Director/Theater-founder Meghann Williams...

Have you been outside yet? It's raining Mondays! BASEBALL: THE MELTING POT It's as good a day as any to discuss some baseball. The National Constitution Center will host this event, emceed by Jayson Stark and including speakers on topics including the Negro Leagues and Japanese baseball. With the summer creeping up on us, it's not a bad idea to look back at the beginnings of a sport that has displayed many of the......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: There Goes That Spielberg Again: “Sharks, Spaceships and Spectacles: The Films of Steven Spielberg,” a presentation by Dr. Lester Friedman, with hors d’oeuvres and drinks, at the Prince Music Theater Independence Black Box (1412 Chestnut), 6PM. $10 As We Look Forward: Author Mitch Nathanson discusses his new book The Fall of the 1977 Phillies: How a Baseball Team's Collapse Sank a City's Spirit at the Penn Bookstore (3601......

Well, here we are. Another Monday. Highs in the mid 20s. It's a cold world, especially today, especially in Philly. As the week sinks its teeth into our souls, let's see if there's anything we can do to keep our spirits up. CURTIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: ALAN GILBERT, CONDUCTOR We know you're cultured, and you know you're cultured. But does anybody else know you're cultured? A good way to show them is to spend your......

Tuesday The Academy of Vocal Arts opens its season with Mozart's witty and timeless Così fan tutte. Academy of Vocal Arts (19th and Spruce); 7:30 PM; $48 Yo-Yo Ma comes to the Kimmel Center with Kathryn Stott, piano for an evening of Schubert, Shostakovich, Piazzola, Gismonti and Franck. Verizon Hall (Kimmel Cetner); 8 PM; $38-$94 Thursday Temple University faculty members Lawrence Wagner, clarinet, Jeffrey Solow, cello, and Charles Abramovic, piano give a concert of......

I’ve always liked the music from HAIR. Not just the songs that were later released as singles (“Hair,” “The Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” and “Good Morning, Starshine”), but all of the other songs from the musical, as well. They’re catchy and you find yourself singing them, even if you don’t necessarily “get” them. (“Sodomy, Holy Orgy”, for instance, made me reach for a dictionary when I was in middle school.) And so......

Phillyist loves Restaurant Week. Like, a lot. (Seriously, that was only the first three links that came up when searching for "Restaurant Week" in the Phillyist archives.) Unfortunately, Restaurant Week only happens twice a year. And it's not actually a full week when it does happen. So to help us fill the vacancy in our lives, the South Street Headhouse District will present 8 Days of Eats, eight full nights of prix fixe meals at......

When this Phillyist was a teenager, she was definitely doing a lot of theatre. Not to brag or anything, but in the Coronado High School (go T-Birds!) theatre program, she was actually kind of a big deal. But now she feels like she was actually a total slacker, because she just heard about this program happening at the Prince Music Theater tonight called the Rainbow Connection Festival, an evening of plays not only performed by......

Opera comes to the Philly campus scene this week, with both Curtis and Temple putting on fantastic productions of Argento's Postcard from Morocco and Mozart's Don Giovanni, respectively. If you plan your week well enough, you'll get a chance to see both schools' rising stars in action. Monday The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia delights the ears with Schoenberg's revolutionary Verklärte Nacht and Paganini's seductive Variazione sul Carnevale di Venezia. Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 7:30 PM;......

Films: Exiled, Sisters Future Screenings: Exiled, April 8 (today), Ritz Five at 2:30PM Sisters, April 10, Prince Music Theater at 9:30PM Yesterday was only my second day at the festival, and already I think I'm losing it! I got to my first screening a full 40 minutes early because I had somehow become convinced that it was at 7PM and not 7:30PM. Then I stood in the wrong line for about 10 minutes. I also,......

Films: Boy Culture, Monkey Warfare (with "The Saddest Boy in the World") Future Screenings: Boy Culture: Monday, April 16, 9:30PM, The Prince Music Theater Monkey Warfare: Sunday, April 8, 3PM, The Ritz East My day didn't go as planned, at all: it was a series of missed connections and plan cancellations. That's okay, though. It meant seeing two films, when I wasn't planning on seeing any. The first, Boy Culture, was actually screened at the......

Monday As part of the Philadelphia Art Alliance's New Music Mondays, award-winning composer Michael Hersch comes to town to discuss his compositions and for the Philadelphia premieres of his Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 for Unaccompanied Cello, performed by cellist Daniel Gaisford. Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S. 18th St.); 7:30; $20 Wednesday The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents Milan Turkovic, bassoon, David Shifrin, clarinet, and Shai Wosner, piano in an evening of chamber music......

Let's start with the most important news first: Rocky Balboa is premiering in Philly tonight at the Prince Music Theater and Sly Stallone, the Italian Stallion himself, should be there! Very exciting. Although the cops seem to have caught the "Screwdriver Bandit," thanks in part to some internet detective work on PhillyBlog.com, a scar-faced robber and gunman who attacked some women in North Philly is still on the loose, as is the man with the......

Student Opera Edition: This week both Temple and Curtis put on their fall operas. Why these two music schools put on their operas the same weekend is anyone’s guess. Regardless, both are sure to feature young opera singers headed for great careers. Tuesday As part of the Music and Conversation Series, Temple University’s Dr. David Butler Cannata, in his lecture "Granados Reads Goya," will discuss aspects of the relationship between Goya and Granados in......

This week's quote made us giggle a bit. It's from Roland Barthes: "For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long than too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture." Now, on with the listings! (And sorry about the lack o' listings last week.) Murderers - We always knew that old people were mean... October 6-November 5. Tickets available online. Comic Energy......

Last night Phillyist attended the first of the three Evenings with the Curators of the 15th Philadelphia Film Festival that we told you about here, and we have to say, it was pretty exciting. Some of the stuff we learned: the festival is running from March 30th through April 11th, which is shorter and earlier than it's been in the past; this is in order to avoid all the religious holidays, and that most non-religious......

When Phillyist heard about Vox Lumiere The Hunchback of Notre Dame, we thought it sounded way cool. The 1923 silent film, projected above a stage, with live musicians and singers and dancers performing along with it. How friggin’ cool is that? Old and new, sound and silence - we loved the idea. We couldn’t wait to go. And we have to admit, it was really cool. The Creator/Composer/Conductor Kevin Saunders Hayes is a wildly accomplished......

Phillyist knows that some of you find musical theater...intimidating. (It's OK, we're not judging. After all, anyone could be frightened by anthropomorphised, singing cats.) What we want to know is what'll it take to get your behinds back into theater seats? A tale embroiled in lust and tragic love? A little rock and roll? The triumphant return of Lon Chaney? Or are you the type that'd rather just watch the movie instead? Well, either way......