Weekly Entertainment Guide – FringeArts, ‘Any Given Monday,’ and Labor Day weekend fun

    Looking for something to do this week? WHYY’s Robin Bloom has some recommendations on what’s happening in the Philadelphia region. Here are her picks:

    Labor Day Weekend Festivals, Fairs & Fun

     

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    Arden Fair

    The 106th Arden Fair, “Music in the Grove,” offers live music with The Dreamkillers, New Sweden, Universal Funk Order (UFO) and more, plus hand-made crafts by over 100 vendors, children’s activities, antiques market, food and much more, Saturday, August 31, 10am-6pm, 2126 The Highway Arden, DE. Free admission. Rain date Sunday, September 1.

     

    40th Street Summer Series continues

    The 40th Street Summer Series continues this Saturday, August 31, 6pm, with non-stop dancing with Spaceship Aloha, created by Man Man drummer/producer Christopher Sean Powell, a mix of melodies and electronic rhythms inspired by Hawaii’s musical landscape. Enjoy complimentary Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and pretzels, face painting, circus arts, balloon art, and more. Located behind the Walnut West Free Library, 40th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia. Free.

     

    Camden Backyard BBQ

    The Camden Backyard BBQ returns for the 5th year with Lettuce (pictured), The Nigel Hall Band, the Stooges Brass Band, Mighty Manatees, 61 North, Conrad Oberg Band and more, Sunday, September 1, 1pm-10:30pm, Wiggins Waterfront Park, Camden NJ. Free.

     

    Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral

    The small beach town of Bethany Beach, Delaware celebrates the end of the summer season with the annual Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral. Bid farewell to summer and celebrate the approaching fall season as the town parades a casket and mannequin representing “Summer of 2013” down the boardwalk. Accompanying the mock procession is the Downtown Dixieland Band. Festivities begin on Labor Day, September 2, around 5:30 p.m. at the North End of the Bethany Beach Boardwalk. Free.

    Made in America

    The “Made in America” Festival hits Philadelphia this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, August 31-September 1, with major musical acts including Beyoncé, Nine Inch Nails, and many more with performances on the Ben Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia.

    Chadds Ford Winery Festival

    Chadds Ford Winery hosts a Labor Day Weekend Festival this Friday through Monday, August 30-September 2, noon to 6pm, with wine-tastings and concerts on Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford, PA. No reservations required.

    Cannstatter Volksfest

    The Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein hosts the annual Labor Day Weekend Festival, August 31 through September 2, three days of food, crafts, German beer and wine, German-American entertainment, children’s activities and more, in what is called the “oldest German volksfest,” Cannstatter Park, 9130 Academy Road, Philadelphia. Park opens at noon, children 12 and under free.

    Franklin Square Labor Day Celebration

    Franklin Square hosts a Labor Day Celebration, September 1-2, noon-3pm, with old-fashioned carnival games and rides on the Lightning Bolt Express Train, 6th and Race Streets, Philadelphia.

    Philadelphia’s Tri-State Labor Parade and AFL-CIO Family Festival

    Philadelphia’s Tri-State Labor Parade and AFL-CIO Family Festival is this Monday, September 2 beginning at 9:15am at Columbus Boulevard from Washington Avenue to Market Street, to Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, with music, crafts, children’s activities, food and more from 11am-2pm.

    Art Appreciation

     

    Fabric Workshop and Museum exhibit

    Opening this weekend at the Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is “Books of Drawings, Beyond Our Dreams, Blame Our Dads, Brains on Drugs, Better Off Dead,” an exhibition of works by artist-in-residence Mario Ybarra, Jr. Ybarra’s sculpture, installations, and community-based projects examine the perspective of Mexican-Americans living in Southern California, focusing on the hidden histories of U.S. street culture through large-scale, mixed media installations that serve as an urban clubhouse, a museum, and pop-up shop. A First Friday reception with the artist takes place Friday, October 4, 6pm-8pm, 1214 Arch Street, Philadelphia.

    Down the Shore

     

    Wildwood events

    Make it a weekend in Wildwood! Catch WHYY’s NewsWorks Tonight broadcasting live from the Convention Center, beginning at 6pm on Friday, August 30, 4501 Boardwalk.

    Enjoy Labor Day Weekend Fireworks on the beach at Pine Avenue, Friday, August 30, 10pm, visible from almost anywhere in the Wildwoods. Beatlemania performs on Saturday, August 31, 8pm at Lou Booth Amphitheatre, 2nd and Ocean Avenues, North Wildwood. Rain or shine. Free. The Wildwood Block Party and Music Festival is Sunday, September 1, Noon-11 pm with food, crafts, and continuous live music including Bittersweet, Jeremiah Hunter Band, Just in Time, Sounds of Society, Purple Reign, Lime, The Trammps, Norma Jean & Luci Martin, and Martha Wash at Fox Park, on Ocean Avenue between Burk and Montgomery Avenues, Wildwood, NJ. Free.

