This week's headline was taken from a quote by Jim Dale, perhaps best known as the voice of the Harry Potter books here in the States. The entire statement reads: "We talk about theatre museums filled with old costumes and things. What we also need is a theatre museum of the old routines on videotape. We are only the custodians of those techniques, and they should be preserved." Now, on with the listings! Come......

The Phlash Center City trolley will have special hours this Friday and Saturday to accommodate Independence Day celebrations. The Phlash will operate until 7PM on Friday and until 11PM on Saturday. (Via RJ) The Inquirer tells the story of how a plan to convert an empty convent in Germantown into apartments for formerly homeless men went south, in order to underscore the problems Mayor Nutter is likely to face with his initiative to fight......

Mum Puppettheatre founder Robert Smythe...

This week's quote comes from Jerome Savary, who said: "Theatre is not and should not be a literary form of expression. A theatrical celebration can take place anywhere: out of doors, in a garage, in a stable. The problem with avant-garde theatre today is that it is absolutely intellectual. You have to be cerebrally inclined to understand what is going on." Now, on with the listings! Working - In a coal mine? July 2-27.......

I have to be honest here for a minute: I was pretty pessimistic about The Walnut's production of Les Miserables, more or less from the second it was announced as the season closer. It wasn't lack of faith in The Walnut that led to my lack of optimism. Rather, it was a familiarity: nothing about Les Mis—not the music, not the costumes, not the set*—is easy, and bad productions are far too common. Not......

This week's quote comes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, which is not playing anywhere near Philadelphia (that we know of). But it does describe the lives of several theatre professionals in the area as the season comes to a close. Enjoy your time down the shore, guys. Now, on with the listings! By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea - Great. Now the song's stuck in our heads. June 20-29. Tickets......

I remember wondering, when I read Thornton Wilder's Our Town in high school, how the play could possibly be interesting when staged. The script calls for no set, no props, and minimal scenery. It's something that only sometimes works in modern (as opposed to "Modern") theatre, so the idea of a play written in the thirties that takes place between 1901–1913 and uses the type of set typically reserved for performance art was, I'll......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: It’s That Time Again: 16th Annual Bloomsday celebration starting at noon in and around the Rosenbach Museum (2008 Delancy). Free We Thought There Were Five: 4 Sides to Every Story, a dramedy set in a Center City psychologists office, at the Shubin Theatre (407 Bainbridge), 7PM. $10 (runs through June 22) Open Mic: Free at The Fire (412 W. Girard). Sign up at 8:30PM. (21+) Sing Your Life!:......

Fortune cookie: Friday brings hope. THE FIRE PRESENTS: CROOKED LOOKS New York descends on the Philly music scene tonight in the form of three acts. Headliners Crooked Looks, Renminbi, and The Everybrothers hail from NY and are joined by Philly's own Rotosonic, a reggae outfit. Crooked Looks has an intense shpiel on Skin Radio that does the job of whetting your sonic appetite very well. Also, bring your dancing legs. WHO: 21+ WHERE: The Fire,......

This week's quote comes from Little Shop of Horrors. The line is delivered in song as Audrey II is trying to convince Seymour to feed him—to feed him people. Now, on with the listings! By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea - Great. Now the song's stuck in our heads. June 20-29. Tickets online. The Color Purple - As opposed to violet. June 17-July 13. Tickets online. Little Shop of Horrors......

Once in a while, you'll hear the Philadelphia Theatre Company criticized for "playing it safe"—choosing plays or casting actors that will fill seats, and sacrificing quality in the process. I will neither agree nor disagree with that statement, but I will pose this question: if PTC always plays it safe, how can you explain The Happiness Lecture? The show, now in its final two weeks, can only be described as performance art. It's not laughable......

Happy Portugal Day! ANDRE DUBUS III: THE GARDEN OF LAST DAYS We had to list this reading/signing because we had heard on NPR that the novel is about "terrorists and strippers." The author himself is most notable for coming down with a severe case of fame after Oprah implored her minions to read The House of Sand and Fog and they did so, in rabid droves. According to the Library's web site, a group of......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: What It Is: Cartoonist and author Lynda Barry presents her new book What It Is, exploring channels of creativity, at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine), 7PM. Free Wide Open: Grand Opening of Walking Fish Theater with ribbon cutting and reception at the Theater (2509 Frankford), 5PM. Free Chill Out: Buddhist meditation classes at Philadelphia Ethical Society (1906 Rittenhouse Sq), 7-8:30PM. Free Martyrdom: Last Martyr......

This week's quote comes from George Santanya, who said: "The theatre, for all its artifices, depicts life in a sense more truly than history, because the medium has a kindred movement to that of real life, though an artificial setting and form." Now, on with the listings! Defending the Caveman - Geico's done a lot to hurt his reputation. June 13-14. Tickets online. Married Alive! - The other way around isn't legal, though. June 13-July......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Play and Food: Reading of Jimi Cook’s “Hey Champ,” about a professional boxer and love, at Abbraccio (820 S 47th), 7:30PM. Free Johnny Miles: Johnny Miles at the Dawson Street Pub (100 Dawson), 10PM. $5 Open Mic: Free at The Fire (412 W. Girard). Sign up at 8:30PM. (21+) Sing Your Life!: Karaoke With DJ Sara Sherr Mondays upstairs at the Khyber (56 S. Second), 9PM - 2......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY We Heart Toy Theater: Adaptation to aforementioned toy theater of Howard Zinn’s Emma at the DaVinci Art Alliance (704 Catherine), 7PM. Free (donations accepted) The Wimyn: Wimyn’s Original Rock Festival featuring Phyllis Chappell, Cris Valkeria, Kate Foust, Nicola Visaggio, Urbana, and more at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut), 8PM. $10 The Last: Last Friday at the Philadelphia Art Alliance featuring local artists Katie Ford and John Conahan at......

