Weekly Entertainment Guide – 100 years of Delaware art, Prohibition & Halloween

From Center City to the Jersey Shore, we’ve got your week covered. WHYY’s Arts Calendar curator Robin Bloom searches hundreds of listings each week to find out what’s happening in the Delaware Valley. Here are her picks:

Delaware Art Museum’s Centennial Juried Exhibition

The Delaware Art Museum celebrates its 100-year commitment to supporting regional artists with the “Centennial Juried Exhibition” on display October 20 through January 13. The exhibition represents a wide array of established, emerging, and amateur artists from the Delaware area with artwork ranging from paintings to videos to drawings to crafts at 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE. Admission: $12 with discounts for students, seniors, and children.

American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

Opening this weekend at the National Constitution Center is “American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition,” the first comprehensive exhibition about Prohibition offering the opportunity to experience history from the beginning of the temperance movement to the repeal of a constitutional amendment during the Great Depression. Curated by Daniel Okrent, author of “Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition,” the exhibition features over 120 artifacts from the time period as well as interactive displays and environments that emulate the Prohibition experience, on view through April 28 (before embarking on a national tour), Independence Mall, Philadelphia. $17.50 with discounts for seniors, students, and children.

 

Color Motion: Edna Andrade Prints

“Color Motion: Edna Andrade Prints” is on display through November 17 at The Print Center. Andrade is best known for her Op Art abstractions, and The Print Center’s exhibition is the first retrospective on the Philadelphia artist’s printed works from the 1960s through 1980s. In the 1960s, then in her 40s, Andrade moved away from surrealist landscapes for which she was known and moved toward geometric designs that seemed as if they were mechanically created. Over two dozen of these prints cover three walls for the installation, showcasing the flat colors and crisp, precise lines that are characteristic of her work, 1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia, Free.

 

“Atmospheric” at Main Line Art Center

Main Line Art Center, in collaboration with InLiquid, presents “Atmospheric,” an installation of works by Delainey Barclay, Maureen Ciaccio, and Dianne Koppisch Hricko that are inspired by atmospheric phenomena, nature, and humanity. The exhibit is not only the curatorial debut of Executive Director Amie Potsic, but also the Center’s first installation exhibition in ten years, opening October 19 through November 13 with an opening reception from 6pm-9pm on October 19, 746 Panmure Road, Haverford, PA. Free.

 

“Haitian Art: Old Masters and New Visions” at Indigo Arts

“Haitian Art: Old Masters and New Visions” is on display at Indigo Arts Gallery through December 1, with a selection of paintings, vodou flags, and sculpture by Haitian artists from the “Haitian Renaissance” of the 1940s to the present. Artists include Montas Antoine, Alexandre Gregoire, Carol Theard, and many more at the Crane Arts building, 1400 North American Street, #104, Philadelphia.

 

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society concerts

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society opens its new season with the Shanghai Quartet (pictured) and Peter Serkin, piano, Friday, October 19, 8pm, Kimmel Center; Colin Carr, cello and Thomas Sauer, piano, Sunday, October 21, 3pm, American Philosophical Society; Nareh Arghamanyan, piano, Wednesday, October 24, 8pm, American Philosophical Society; Modigliani Quartet, Thursday, October 25, 8pm, Kimmel Center; Musicians from Marlboro I, Monday, October 29, 8pm, Kimmel Center; Jeremy Denk, piano, Tuesday, October 30, 8pm, Kimmel Center. Tickets $10-$24.

 

The Exit Interview at InterAct Theatre Company

The InterAct Theatre Company celebrates its 25th anniversary season with William Missouri Downs’ intellectual comedy “The Exit Interview,” October 19 through November 11. The play examines the opposition of science and religion as scholar Dick Fig is cut from his University position. Fig’s existential theories clash with the dry small talk of his human resources interviewer while a gunman strikes the campus. Producing Artistic Director Seth Rozin directs at 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia. Tickets: $20-$45.

 

Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey

Tour the New Jersey coast from Sandy Hook to Cape May with the Lighthouse Challenge, Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21, and the opportunity to climb all of the Garden State’s maintained lighthouses to help fund their preservation. The event includes a number of participating lighthouses, including Barnegat Light (pictured) and many more. Fees or donations differ for each location.

