The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, May 7-13, 2026
The Woman Question, GIRL DOLLS, and the Moore Fashion Show
A new play from People’s Light, Moore College’s 2026 Fashion Show, and collaborative piece GIRL DOLLS opens at FringeArts. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Previews
2 minute read
Join us for the fourth annual BSR Book Week, May 17-23
Celebrate books with the BSR team and top Philly authors!
If you love books, stay tuned. From May 17-23, we're celebrating our fourth annual BSR Book Week with reviews, giveaways, a virtual panel of bestselling authors, and staff recommendations.
Previews
2 minute read
Philadelphia Ballet presents Juliano Nunes’s Romeo and Juliet
Love in the time of politics
A new Romeo and Juliet from Philadelphia Ballet choreographer-in-residence Juliano Nunes updates the tale with staggering success, while honoring Prokofiev’s romantic score. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
InterAct Theatre Company presents Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay’s Seng’s Hair Salon
The Philly Cycle continues inside a Lao family’s South Philly salon
InterAct premieres the second play in its Philly Cycle program, this time spotlighting our Southeast Asian refugee community in a script inspired by a real-life salon on Ritner Street. Krista Mar reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
1812 Productions presents Jen Childs’s She Gets Around
A closet memoir
A new solo show from Jennifer Childs takes audiences inside her closet for the stories that made her the comedy actor she is today, inspired by a lifetime of outfits. Walt Maguire reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
Butch Mermaid Productions presents Ania Upstill and Danielle Levsky’s Sappho's Salon
Recreating a historic queer literary parlor
A West Philly Victorian house becomes a historic salon inspired by Selby Wynn Schwartz’s novel After Sappho, in this immersive performance from Ania Upstill and Danielle Levsky. An Nichols reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
Theatre Horizon presents Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’
Celebrating the music of a Harlem Renaissance icon
Theatre Horizon closes the season with Ain’t Misbehavin’, the 1978 jukebox musical set in the 1920s jazz world of prolific Harlem Renaissance composer Fats Waller. An Nichols reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
Philadelphia Dance Projects presents Putty Dance Project’s Dance Like it’s 1829
Philadelphia’s story in motion
Putty Dance Project’s Dance Like It’s 1829 celebrates the historic power of Philadelphia music and dance through world-premiere choreography set to the work of pioneering instrumentalist and composer Francis Johnson. Melissa Strong reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
The BSR Podcast: Talking with Streets Dept founder Conrad Benner
"Philly is not a real place"
Darnelle Radford dives deep with Conrad Benner about his unusual career, his dreams for Philly, the challenge of sustaining indie media, and how Benner's "Philly is not a real place" series is getting more eyes on public art.
Podcast
1 minute read
Your May guide to 250th Anniversary events in Philadelphia
Print your own Declaration, sample historic foods, join Colonial tours, and more
Semiquincentennial events continue to pack the Philly-area calendar, from new art installations to print-your-own Declaration events, a wide variety of tours, new theater, and lots more. Walt Maguire dives in.
Previews
8 minute read
TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image presents How We Stay Free
This is what democracy looks like
A new exhibition at TILT honors 60 years of Philly protests thanks to the photographers who were there, from ADA rallies to campus activists, labor movements, No Arena, No Kings, and more. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.
Reviews
6 minute read
Arden Children’s Theatre presents The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, adapted by John Glore
A beloved 1990s kids’ book gets a staging worthy of its weirdness
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales has been delighting readers of all ages for more than 30 years. Now it hits the Arden stage in a zany adaptation by John Glore. Alaina Johns reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
The Clay Studio presents American Crib: What’s Happening
Roberto Lugo kicks off a citywide Radical Americana celebration
Philly artist, ceramicist, activist, poet, and educator Roberto Lugo joins our 250th celebrations with American Crib: What’s Happening, an exhibition of brilliantly imaginative work at The Clay Studio. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
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Also on BSR
BSR Classical Interludes, May 2026
Tempesta di Mare travels around the city, and season closing performances
Classical music happening in and around the city in May as a few companies close out the season. Gail Obenreder previews.
Previews
3 minute read
The Month in Philly Dance for May 2026
Spring fling with Contemporary West, the Lady Hoofers, and more
Dancing with spring in mind, including performances by Project Moshen, Martha Graham Dance Company, and a pop-up from BalletX. Camille Bacon-Smith previews.
Previews
5 minute read
The BSR May 2026 repertory movie roundup
Top Gun, Moonstruck, GayBINGO, Airplane, and more
Top Gun turns 40, GayBINGO gets a rare screening, and a pair of 80s comedies come to town. Stephen Silver previews.
Previews
4 minute read
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, April 30-May 6, 2026
Homo Economicus, Docs & Dialogues, and Dance Like It’s 1829
Philadelphia Dance Projects celebrates America 250, the Weitzman kicks off a spring series of documentaries, and rebuilding the economy at the club. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Previews
4 minute read
Ensemble Arts Philly and the Shubert Organization present the National Tour of Shucked
A corny balm for a turbulent spring
The delightful national tour of the modern Broadway musical hit Shucked brings farm life to our city’s Forrest with its Philly stop. Josh Herren reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
Opera Philadelphia presents Gregory Spears’s Sleepers Awake
A fairy tale transforms the mysteries of time and sleep
Opera Philadelphia premieres Sleepers Awake, resonant new work by Gregory Spears, notable for its chorus, that delves deeply into things we take for granted: time and sleep. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, April 23-29, 2026
The First Salute, short films at West Chester, Expanding Sanctuary, and more
New exhibitions open the Weitzman and the Print Center in the spirit of America 250, an international film festival celebrates 20 years, and Kristal Sotomayor’s documentary screens at Bartram’s Garden.
Previews
4 minute read
APS Museum presents These Truths: The Declarations of Independence
The Declaration may not be the document you think it is.
The American Philosophical Society celebrates America’s 250th with the largest display of early copies of the Declarations ever assembled, but some of the show’s lesser-known artifacts are just as exciting. Alaina Johns visits.
Editorials
7 minute read
Koresh Dance Company presents Never/Mind
Making a case in motion
Koresh has been drawing full houses for more than three decades. The company’s clarity of vision and uniquely grounded, dynamic movement was on display at Never/Mind, a new work by artistic director Ronen Koresh. Lauren Berlin reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
Delaware Theatre Company presents The Chequerboard Watch
Brotherhood on the high seas
Delaware Theatre Company stages the rousing world premiere of The Chequerboard Watch, developed by several artists spanning the Atlantic over five years, about an intrepid mixed-race crew on a 19th-century sea voyage. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read