The three BSR leaders stand together smiling in nice sweaters, under pink neon "JFDI" letters.

This March, BSR readers decide: Do we reduce our coverage?

BSR has a funding gap this spring. Readers have a chance to step in.
Nonprofit arts media is tough going these days, but this work is important, and we know Philly values it. If you have the means, BSR needs your support for our Readers Decide campaign, running through March 31.
Alaina Johns Kyle V. Hiller

Alaina Johnsand Kyle V. Hiller

Editorials 2 minute read
Iseda & Roxander, horrified as their tryst is interrupted, sit on an ornate desk while the mustached Drucker crawls out

The Philadelphia Ballet presents Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow

A farcical romance in Gilded Age Paris
The Philadelphia Ballet company shines in The Merry Widow, a lesser-known ballet set in Gilded Age Paris, full of scandal, comedy, and heartfelt romance. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Reviews 4 minute read
The ensemble, most of them in pale suits, pose together in dramatic blue light in a set like a ritzy hotel lobby.

People’s Light presents Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

The Bard meets The White Lotus
A new adaptation of Twelfth Night at People’s Light preserves the show’s comic and musical joys while examining love, privilege, and class, but changes to the story land with mixed success. Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer reviews.
Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

Reviews 4 minute read
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Large rectangular art piece made of dozens of repurposed Indonesian documents, with an abstract flow of red white & turquoise

The Print Center presents its 100th ANNUAL International Competition

Adi Sundoro, Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, and Glen Baldridge on view in Philadelphia
The Print Center’s 100th ANNUAL International Competition drew 725 artists this year. Discover the three finalists, including Philadelphia’s Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, in the galleries now. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
Amira, at right, in 1940s Italian biking gear. He holds a bike, facing outward next to Rogers, in yellow sweater & suspenders

Delaware Theatre Company presents Victoria and Todd Buchholz’s Glory Ride

Cycling into history
Delaware Theatre Company stages the US premiere of Glory Ride, a compelling musical about the real-life Italian cyclist who defied fascism during World War II. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 5 minute read
Large display of diverse Native artifacts, including tools and clothing with informational signage, in glass cases.

The Penn Museum presents the Native North America Gallery

A rich heritage and living culture
A new permanent gallery at the Penn Museum features an in-depth look at Native North American cultures and acknowledges the fraught relationship between institutions and Indigenous groups. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
On a spare Midcentury Modern set, the actors, in 1960s evening wear, have a lively conversation.

The Walnut Street Theatre presents Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance

An American formula stuck in the 1960s
The Walnut’s production of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance boasts excellent performances, but the play can’t escape its own era. C.M. Crockford reviews.
C.M. Crockford

C.M. Crockford

Reviews 4 minute read
A glass panel with an etching of integrated 18th-century Philadelphians at a funeral procession next to a panel ripped away.

Join the fight for full restoration of the President’s House Slavery Memorial

The Trump administration is frightened by Ona Judge
Exhibits about slavery at George Washington’s Philly house are still in limbo as advocates fight the Trump/Vance administration for full restoration. Constance Garcia-Barrio looks closer.
Constance Garcia-Barrio

Constance Garcia-Barrio

Features 6 minute read
Bonenfant, a young white man with short brown hair wearing a colorful jacket, sings onstage with his arms crossed.

Disabled artists take the stage through Acting Without Boundaries

If theater is about creativity, why can’t we make room for disabled artists?
A Bryn Mawr-based theater company proves that with patience, flexibility, and innovation, disabled artists of all ages can take to the stage, enjoying community, careers, and creativity. Anndee Hochman visits.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Features 5 minute read
Illustration of women parading in silver robes with politically charged signs. A woman in red to their left observes, writes

Janice Hechter’s The Power of Her Paintbrush: The Story of Theresa Bernstein

A children’s book about a groundbreaking Philly artist
A new children's book that tells the story of a once-prominent American artist raised in Brewerytown and reestablishes her work and its historical and political impact. K.A. McFadden previews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Previews 2 minute read
In brown socks and black leotard, Veiga poses on one bent, muscular leg while extending every other limb.

Ensemble Arts Philly presents Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Newer work joins Revelations
Alvin Ailey stopped at the Academy of Music on the company’s 2026 tour, combining its iconic Revelations program with several exciting newer works from a riveting ensemble. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Reviews 4 minute read
Zagar, a white man in a green knit hat, gestures to a the wild, shiny, swirling mosaic mural covering the walls behind him.