 

Bucks County Pumpkinfest

Bucks County’s 20th Annual Pumpkinfest is Saturday & Sunday October 20-21, presented by the Council of Southeast Pennsylvania and the Bucks County Department of Parks and Recreation with a musical lineup including School of Rock, Doylestown Heat, Steve Pullara and His Cool Beans Band, and more, noon to 9pm, with the carved pumpkins illuminated at night, Fonthill Park, Doylestown, PA, $3-$8.

 

Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture concert series

Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture presents a concert with pop clarinetist Hüsnü Şenlendirici, and a program of classical and contemporary Turkish music at the Trinity Center for Urban Life as a part of its Arab Music Concert Series, Saturday, October 20, 8pm, 22nd and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia. Tickets: $30, $15 for students.

 

Batsto Village’s annual Country Living Fair

Batsto Village’s annual Country Living Fair is Sunday, October 21, 10am-4pm, with exhibits, music, crafts, antiques, quilting, old-time engines and cars, food, children’s activities and more, in the Wharton State Forest in the South Central pinelands of NJ, 31 Batsto Road, Route 542, Hammonton, NJ. Free admission and parking.

 

“Behind the Eye” at Gas & Electric Arts

The Philadelphia premiere of “Behind the Eye” opens Gas & Electric Arts’ 2012-2013 season October 24. Carson Kreitzer’s play follows the story and career of Lee Miller, whose globetrotting life led her to be the muse of some of the 20th century’s most significant artists such as Picasso, Cocteau, and Man Ray. Starring Kittson O’Neill (pictured), directed by Lisa Jo Epstein, featuring original music by Melissa Dunphy, and onstage through November 18 at the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, 2111 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, $16-$25.

 

“Knock Me a Kiss” at Crossroads Theatre Company

Crossroads Theatre Company’s season begins Thursday, October 25, with Charles Smith’s “Knock Me a Kiss.” Tony Award-winning actor Andre De Shields stars in a humorous play about a 1928 “wedding of the century” that results in a swift and unexpected breakup, running through November 4 at Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, $40-$50.

 

Brandywine Ballet’s “Dracula”

Brandywine Ballet performs Nancy Page’s “Dracula,” based on the Bram Stoker novel, set amidst eerily lit castles and terraces, and featuring principal dancers Tim Early and Hannah Telthorster reprising their roles as Dracula and Elisabeta/Mina, Friday, October 26, 10am (student/senior matinee), 7:30pm, and Saturday, October 27, 2pm, at Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall, West Chester, PA. Tickets: $25-$40.

Halloween

The Ghost Tours of Philadelphia offer Candlelight Walking Tours, Haunted Trolley Tours and special events in the historic district of the city with 75 to 90 minute tours nightly at 7:30pm with additional tours at 9:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and on Halloween, October 31, departing from Signers Garden at 5th & Chestnut Streets and ending at 2nd and Walnut Streets, Old City, Philadelphia. Tickets: $17, $10 children 4-12.

Fort Mifflin celebrates the Halloween season with Candlelight Ghost Tours, October 19-28, true stories that have been shared by decades of visitors with tours beginning at 7pm (last tour leaves by 10pm), $20; “Sleep With the Ghosts,” overnight program with a guided tour, workshop and group investigations throughout the Fort, October 27, Fort Mifflin and Hog Island Roads, Philadelphia. $90.

The Wagner Free Institute hosts “Skeletons! A Spooky Creature Feature,” Saturday, October 20, noon-4pm, a Halloween family open house with a look at the many different types of skeletons and featuring live animals from the Elmwood Park Zoo. Children and adults will have the opportunity to explore the museum and participate in scavenger hunts, crafts, and other activities. Visitors are encouraged to come in costume at 1700 West Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia, Free but donations are suggested.

The Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion hosts the annual murder mystery “The Borden Tragedy,” written and directed by Josh Hitchens and focusing on the death of Andrew and Abigail Borden, with tours Saturday, October 20 and 27, 6pm and Sunday, October 21 and 28, 2:30pm at 200 West Tulpehocken Street, Philadelphia. $16. Reservations required.

Cape May hosts Halloween Happenings with Scarecrow Alley at the Physick Estate, Ghosts of the Lighthouse Trolley Tours, murder mystery dinners, psychic teas and much more including trick or treating at the Physick Estate on October 31, 5pm-7pm, Cape May, NJ. Some events free, others fees apply.

