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Constitution Center photo by Jason Smith for GPTMC

To close its Napoleon exhibition, the National Constitution Center is presenting an exploration of the French leader’s final days in From Washington to Waterloo from Saturday, Sept. 5th through Monday, Sept. 7th, 2009.  Activities, free with the price of admission, include interactive presentations, craft activities, a special walking tour, and, yes, my friends, battle reenactments.

Most excitingly, on Saturday, Sept. 5, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., French revolutionary re-enactors will set up camp on the Center’s front lawn, where they will demonstrate camp life and military strategies used at Waterloo. Visitors can make their own swords, muskets, and bi-corn hats from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

From 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., special daily presentations will teach visitors about the 1815 Battle of Waterloo in Belgium and Napoléon Bonaparte’s exile to St. Helena. Guests can also learn about the French experiences that American Revolutionary leaders had during special tours of Signers’ Hall at 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. Additionally, interactive demonstrations at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. will compare and contrast the American and French Revolutions.

The Center is also offering a walking tour of Philadelphia, highlighting the city’s connections with France during their revolution and the time of Napoléon’s reign. Tour goers will explore the French presence in Old City during stops at the former residences of Joseph Bonaparte and Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orléans, and other destinations.  These tours leave the Center at 11:00 a.m. and cost $23, which includes admission to the Center and the Napoleon exhibition. Reservations are required for the tour and can be made by calling the NCC.

From Washington to Waterloo
Saturday, Sept. 5 through Monday, Sept. 7, 2009

National Constitution Center
525 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 409-6600
www.constitutioncenter.org

Clockwise from top left: the Sky Bar at Vango (photo by G. Widman), the Raw courtyard (photo courtesy of Raw) and the Plaza Café at the Comcast Center (photo courtesy of the Plaza Café).

I believe it was George Harrison who said, “All things must pass.” So, too, must Center City Sips bid us farewell; tonight’s 5 to 7 p.m. happy hour is the last hurrah for the summertime special.

We’ve spotlighted some terrific restaurants and bars this summer. But, rather than point out a final favorite, we urge you to take advantage of tonight’s 90°-and-sunny forecast and pick an outdoor outpost.

Here are some sunny options prime for sipping and sizzling, in no particular order (click through to view their Sips menus):

1. Vango
2. Raw Sushi and Sake Lounge
3. Thirteen at the Marriott Downtown
4. The Plaza Café at the Comcast Center
5. Caribou Café

We’ll see ya out there. Bottoms up!

Previous Center City Sips spotlights [uwishunu]
Center City Sips [gophila.com]

Photo: Steve Belkowitz

Look out, here comes another Brian Sanders/JUNK Production. Count on a spectacle done on a shoestring budget.

Sanders once staged a Philly Fringe Festival production featuring topless women doing acrobatic feats on a big metal swinging contraption. Performed outdoors in Old City, the show literally stopped traffic.

Now, with Urban Scuba, appearing in the Live Arts Festival, Sanders and his band of intrepid performers cavort in the abandoned pool at the Gershman Y. Actually they spend most of the first half above the pool doing aerial work. Here’s where water and light play magic.

Once in the pool the cast morphs into mutant creatures. Sanders describes this scenario as “both tragic and beautiful.” The show is partially a metaphor for our search for self amid the constant pressure to move forward technologically and to keep doing more; but you may see something else altogether. That’s cool by Sanders who notes, “If they absorb some of what I’m getting at through osmosis, so be it, but I’m not hell-bent on hitting anyone over the head with these ideas.”

The performs runs September 2nd through September 13th. Check out the Live Arts page for full details, ticket prices, and times.

Tonight, the newly re-opened Oyster House (1516 Sansom Street) will offer its every-Tuesday-in-August Crab Night for the last time this summer.

No pressure, but… you’d be wise to get your summer eats while you can. And at $19, it’s an affordable send-off to a great summer in the City of Brotherly Love.

The deal includes:

- Three jumbo hard-shell blue crabs
- Corn on the cob
- Cole slaw

CLICK HERE to view Oyster House’s official site.

Mauckingbird Theatre Company’s new production of John Logan’s Never the Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story, is a riveting and powerful performance that makes me wish I’d seen their previous shows. I can’t blame myself too much, though – they’re relatively new in town, and this is the company’s fourth production. Luckily, they seem poised to become one of Philly’s powerhouse theatre companies, so we’ll all be able to catch more of their shows in the future!

Never the Sinner tells the story of the “the crime of the century”: in 1924, two rich young college students set out to commit the perfect crime, driven to murder a 14-year-old boy as an experiment demonstrating what they call their “natural superiority.” The subsequent trial was a media circus (their lawyer, the legendary Clarence Darrow, fanned the flames), fueled by hot-button issues galore: the death penalty, the role of media in society, homosexuality… all just as relevant in today’s culture wars as they were when the play was written in the 1980’s.