Isaiah Zagar taught me to hold grief, love, and life through the art of mosaic

Honoring the man who believed that art can heal
When Anndee Hochman met Isaiah Zagar, he told her how art can heal. A few years later, grieving her father, she took Zagar’s lessons into her own hands.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Essays 5 minute read
Kanu & Pullum smile flirtatiously at each other in a 1930 living room, a maroon velvet curtain draping the door behind them

Lantern Theater Company presents Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky

Still protecting the dream
Lantern Theater Company presents Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky, an audacious story that feels fresh and urgent today despite being set in 1930 Harlem. A. Lewis reviews.

A. Lewis

Reviews 3 minute read

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Also on BSR

A Black woman and white woman on stage, a backdrop reveals a large house shrouded in trees, both seem to be escaping

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, March 5-11, 2026

Kicking off Women’s History Month
An Unfinished Herstory, a new perspective on Romeo and Juliet, and more start off Women's History Month in Philly. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
Four performers dressed in mostly black clothes, holding cellos and a viola, pose in a room with framed art behind them

BSR Classical Interludes, March 2026

Rare baroque works, Songs of Springtime, and the words of Langston Hughes
Music about flowers and spring, exploring the life and words of Langston Hughes, and rarely performed baroque works decorate March music happenings in the Philly area. Gail Obenreder previews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Previews 4 minute read
View from above of fanciful floral islands in a huge event hall, connected by sinuous arches of complex flower arrangements.

PHS presents the 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show, Rooted: Origins of American Gardening

Our gardening legacies, and a flowering future
This year’s Flower Show, open through Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, nods to our 250th with the theme Rooted: Origins of American Gardening. Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer reviews.
Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

Reviews 5 minute read
An Indian woman in bright yellow and cream colored dress on a brightly lit stage, dancing, with audience watching

The Month in Philly Dance, March 2026

The story of Rachel Harris, an operetta set in Paris, and the BalletX Spring Series
The Philadelphia Ballet brings Paris to Broad Street, a showcase for International Women’s Day, and West Chester Dance Works tells the story of Rachel Harris. Camille Bacon-Smith previews.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Previews 5 minute read
A man and woman in colonial dress, in what looks like a horse carriage

The BSR March 2026 repertory movie roundup

The Goonies, Barry Lyndon, Wingsfest, and Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.
Forty years of The Goonies, a classic Stanley Kubrick screens with seminar treatment, and a 1990s cult classic in March. Stephen Silver rounds up.
Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver

Previews 4 minute read
Minora, in striped shirt & blue skirt, scrunches her face as a laughing audience member spritzes her from a spray bottle

FringeArts presents Lee Minora’s Baby Everything

You’ve come a long way, baby
Lee Minora’s entertaining and thought-provoking Baby Everything returns for an encore engagement at FringeArts. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 3 minute read
Minora, a white woman with brown hair wearing gold hoop earrings and pink plush jacket, blows a bubble with her gum.

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, February 26-March 4, 2026

Riverbend, Baby Everything, and Living Indigenous
New exhibitions from DelArt and Penn Museum, a lost Black indie film is restored and screened in North Philly, and a Fringe favorite returns to the stage. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
Melancholy yet whimsical painting of a Black man sitting on a downcast unicorn on a dark night, in front of a flat horizon.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents Noah Davis

Observant whispers
An international retrospective on Noah Davis, an important American painter lost much too soon, ends its tour at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
In motley Renaissance clothes, the cast poses clownishly in a spotlight, Hogan at center looking prissy in white face paint.

The Kammerspiel presents Molière’s Tartuffe, adapted by Bob Sloan

Back to laugh at the oligarchy
A new adaptation of Molière’s Tartuffe gets its world premiere at Performance Garage with the Kammerspiel, a theater troupe dedicated to intimate and subversive productions. Walt Maguire reviews.

Walt Maguire

Reviews 2 minute read
In dramatic bars of light, the actors, in motley modern clothes, face each other over a tavern table.

Quintessence Theatre Group presents Rare Accidents: The Escapades of Prince Hal & Falstaff, adapted by Alex Burns

Succession versus Always Sunny
Alex Burns stages his new adaptation of both parts of Henry IV at Quintessence with his signature epic style, but it’s not suited to the best elements of this story. C.M. Crockford reviews.
C.M. Crockford

C.M. Crockford

Reviews 4 minute read