Weekly Entertainment Guide – Lost Girls

Robin Bloom shares her recommendations for what to do this week in the Philadelphia region!

What’s Happening

Brazilian Carnival at International House

Celebrate Brazilian Carnival at International House Philadelphia, Friday, February 24, 7 p.m., with a tasting of traditional Brazilian and Caribbean cuisine and beverages, samba dance performances by the Greater Philadelphia Caribbean Cultural Organization Masqueraders, and drumming performances by One Nation Ensemble. Wear a carnival costume to 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of International House Philadelphia.

Oscar Shorts Festival

Trenton Film Society’s Oscar Shorts Festival returns to the Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton with Oscar nominated documentary, live action, and animated shorts, February 23-25, 205 East Front Street (at Montgomery Street), Trenton, New Jersey. Offering a wide variety of films from around the world including the documentary short “4.1 Miles” (pictured) about a Greek Coast Guard captain caught in the struggle of refugees leaving the Middle East. Also, “Joe’s Violin,” about the relationship that developed between a 91 year old Holocaust survivor who donates his beloved violin to a young musician at a Bronx school, will be screened. Join a reception during the special double feature of live action and animated shorts on Saturday night, February 25. Cast your ballot and enter to win two all access passes to the Trenton Film Festival in March.

Celebration of African Cultures at Penn Museum

Travel to Africa with music, dance, storytelling, art, crafts, games, and cuisine at Penn Museum’s 28th annual Celebration of African Cultures, Saturday, February 25, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., with storyteller West African Vibe (WAVe), Liberian Women’s Chorus for Change (pictured), African Drum Workshop, and more. The museum will be available for visitors to explore art and artifacts in the Africa Gallery, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia. Photo by JJ Tiziou (courtesy of Penn Museum).

Philly Bierfest

The 6th annual Bierfest returns to the German Society of Pennsylvania (pictured) Saturday, February 25, 2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., celebrating Pennsylvania’s rich heritage of German beer brewing. The family friendly afternoon offers German-style beer from over three dozen craft and legacy brewers from Pennsylvania and Germany, German cuisine, live bluegrass music and oompah-funk, the Philly Roller Girls, the Lager Learning Lounge, Berlin-Style BEERlesque, and more. Participating brewers include Victory Brewing Company, Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Yards Brewing Company, Philadelphia Brewing Company, Yuengling & Sons Brewery, and more, at 611 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of the German Society of Pennsylvania.

“Dinosaur Revolution” at the Delaware Museum of Natural History

Uncover facts and fossils about dinosaurs with the Delaware Museum of Natural History’s Dinosaur Revolution. The interactive learning experience within a maze setting offers reptilian role-play activities, three Mesozoic missions spanning 150 million years, the opportunity to become a junior paleontologist, and more, through May 29, 4840 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, Delaware. Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Natural History.

Onstage

Theatre Exile’s “Lost Girls”

The Philadelphia premiere of the hard-hitting drama Lost Girls takes to the stage February 25 through March 12 at Studio X. Theatre Exile continues its 20th season with John Pollono’s story of three generations of women who struggle to rise above their limited prospects – in a world indifferent to their struggles – to prevent history from repeating itself. The playwright has appeared on NBC’s hit show “This is Us” and has written an upcoming movie called “Stronger” with Jake Gyllenhaal. Directed by Joe Canuso, the show features a large ensemble cast on a revolving stage that is a recreation of a working class New England town, 1340 S. 13th Street, Philadelphia. Photo by Paola Nogueras.

Azuka Theatre’s “Shi_theads”

Azuka Theatre continues its first pay what you decide season with the world premiere of Shi_theads by Philadelphia playwright Douglas Williams. Kevin Glaccum directs the show about a down-and-out bike shop in lower Manhattan and the lives of the people who love to work there, as the group of scrappy cyclists fight to save the only home they’ve ever known, February 25 through March 12. Cast includes Akeem Davis, Harry Watermeier, Charlotte Northeast, and David Pica, Proscenium Theatre at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street, Philadelphia. Photo by Johanna Austin/AustinArt.org.

