Essays
1096 results
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Alamo Drafthouse theaters have a new owner. It’s time for them to come to Philly.
The need for screens
The popular Austin-based movie-theater chain Alamo Drafthouse (recently acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment) has spread to cities across the country, but never to Philly. Stephen Silver asks if it’s time to change that.
Essays
3 minute read
The hardest thing about stuttering isn’t stuttering at all: it’s how people react to it.
If I want your help, I’ll ask.
Samuel Dunsiger has a speech disability, but the hardest part about talking to others isn't his stuttering; it's the assumptions people make.
Essays
4 minute read
A UArts student speaks: “It’s clear that I’ll have to settle, no matter where I go.”
A young writer promises that his school’s demise won’t silence his craft.
Jay Clark was a rising junior at UArts and this year’s winner of the school’s Creative Writing Poetry Prize. On May 31, he got a tuition bill. The same day, news broke of the school’s closure. What’s next for him and hundreds of others?
The Wilma’s Hilma does not do justice to Hilma af Klint’s art, life, or legacy
Women artists still deserve better
A new opera about the visionary but little-known painter Hilma af Klint perpetuates longstanding dismissals of women artists and may be a keen disappointment to fans of her work. Melissa Strong considers.
Essays
5 minute read
These basement singalongs queer the Broadway canon and help me reclaim my voice
The soundtrack of our way out
When Anndee Hochman was 13, a teacher told her she couldn't sing. Decades later, a basement Broadway singalong in Manhattan's West Village taught her something new.
Essays
5 minute read
A University of the Arts professor speaks: “Knowing it’s the last time I’ll be here is unbearable.”
Students and faculty pledge to keep creating despite their school’s "unconscionable" demise
Philly novelist Elise Juska founded the creative writing program at UArts, where she taught for 24 years. She brings us inside her last days at the university, alongside her irrepressible students.
Essays
6 minute read
From Shanghai to Philadelphia: An international alum speaks on the closure of UArts
Because of UArts, Philly will always be part of me.
When Shanghai native Wenlu Bao wanted to continue her arts education, she came to UArts, which led her to museums throughout our region. She was shocked to see the news about its closing. She remembers her time there.
Three free road trips from Philadelphia offer a treasure-hunting trifecta
Hit the road (or the river) to discover fossils, Jersey diamonds, and petroglyphs
Writer Bart Stump is a seasoned local adventurer. He recommends three summer destinations for all kinds of Philly-area treasure hunters, with itineraries in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Essays
4 minute read
I’m a Jewish dramaturg, and The Last Yiddish Speaker taught me a lot about the spaces we need to develop Jewish plays.
Why does culturally specific play development matter?
As Deborah Zoe Laufer’s The Last Yiddish Speaker premieres at InterAct, Philly dramaturg and writer Alix Rosenfeld shares her role in developing the play, and why culturally specific spaces matter for marginalized artists, including Jewish ones.
Essays
5 minute read
As a trans actor, I’m dismayed by the “testosterone-driven” concept of the all-male Macbeth at Quintessence
If we don’t break down gender barriers in casting, Philly theater will continue to stall.
A promotional note from Quintessence Theatre Group artistic director Alex Burns about why he’s staging an “all-male” Macbeth drew a strong response from the Philly theater community. Bruce Baldini speaks up as a trans male actor.
Essays
6 minute read