Weekly Entertainment Guide – Labor Day Weekend and Philly Fringe
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:
The 105th Arden Fair offers live music, hand-made crafts, children’s activities, antiques market, art exhibit, food and much more, Saturday, September 1, 10am-6pm, 2119 The Highway Arden, DE. Free admission.
The small beach town of Bethany Beach, Delaware celebrates the end of the summer season with the 27th 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 2012” down the boardwalk. Accompanying the mock procession will be three Dixieland jazz bands: The Dixieland Cats, The Downtown Dixieland Band, and The Jazz funeral Irregulars. Festivities begin on Labor Day, September 3, around 5:30 p.m. at the North End of the Bethany Beach Boardwalk, Bethany Beach, DE. Free.
A new take on “Love Story, the Musical” at Walnut Street Theatre
Walnut Street Theatre, America’s oldest theater, kicks off its 204th Anniversary season with the American premiere of Stephen Clark and Howard Goodall’s musical, “Love Story, the Musical,” inspired by Erich Segal’s best-selling novel of the same name. A classic story of love forbidden by social class, the production opens Tuesday, September 4 and runs through October 21, 825 Walnut St, Philadelphia. $10-$95.
The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza returns to Lantern Theater
“New Jerusalem, The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation: Amsterdam, July 27, 1656” returns for a limited time to the Lantern Theater Company. Charles McMahon directs David Ives’ drama surrounding philosopher Baruch Spinoza’s relocation from Portugal to Amsterdam and how his revolutionary thinking put his Jewish community in danger. The best selling production in Lantern’s history returns September 4-23, 923 Ludlow Street, Philadelphia. $20-$38. Discounts available for students and seniors.
4 Lads from Liverpool at Act II Playhouse
Be a part of the mania as “4 Lads from Liverpool: A Tribute to the Beatles” hits the Act II Playhouse with a unique multimedia experience that will take you back in time to see, hear and feel how it all started from the Cavern Club in Liverpool to the Sgt. Pepper era and beyond, September 4-30, 56 East Butler Avenue, Philadelphia. $27-$38.
Ars Nova concerts kick off 13th year
Ars Nova Workshop commences its 13th year of jazz and experimental music concerts with two rare duo performances by legendary German saxophonist Peter Brotzmann and vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and noise-blues guitarist Bill Orcutt teams up with drummer Chris Corsano, Tuesday, September 4, 8pm, International House, 3701 Chestnut St, Philadelphia. $15.
Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts
The Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts holds its 35th annual Celebration of the Arts Festival, September 7-9, with performances by Nellie McKay, Phil Woods and the COTA Festival Orchestra, Sheilamark Band and more, along with craft vendors, children’s activities, food and more, in Delaware Water Gap, PA. Seating is on the great slope overlooking the site. Bring a low lawn chair or blanket. Saturday and Sunday tickets: one-day ticket $25, 2-day ticket (available Saturday only), $40, students and seniors, $15 per day. Children 5-12 $10.00 per day, under 5 are free. Rain or shine.
Fringe
The 2012 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival kicks off next Friday, September 7 through 22, celebrating its 16th year with 16 days of cutting-edge dance, theater, music, visual and interdisciplinary works by renowned artists from the U.S. and international arts scene, at various locations around Philadelphia.
The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium opens its 7th season of obscure, absurdist productions with Polish playwright Witold Gobrowicz’s dark comedy, “Ivona, Princess of Burgundia,” a play that follows the panic of a kingdom that praises traditional beauty when its prince decides to wed a common woman, running September 5-23 at the Walnut Street Theater Studio 5, 825 Walnut St, Philadelphia. $15-$20.
Brat Rockpile presents a Rock’n’Roll theater double feature for Philly Fringe including the remounting of Madi Distefano’s international-award winning solo tour-de-force about the end of the punk rock scene in Boston, Popsicle’s Departure, 1989, directed by Matt Pfeiffer. Also, Eternal Glamnation, a World Premiere by Jess Conda and directed by Madi Distefano, ” a glam-rock cabaret spectacular featuring songs by T Rex, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and more, September 7-26, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia. $19-35.
Band of Artists, the multidisciplinary group of performers, seeks to familiarize audiences and break down stereotypes about Tourette Syndrome with “Tourettes: A Dancing Disorder,” Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8, 8pm, at the Painted Bride Arts Center, 230 Vine Street, Philadelphia. The performance features a collaboration between choreographer Sutie Madison, composer Stephen DiJoseph, and neurologist Dr. James Cook. Repeat performance September 14 and 15, 8pm, Spruance Fine Arts Center, 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA. $15.