Mauckingbird’s intimate performance at the Adrienne Theater is sparse and almost uncomfortably earnest. The stark set and effective light design set the stage for the excellent actors, all of whom deliver impassioned performances. Brian Kurtas (playing Nathan Leopold, the scholarly, detached, reluctant murderer) and Evan Jonigkeit (as the dandy, fun-loving and charismatically sinister Loeb) are especially excellent, and their cold-hearted, disturbing statements sent frequent chills up my spine.

More after the jump!

(more…)

Artist/Designer/Promoter (and Philly 360° Creative Ambassador) Stacey Wilson explains how Philly keeps her so busy, while taking us to a few of her favorite places.

Philly 360° Twitter Contest:
Be sure to follow Philly 360° on Twitter for the latest on shows, galleries, special events and more. Look out for a trivia question about today’s Stacey Wilson video (above) for the chance to win some cool prizes!

www.gophila.com/philly360
www.twitter.com/philly360

Photography by Human Photography

If you head on over to The Arts Garage this Thursday, you’ll be able to catch Jump N’ Funk, DJ Rich Medina’s renowned Afro-dance party. Called ‘one of the most legendary and beloved dance functions of the decade’ by World Music Central, Medina’s bash celebrates the music and life of Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

This international party has been running for nearly a decade, and is celebrating its 8th anniversary with a three city tour. It already went to New York City last Thursday, and Washington DC last Saturday. Now it hits Philly on the 27th, with Medina’s 4-hour DJ set, accompanied by visuals and live brass and percussion. Wondering what to expect? Check out this promotional video from Medina’s last performance at Fluid back in March.

For more information, visit Medina’s official website. Have fun!

DJ Rich Medina’s Jump N’ Funk Party
August 27th, 2009 @ the Arts Garage

The Arts Garage
1516 Parrish St, Philadelphia, PA 19130-2211
(215) 765-2702
www.theartsgarage.com

I come from a family where tradition is important, and when I moved to Philadelphia, I always felt the need to have some sort of weekly routine with a group of friends. You know, a tradition, something that we all did together, every week. Because hey, there’s nothing like a tradition to make you feel comfortable and a little bit more at home. So I turned to Smiths, a Center City restaurant that shares my last name, for a weekly tradition that’s both cheap and delicious. How cheap? I’m talking two dollars cheap.

Every Tuesday, a group of friends and I get together to take advantage of, what we think, is one of the best deals in Center City. Tuesdays at Smiths brings with it an amazing deal; a large, steaming bowl of mussels for $2. A dozen of them, doused in a garlic-butter sauce with chopped tomatoes and slices of bread.

Once you’re done devouring the succulent bivalves, I challenge you to resist using a shell as a spoon to slurp up the sauce. People might stare, but that’s alright. It’s delicious. Leave your bread sitting in the bowl at the bottom, and wait til it’s saturated to the point that it’s falling apart. Take a bite. You’ll thank me.

It’s a rare thing in this city to be able to throw down a twenty, and feed an entire table full of friends. I love Tuesdays.

Smiths Restaurant & Lounge
39-41 S 19th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(267) 546-2669
www.smiths-restaurant.com

I love live theater. I enjoy every element of the experience, from getting a bit dolled up and loitering in the lobby prior to the show, straight through to the performance and the final curtain call. The only catch is that it fast becomes an expensive habit. While I was in my poverty-stricken grad school years, I discovered that I could get my theater fix by volunteering as an usher in exchange for a seat. It was a great solution when I had plenty of free time.

These days, I’m a bit more flush (although sadly, not much. It’s the price I pay for getting an MA in writing) but constantly pressed for time. Happily, the folks at phillyfunguide.com have come up with the perfect solution for those of us who love theater (and supporting our local companies) but can’t trade time for a chair or spend a fortune on tickets.

They’re selling season tickets to more than 20 area theater companies for half price. That means that you can get tickets to the four-show season at Plays and Players for just $32.50. Eighty bucks will get you into five Arden shows. The Walnut Theater season is the most expensive at $130 for five shows (but they’re doing both Oliver! and Fiddler on the Roof. Seems worth it to me).

Click here to check out the list of participating theaters. The deals are good through Friday, August 28th.

Downstairs at Distrito, soon to be called the "Cantina at Distrito." (Photo courtesy of Distrito)

Starting on Monday, August 31, University City’s Distrito (which we love unabashedly) will turn its first floor into the “Cantina at Distrito,” a more casual and inexpensive version of its big brother on the second floor. The menu and hours are different, but the over-the-top fun atmosphere will remain.

Best part: menu prices don’t exceed $10, with cocktails ranging between $3 and $6. The University City college students will surely appreciate that.

From left to right: The Volkswagon Beetle on Distrito's first floor; and Jose Garces-crafted enchiladas. (Photos courtesy of Distrito)

Our friends at Grub Street Philadelphia have unveiled the Cantina’s menu, which includes “typical” (this is Jose Garces, after all) Mexican fare (enchiladas, guacamole) and, cocktails-wise, a few concoctions that should become very famous very quickly (e.g. the tequila and Red Bull-fused “Bazooka” shooter).

CLICK HERE to read more about the Cantina at Distrito. [Grub Street Philadelphia]

Distrito [gophila.com]