Wow-ee! At ten this morning, a brand new Ben Franklin sculpture (this one by James Peniston) was unveiled at 4th and Arch Streets, bringing the total number of sculptures of the founding father in Philadelphia up to 24,367.* To celebrate, we're going to be sure we do First Friday up right this month, starting with the very special reception to welcome the newest Ben in the city. "Keys to Community": The Ben Franklin Project set......

Performances: Sonic Dances (Group Motion Dance Company) (No future scheduled showtimes, however: "Additional surprise performances will occur during the Festival in unannounced locations throughout the city."); BATCH: An American Bachelor/ette Party Spectacle (New Paradise Laboratories) (Future Showtimes); Explanatorium (Headlong Dance Theater) (Future Showtimes); Isabella (Pig Iron Theatre Company) (Future Showtimes); Hearts of Man (The Riot Group) (No Future Showtimes); LEAP: The Actors' Improv Experiment (Bobbi Block) (No Future Showtimes); Killing Women (Nice People Theatre Company)......

Performances: Batch: An American Bachelor/ette Party Spectacle (New Paradise Laboratories) (Future performances); Explanatorium (Headlong Dance Theater) (Future performances); Isabella (Pig Iron Theatre Company) (Future performances); Hearts of Man (The Riot Group) (no future performances); LEAP: The Actors' Improv Experiment (Bobbi Block) (no future performances) This weekend I saw five shows, which had sounded somewhat daunting to me. Then I realized that the total running time of the five was actually less than the running time......

Performance: Gatz (Part One) (Elevator Repair Service) (Second half and future showtimes) I'm actually not going to review Gatz until after I see the second half tonight, but as this is a diary, meant to track the Phillyist staff's Live Arts/Fringe progress over the course of the festival, I thought I'd at least give the show an endorsement, based on the half that I've seen. Why? Well, because it only runs until Sunday. So I......

Phillyist saw a lot of shows at this year's Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe. A. Lot. Of. Shows. Thirty, to be exact. And we just got word from Megan at Canary Promotions that we're not the only ones who were getting fringetastic this year. The Festival(s) saw a ten percent increase in ticket sales—about three-quarters of a million dollars in tickets, to be exact. (It's pretty impressive when you remember how much of......

Performances: By Grimm (part of Vagabond Acting Troupe’s Journeys to the Edge) (Future performances); Austentatious (11th Hour Theatre Company) (Future performances); The Guided Tour (Kaibutsu) (Future performances); Granuaile and a Place at Howth (SAOIRSE Celtic Performance Troupe) (No future performances); Cell (Headlong Dance Theater) (All future performances sold out); Cell: Movement in Restricted Spaces (Group Motion Dance Company) (Future performances); Every Day Above Ground (SaBooge) (No future performances); Flip the Script (The Brick Playhouse) (Future......

This Phillyist arrived at the third and final DanceBOOM week in an inexplicably giggly mood. Fortunately, my mood wasn't entirely inappropriate for the evening's line-up. I walked into the lobby at the Wilma with plenty of time to catch Mixed Pickles Vintage Dance Co. dancing their hearts out to "The Teddy Bear Picnic," performing various animal-inspired parlor dances of the early Twentieth Century. The group researches each dance they learn, and while their pre-dance explanations......

It's the first First Friday of 2006, and Healdlong Dance Theater is participating with some free performances. Among their offerings is Thrash - a performance piece that incorporates snippets of public address by George W. Bush and the affect Bushisms have on the human body. (Phillyist can relate; we're not dancers, but we've certainly experienced some visceral reactions listening to him ourselves.) And if free theater isn't enough to draw you out to Old City...there......

Yesterday, Phillyist gave you a taste of the Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festivals. There's lots more to say about the Live Arts and Fringe, as they offer some of the most exciting arts events that you’ll see in Philly all year. The festivals are chock full of outrageous and insightful performances and happenings – even if you generally eschew live theatre, dance, and music, we guarantee you’ll find something you’ll love. This week,......