    Atlantic City Comedy Festival

    The Atlantic City Comedy Festival is back this Labor Day Weekend for a 4th year, Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1, with D.L. Hughley (pictured) and Sommore, Bruce Bruce, Arnez J, Gary Owen, DeRay Davis, Don “DC” Curry, Earthquake, Tony Rock, Mark Curry, and Dominique, at Boardwalk Hall, 2301 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ.

     

     

    Harry Connick, Jr. at Revel

    Harry Connick, Jr. performs with his band at Revel Casino, Sunday, September 1, 8pm in Ovation Hall, 500 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ.

     

     

    Onstage

     

    “Any Given Monday” at Delaware Theatre Company

    The Delaware Theatre Company opens a new season with Bruce Graham’s “Any Given Monday,” winner of the 2010 Barrymore Award for Best Play. The erratic, politically incorrect comedy about the curveballs life throws at you is directed by Bud Martin and stars Lucy DeVito (daughter of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman) as Sarah, Leslie Hendrix (of TV’s Law & Order, The Good Wife) as Sarah’s mother, Broadway actor Kenny Morris as Lenny, and Michael Mastro (of HBO’s Nurse Jackie) and who played the role of Mickey in New York City, September 4-22, 200 Water Street, Wilmington, DE.

    FringeArts

    FringeArts (formerly the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe) kicks off Thursday, September 5 through 22, celebrating its 17th year with 18 days of cutting-edge dance, theater, music, visual and interdisciplinary works by artists from the U.S. and international arts scene. In addition to the festival’s annual selection of “Presented Fringe” performances, also featured are over 130 independently produced “Neighborhood Fringe” shows at the brand-new FringeArts headquarters on the Delaware River waterfront and other various locations around Philadelphia… 

     

    Kafka’s “The Castle”

    The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium continues its tradition of bringing difficult and rarely-produced absurdist shows to the stage with Franz Kafka’s “The Castle,” the German-language novel that was left unfinished when the writer died in 1924. The production stars David Stanger as “K,” John D’Alonzo, Greg Day, Tomas Dura, Michael Dura, Ethan Lipkin, Kirsten Quinn, Sonja Robson, Pat Lewis, Ingrid Robson, Tina Brock, Jerry Puma, and Jerry Rudasill, September 3-22 as part of FringeArts at Second Stage at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia.

     

    Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House”

    EgoPo Classic Theater takes on Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House.” The Norwegian playwright is the focus of the company’s yearlong festival and has been boldly reinvented by director Brenna Geffers and stars fourteen year old Mackenzie Maula in a one “woman” show about a modern day girl on the verge of adulthood. The world premiere adaptation is onstage September 4-22 as part of FringeArts at the Playground at the Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia.

     

    Pay Up

    Pig Iron Theatre Company’s “Pay Up,” a pay-as-you-go circus/laboratory experiment/shopping experience, returns for a labyrinthine, choose-your-own-adventure about buying and selling everything under the sun, styled as a post-financial-crisis remount, September 4-22, as part of FringeArts, Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia.

     

     

    Break/Drift/Resist

    Tangle, a feminist movement arts company, brings its inventive aerial dance theater production “Break/Drift/Resist,” to this year’s FringeArts. The eight woman company works in traditional circus disciplines like trapeze, aerial silks, rope, partner balancing, and acrobatics, as well as music, drama, and spoken word to present a full-length circus-theater show, September 5-7 at Philadelphia Soundstages, 1600 North 5th Street, Philadelphia.

     

    AJAX, the madness

    Greek performance company Attis Theatre, in a co-presentation with The Wilma Theater, presents the U.S. premiere of “AJAX, the madness,” a contemporary study on war’s paranoia, violence and conflict, based on the tragedy by Sophocles. The FringeArts performance is led by internationally acclaimed director of Greek drama Theodoros Terzopoulos, September 5-7 at the Wilma, 265 South Broad Street, Philadelphia.

     

    The Ballad of Joe Hill

    Swim Pony Performing Arts reimagines its 2006 Philly Fringe hit “The Ballad of Joe Hill” with new historical revelations concerning its protagonist. Within Eastern State Penitentiary, a ragtag band of vaudeville-inspired clowns enact a troubled songwriter-turned-union-leader’s life, directed by Adrienne Mackey September 5-15, 2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia.

     

     

     

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

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