Welcome to the latest exclusive monthly tips for our subscribers!

It's time for our monthly BSR in the Wild update! The first Friday of every month we bring you our hottest tips on what's on our radar, through three sections: Find Us!, Neil's Nod of the Month, and Recommended Reading.

Find Us! is exclusive subscriber tips on which events and exhibitions our staff is heading to in the coming month. There's a lot happening, this month as always, and we love to provide these tips.

Neil's Nod of the Month is a look forward to the upcoming BSR story or review I'm most excited to read.

Finally, Recommended Reading is a quick, subscribers-only tip to contextualize the work we have coming up, placing upcoming articles in dialogue with past stories, because our arts and culture scene is an ongoing citywide conversation that you're a part of, too.

If you're enjoying this series, let us know! And don't forget, as a reader you can support our writers in multiple ways. Be sure to become a Local Media Champion. Send an article to a friend. Join us for an upcoming webinar on PR practices. Follow our dynamic content on Instagram. Feel free to email me with your own December picks!

Read on for December's inside scoops.

Sincerely,
Neil Bardhan
BSR executive director

Find Us!

The calendar year's end brings numerous options, some seasonally-focused and others more evergreen. As usual, you'll see some familiar names alongside new ones. We cover a wide range of experiences in our region. Read on, and be sure to tell us what you're seeing this month.

FIND NEIL
One Moment Now
WHEN: Friday, December 1 (Runs through Sunday, December 17)
WHERE: Good Karma Cafe, in the lobby of the Wilma Theatre, 265 Broad St., Philadelphia, PA
What can an audience member experience through recorded sound design? What happens when this is placed in a busy cafe? How much can happen in twenty minutes? I am charmed by the concept of this Tiny Dynamite audio play and hope to use it as a meditative break from the month's busyness.

So-Called Angels
WHEN: Tuesday, December 12, 6:30pm
WHERE: PACK Garage, 233 Federal St., Philadelphia, PA
The dramatic TV show "My So-Called Life" originally aired as I finished middle school. This was right after the death of rockstar Kurt Cobain, and before the Internet as we know it. I vividly remember its effects on my classmates and me then. I also remember rewatching it in my 30s. Philly PACK presents this month a staged version of episode 15 from the one-season "My So-Called Life."

FIND NEIL & ALAINA & MORE
HELP US HELP YOU: a PR webinar for artists with the editors at BSR
WHEN: Wednesday, December 13, 6:30pm
WHERE: Zoom
We want to help artists approach media folks like us. This pay-what-you-can webinar will give artists the basic tools of good PR. In an interactive one-night Zoom class, Alaina and Kyle will cover the role of arts journalists, the five things we need from artists when they pitch us, how to handle it when there’s a problem with the coverage, and more. Then we’ll wrap up with a Q&A featuring the editors and Philly communications strategist Jill Ivey, who’s also a theater critic.

FIND NEIL
Spiritual Experience
WHEN: Thursday, December 14 (Runs through Friday, December 22)
WHERE: 3408 Brandywine St., Philadelphia, PA
I'm clearly keen on intimate shows this month: this piece is a private show, just two tickets per performance. My wife and I secured tickets after a friend recommended this unusual setup. He said he couldn't stop thinking about his, well, spiritual experience.

Tubachristmas
WHEN: Sunday, December 17, 2:00pm
WHERE: Cherry Street Pier, 121 Columbus Ave., Philadelphia, PA
Tubachristmas is a tradition that I've heard of for years and never experienced firsthand. I hope to change that this year. My understanding before this year was that it's a Philly area phenomenon. It turns out Tubachristmas exists in many cities, which is such a charming thing to learn. I can only imagine what dozens of simultaneous tubas sound and feel like, live and in person at Cherry Street Pier. Presumably it will be quite different than the small shows I'm immersing myself in.

FIND ALAINA
FAT HAM
WHEN: Sunday, December 17 (Runs through December 23, 2023)
WHERE: The Wilma Theater, 265 S Broad St., Philadelphia, PA
WHY: This is a hot one, for good reason! After its 2021 premiere in a streaming filmed production from the Wilma and a run on Broadway, James Ijames’s 2022 Pulitzer winner for Best Play is coming home to the Wilma stage. I saw the premiere, I saw it on Broadway, and I’m excited to see it onstage right on Broad Street. The dialogue, emotions, and verbal and visual twists in this play will keep me coming back anytime I can. Get your tickets now!

Neil's nod of the month:

Melissa Strong has an essay this December about horror movies. I've never been one for the genre. Apparently she was the same way for quite some time! She'll tie together the literal darkness this time of year to such films' themes and also tell you about her personal journey to becoming a fan.

Alaina and BSR critic Cameron Kelsall in the audience before a recent show one of them is reviewing. (Photo by Alaina Johns)

Recommended Reading

We're a few days away from having a new mayor in Philadelphia. I know I'm personally curious what this means for numerous aspects of life in town. And given my work at Broad Street Review and beyond, I specifically hope Mayor-Elect Parker is a champion of the arts and culture sector.