Elfreth’s Alley hosts Halloween events: “Ghosthunting 101,” Saturday, October 20, 8pm, a special investigation of America’s longest lived on street with hands-on training led by a team of paranormal investigators; “Yellow Fever Tour,” Sunday, October 28, 1pm, 2pm and 4pm, with stories of despair and self sacrifice from 1793 with actor Trish Troilo; 124-26 Elfreth’s Alley, between Front and 2nd Streets just north of Arch Street, Old City, Philadelphia.

The Delaware Shakespeare Festival presents “Shakespeare/Poe,” a night of readings from “the dark side,” by two masters of the macabre, Thursday, October 25, 7:30pm, Sunday, October 28, 5pm and Sunday, October 28, 7pm (sold out), Rockwood Museum, 4651 Washington Street Extension, Wilmington, DE. Tickets $18 with only 40 seats available each night.

The Brandywine River Museum presents “Picturing Poe: Illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s Stories and Poems,” featuring works by more than two dozen artists including Édouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, Horst Janssen, and more on view through November 15 at U.S. Route 1, Chadds Ford, PA. Admission: $12 adults, $10 seniors 65+, $6 students and children 6-12, children 5 and under free. Museum admission is free Sunday mornings from 9:30am-noon (through November 18).

The annual “Terror Behind the Walls,” the massive haunted house inside the castle-like walls of the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary, is back with Hollywood-quality sets, custom-designed props, animatronics, digital sound effects and a cast of more than 200 performers in a theatrical production that consists of six haunted attractions including the “Gauntlet,” “Lock Down,” “Infirmary,” “The Experiment,” “Night Watch,” and the new “Detritus,” expanding into areas of the prison never entered by the public. Also new this year is the VIP Experience ALONE, a personal tour. Ranked among the top 10 haunted attractions in the country, “Terror Behind the Walls” runs on select evenings through November 10 at 22nd Street and Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia. Tickets: $40 with discounts on ESP website.

Hagley Museum and Library celebrates the fall season with “October Hayrides” Saturdays, October 20, and 27, 11am-4pm, with tours of the beautiful fall foliage, family activities, live music and more including a gunpowder explosion, the roll mill in action, working nineteenth-century machines, and the steam engine. Rides leave on the hour and half hour. Activities are included with admission: $11 adults, $9 students and seniors, $4 children 6-14. Free for members and children 5 and under. The Hagley Craft Fair is Saturday, October 20, 10am-5pm and Sunday, October 21, 10am-4pm in the Library and Soda House. Admission $3 for members and $5 for non-members. Use Hagley’s entrance off Route 141, Wilmington, DE.

Rockwood Park and Museum hosts Ghost Tours on Saturdays in October, 7pm-8:30pm including tours of the mansion seeking paranormal experiences, while guides relate stories documented by those who have worked and lived there in the past, 1.5 hour tour, $20 ages 12 and up at 4651 Washington Street Extension, Wilmington, DE.

Luna Theater Company presents Jeffrey M. Jones’ “Seventy Scenes of Halloween,” through November 3 at the Skybox @ The Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia. Tickets: $15-$30. Not recommended for children under 16.

Laurel Hill Cemetery hosts Halloween events including the 8th Annual Gravediggers’ Ball, Friday, October 19, 7pm; Sinners, Scandals and Suicides, Sunday, October 21, 1pm; Edgar Allan Poe: Deep into that Darkness Peering, Tuesday, October 23, 6pm; Halloween Flashlight Tours, Friday, October 26-30, 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia.

The Hedgerow Theatre presents “Sherlock Holmes and the Crucifer of Blood,” through November 25, written by Paul Giovanni and directed by Jared Reed. Based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Sign of the Four,” the Tony Award-winning play follows a mysterious death connected to a bizarre and deadly curse, 64 Rose Valley Road, Media, PA, $10-$32.

Other events in Philly

Historic Philadelphia hosts “PumpkinFest” this Saturday, October 20, 11am-2pm, in Franklin Square, with an afternoon of cupcakes, candy, costumes, music, and activities including Spooky Mini Golf, raffles, a lunch buffet, and entertainment from Cris & Lou, Give and Take Jugglers, and Alex from Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band, with all proceeds going to help preserve Franklin Square. $40, $130 family four-pack, kids 2 and under free.

