Weekly Entertainment Guide – Made in America & 12 other things to do this Labor Day Weekend
Spruce Street Harbor Park, the summer pop-up park at Penn's Landing, has been extended through September 28. (Photo courtesy of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation)
Great live music and performances this week! Robin Bloom shares her picks.
What’s Happening
1812 Productions’ “Intimate Exchanges”
1812 Productions joins with the upcoming 2014 FringeArts Festival to present Intimate Exchanges, a comedy of chance where the direction of the story is left to the audience to decide. Written by Tony and Olivier Award winner Alan Ayckbourn, the witty show contains 16 scenes which create eight possible plays with eight possible endings and stars Philadelphia favorites Anthony Lawton and Jennifer Childs, playing a total of seven characters. Directed by Mary Carpenter, August 28 through September 21, at Arden Theatre Company’s Arcadia Stage, 40 N. 2nd Street, Old City, Philadelphia.
Spruce Street Harbor Park extended!
It was supposed to be the last weekend to enjoy Spruce Street Harbor Park but the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation has decided to extend the summer pop-up park through September 28! More time to enjoy the boardwalk, urban beach, floating barges, mist walk, lily pad gardens and more at the Penn’s Landing Marina, Columbus Boulevard and Spruce Street, Philadelphia.
Mauckingbird Theatre Company’s “A Mauckingbird Mix”
Mauckingbird Theatre Company, known for producing gay-themed works, offers two weeks of special events celebrating classic and original LGBT works, August 29 through September 7. A Mauckingbird Mix includes “Miss Cast 5: College Edition,” hosted by Barrymore Award-winner Jennie Eisenhower, the 5th annual cabaret of “songs sung by the wrong people,” a staged reading of Lillian Hellman’s classic 1934 drama The Children’s Hour, and Matt Crowley’s 1968 gay classic The Boys in the Band. Featuring celebrated Philadelphia actors Alex Keiper, Forrest McClendon, Jeff Coon, and many more at Randall Theater on the Temple University campus, 2020 North 13th Street, Philadelphia.
Labor Day Weekend in Wildwood
Enjoy Labor Day Weekend Fireworks on the beach at Pine Avenue, Friday, August 29, 10pm, visible from almost anywhere in the Wildwoods. Beatlemania performs on Saturday, August 30, 8pm at Lou Booth Amphitheatre, 2nd and Ocean Avenues, North Wildwood. Rain or shine. The Wildwood Block Party and Music Festival is Sunday, August 31, Noon-11 pm with food, crafts, and continuous live music including Jeremiah Hunter Band, Just in Time, Sounds of Society, Purple Reign, Marvelettes, and more at Fox Park, on Ocean Avenue between Burk and Montgomery Avenues, Wildwood, NJ. Free.
Made in America Festival
The Made in America Festival hits Philadelphia this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, August 30-31, with major musical acts including Kanye West, Kings of Leon, Pharrell Williams, Tiesto, The National, and many more with performances on the Ben Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia. Also, the Made in America Skate Park will feature performers on both days.
Arden Fair
The 107th Arden Fair, “Music in the Grove,” offers live music with the Diamond State Concert Band, Woz, Dinkendo Family Band, Fontaine Cooley, The Splashing Pearls, Llama Dalis, Xtra Alltra and more, plus hand-made crafts by over 120 vendors, children’s activities, antiques market, food, dancing, plant sale and much more, Saturday, August 30, 10am-6pm, 2126 The Highway Arden, DE. Free admission. Rain date Sunday, August 31.
Chaddsford Winery’s Labor Day Weekend Festival
Chaddsford Winery hosts a Labor Day Weekend Festival this Saturday through Monday, August 30-September 1, noon to 6pm, with wine-tastings and concerts on Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford, PA. No reservations required.
Stooges Brass Band at City Tap House
The Stooges Brass Band brings their New Orleans funk orchestra to the City Tap House Saturday, August 30, 3pm. Joined by the local Mummers group The New Sound Brass Band as part of the Brooklyn Brewery Summer Concert Series, 3925 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.
40th Street Summer Series continues
The 40th Street Summer Series continues this Saturday, August 30, 6pm, with Nation Beat and their Brazilian Carnival-style drumming fused with New Orleans roots music. Enjoy refreshments and children’s activities, behind the Walnut West Free Library, 40th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia. Free.
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at the TLA
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue arrives in Philadelphia with trombone and trumpet in hand and his distinctive New Orleans sound, this Saturday, August 30, 10:45pm. Doors open at 10pm with Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South Street, Philadelphia.
Camden Backyard BBQ
The Camden Backyard BBQ returns with Big Sam’s Funky Nation (pictured), JJ Grey and Mofro, Stolen Rhodes, Mia Borders, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, and Reverb Brothers (from South Jersey), Sunday, August 31, 1pm-10:30pm, Wiggins Waterfront Park, Camden NJ. Free.
Tri-State Labor Parade and AFL-CIO Family Festival
Philadelphia’s 27th Tri-State Labor Parade and AFL-CIO Family Festival is this Monday, September 1. The parade begins at 9:15am at Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 Union Hall, Columbus Boulevard and Washington Avenue to Market Street, to Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, with music, crafts, children’s activities, food and more from 11am-2pm.
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 2014” down the boardwalk. Accompanying the mock procession are three Dixieland Jazz bands. Festivities begin on Labor Day, September 1, around 5:30 p.m. at the North End of the Bethany Beach Boardwalk. Free.
To submit an event to be considered for the Weekly Entertainment Guide email Robin Bloom at artscalendar@whyy.org.
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