Weekly Entertainment Guide — MLK Day edition

Philadelphia honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the 17th annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, this Monday, January 16. The event, run by Global Citizen, is the largest and most expansive volunteer community service effort of its type in the country with more than 75,000 volunteers participating in over 1200 community service projects across the region. To find a project near you, visit Martin Luther King Day of service.

Philadelphia honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Philadelphia honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the 17th annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, this Monday, January 16. The event, run by Global Citizen, is the largest and most expansive volunteer community service effort of its type in the country with more than 75,000 volunteers participating in over 1200 community service projects across the region. To find a project near you, visit Martin Luther King Day of service.  

MLK events include African-American Champions of Nature at the Delaware Museum of Natural History, with special activities for all ages highlighting African Americans’ contributions to the field of natural history, this Monday, January 16, 9:30am-4:30pm, 4840 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, DE. Included with museum admission: $8 adults, $6 children (3-17), $7 seniors (60+), and free for children 2 and younger.

The African American Museum in Philadelphia celebrates with family activities including cultural performances, historical reenactments, storytelling, a scavenger hunt and more, Monday, January 16, 10am-5pm at 7th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia. Free admission.

The National Constitution Center participates on Monday, January 16 with service projects, musical and dramatic performances and special craft activities, 10am-4pm, Independence Mall, Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Orchestra performs a Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Concert, Monday, January 16, 3pm, Martin Luther King High School, 6100 Stenton Avenue, Philadelphia with Thomas Wilkins conducting, Charlotte Blake Alston and the Philadelphia All City Choir. Free

Featured Events

BELOW and BEYOND at the Rotunda

A new play about extraction, urban camouflage, immortal jellyfish, and the Mill Creek comes to the Rotunda this weekend. BELOW and BEYOND is an original, collaborative performance experiment exploring the complications of what lies beneath our feet using puppets, pulleys, movement, maps and the imagination, this Sunday, January 15-17, 7:30pm, plus a 2pm matinee on January 16 at 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. Tickets $5-10

 

Artist makes a “Deep Impression” in New Jersey

Rowan University Art Gallery offers the first exhibit dedicated to examining the works on paper of New Jersey artist Willie Cole. Cole’s art is best known for assembling and transforming ordinary domestic and used objects into imaginative and powerful works of art and installations. Through the repetitive use of single objects in multiples, Cole’s works acquire a transcending and renewed metaphorical meaning, or become a critique of our consumer culture.

“Deep Impressions,” a 30 year survey highlighting the range of his prints, from a 1984 poster to a recent large-scale, technically innovative lattice-work piece, opens January 16 through March 10, lower level of Westby Hall on campus, Route 322, Glassboro, NJ. Admission is free and open to the public.

Other listings throughout the region:

Philadelphia Sketch Club’s annual juried “Works on Paper” exhibition kicks off this weekend, featuring works by many prominent regional artists in a variety of media including transparent watercolor, acrylics, collage, print and more through January 21 at 235 S. Camac Street, between 12th & 13th and Locust & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia.

 

 

The Rosenbach Museum & Library welcomes the return of jazz pianist Dave Burrell for the world premiere of Civilians During War Time, the series of six new compositions inspired by Burrell’s research into the lives of those who experienced the Civil War, with performances by Burrell and violinist Odessa Balan, on Wednesday, January 18, 6-7:30pm, and Saturday, January 21, 2-3:30pm and 7-8:30pm, at the Rosenbach, 2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia. Included with general admission.

 

 

World Café Live’s Peanut Butter and Jams welcomes Gustafer Yellowgold in Philadelphia, Saturday, January 14, 11:30am, 3025 Walnut Street, $12 adults, $9 kids, and Ellis Paul in Wilmington, Saturday, January 14, 11:30am, 500 North Market Street, $10 adults, $7 kids.

 

 

Hagley Museum and Library’s “Invention Convention” takes place this weekend, January 14-16, with family-oriented, hands-on activities relating to inventing, engineering, and science, including real science experiments, from 10am-4pm both days on Buck Road East in Wilmington, DE. Admission $6 adults, $4 children, children 3 and under free.

Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center hosts the acclaimed dance company RIOULT and the musical premiere of their ballet, Fables, featuring new music composed by Lehigh University professor Paul Salerni that re-works five of Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables (based on Aesop’s Fables) into vibrant dances brought to life by the Monocacy Chamber Orchestra, Sunday, January 15, 3pm, Bethlehem, PA. Tickets $15-25

International Guitar Night, the mobile guitar festival, is this Sunday, January 15, 7:30pm, featuring the best performing guitar composers from around the world at Calvary Church, 801 South 48th Street at Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia. Tickets $10-$30

Opening Friday, January 20 at Footlighters Theater is the world premiere of The Last Daughter by Patricia Cacek, directed by David Leavitt, a drama about discovery, redemption and forgiveness, through February 4, 58 Main Avenue, Berwyn, PA. Tickets $12-14