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 support our staff with a donation. Send an article to a friend. Follow our dynamic content on Instagram. Join us for our next live event. And email me with your month's picks!

Read on for May's inside scoops.

Sincerely,
Neil Bardhan
BSR executive director

Find Us!

May has our calendars heating up. As usual, you'll see some familiar names alongside new ones. We endeavor to cover a wide range of experiences in our region. Read on, and be sure to tell us what you're seeing this month.

FIND ALAINA
La Bohème
WHEN: Sunday, May 7, 2:00pm
WHERE: Kimmel Cultural Campus’s Academy of Music
WHY: This production of La Bohème, notable for beginning with Act 4 and working backward, is running for two more performances at the Academy of Music: tonight (Friday, May 5 at 8pm) and Sunday (May 7 at 2pm). I’m intrigued. Critic Cameron Kelsall had mixed feelings in his review, so I want to see what I think for myself.

FIND NEIL
Hit The Decks #3 Launch Party
WHEN: Sunday, May 7, 7:00pm
WHERE: East Falls Zine Reading Room
WHY: Joe Carlough and Katie Haegele created the cozy East Falls Zine Reading Room in their rowhome. The space welcomes performances and gatherings occasionally, with a focus on DIY creations like, well, zines, but also music and arts of all sorts. The couple spent time in Iceland this past year, and created a magazine based on the experience. Because it's their home, they don't publicize the address, but an email to Joe can unlock the door.

In Opera Philadelphia's "La bohème" everything runs backwards

FIND NEIL
XXI Annual Coffee Talk Bob Dylan's Birthday Bash
WHEN: Saturday, May 13, 4:00pm
WHERE: Coffee Talk Artists' Co-op
WHY: Bob Dylan's songs were a soundtrack to my '90s-kid upbringing, through records my parents owned, a CD gift from my father of Highway 61 Revisited, and covers galore. I married into a family where Dylan's catalog holds great power. My father-in-law Alan plays this annual night of Dylan tributes alongside over a dozen other musicians. The organizers meticulously plan the setlist so that no song gets repeated. Impressive event management!

FIND ALAINA
Philadelphia Artists Collective’s Jane Eyre
WHEN: Sunday, May 14, 3:00pm
WHERE: Christ Church Neighborhood House2
WHY: Last summer, I enjoyed The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged, and now, the same artists are behind a brand-new Jane Eyre. It promises a “chorus” of Janes that “theatricalize the heroine’s rich inner life.” Re-reads of Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen were one of the first things I did to cope with quarantine in 2020. I’m looking forward to reviewing this new stage version.

Philadelphia Artists Collective produces 'Jane Eyre' this May

FIND NEIL
The Wicker Men double feature
WHEN: Friday, May 19, 7:00pm
WHERE: Philadelphia Film Society Bourse Theater
WHY: My roommate during my sophomore year of college was fond of introducing me to movies from outside the mainstream. I have vivid memories of his gleefully screening the 1973 film The Wicker Man on VHS as we drank Snapple iced teas. This month, PFS is showing a double feature of the original and the recent remake.

FIND NEIL AND ALAINA
Philadelphia Cultural Fund Spring 2023 Meet & Greet
WHEN: May 20
WHY: We are grateful to the Philadelphia Cultural Fund for their support of our work. We look forward to connecting with other grantees at an in-person event this month as we celebrate our community.

Alaina Johns and BSR podcaster Darnelle Radford ran into each recently

FIND NEIL
PWP Video's Mission Story Slam: "The Next Chapter"
WHEN: Tuesday, May 23, 6:00pm
WHERE: Yards Brewing
WHY: I've been invited to share a story about how my work has unfolded and how I've seen its impact. It's touching and humbling to put such a presentation together, and the PWP Video team creates a generous space for people talking about how to make the world a better place.

FIND ALAINA
The Lantern Theater’s Twelfth Night
WHEN: Wednesday, May 24, 7:00pm
WHERE: St. Stephen's Theater
WHY: Twelfth Night is among my favorite Shakespeare plays, maybe because the many productions I’ve attended over the years have consistently been the funniest classics I’ve ever seen. But I also like the threatening note at the end, with Malvolio’s warning that he’ll be revenged on them all. Does he deserve the way he was treated? Cameron Kelsall is reviewing this one, and I’m looking forward to being his plus one.

FIND THE TEAM

The Power of Food Media: A Conversation with Kae Lani Palmisano and Broad Street Review
WHEN: Thursday, May 25, 5:30pm
WHERE: Indy Hall Clubhouse
WHY: We're incredibly excited to bring this collaboration public. BSR will bring notable Philly food journalists together to discuss DEI in the industry, their career paths, and the state of local food media for panel discussion, moderated by BSR's Kyle V. Hiller.

The Arts Affair 2023
WHEN: Wednesday, June 7, 6:00pm
WHERE: Hamilton Hall, University of the Arts
WHY: Yes, a June item! Broad Street Review is proud to be the media sponsor of The Arts Affair 2023, the 45th birthday bash for friends and colleagues at Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Our team will be there, and you can be too! The night contains performances, awards, and personalities from across our community.

Neil's nod of the month:

In May, Pam Forsythe will bring us a review of a new exhibition at The Architectural Archives at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. The exhibition highlights the work of architect Minerva Parker Nichols, whose work has largely been forgotten to history, despite her being the first woman to be an American architect in solo practice. This will surely be a thoughtful article.

Recommended Reading

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. Here at BSR, we're not just aware of mental health, but we're insistent that our team take care of their mental health. Alaina wrote in 2022 about her recovery from a particular episode of bipolar depression. I applaud her transparency. Looking at this month's calendar, I wonder: how can I ensure my own rest? How can I support those in my community who have a need for space, either due to an acute situation or a chronic condition?