Friends of Schuylkill River Park hosts their annual Fall Festival, Saturday, October 20, 11am-3pm, a celebration of autumn with crafts, food, vendors and more, coinciding with the new Schuylkill River Park Connector Bridge opening ceremony (1pm), which will link Schuylkill River Park to Schuylkill Banks, 25th Street and Delancey Place, Philadelphia. Rain Date: Sunday, October 21.

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University hosts the annual Philadelphia Shell Show and Festival, called the largest show of its kind in the Northeast, Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21, featuring displays in judged categories that reflect various aspects of shell collecting, from the scientific to the purely artistic, with behind-the-scenes tours at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm, a touch tank, activities for kids and more along with the opportunity to see the Art of Science Gallery Exhibit, “James Prosek: Ocean Fishes,” detailed watercolor paintings of fish and other ocean creatures, through January 27 at 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia. Included with museum admission: $15 adults, $13 children 3-12, seniors, college students and military personnel, free for members and children under 3.

The 13th Annual Philadelphia Open Studio Tours is October 20-21 for studios east of Broad Street, as hundreds of professional visual artists open their studios to the public for the display and sale of their artwork, noon-6pm each day. Free. Create your own itinerary online, check out the venues in your neighborhood, participating artists, special events and more.

Enjoy a collection of homemade films at Home Movie Day, a celebration of amateur film and filmmaking by the Philadelphia Film Archivists Collective, Saturday, October 20, 6pm-9pm, at PhillyCAM’s community media center, 699 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia. Free.

Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra Tempesta di Mare performs “Brandenburg 4 & Friends,” Saturday, October 20, 8pm, Arch Street Friends Meeting House, 320 Arch Street, Philadelphia and Sunday, October 21, 4pm, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill, with a program of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Fasch. Tickets $20-$40.

The Center City Residents’ Association holds its Annual House Tour, Sunday, October 21, 1pm-5pm, offering self-guided, intimate tours of the finest residences in Rittenhouse Square and Fitler Square in Philadelphia. Tickets: $30, $25 in advance.

Despite Spiral Q’s small core staff and move to a smaller location, their annual “Peoplehood” parade will go on at Clark Park this Sunday, October 21, with a small procession from 1pm-4pm and guests are encouraged to pack a picnic lunch, costumes, masks, and flags to celebrate past and future Peoplehoods, West Philadelphia. Free.

Mendelssohn Club performs “Trinity: Moran & Bruckner” with the Philadelphia Boys Choir and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, featuring Bruckner’s “Mass No. 2,” the world premiere of Robert Moran’s “Angele Dei,” and a full-chorus version of “Trinity Requiem,” Sunday, October 21, 3pm, 1723 Race Street, Philadelphia. $28.

Vox Renaissance Consort, Camerata Ama Deus, and Ama Deus Ensemble, the three distinct performance ensembles of VoxAmaDeus, perform “Magic of Mozart,” Friday, October 26, 8pm, under the direction of Maestro Valentin Radu (on the keyboard and at the podium), and featuring “Overture to The Magic Flute,” “Solemn Vespers,” and more, Kimmel Center, Broad Street, Philadelphia. Tickets $20-$70.

Philadelphia Theatre Company begins its 2012-2013 season with the world premiere of the new musical song cycle “Stars of David,” a musical stage adaptation of Abigail Pogrebin’s highly-acclaimed book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish, a snapshot of Jewish identity through interviews with some of America’s most recognizable public figures, songs by well-known composers and lyricists including Sheldon Harnick, Marilyn and Alan Bergman, the late Marvin Hamlisch and more, with an ensemble cast, through November 18, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, Broad and Lombard Streets, Philadelphia. Tickets: $51-$56.

Woodmere Art Museum presents “Generations: Louise Fishman, Gertrude Fisher-Fishman, and Razel Kapustin,” and “Murray Dessner: A Retrospective,” on display through January 6 at 9201 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia. Admission: $10, discounts available for seniors, students, children, and museum members.

Curio Theatre Company presents Milan Stitt’s “The Runner Stumbles,” based on a true story from a century ago in rural Michigan, onstage through November 10, Calvary Center, 4740 Baltimore Avenue, West Philadelphia. Tickets: $15-$20.

