A woman of Asian descent in a white silk dress with blue and floral accents weaves long cloth streams across a large stage

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, January 23-29, 2025

CultureFest!, Good Mother Myths, and more

Kicking off the Lunar New Year with Penn Museum, getting crafty at Art Star, and dispelling Good Mother Myths. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up the week.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
3 Black people hold each other, in a line, looking to viewer. Image blends photo with cyanotype, making vivid blue & white

FringeArts and Ninth Planet present Arielle Julia Brown’s fallawayinto: Corridors of Rememory

A beacon of possibility

FringeArts and Ninth Planet present Arielle Julia Brown’s fallawayinto: Corridors of Rememory, a word premiere multimedia play that honors the life and legacy of Donna Nicole Booker. Kiran Pandey previews.
Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey

Previews 2 minute read
Six players each holding a viol pose in a green wooded area with soft sunshine pouring in pockets around them

BSR Classical Interludes, more in January 2025

Tunes to keep you warm

Music from familiar names, and a different kind of Curtain Call, are all in tow to close out the month of January and move into February. Gail Obenreder previews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Previews 4 minute read
Photo of the US Capitol dome at night with blurry yellow caution tape in the foreground.

Living in America today feels like having a mental illness. Here’s how to protect your sanity.

Symptoms of humanity

Coping with fear of disasters, irrational thoughts, constant crisis, and crushing sadness is just an ordinary day in America. Folks who have been in psychiatric treatment have always known how this feels. Alaina Johns has survival tips.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 6 minute read
Close-up on a simple teapot in profile, made out of inviting matte silver metal with a gentle curving shape.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves

A world-renowned designer gets his first major US solo show at the PMA

Naoto Fukusawa is one of the world's most sought-after designers, and the PMA hosts his first major solo exhibition in the US, featuring a range of irresistibly practical objects. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 4 minute read
Book cover. Title written over teal background with a vintage commercial pop art illustration of a mother + daughter walking

The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom, by Nancy Reddy

The poetry behind parenting

Local poet Nancy Reddy’s new book promises refreshing perspectives around parenting and an opportunity to unlearn outdated practices and notions. Jill Brooke previews.
Jill Brooke

Jill Brooke

Previews 3 minute read
Black & white image of Dawn Stanley holding up a basketball, with a serious expression, on geometric blue & white background

The African American Museum in Philadelphia presents Shaheed Rucker: (re)Covering the Iconic

Reimaging Jet magazine covers with Black Philly-area icons

AAMP continues to lead the Philly area in showcasing Black art with Shaheed Rucker: (re)Covering the Iconic, featuring notable portraits in the striking style of vintage mid-century media. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
Hobbs, smiling and holding a flower bouquet, faces Scharfman, who smiles excitedly and wears a floral dress.

Walnut Street Theatre presents Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy

Not much has changed

With an uneven production of a politically limp script, Walnut Street Theatre continues its commitment to institutional whiteness with Driving Miss Daisy. nat čermák reviews.

nat čermák

Reviews 4 minute read
Photo from above and behind the Anderson Hall stage showing the practicing orchestra and a mostly empty house of red seats

Philadelphia Orchestra open rehearsals take music-lovers of all ages behind the scenes of the symphony

A symphonic sneak peek

What goes on as the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, prepares for a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9? Linda Holt visits to learn more about a program that brings donors and students together behind the scenes.
Linda Holt

Linda Holt

Features 6 minute read
8 people, many using vintage typewriters, visit happily inside the small typewriter store with more visible out the window

The analog revolution is happening at Passyunk Avenue’s Philly Typewriter

Why is Philly the world’s best city for a typewriter company?

Bryan Kravitz and Bill Rhoda never thought their South Philly typewriter shop would thrive in the 21st century, but it did, especially after the pandemic pause brought a surge of new customers hungry for tactile technologies. Erin Dohony visits.
Erin Dohony

Erin Dohony

Features 6 minute read
Handmade sign waving outside City Hall has painted illustration of Philly’s Chinatown arch and “say no the arena” on it

Ten questions for everyone at this week’s Sixers arena press conference

BSR has questions for City Council, our reigning billionaires, and YOU

After more than two years of painful controversy over a proposed arena on the edge of Philly’s Chinatown and a massive legislative package, the Philadelphia 76ers joined hands with Comcast and walked away. We have questions.
Alaina Johns Kyle V. Hiller

Alaina Johnsand Kyle V. Hiller

Editorials 3 minute read
Illustration. Two fish are linked by a chain, another chain trails off one's tail. Blue, white watery strokes the backdrop

Morton Contemporary presents We Are All Doing Time

Illustrating America’s mass incarceration crisis

Morton Contemporary’s new exhibition provides a glimpse into the criminal justice system through the art of six local artists who have experienced it. Kimberly Haas previews.

