Welcome to the latest exclusive monthly tips for our subscribers!

It's time 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 support our staff with a donation. Send an article to a friend. Follow our dynamic content on Instagram, like Alaina's visit to the Southeast Asian market in FDR Park. Listen to our latest podcast from last week's live event. And email me with your month's picks!

Read on for June's inside scoops.

Sincerely,
Neil Bardhan
BSR executive director

Find Us!

June's full for us with concerts, celebrations, and community engagement. As usual, you'll see some familiar names alongside new ones. We endeavor to 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, NEIL, KYLE, AND ZARA:
PVLA Arts Affair
WHEN: Wednesday, June 7, 7:00pm
WHERE: Hamilton Hall
WHY: We’re proud to be a Media Partner for Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and its annual Arts Affair. This organization has operated for an impressive 45 years, helping Philly artists with legal needs pro bono. Join us to celebrate, meet new friends, and enjoy numerous live performances! If you'd like to learn more about PVLA, listen to Darnelle Radford's interview with some PVLA community members on the BSR Podcast.

FIND ALAINA:
Twelfth Night
WHEN: Opening on Friday, June 9 (runs through June 26)
WHERE: The Wilma Theater
WHY: Twelfth Night might be my favorite Shakespeare play. As BSR critic Cameron Kelsall and I were saying at the opening of the Lantern's production (which he reviewed, running through June 18), this play is actually funny (which, you have to admit, just isn't always true today of every Shakespeare comedy). I love the heartfelt reunion of the siblings at the end, the complicated plot, and the gender play. I'm looking forward to the Wilma's new take.

FIND ALAINA:
No Arena in the Heart of Our City rally
WHEN: Saturday, June 10, 11:00am (rain date June 17)
WHERE: Meeting at the 10th Street Plaza (10th & Vine) and marching to City Hall
WHY: Philly's Chinatown community and many local allies are saying no to a proposed Sixers arena right on the edge of Philly's historic Chinatown. Opponents argue that its massive footprint would have a chilling effect on Chinatown, among many other safety, affordability, and quality-of-life issues. "Chinatown has survived for 150 years because we fought to be here," say Students for the Preservation of Chinatown (SPOC). "Chinatown is one of the few remaining communities of color and low-income communities in Center City. We are here to stay." SPOC joins the Save Chinatown Coalition and other community partners and solidarity groups to organize the rally.

FIND GABBY:
WHAT: Meet Murasaki Shikibu Followed by Book Signing, and Other Things
WHEN: Saturday, June 10, 6:30pm
WHERE: Louis Bluver Theater at The Drake
WHY: I'm looking forward to reviewing this show by Tiny Dynamite!

Alaina introducing our May 25 Power of Food Media panel at Indy Hall Clubhouse. (Photo by Neil Bardhan.)

FIND NEIL:
Dead and Company
WHEN: Thursday, June 15
WHERE: Citizens Bank Park
WHY: The most recent incarnation of The Grateful Dead has been performing since 2015. Only two of the current musicians were part of the original band, and they’ve recently announced that this is the final tour. I’ve been listening to the Dead since 1996, a little late for their major era, and caught a number of shows since then of Dead-adjacent projects. (I’ve also written for BSR before about the band and their cultural influences!) In a charming turn of events for me, I’ll get to bike to this concert in my backyard and listen with one of my oldest friends, who handed me my first Dead tape.

FIND ALAINA AND KYLE:
Film premiere of WHYY's Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia
WHEN: Friday, June 16 at 5:15pm
WHERE: The Museum of the American Revolution (MoAR)
WHY: Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia, a special exhibition running at MoAR through November 26 (here's the BSR review) has been on my list since it opened, and now, the museum is screening a new film from WHYY about the Fortens. I'm going to check out the film premiere and the exhibition, all in one night. If you can't make it to MoAR, the film will get its broadcast premiere on Monday, June 19 at 7:30pm on WHYY. Learning more about Philly's own Black history is a great way to observe Juneteenth.

Now on display at the MoAR: the Forten family Bible, a living document. (Image courtesy of the MoAR.)

FIND NEIL:
Normal Gossip Live podcast recording
WHEN: Friday, June 23
WHERE: Franklin Music Hall
WHY: This podcast series has set my brain on fire in the best ways. I’m fascinated by the topic, the format, and the range of guest opinions when it comes to discussing what gossip is and how it works. Each episode walks a guest and listener through a true, yet anonymized, story “from a friend of a friend.” Every story grips me with a rollercoaster of drama. Cultural norms get dissected and spicy takes are shared. A bonus: host Kelsey McKinney and some of the Defector Media staff are based here in Philly! What’s your relationship to gossip?

Neil's nod of the month:

It's Pride month, and as I often am, I'm drawn to memoir and documentary about marginalized individuals. Adryan Corcione will review Pageboy by actor Elliot Page. I haven't seen much of Page's work since the hit movie Juno, which I loved. I'm figuring out my list of summer books to read, and Adryan is sure to guide whether I should include Page's memoir! Meanwhile, the Princeton Symphony presents I Am Harvey Milk, described as "part choral work and part theater piece." I trust Cameron Kelsall to critique this work's interpretation of Milk's story, which is one that has numerous echoes today.

Recommended Reading

Danie Ocean's essay from a few months ago resonates with me, as I transition between seasons and ponder mindful practices. These behaviors and thoughts can not only serve my individual well-being but be a political act as well, for my immediate community and beyond.