Welcome to the latest exclusive monthly tips for our subscribers!

It’s time for our monthly BSR in the Wild update!

These exclusive tips for subscribers let you know where our team is heading on the Philly scene this month. There are three sections: FIND US, Neil’s Nod of the Month, and Recommended Reading. If you’d like to step up and support our work, a donation of $10 or more helps us pay our writers. Friends of BSR and Local Media Champions receive an additional monthly newsletter with insights on our coverage and exclusive recommendations from our team. Friends of BSR sign up for an automatic monthly donation of $5 (or make a one-time donation of $60). We think $5 a month is a pretty sweet price to keep Philly arts journalism alive! Local Media Champions support us with an automatic donation of $20/month.

Kyle, Neil, and Alaina joined writers for BSR Office Hours in February.

FIND US!

FIND ALAINA

Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective and Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s
WHEN: Christina Ramberg is open through June 1; Boom opens on April 12, 2025
WHERE: The Philadelphia Museum of Art
WHY: I'm in the mood for another PMA visit this spring, and am especially interested in these two exhibitions. Boom, drawn entirely from the museum’s permanent collection, spotlights the new ideas artists across all genres explored despite the challenges and scarcities of the 1940s, a time of political, economic, and cultural upheaval against the backdrop of WWII. The Ramberg show, the artist’s largest solo show to date, promises to “illuminate the artist’s encyclopedia of imagery exploring experiences of gender, sexuality, and normative ideas of female beauty.”

RIFT, OR WHITE LIES
WHERE: InterAct Theatre Company at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street, Philadelphia
WHEN: Running April 4-27, 2025
WHY: This is the National New Play Network rolling world premiere of Gabriel Jason Dean’s play about estranged brothers, “one a progressive novelist, the other a convicted murderer and high-ranking member of a white supremacist prison gang,” who face their differences and their family’s traumatic past. It’s probably hard to find a US family who isn’t personally affected by the gulf between MAGA supporters and people who respect the US Constitution. In real life, these conflicts are probably more subtle than what this play depicts, but as someone with personal experience of this divide, I’m interested in what this play has to say. It’s a two-hander starring local actors Matteo Scammell and Jered McLenigan, and in an interesting twist, the actors trade roles each night. Look out for my review in April.

ReelAbilities Film Festival at Kean University
WHERE: In person at North Jersey's Kean University, or streaming online
WHEN: April 3-5, 2025
WHY: Five separate screening events over the course of three days explore topics related to disability, including self-discovery and coming-of-age stories, sex and intimacy, disability rights and activism, representation and body confidence, and more. It's a mix of short and full-length documentary and narrative films paired with discussions that "challenge stereotypes and promote access." Except for one closing-night screening, the whole thing is available to attend virtually or in person. Sounds like a great chance to engage with the next generation of disabled artists and activists, even if you can't get up to North Jersey.

FIND NEIL

East Passyunk Jazz Crawl
WHEN: April 5, 2025
WHERE: Various locations, East Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia
WHY: Over the past few years, I've fallen out of the habit of making plans to see live music. Pop-up concerts delight me when I encounter them though. And now that I'm a parent who wheels a baby in a stroller, I'm keenly aware of activities and logistics for events. This street festival sounds ideal to me: I can visit some of my favorite neighborhood shops and enjoy some live jazz, too!

The N Crowd 20th Anniversary Show
WHEN: April 18, 2025
WHERE: Sawubona Creativity Project, 626 E. Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia
WHY: I've performed with this shortform improv comedy group since 2016 and been a fan since before that. Many creative projects don't make it to the twenty-year mark, so this show is going to be full of games, opportunities for audience participation, and spontaneity.

West Chester Film Festival
WHEN: April 25-27, 2025
WHERE: Various venues, West Chester, PA
WHY: I had the opportunity to attend this festival last year, and it charmed me for many reasons. Every selection is a short, which allows for packed blocks that span genre and topic.


FIND ALAINA
Mozart's Don Giovanni
WHERE: Opera Philadelphia at the Academy of Music
WHEN: April 25-May 4, 2025
WHY: Something big is happening at Opera Philadelphia. After they instituted $11 tickets to all of their shows last year, they quickly sold out the whole season (a limited number of $10 rush tickets are available at the box office two hours before the performances). I attended the opening of Anonymous Lover with BSR opera critic Gail Obenreder earlier this year (here's her review). The Academy of Music was packed with a diverse crowd, the audience was excited, and the work was stunning. I have high hopes for the company's new staging of Mozart's classic.

An array of equipment from a real lab on display at the Mütter. (Photo by Constance Mensh for the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.)

Neil’s Nod of the Month

I haven't made my way over to the Mütter Museum in a few years and shouldn't take it for granted. The new exhibition Trusted Messengers: Community, Confidence, and COVID-19 just opened there. In addition to materials from UPenn that were part of the development of the COVID vaccine, photos of important people in the vaccination effort appear and humanize the herculean effort. Look out for a story by BSR writer Erin Dohony.

Recommended Reading

I grew up and spent my twenties going to minor league baseball games -- the nearest Major League park was over four hours away and across an international border. Paradoxically, now that I live in walking distance from Citizens Bank Park, I find myself drawn back to the quirky minor league parks. BSR ran an essay in 2010 about the charm of the minor league experience that I recently came across, which speaks volumes to me.