Quintessence Theatre Group presents Shakespeare’s “Othello” at the Sedgwick Theater through November 4, 7137 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia. Post-show discussion with the cast and director Sunday, October 28. Tickets: $30, $20 for seniors, $15 for youths 25 and under, $10 for industry and student rush tickets.

The Pennsylvania Ballet opens its 49th season with the haunting and poetic “Giselle,” through October 28, with a score by Adolphe Adam and choreography by the French master Marius Petipa, at the Academy of Music, Broad Street, Philadelphia. Tickets $30-$125, with discounts for groups of 10 or more. Also available: backstage tours, talks with staff and dancers and more.

Casa de Venezuela presents the 4th annual “Diálogo 365: CARPE DIEM,” the largest exhibition of Latino art in the Philadelphia area, designed to showcase the talent of Latino artists in the Northeast region of the United States, through December 7, in the open spaces of Philadelphia’s City Hall, Broad and Market Streets, Philadelphia.

Onstage at Temple Theaters is Steven Sater’s “Spring Awakening,” through November 4, Tomlinson Theatre, 1301 West Norris Street, Philadelphia. $25 with discounts for seniors, students, and staff.

The 21st annual Philadelphia Film Festival is underway through October 28, presented by the Philadelphia Film Society, offering over 200 films that have screened across the world with more than 50 filmmakers and industry guests at seven venues throughout Philadelphia including Ritz East, Ritz at the Bourse, Prince Music Theater, Gershman Y, Rave, Shoemaker Green, and Annenberg Center. Special events include panels, director Q&As, parties and more. Program available online. $5-$12, with special ticket packages available.

Other events in the region

Tyler Arboretum hosts Pumpkin Days Celebration, Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21, 10am-5pm, with family activities including a haunted barn, crafts, games, hay wagon tours, food, and pumpkins, 515 Painter Road, Media, PA. Members $4 adults, $2 children 3-15, Non members $10 adults, $7 children 3-15, kids under 3 free. All parking at the Penn State Brandywine Campus on Route 352 with shuttle bus.

Rowan University presents Tennessee Williams’ “Stairs to the Roof,” the rarely-produced work about a clerk who rebels against his monotonous job, which the playwright called “a prayer for the wild at heart who are kept in cages.” Director Lane Savadove’s production runs from October 19 to October 21 at Pfleeger Concert Hall, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, $15, $10 for seniors, free for Rowan students.

The annual Pennsylvania Guild Fine Craft Fair brings art by expert craftspeople to Montgomery County Community College on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21, it its fifth and final year at this location, offering furniture, jewelry, clothing, fine art, and sculpture from independent American artists, 10am – 6pm Saturday and 10am – 5pm Sunday, Blue Bell, PA. $7, free for members and children 12 and under.

“Blessed Are” is onstage at Passage Theatre Company, a drama by Philadelphia playwright Jessica Bradford about guilt, love, and redemption spurred by one man’s homecoming runs through November 4, 205 East front Street, Trenton, NJ. $28-$33.

BZBI hosts a film screening for “The Upside of Memory,” a film by Jeanette Lerman Neubauer, daughter of Chris and Miles Lerman, whose survival story is the main subject of the film, Sunday, October 21, 2pm-5pm, followed by a discussion with seven Holocaust survivors and a reception, free and open to the public. On Thursday, October 25, 7pm-9pm, an evening with Dr. Dan Gottlieb and author Daniel Smith, author of “Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety,” $18 in advance, $20 at the door, 300 S. 18th Street (corner of 18th & Spruce Streets), Philadelphia.

The Collingswood Shakespeare Company presents Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” in the Great Hall at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 839 Haddon Avenue in Collingswood, NJ, October 26 through November 4. Regular admission $15; students and seniors $10; active-duty military personnel admitted free.

Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center presents “African Visions of Barack Obama,” folk and popular images of America’s 44th President. Curated by George Jevremovic, who set out to locate, collect and exhibit a group of artwork created by all sorts of trained and self-taught African artists during the period leading up to and during Obama’s first year in office, on display through December 9, 420 East Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA.

Brett Rader contributed reporting to this week’s guide.

To submit an event to be considered for the Weekly Entertainment Guide email Robin Bloom at artscalendar@whyy.org.

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