No Greater Love, by John A. Siegfried and Kevin Ferris

The story of Philly’s only Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War

A new biography traces the family and neighborhood life and military service of West Oak Lane native Michael Crescenz, who saved many lives during his service in Vietnam at age 19. Andrea Smith reviews.

Andrea Smith

May 26, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Lantern Theater Company presents Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

Present mirth and present laughter

Lantern Theater Company offers a delightfully comic and effortlessly romantic new production of Twelfth Night to close its season. Cameron Kelsall reviews.

Cameron Kelsall

May 26, 2023 · Reviews · 4 minute read

Grounds for Sculpture presents Spiral Q: The Parade

Power to the people

Flooding from 2021’s Hurricane Ida destroyed most of the archive from Spiral Q’s 27-year history of community art and advocacy, but enough remains for an urgent and engaging exhibition at New Jersey’s Grounds for Sculpture. Jill Ivey reviews.

Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

May 23, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Piffaro presents Entre dos Álamos

Rare, beautiful music from 17th- and 18th-century South America

Piffaro closes its season with Entre dos Álamos, a musical trip to South America including Spanish and Indigenous texts and music, proving that great music has always been created everywhere. Gail Obenreder reviews.

Gail Obenreder

May 23, 2023 · Reviews · 5 minute read

Hedgerow Theatre presents Juliette Dunn’s The Puzzle

Portraying the lives of non-speaking people

Hedgerow marks its 100th season with the world premiere of Juliette Dunn’s The Puzzle, which reveals complex inner worlds for all of us, whether or not we communicate by speaking. Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer reviews.

Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

May 23, 2023 · Reviews · 5 minute read

The Print Center presents Rodrigo Valenzuela: Workforce

Machines dream in a post-worker world

The Print Center presents Rodrigo Valenzuela: Workforce, a surreal mixed-media exhibition about work, industry, power, and people. Emily B. Schilling reviews.

Emily Schilling

May 22, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Bristol Riverside Theatre presents Douglas Lyons’s Chicken & Biscuits

Nothing new at the family funeral

Chicken & Biscuits at Bristol Riverside Theatre gathers common tropes of the family funeral genre, but its performances and design meld comedy and drama for a fun family night. An Nichols reviews.

An Nichols

May 22, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

The Philadelphia Orchestra presents Gabriela Lena Frank and Hector Berlioz

Mastering symphonic forces

The Philadelphia Orchestra gives its first full rendition of composer-in-residence Gabriela Lena Frank’s Walkabout: Concerto for Orchestra, and a thrilling rendition of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14. Linda Holt reviews.

Linda Holt

May 16, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

McCarter Theatre presents Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky

What do we lose, when our folks “escape?"

Josephine Baker presides in spirit over McCarter’s new production of Blues for an Alabama Sky, in which friends in a 1930s Harlem tenement ask what we gain and lose when we stay or leave. Jeannine Cook reviews.

Jeannine A. Cook

May 16, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

The Lady Hoofers present On Tap

Something old, something new

The all-women dance troupe taps into the old and familiar and blends it with new and refreshing in this year’s edition of On Tap. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.

Camille Bacon-Smith

May 16, 2023 · Reviews · 4 minute read