Nichole Canuso Dance Company’s Return Return Departure
Nichole Canuso Dance Company performs “Return Return Departure” as a Fringe Festival addition to the American Philosophical Society Museum’s Tempus Fugit exhibit, which explores how we find meaning in the passage of time. The dance duet interprets this theme with Nichole Canuso and John Luna dancing at sunset, armed with a personal video camera. Each dancer’s perspective is captured and posted in the gallery side-by-side. As the exhibition progresses, the videos will evolve with the change of seasons. Performances are September 7-21 around sunset at the APS Thomas Jefferson Garden, with Post-Fringe Festival performances October 5 through December 8, 104 South 5th Street, Philadelphia. $12.
Other events in Philly
The “Made in America” Festival hits Philadelphia this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 1-2, with major musical acts including Jay Z, Pearl Jam, and many more with performances on the Ben Franklin Parkway at Eakins Oval, Philadelphia. For admission prices, visit website.
Philadelphia’s Tri-State Labor Parade and AFL-CIO Family Festival is this Monday, September 3 beginning at 10am 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.
The 3rd Annual Philadelphia Honey Festival raises awareness about the importance of bees to our environment, the impact of local honey on our economy, and to promote urban beekeeping and gardening with sweet activities for the whole family including open hive talks, honey tasting and sales, workshops, a honey Happy Hour, vendors, music, art and more, Friday, September 7, 10am-6pm, Wagner Free Institute of Science, Saturday, September 8, 10am-4pm, Wyck Historic House and Garden, Sunday, September 9, 10am-4pm, Bartram’s Garden, Philadelphia. Free and open to the public.
On display at Drexel University’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery is “Sum of Parts,” an exhibit featuring the mythical work of Philadelphia artists Henry Bermudez and Michelle Marcuse, through September 28 at the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, 3215 Market Street, Nesbitt Hall, Philadelphia.
Other events in the region
Chadds Ford Winery hosts a Labor Day Weekend Festival this Saturday through Monday, September 1-3, noon to 6pm, with wine-tastings and concerts on Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford, PA. $10 wine tastings. No reservations required.
The Historic Cold Spring Village hosts a FunFest Weekend with crafts and trades from the 1800s including blacksmithing, basketweaving, woodworking, and more, Saturday, September 1 and Sunday, September 2, 10am-4:30pm, 720 Route 9 South, Cape May, NJ. Admission: $10 adults, $8 children ages 3-12, children under 3 free.
The Camden Backyard BBQ promotes wellness with a day of New Orleans inspired food and music. Innovative funk ensemble Galactic headlines with Corey Glover, along with Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Royal Southern Brotherhood, and local act 61 North, Sunday, September 2, 2-10pm, Wiggins Waterfront Park, Camden NJ. Free.
The Wildwood Block Party and Music Festival is Sunday, September 2, Noon-10 pm with food, crafts, live music including Chubby Checker, The Trammps, Charlie Gracie, Jeremiah Hunter Band, The Blue Notes, Beatlemania, 45-RPM, Just In Time, and Bitter Sweet at Fox Park, on Ocean Avenue between Burk and Montgomery Avenues, Wildwood, NJ. A fireworks display will conclude the festivities, on the beach at Rio Grande Avenue. Free.
Dramateurs at The Barn perform Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI) in New York City through September 8, Christopher Lane and Rittenhouse Boulevard, Jeffersonville, PA. Tickets: $15.
Hunt for treasure at Mercer Museum with a family-friendly exhibit that invites visitors to explore the history of shipwrecks and pirates, along with the tools and methods used in treasure hunting – past and present – through artifacts, video presentations, and interactive elements at 84 South Pine Street, Doylestown, PA. “The Hunt for Treasure!” is included with museum admission through September 21. Admission: Adults $10, Seniors $9, Youth $6.
Onstage at Hedgerow Theatre is “Deathtrap,” written by Ira Levin and directed by Penelope Reed and Ellen Wilson Dilks, a wildly funny thriller mixing clever plot twists, suspense and humor, through September 23 at 64 Rose Valley Road, Rose Valley, PA. Tickets $10-$32.
To submit an event to be considered for the Weekly Entertainment Guide email Robin Bloom at artscalendar@whyy.org.
Brett Rader contributed reporting to this week’s guide.
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