years before it—and remains relevant 40 years after it. David Block previews.

Previews
2 minute read
Quintessence Theatre Group presents Clifford Odets’s Waiting for Lefty
Unite or die
Clifford Odets’s pro-labor drama remains relevant, despite a clumsily didactic production by Quintessence Theatre Group. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read

Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes, by Stephen A. Smith
Stephen A. speaks
Longtime Philly sports columnist Stephen A. Smith went from The Inquirer to the airwaves of ESPN, and his new memoir details a fascinating life. Stephen Silver reviews.

Reviews
4 minute read

Dance Theatre of Harlem presents premieres by William Forsythe and Robert Garland
Dance to take you higher
Dance Theatre of Harlem returns to Penn Live Arts with the world premiere of William Forsythe’s Blake Works IV (The Barre Project) and the Philly premiere of Robert Garland’s Higher Ground, set to music by Stevie Wonder. Melissa Strong reviews.

Reviews
4 minute read

Theatre in the X and EgoPo Classic Theater present Langston Hughes’s The Ways of White Folks
Philly’s own Renaissance
Theatre in the X and EgoPo's immersive adaptation of The Ways of White Folks, a classic Langston Hughes story collection, deserves the buzz it’s been getting at Glen Foerd mansion. Jeannine Cook reviews.

Reviews
5 minute read

Opera Philadelphia presents David T. Little’s Black Lodge
Accepting your dark side
Opera Philadelphia brings its dark existential opera film to theaters this weekend. C. M. Crockford previews.

Previews
1 minute read

UArts’s Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery presents Alex Da Corte’s The Street
An enigmatic trip
Expect the unexpected at a colorful and challenging new solo exhibition from internationally known interdisciplinary artist Alex Da Corte, a Camden native and UArts grad. Emily B. Schilling reviews.

Reviews
4 minute read
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Also on BSR

The Weekly BSR Arts and Culture Roundup, January 18-24
Dancing all night at PLA, Lunar New Year, and more cultural festivities
The upcoming week features offerings from Simpatico, the Weitzman, Penn Live Arts, Penn Museum, and more. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.

Previews
4 minute read

BSR Classical Music Interludes: January 2023, Part 2
An overflow of music—and a little mystery, too
Gail Obenreder rounds up even more January classical music offerings in and around the city.

Previews
4 minute read

Main Line Early Music presents The Publick Pleasure: Music of 18th-Century Philadelphia
The tunes of the Revolution
Philadelphia has a thriving and innovative musical scene, but that’s nothing new as The Publick Pleasure proved at a Main Line Early Music concert highlighting favorites of the 18th century that are almost unknown today. Gail Obenreder reviews.

Reviews
4 minute read

William Way LGBT Community Center presents Selections from the Archives: Rami George
The truth about family photos
This look at the William Way archives from Rami George highlights the artist's knack for curating material objects, which take on a fresh, interactive meaning in this gallery. Jake Foster reviews.

Reviews
3 minute read

As fights for fair labor continue, Waiting For Lefty is a timely revival at Quintessence Theatre Group
“A story that needs to be told”
A revival of the American classic Waiting For Lefty highlights unionization efforts within and outside the arts industry. Melissa Lin Sturges speaks with director Kyle Haden about the power of storytelling and the importance of the collective.
Features
5 minute read

The Weekly BSR Arts and Culture Roundup, January 11-17, 2023
Revisiting the blueprint for MLK Day
Kyle V. Hiller rounds up MLK Day events in the Philly area.

Previews
3 minute read

The New Jersey Symphony presents Daniil Trifonov Performs Brahms
Pure music
Star soloist Daniil Trifonov brought lyricism and weight to Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto in the New Jersey Symphony’s first concert program of 2023. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read

Voices In Power presents its Poetry Open Mic Experience, featuring Courtney Lynn, Scott Free, and Sunny CeLight
Voices in power and nothing but
At January’s Voices In Power open mic, a monthly celebration of local and national poets in the Fashion District’s REC Philly, hundreds turned up for the show. Chris DeMento was there.
Essays
4 minute read

I love Greta Thunberg — but why is it ok for her to mock guys with small dicks?
Fame is no excuse for body shame
Misogynist influencer Andrew Tate deserved to be burned on Twitter by climate activist Greta Thunberg, but Roz Warren says it's time to stop the body-shaming.
Essays
4 minute read

Reforming Philadelphia, 1682-2022, by Richardson Dilworth
The three hundred years’ war
What makes city reform possible, and how did we achieve it in the past? A new book on the history of Philly’s political reforms explains, and argues, we’re on the cusp of another cycle of change. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read