Welcome to the latest exclusive monthly tips for our subscribers!

It's time for our monthly BSR in the Wild update! We've been doing this for a whole year now: 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 support our staff with a donation. Send an article to a friend. Follow our dynamic content on Instagram, like this hilarious ad-lib moment from our newest BSR writer in her own solo show. Listen to our podcast episode from the Wilma's FAT HAM book launch interview. And email me with your month's picks!

Read on for September's inside scoops.

Sincerely,
Neil Bardhan
BSR executive director

Find Us!

September finds us all over the area, with shows of all sorts. As usual, you'll see some familiar 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 NEIL
Deep Dive: explore the ocean floor from Philly
WHEN: Wednesday, September 6, 7:30pm
WHERE: Radio Kismet
Dr. Sarah McAnulty is a squid scientist and enthusiast. Perhaps you've seen her Squidmobile or texted her Squid Facts hotline? She has put together a live show all about what's in the ocean, with games, a live tour of a research vessel, and, something she calls "an anglerfish dance performance." I am intrigued.

Beethoven in Beijing
WHEN: Thursday, September 7, 7:00pm
WHERE: Pennsylvania Convention Center
This locally-made documentary film captures The Philadelphia Orchestra's historic tour of China and the impact this had on global relations. September's free screening marks the 50th anniversary of the event.


FIND ALAINA
The 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival
WHEN: Thursday, September 7 - Sunday, September 24
WHERE: Citywide
WHY: I’ve been attending the Philly Fringe for more than 15 years. I enjoy the range and the rawness of a lot of the work, and I enjoy keeping an eye on how local artists branch out and experiment with their own stories – especially creators who don’t typically get the spotlight. Don’t miss our ongoing Fringe coverage this month!

FIND ALAINA, NEIL, AND GABBY
No, Seriously, F*ck Engagement: Building a More Human Web
WHEN: Wednesday, September 13, 7:00pm
WHERE: Online
WHY: We're fascinated to hear what Philadelphia designer and author David Dylan Thomas has to say in this talk about the Internet. What would it mean to stop caring about metrics so much? (Fun fact: Thomas is the person who initially introduced Neil Bardhan and BSR writer Jill Ivey some years ago, when he was making a web series.)


FIND ALAINA
10 Days in a Madhouse
WHEN: Saturday, September 23, 2:00pm
WHERE: The Wilma Theater
WHY: This world-premiere opera from composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch, part of Opera Philadelphia’s O23 Festival (September 21-Oct 1), follows the famous journalist Nellie Bly, who feigned madness so that she should report first-hand on the conditions inside Blackwell’s Asylum. This “psychological drama” in opera follows Bly through her internment, “exposing, as Bly did, notions of madness and societal biases against women.” Opera isn’t my wheelhouse, but I have a lot of lived experience as a woman in psychiatric care.


FIND ALAINA
Cirque du Soleil’s Bazzar
WHEN: Tuesday, September 26 - Sunday, October 22
WHERE: Under the Big Top at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center
WHY: Cirque shows are usually a hypnotic experience, with choreography and acrobatics to make you gasp no matter how many shows you’ve seen. Yes, it usually comes with a trite story wedged into the spectacle, but I prefer to think about the people who do those high-flying stunts: how they must train and trust and travel and hit their mark every time. How could flying on a trapeze by your feet (for example) be an ordinary workday?

Attendees of a PVLA/BSR mixer chat in the PVLA space

FIND NEIL
PVLA's Harvesting Connections Fall Mixer
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 5:00pm
WHERE: Spaces - Philadelphia - Hale Building
WHY: We're pleased to partner again with the Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. This casual event will bring together arts community members from a number of organizations--and you're invited too.

Neil's nod of the month:

As part of Fringe coverage, BSR writer Melissa Strong will visit some shows tied together by themes of sex work. She'll tell us about Sex Werque: Notes From The Field and Whore's Eye View. I was initially surprised to hear that September had enough such shows to connect the dots on, then discovered how many solo shows there are on deep topics this year, so it makes sense that themes emerge. I've always enjoyed Melissa's thoughtful pieces and this will surely be no exception.

Recommended Reading

Forgive a moment of self-indulgence. I often reflect on my various roles here at Broad Street Review. I particularly am glad for then-editor Judy Weightman's invitation to me to just start writing about what I saw around town. The first piece I wrote for our site was about glassmaking, way back at the 2015 Fringe. It was such an odd experience: what did it mean to me to see this art practiced outside? How did I introduce myself to an audience? What was it like to have an editor? I've grown in many ways and am just so darn appreciative of this cool organization that I get to be part of.