Go with us here for a minute: The opening of the show Almost, Maine got us thinking about Maine lobsters. Which made us hungry. And distracted us from anything else. Ergo this week's title and picture. Now, on with the listings! Almost, Maine - As in New Hampshire? June 5-22. Tickets online. Another River Flows - Three in Philadelphia alone! May 30-June 14. Tickets online. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the......

Students of classical studies take note: if you're heading to The Wilma Theater for some good old fashioned Greek mythology, prepare to be surprised. Pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless. Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, now onstage at The Wilma, isn't just a revisionist retelling of the story of Orpheus's ill-fated wife. It's a complete re-imagining of the tale. One in which Eurydice, typically the silent, ill-fated object of Orpheus's love, takes centerstage. The concept smacks of......

This week's quote comes from Antonin Artaud, who wrote in The Theatre and Its Double: "It has not been definitively proved that the language of words is the best possible language. And it seems that on the stage, which is above all a space to fill and a place where something happens, the language of words may have to give way before a language of signs whose objective aspect is the one that has......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Readings in Restaurants: Free reading of the play Three Precious Rings by Walt Vail at Abbraccio Restaurant (820 S 47th), 7:30PM. Free More Plays: Shakespeare in Clark Park presents a reading of Any Other Name by George Brant at the Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S 18th), 7PM. Free And Free Music: The Monday Night Club featuring The Armchairs at the Balcony at the Troc (1003 Arch), 10PM. Free......

This week's quote comes from Thornton Wilder's Our Town, which opens next week at the Arden with a twist: Our Town will be set in our town. Now, on with the listings! House, Divided - After all: united we stand. May 23-June 22. Tickets online. Our Town - In Old City. May 22-June 22. Tickets online. The Woolgatherer - He shears sheep. May 21-June 1. Tickets online.......

This week's quote comes from what is probably the most singable song in Les Miserables. This week's photo is a picture of the Paris sewer system, where a good part of the novel, and a smaller though no less important part of the play, takes place. Now, on with the listings! Beautiful Boy - Not as sung by John Lennon. May 13-25. Tickets online. The Dead Guy - CSI:Theatre. May 14-31. Tickets online. The......

Let me just begin this review by saying, simply, that there are only five performances of Azuka Theatre's production of John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch left, and that you should make sure you're at one of them. Dito van Reigersberg, best known to most of Philadelphia as Miss Martha Graham Cracker, was positively born to play this role. It's not just because he likes to sing and dance wearing a dress. It's......

You know that kid at your middle school who was always EXCITED for your once-monthly library day? Yeah, that was me. Which is how I ended up reading George Orwell's Animal Farm when I was eleven. The librarian looked at me in confusion when I brought it up to the check-out. My parents asked if I was sure I woldn't rather read another Nancy Drew book. (This was long before Harry Potter.) But I......

It just may be that this particular Phillyist is going to the sold out Jimmy Eat World show in Atlantic City tonight. And it just may be that you aren't. Ha! THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC PRESENTS: HAIRSPRAY If you like musical theater, you know Hairspray. This weekend, you can catch a production over at the Academy of Music, presented by their program entitled Broadway at the Academy. It's a real show, so you'll have to......

You know what we're thinking about today? We're only 21 days away from The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...Beware the link, the signature music plays right away, and loudly, too. NEW PARADISE LABORATORIES PRESENTS: PROM! That's right. PROM. Sort of like prom, but capitalized. New Paradise Laboratories, with the help of some Drexel students, is bringing their unique and experiential theater experience to Philadelphia at the Mandell Theater on Drexel's campus. New Paradise themselves described......

This week's quote, a line from the song "Mr. Goldstone, I Love You," comes from Gypsy, which will be onstage as part of the Kimmel Center's Cadillac Broadway Series next weekend. Now, on with the listings! Cheaper by the Dozen - You're losing money in the long run if you don't buy in bulk! May 8-June 7. Tickets online. Dear World - Is writing a letter to the universe more effective than writing one to,......

This week is already insane and it's only Tuesday. If we make it to Friday this time, we're going to reconsider religion. MINISTRY'S C U LATOUR Naming tours might not be their strong suit, but Ministry has been defining industrial rock for almost 30 years. That's a long time and a whole lotta rock. Tonight they will come to Philly for what will presumably be their last visit. These guys made many careers possible—some......

What is there to say, really, about any production of Romeo & Juliet that probably hasn't been said already? It is, after all, the first Shakespearean play that most of us are exposed to, and although it's not (at least in my opinion) one of Shakespeare's best works, it's probably his most frequently performed. So the challenge for any theatre company wishing to produce it is how to do like Ezra Pound said and......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: New Play Reading: Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company stages a reading of company member Paul Parente’s Rage of Achilles at the Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S 18th), 7PM. Free If You Didn’t Get Enough Baseball This Weekend:The National Constitution Center presents baseball historians discussing the place of the game in American culture at the Kirby Auditorium (525 Arch), 6:30PM. Free Digital Leather: Digital Leather, Faux Slang, El Diablos Blancos,......