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Crowd from last year’s Flower Show

This year’s Philadelphia Flower Show, Bella Italia, was inspired by the alluring flora and artistic culture of Italy. So, whether you’ve haven’t had the chance to take that Italian backpacking trip or are longing for the blooming beauty of spring, you can instantly transport yourself to Italian scenes and spring views at this year’s show.

The acres of gardens and landscape displays were inspired by the by beautiful scenery of San Remo, Venice, Rome, Tuscan countryside, and Florence. Natural artists will recreate famous Italian scenes, such as boutiques in Milan, Venetian Canals, Tuscan gardens, sculptures, etc with flowers.

The show’s central feature, formal palace gardens of ancient Rome, will be created by J. Cugliotta Landscape and Nursery, Inc. Cugliotta, a well-known, local landscape designer, will artistically build and design an Italian exhibit that will “culminate with a multi-tiered stage that will reach about 28 feet high, where opera and traditional Italian music will be performed.”

And in an effort to help grow the Philly green scene, try to catch a demonstration on how to create and maintain a sustainable environment for both urban and suburban locations.

I highly recommend you stop whining about the cold and pick up some tickets to this year’s show. While you get rid of the winter blues, you’ll be happy to know that proceeds will support the Philadelphia horticultural society and Philadelphia Green.

Philadelphia Flower Show
March 1st – 8th

Pennsylvania Convention Center
12th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19107
www.theflowershow.com

Photo by Jeffrey Stockbridge

St. Stephen’s Theater at 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City is the home of the Lantern Theater Company. This Friday at 8pm, the company is hosting a concert in the Lantern Lab following a stage performance of Sizwe Bansi is Dead. The play is a fascinating drama reflecting that explores human rights as seen through the eyes of an enterprising photographer in Port Elizabeth South Africa some 40 years ago. The band performing afterwards, Sharon Katz & The Peace Train includes members who contributed to writing Sizwe Bansi.

This added bonus is only $10, and can be purchased separate from the Sizwe Bansi tickets. The Lantern Theater Company has had quite the streak of hit plays in Philly’s theatre community. This concert is a great way to top off your theatre going experience if you have the time.

You can call 215-829-0395 or check out the official website for more information.

Lantern Theater Co
923 Ludlow St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 829-9002
www.lanterntheater.org

“It’s not the performance, but the people you’re going to see,” says Director Ping Chong (pictured above).

Friday at the Painted Bride Art Center at Second and Vine is the debut of Secret History: The Philadelphia Story. Secret History is part of the “Undesirable Elements Project” in which Chong shares underserved voices. Philly’s version explores the first-hand experiences of urban and suburban teenagers with violence and conflict. Six teens help each other tell their own true-life stories, reading from scripts with no scenery or costumes.

“The audience learns you’re there to hear these children,” Chong says. “To hear those voices is to experience their obstacles, for some, that is experiencing urban war.”

Of the six-person cast, four are from North Philadelphia neighborhoods, one is from Chester and one is from Montgomery County. Only three have ever been on a stage. None will be even 18 by the first performance.

Since 1992, Chong has led 40 of these similarly organized “Undesirable Elements” performances. New York-based Chong was commissioned by the Village of Arts and Humanities, a community arts center in the Fairhill neighborhood of North Philadelphia. He says he focuses on displaying underserved voices of all kinds and has done his performances in Japan and the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and across the United States.

“When you live outside this world, any world, you cannot understand it,” Chong says. “This is a window.”

Painted Bride Art Center
230 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA
$15 adult/$10 student
Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

People’s Light & Theatre
39 Conestoga Rd. Malvern, PA 19355
March 6 and 13 at 7:30 p.m., free with reservations
Contact: Nancy Shaw
610-647-1900, ext. 101

Village of Arts and Humanities
2544 Germantown Avenue, Fairhill, Philadelphia
March 13 at 7:30 p.m., free with reservations
Contact: Ayoka Quinones
215-225-7830, ext 205

Love your curves! Embrace your curves! Why? Because real women have curves! So, come celebrate your wedding and your curves at a bridal trunk show exclusively for plus size brides. The event, which will be hosted by Nicole Bridal & Formal Shoppe in Jenkintown, will showcase elegant, sophisticated and flattering gowns sure to make you feel like the most beautiful woman alive on your special day.

The Bara Luxe by Marimo gowns will be available to try on in sample sizes 16-28W, so relish your curves and your beauty in these gorgeous gowns. There will also be a two-day 15% off sale on all gowns and even a dress raffle on Saturday Feb. 21 for one lucky bride-to-be.