“Annie” at The State Theatre

Annie stops in Easton, Pennsylvania on its national tour, Friday, February 24. The latest incarnation of the beloved musical about the adventures of a little orphan and her dog, is directed by the original lyricist and director Martin Charnin, with a book and score by Charnin, Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse. Starring Tori Bates as Annie, Erin Fish as Miss Hannigan, Gilgamesh Taggett as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, and Sunny and Macy, rescue terrier mixes, as Sandy with all of the unforgettable songs like “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” “Tomorrow,” and more, 453 Northampton Street. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Art Appreciation

The Barnes Foundations’ “Person of the Crowd: The Contemporary Art of Flânerie”

The Barnes Foundation presents a major city-wide exhibition examining U.S. and international artists’ engagement with public space and the urban experience from mid-century to the present with Person of the Crowd: The Contemporary Art of Flânerie, February 25 through May 22. Inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe short story “The Man of the Crowd,” the exhibition features works by more than 50 artists including Marina Abramović, Vito Acconci, Eleanor Antin, Constant, David Hammons, and Zhang Huan, who have taken to the street throughout the post-war period to speak to issues as diverse as gentrification, gender politics, globalization, racism, and homelessness. The exhibit offers works on display in the Barnes Foundation’s Roberts Gallery, on the web, and in street interventions throughout Philadelphia in the form of performances, billboards, and street poster projects. The Barnes has commissioned New York based artist Man Bartlett to create a microsite and digital artwork exploring themes related to the exhibition and the concept of “cyberflânerie.” Bartlett will document the street performances and invite audiences to participate in the exhibition by contributing their own reflections on life in the city through social media and videos. An opening party takes place Friday, February 24, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. and is free for college students with valid school ID.  Photo credit: Tania Bruguera (b. 1968). Displacement, 1998–1999. Courtesy Studio Bruguera.

“From Homer to Hopper: Experiment and Ingenuity in American Art”

Opening this weekend at the Brandywine River Museum is From Homer to Hopper: Experiment and Ingenuity in American Art, an exhibit that traces the course of American modernism through 54 paintings by Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Thomas Eakins, Marsden Hartley, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Horace Pippin, Maurice Prendergast, John Sloan, and many others, reflecting the rich diversity of style and expression in American art created between 1870 and 1950. Organized by the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the pieces are displayed thematically, outlining Duncan Phillips’s broad collecting interests and major developments in American art, on view February 25 through May 21, Route 1, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Pictured: Winslow Homer (1836-1910), To the Rescue, 1886, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1926.

Music

The Heath Brothers and Eubanks Brothers

Jazz Bridge celebrates the publication of the first “Philadelphia Real Book,” comprised of original musical compositions of jazz and blues musicians in the Greater Philadelphia metro area, with the first of four concerts featuring jazz legends. On Saturday, February 25, 7:30 p.m., saxophonist Jimmy Heath (pictured) and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath will appear with trumpeter Terell Stafford, with Robin and Duane Eubanks opening, Caplan Recital Hall, University of the Arts, 211 South Broad Street, Philadelphia. Event includes a free wine bar and cheese reception at 6:30 p.m. and a talk between the concerts that will focus on how a jazz community is sustained over time by the jazz families within that community featuring Dr. Diane Turner, jazz historian Jack McCarthy, and Homer Jackson, the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Jazz Project. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Mütter Museum’s Concerts at the College

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, home of the Mütter Museum, kicks off Concerts at the College, a series of three unique concerts highlighting principals from the Philadelphia Orchestra. The first evening, Monday, February 27, features a brass and woodwind chamber concert of works by Ewazen and Beethoven with Jeffrey Curnow and Anthony Prisk, trumpets, Jeffrey Lang, horn, Matthew Vaughn, trombone, and Carol Jantsch, tuba, in the grand Beaux-arts Mitchell Hall right above the famous collection of medical history artifacts and exhibits at 7 p.m., 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

 

 

Each week, the Entertainment Guide spotlights interesting local arts offerings happening now, including music, dance, theater, museums, special exhibitions and other arts events from across the region.

To submit an event to be considered, email Robin Bloom at artscalendar@whyy.org.