Welcome to the latest exclusive monthly tips for our subscribers!

Well, that was quick: it's time again for our monthly BSR in the Wild update! The first Friday of every month we bring you our hottest tips on what's on our radar, through three sections: Find Us!, Neil's Nod of the Month, and Recommended Reading.

Find Us! is exclusive subscriber tips on which events and exhibitions our staff is heading to in the coming month. There's a lot happening, this month as always, and we love to provide these tips.

Neil's Nod of the Month is a look forward to the upcoming BSR story or review I'm most excited to read.

Finally, Recommended Reading is a quick, subscribers-only tip to contextualize the work we have coming up, placing upcoming articles in dialogue with past stories, because our arts and culture scene is an ongoing citywide conversation that you're a part of, too.

If you're enjoying this series, let us know! And don't forget, as a reader you can support our writers in multiple ways. Be sure to become a Local Media Champion. Send an article to a friend. Check out our latest Stories on Instagram. Are you caught up on our podcast? Feel free to email me with your own April picks!

Read on for April's inside scoops.

Sincerely,
Neil Bardhan
BSR executive director

Find Us!

As usual, you'll see some familiar institution names alongside new ones. We cover a wide range of experiences in our region. Read on, and be sure to tell us what you're seeing this month.

FIND ALAINA
The Good Person of Setzuan
WHEN: Running through April 21, 2024
WHERE: The Wilma Theater
WHY: This production boasts some of my favorite local theater artists, including cast members Melanye Finister and Bi Jean Ngo along with the Wilma HotHouse Acting Company, and director Justin Jain. This “radically reclaimed” production of the Bertolt Brecht classic follows an adaptation by Tony Kushner with original live music. At almost four hours long, it’s a theatrical marathon, and I’m curious to see if this powerful slate of artists pulls it off.

Bi Jean Ngo and Jungwoong Kim in the Wilma's 'Good Person of Setzuan'. (Photo by Johanna Austin.)

FIND ALAINA
The Last Yiddish Speaker
WHEN: Running through April 21, 2024
WHERE: Presented by InterAct Theatre Company at the Proscenium Theatre at the Drake
WHY: I was intrigued by dramaturg Alix Rosenfeld’s recent essay about the power of spaces for Jewish artists, based on her work developing this play, as well as the show’s premise, which follows a Jewish father-daughter pair who flee New York City in a world where the January 6 insurrection was successful. And I love seeing important world-premiere work right here in Philly.

FIND NEIL
GARDEN RETREAT | MIND + BODY
WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 8:00am-12:00pm
WHERE: Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton Township, NJ
WHY: Visits to Grounds for Sculpture rejuvenate me every time just by virtue of the institution's space. Luckily, the staff have created an even more restorative program for a spring morning: activities including a sound bath, a horticulture tour, and forest bathing are sure to connect me in new ways to this unique environment.

Cat Party
WHEN: Wednesday, April 17, 6:00pm-9:00pm
WHERE: Tattooed Mom, 530 South St., Philadelphia
WHY: My wife Kelsey Stewart contributed to this charming collaborative cat-alog zine, organized by East Falls maker Katie Haegele. We've been eagerly anticipating the zine's release and now it's out in the world with a launch party. I find that the upstairs space at Tattooed Mom adds a particular flair to every event held there.

FIND GABBY
Bandsaw Bash
WHEN: Friday April 19, 6:30pm–9:30pm
WHERE: Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catherine St., Philadelphia
WHY: This fun event benefiting The Museum for Art in Wood will take place at Fleisher Art Memorial and includes great food, company, art & live music.

FIND ALAINA:
Curtis Composers
WHEN: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 7:30pm
WHERE: The Curtis Institute of Music’s Field Concert Hall
WHY: I love this beautiful and intimate venue nestled into Curtis’s historic Rittenhouse Square building, and the retrospective program of music by notable Curtis alums is intriguing: we’ll hear Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Julius Eastman, and more in “an evening of boundary-pushing chamber works and early-career classics that shaped the landscape of contemporary classical music.”

Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center hosts the West Chester Film Festival

FIND NEIL
West Chester Film Festival
WHEN: Friday through Sunday, April 26-28
WHERE: Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center, 226 N. High Street, West Chester, PA
I'll be moderating a filmmaker Q&A on Sunday afternoon--this will also be my first time attending this festival that celebrates short films from all over the world. I enjoy movies and don't get to chat about them beyond my usual social circle much, but I love facilitating conversations and learning about others’ passions and skills. So this experience will be very fun for me!


FIND US (in May!)
BAD REVIEWS: Why we need them, and how to write them, a webinar with the editors of BSR
WHEN: Wednesday, May 29 at 6:30pm ET
WHERE: On Zoom!
WHY: We’re excited to open the gates on our latest webinar, a follow-up to our popular 2023 class, Intro to review-writing. Many artists and creators today will try to tell you that we don’t need reviews anymore – particularly negative ones! But that couldn’t be further from the truth. This 90-minute virtual session will dive deeper into the mechanics of something that many writers struggle with: how do we pen negative reviews in a fair and ethical way, and how do we deal with the response? This session is open to anyone who’s interested in the art of critique, with a recommended $30 donation to BSR. Secure your spot here. And if you’re an artist who’s been reviewed in BSR, look out for our next newsletter! We’ll be sharing a discount code for our artist community.

As always, this event is free for Friends of BSR, who get other invitations, perks, and discounts throughout the year. Join the ranks of our monthly donors, who power the work of our journalists (starting at just $5/month).

FIND US (in June!)
BSR Book Week
WHEN: June 2-8, 2024
WHERE: On the BSR site, on Zoom, and in your emails!
WHY: Philly has a thriving literary community, so we’re bringing back BSR Book Week, which debuted last year. We’ll be coming to you with a list of books by BSR authors, and we’re turning the site over to book reviews just in time for summer. Mark your calendars for the evening of June 6, when we’ll hold a Zoom panel event with some exciting guests from the Philly publishing world. More details coming soon!

Neil's nod of the month:

Kiran Pandey will review Tiny Dynamite's The Worst Cafe in the World, a North American premiere. I've liked Kiran's touch on theater reviews lately and can't wait to learn more about this show in which the audience orders from a menu of performances. I might even take myself out for a bite at the Cafe!

Recommended Reading

April will bring a wonderful load of reviews of new works, including from PHILADANCO!, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Koresh, and BalletX. Take a few minutes with this older write-up from Camille Bacon-Smith to learn about Philly dance artists.