Kimberly Haas

Previews 4 minute read
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Also on BSR

Appiah-Kubi, a Black woman, in costume in blue and white cotton dress, holding and looking at a coin

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, January 16-22, 2025

Celebrating MLK Day and more this week

Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr with events around the city, and plenty of shows, performances, and exhibits to choose from this week. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 6 minute read
Photo taken over the audience in the pews shows the singers performing on the well-lit chancel.

Variant 6 presents RE/IMAGINE

A rare of night secular music for voice and organ

Philly vocal ensemble Variant 6 explored the classic combination of voice and organ, though with a rare focus on secular music, including a world premiere by Benjamin C.S. Boyle, who was in attendance. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 5 minute read
A large dance ensemble surrounding him, Markus strikes a signature pose, one leg extended with white shirt fluttering behind

Ensemble Arts Philly and the Shubert Organization present MJ the Musical

A Dangerous look back

MJ the Musical, celebrating Michael Jackson’s music in a story about preparations for his Dangerous World Tour in the early 1990s, opts for a polished, estate-approved narrative that leaves Jackson’s life unexplored. Josh Herren reviews.
Josh Herren

Josh Herren

Reviews 2 minute read
Diorio in drag singing at a standing mic on a stage, wearing a sparkling gold body suit, belt, and boots

BSR Classical Interludes, January 2025

Concerts to start off the year

Music from East Passyunk Opera Project, Ama Deus Chamber Orchestra, Symphony in C, and more to open the new year in the Philly area. Gail Obenreder previews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Previews 3 minute read
An illustration over gray with a stenciling of a woman looking over her shoulder; beige sketch splits the middle of the image

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, January 9-15, 2025

Apple Picking with Eve, Love Notes 4 Philly, and Chevalier

Bringing in the new year with more laughs from Lady Laughs, a collage workshop at the PMA, multimedia film screenings, and more. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
Gay and Landau, seen from behind, standing in front of a large crowd visiting the show in a gilded hallway of City Hall

Councilmember Rue Landau and Creative Philadelphia present Transcending Uncertainty: Art Endures at Home in Philadelphia

Honoring the UArts community with a new exhibition at City Hall

City Councilmember Rue Landau and Creative Philadelphia teamed up to honor the UArts community with a special exhibition, free to view at City Hall through January 25, 2025. An Nichols visits.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 8 minute read
About 30 small white wooden figurines of fantastical yet familiar people on tiny pedestals, on a black background

The Museum for Art in Wood presents La Famiglia

Family trees

With this exhibition at the Museum for Art in Wood, turned-wood figures by artist Mark Sfirri explore likeness and difference, ancestry and environment, asking how family takes root. Anndee Hochman reviews.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Reviews 4 minute read
Two people look on, one smiles, the other looks unapproving or disgusted at something. They’re inside, a door behind them

The BSR January 2025 repertory film roundup

Dinner in America, Glen or Glenda, and more

Kicking off the new year with punk rockers, Glen or Glenda, and a classic documentary about war criminals in costume. Stephen Silver rounds up.
Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver

Previews 4 minute read
Vintage sleeveless pink dress with the artwork title written on it in large black block lettering.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum presents Soft/Cover

Celebrating 50 years of FWM Artists-in-Residence

The Fabric Workshop and Museum marks 50 years of its Artists-in-Residence program with this survey of intriguing multi-media works from the 1970s to the present. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
Two large black bookshelves packed with hundreds of books in a living room with a hardwood floor.

Looking for that next great book to read? Here are the editor's 2024 favorites.

Build your reading list with help from BSR

Alaina Johns is not going to rate her favorite 2024 reads, but she will offer you some micro-reviews, so you can figure out if you’d like to read them, too! Everyone is different, and books are individuals, too.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 13 minute read