Welcome to the latest exclusive monthly tips for our subscribers!

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. October is packed for us. Our team is hustling around the city to bring our cultural scene to you. If you’d like to help us support our 2024-2025 season coverage, a donation of $10 or more directly supports our writers. What are you seeing this month?

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 connect our past pieces we've run with our ongoing issues -- this week's is a heavy, important one.

If you're enjoying this series, let us know! And don't forget, as a reader you can support our writers in multiple ways. The ranks of our Local Media Champions are growing rapidly. Want to join them? Send an article to a friend. Check out our latest Stories and Reels on Instagram. Are you caught up on our podcast? Feel free to email me with your own picks or your organization's newsletter!

Read on for October's inside scoops.

Sincerely,
Neil Bardhan
BSR executive director

Neil and Alaina met up during Fringe to see a show together.

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 NEIL
Rediscovering the humble sandwich
WHEN: Ongoing
WHERE: Online and in print
WHY: We at BSR love what our colleagues at Chestnut Hill Local are doing. I had the opportunity to write a roundup article for them about sandwiches this fall, and what a delicious opportunity it was.

Archives Month Philly
WHEN: Throughout October 2024
WHERE: Virtual and in-person around town
WHY: I spend a lot of time thinking about archives, both personally and professionally. (My mother was a librarian, so it's largely a product of how I was raised. Hi Mom!) Dozens of events in our area this month bring you to archives and vice versa, with lantern slides, foods, and best practices, to name a few events.

FIND ALAINA
Yannick conducts Mahler Symphony No. 3
WHEN: October 3-5, 2024
WHERE: Marian Anderson Hall, Ensemble Arts Philly, 300 S. Broad St., Philadelphia
WHY: While I'm not a classical music critic, I love heading to the symphony. I have never heard Mahler's Third live, and I'm looking forward to the combo of the full Philadelphia Orchestra with the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir as well as the Philadelphia Girls Choir and the Philadelphia Boys Choir. The text includes an excerpt of Also sprach Zarathustra, so I'm bringing a philosopher friend who's an international Nietzsche scholar.

Novels in Progress
WHEN: Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 2:00pm
WHERE: Parkway Central Branch of the Free Library, 1901 Vine St., Philadelphia
WHY: For the last two years or so, I've been working on a novel after-hours. My manuscript, THE ROWHOUSE, was chosen for a new salon series presented by Blue Stoop, the Literature Department at the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Molly's Books & Records. I'll be discussing my fiction process and doing a reading and Q&A alongside my fellow Philly writer, Michael Ivory. This is my first non-journalism public event, which is terrifying! Advance seats are currently sold out, but there's a good chance you can get in at the door.

Alaina Johns will be reading alongside M.J. Ivory on October 5.

FIND NEIL
Festival of Fine Craft
WHEN: October 5-6, 2024
WHERE: WheatonArts, 1000 Village Dr., Millville, NJ
WHY: I’ve been trying to align my schedule for a visit to this South Jersey arts campus for nearly five years. I’m hopeful for a stroll through vendors and a peek at the Museum of American Glass.

FIND ALAINA
La Egoísta
WHEN: October 4-20, 2024
WHERE: Philadelphia Theatre Company, Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 80 S. Broad St., Philadelphia
WHY: This story about balancing career, family, caregiving, and chronic illness immediately caught my eye. I'm excited to see this Philly premiere by local playwright Erlina Ortiz, who's also the co-artistic director of Power Street Theatre.

The Playboy of the Western World
WHEN: Running through October 13, 2024
WHERE: Inis Nua Theatre Company performing at the Drake, 1512 Spruce St., Philadelphia
WHY: BSR critic Cameron Kelsall gave this production a rave. I was already interested in this 21st-century adaptation of the 1907 classic by John Millington Synge, which turns Christy Mahon into Christopher Malomo, a Nigerian immigrant who reflects modern changes in Ireland. Cameron's review confirmed that I need to get to this show.

Cameron Kelsall has a rave review of Inis Nua's The Playboy of the Western World

FIND NEIL
Binding Agents presents DAC BIET: Signing with Nini Nguyen
WHEN: Thursday, October 10, 2024, 12:00pm-1:30pm
WHERE: Binding Agents, 908 Christian St., Philadelphia
WHY: This new cookbook store in the Italian Market hits the ground running with author events even before their grand opening October 18. Owner Caitie Gainor has lined up Top Chef contestant Nini Nguyen. Want to learn more about the store? Listen to our podcast episode about the Philly Bookstore Crawl.

Reading Film Festival
WHEN: October 11-13, 2024
WHERE: Reading, PA
WHY: The Inspirational Documentary block of this festival includes Ten Times Better from Philly director Jennifer Lin. I've seen clips from it in the past but never the full film, and certainly not on a big screen. This block will be at the R/C Reading Movies 11 & IMAX. Another fun event at this festival that caught my eye is an audience sing-along for Pitch Perfect.

FIND NEIL AND ALAINA
Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Annual Meeting & Arts Party
WHEN: Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 6:30pm
WHERE: Bok, 800 Mifflin St., Philadelphia
WHY: We're proud to be part of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. Every year we look forward to celebrating with our peers and friends from around the region at the GPCA meeting. Will you be there?

WHERE: CultureWorks, 1315 Walnut St. Suite 300, Philadelphia
WHY: Our colleagues at CultureWorks recently moved from their longtime space to new digs in the same building. We’ve been chatting with them about everything they have planned for the coming months and this tour will kick it off!

Alaina looks forward to seeing La Egoísta by Philly playwright Erlina Ortiz, pictured here. (Photo by Nicole Souza)

Neil's nod of the month:

Stephen Silver has a roundup of the Philadelphia Film Festival later this month. I love the feeling of a film festival: exposure to movies I might otherwise not be able to see, curious audience members, exclusive access. I've learned a lot from Stephen's work over the years about the Philly scene and always look forward to his commentary.

Recommended Reading

My wife and I are expecting our first kid soon. I'm certainly excited! And I'm also curious how this change shifts my days and rhythms, particularly around working and creative life. There's no manual, it seems, merely loads of anecdotes. Cass Lewis wrote an essay for BSR in the spring of 2020 about how quarantine affected her parenting and writing. I rediscovered it recently as I pondered my life's upcoming chapters.