Plus Size Bridal Show @ Nicole Bridal
February 21 (10am-6pm), February 22 (10am-5pm)

Nicole Bridal & Formal Shoppe @ The Pavilion
261 Old York Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046
(215) 866-2333

Post by Jacqueline Rupp

It’s been over sixty years since A Streetcar Named Desire first made its historical debut on the Walnut Street Theatre’s stage. Tennessee Williams skipped over Broadway and selected the Walnut to be the spot where he would introduce the world to Blanc DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. Since then Streetcar has become a fixture in American Drama, a play that has spanned decades and appealed to a new class of theatergoers. Now, as part of the celebration of the Walnut Street Theatre 200th Anniversary, the iconic play will once again come alive on this historic Philly stage.

With all that Streetcar has given to theater and to American culture, it’s definitely a must-see production. Streetcar is a play that added further mystique to New Orleans’s French Quarter, made men’s undershirts into a fashion statement and gave us the much emoted line “Steeellllaaa!”

If you still aren’t keen to hop on this Streetcar’s ride, think about this”¦ we’re over Valentine’s Day, but still in the midst of winter. Can you think of any better way to heat things up than by spending some time in steamy Louisiana surrounded by sexual tension and raw emotion? Yeah. Didn’t think so.

The play, which opened on February 17th, runs through March 1st. Tickets run from $10 to $60 for this three-hour performance.

The Walnut Street Theatre
825 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 574-3550
www.walnutstreettheatre.org

The University of Pennsylvania is doing its part to bring attention to Africa as they host the 20th annual Celebration of African Cultures. This event hopes to display the history, the artistry, the cultural relevance and the traditional values that make Africa such an intriguing place.

Starting on Saturday, February 21, this day doesn’t quit, with a different event nearly every half hour between 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This smorgasbord of ethnic options is enough to please any would-be African explorer.

As always, the festival will have a strong focus on musical and dance traditions with numerous drum and dance teams participating. The Harambee Choral Ensemble, performing alongside the Harambee Drum Ensemble, consists of 25 ensemble members ages eight to 14-years-old, singing alongside their “walimu”"” the kiswahili word for teachers. Ed Smith conducts the choir through a repertoire of music including traditional African, African American, contemporary theater, and hip hop songs.

You can also join Penn Museum docent Mawusi Renee Simmons as she presents “African Drums, Dance, and Ritual,” a tour of the African gallery’s musical instruments.

Rashida Watson, owner of The Silk Tent, a mail-order distributor of international gifts, offers a show-and-tell talk on “Weaves, Dyes, Embroidery and More: Examples of Cloth and Clothing From Africa.” Ms. Watson displays a variety of cloth pieces elaborately decorated which include vests and crowns from West Africa, bark cloth from the Mbuti Tribe in the Republic of the Congo, and ceremonial weavings, tie dye and beadwork incorporated into special items of clothing. Cloth, wearable pieces and jewelry are on sale after the talk.

For a full list of events, visit www.museum.upenn.edu.

University of Pennsylvania Museum
3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 898-4000
www.museum.upenn.edu

Post by Jacqueline Rupp

The Greater Philadelphia Spring Home Show is welcoming visitors this weekend to the Valley Forge Convention Center for a expo experience that’s all about celebrating the joys of home. Whether you’re in the market to remodel a kitchen, organize your closets or makeover your landscape, the Spring Home Show will be bursting with decorating, construction and design ideas to inspire.

And there’s a bonus to this year’s event: admission is FREE! With no charge for parking along with zero admission, this is one outing that’s sure to fit into anyone’s budget. At the Show, you can watch product demons, shop for household deals and get the scoop on the latest in home fashion by touring the fabulously appointed interior and exterior vignettes. (Just be forewarned – the luxurious spa bathrooms and gourmet kitchens are sure to make you a little envious!)

The Greater Philadelphia Spring Home Show begins on February 19th and runs through the 22nd. Opening day (today!) begins at 2 P.M. while on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the show will start at 10 A.M. Each day the show runs until 10 P.M. but closes early at 6 P.M. on Sunday.

Valley Forge Convention Center
1160 First Avenue, King of Prussia, PA 19406
www.acshomeshow.com/HGExpo/VFS.html

Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC

Philly loves beer. LOVES the stuff. Luckily for us, this is the best place in America to drink it. (That’s right: Philadelphia is the best beer-drinking city in America.)

You may have heard: Our Founding Fathers were sipping on Philly beer while they were drafting the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson: “How about”¦ “ËœWe The (gulp) People’?”).

You may have also heard: From March 6-15, we’re hosting the 2nd Annual Philly Beer Week, a massive collection of 500+ beer-soaked events.

But you need not restrict your beer pilgrimage to these 10 days. Any time of year (think: summer ales, Oktoberfest), you can try out our Beer Lover’s Weekend in Philadelphia, a 36-hour tour through the city’s taverns, breweries and gastropubs.

Follow along. You will get fed, and you will get drunk. Consider this itinerary your Declaration of Brew Love.

The Odd Couple at the Kimmel Center. This play is so hilarious, and ends too soon! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down in a room of mainly elderly folk, a few kiddies and my friend Rachel. We definitely exchanged glances like Yea, we’re definitely the “Ëœyoungin’s’ in this bunch.

But after the lights dimmed in the Kimmel’s Innovation Studio and the show began, we didn’t care. Laughter has no age. Corny, I know, but true. It doesn’t matter whether you were alive for the original TV show, have/have not seen the movie with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon (I had seen it, Rachel had not), it is funny regardless.

Local favorites Peter Pryor as “ËœOscar Madison’ and “ËœTony Braithwaite’ as Felix Unger do a phenomenal job portraying their characters to a tee. The rest of the small cast, including Oscar & Felix’s poker buddies and two pretty Brits from a few floors up, are hilarious all the same. (My favorite character was Vinnie, watch out for him.)

The Odd Couple is at the Kimmel Center until March 1 as part of Kimmel’s Broadway Series. The setting in the Innovation Studio was not the epitome of a Broadway experience, but it was a nice, cozy atmosphere where you could feel connected to the actors and share laughs with the generational audience.

So grab your significant other, best friends, or heck, take your parents (they can’t be that bad) and check out the Odd Couple. I can guarantee you’ll enjoy it and laugh your, ahem, off.

Kimmel Center
Broad & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, PA
215-731-3333
www.kimmelcenter.org/broadway

FRIDAY

M Ward and John Wesley Harding at WXPN’s Free At Noon
World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St Bridge
M Ward is at the Troc with Vivian Girls at night, but that’s sold out. Superfans on a long lunch break can still catch a glimpse at the World Cafe. 12pm, free.

Asteroid #4, Like A Fox, The Sounds of Kaleidoscope
Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N Frankford
Triple threat of fuzzy, blazed Philly pop. Myspaces linked. 8pm, $10

SATURDAY

An Evening with Stephen Sondheim and Frank Rich
Kimmel Center, Broad and Locust
Legendary broadway mug Stephen Sondheim talks about himself with prompts from New York Times columnist and former chief theater critic Frank Rich. 8pm, tickets here.

Screening: BASQUIAT (1996)
Free Library Independence Branch, 18 S. 7th
Julian Schnabel’s movie about the rise of graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat to New York pop art monolith. Features Bowie as Warhol. 1pm,
free.

Screening: Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japan, 1964, 35mm, 147 mins, color)
International House, 3701 Chestnut
Ihouse blurb: “An amateur entomologist leaves Tokyo for a remote, vast desert to study an unclassified species of beetle. [...] He spends the night in the home of a young widow who lives in a hut at the bottom of a sand dune. What results is one of cinema’s most bristling, unnerving and palpably erotic battles of the sexes, as well as a nightmarish depiction of everyday Sisyphean struggle.” Academy Award nominee for Best Director and Best Foreign Language
Film.” $7, 7pm.

SUNDAY

Screening: Theodore
The Arts Garage and Master Griot Radio, 1516 Parrish
Triple screening pick; this one part of For the Love of Reading. “Theodore is an independent film about a young male with schizophrenia. Following the film, join a discussion with the film’s Eye Whill Wright, local professionals from the mental health field, family members affected by schizophrenia, and those who battle the disorder. The first 50 people to arrive will receive a free copy of The Soloist.” 5pm, $5.

American Composers Orchestra: Collaborations, New and Green
International House, 3701 Chestnut
The ACO is dedicated to producing and performing new works by American composers. Sunday has five new pieces, four of them commissions for the orchestra. With George Manahan, conductor; Derek Bermel, clarinet; Kasumi, video/sound-art; Miller Puckette and Rand Steiger, electronics. 7:30pm, $10.

ONGOING

Quake
601 S Broad St, Philadelphia
Double Samuel Goldwyn and double Jerome Fellowship winner Melanie Marnich’s 2001 play QUAKE follows a woman through time and relationships on a trip across the modern American desert. Tickets and times at the link above.