Bring your friends, blankets and picnic baskets for a great time watching films under the stars. (Photo courtesy Schuylkill Banks)

The Schuylkill Riverbanks just keep getting cooler. When the riverfront’s not playing host to glowing orb art exhibits, it’s the site of an awesome series of outdoor movies every summer.

This year’s offerings, kicking off next Thursday, June 9, are heavy on superheroes and action — perfect for an outdoor summer flick. And if you don’t feel like packing a picnic, viewers that arrive early receive free snacks and can enter a free raffle.

Here’s this year’s lineup:

June 9: Hancock
June 23: Goldfinger
July 7: Spider-Man
July 21: Iron Man
August 4: The Rocketeer
August 18: The Incredibles

What could be better than dinner under the stars while a movie plays on a giant screen on the bank of the river? We thought not.

Schuylkill Banks 2011 Movie Nights
When: Every other Thursday June 9-August 18, movies begin around 8:20 p.m.
Where: Schuylkill River banks by the Walnut Street Bridge
Cost: Free
More info: www.schuylkillbanks.org

The event concludes with the Lion Parade performed by Cheng Hung Gar Kung Fu Academy dancers and drummers.
(Photo courtesy Penn Museum)

Leave it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to host a Chinese holiday celebration that incorporates more than a dozen elements of traditional Chinese culture that the whole family can enjoy.

On February 12th, the Penn Museum will hold its 30th annual Chinese New Year Celebration. The event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., includes several authentic Chinese dance performances, a Chinese New Year movie screening and a marketplace where visitors can learn more about celebrating the new year.

But the event goes beyond traditions associated just with the Chinese New Year. There will also be sessions on Chinese calligraphy, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Chinese medicine and a craft workshop.

Plus, you can enjoy several Chinese lunch options available at the Pepper Mill Café.

The event is free with museum admission.

Penn Museum’s Chinese New Year Celebration
When: Saturday, February 12th, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Where: 3260 South Street
Cost: Free with museum admission ($10 general admission, $7 senior citizens, $6 students, free for children under 6 and PennCard holders)
More info: www.penn.museum

Tour the haunted Powel mansion in Society Hill. (Photo courtesy Ghost Tours)

Quick: What did you do for Valentine’s Day last year? How about five years ago? Cozy restaurants and pre-ordered flowers are fine ways to celebrate, but they all start to blend together after a while.

The Valentine’s Ghost Tour of Philadelphia run by (what else?) Ghost Tours of Philadelphia offers a twist on the traditional romantic evening that still gets you out exploring the city and cuddling up to your date. The candlelit walking tour, a little more than an hour long, winds through the streets of Society Hill before winding up touring the haunted halls of the Society Hill mansion Powel House.

The tour promises fun for the non-believer and the romantic alike with the theme “Haunting Love Stories and the Ghosts They Leave Behind.” Guides will share the tales of star-crossed lovers, a tragic bridal party and the story of Mad Mary.

This year’s tour follows a new route in pursuit of new harrowing tales, so even past visitors will find new terror and romance in the event.

Valentine’s Ghost Tour of Philadelphia
When: February 12th, 13th, 14th at 8 p.m., additional 9:30 p.m. tour on Saturday
Where: Tour departs from the courtyard behind City Tavern (138 S. 2nd Street) and ends at the Powel House (244 S. 3rd Street)
Cost: $18
More info: www.ghosttour.com

Chinese New Year celebrations abound. (Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC)

We may be well into 2011, but that doesn’t meant the new year celebrations have to stop. Why not ring in the year of the rabbit with the International House Philadelphia (IHP)’s ninth annual Chinese New Year celebration?

On Friday, February 4th, IHP will host the University of Pennsylvania Pan-Asian Dance Troupe to kick off the event, along with other dance performances from the Chinese community in Philadelphia and a sampling of traditional Chinese food. Then, at the end of the evening, a time-honored lion dance will take place to welcome the coming year once and for all.

Chinese tradition states that the year of the rabbit is associated with the home and the family, as well as diplomacy and keeping the peace. And there’s no better place to start the year off right than at IHP with one of the city’s biggest Chinese New Year celebrations. At the very least, it will give you the chance to take a mulligan on those resolutions you’re already struggling to maintain.

International House Philadelphia’s Ninth Annual Chinese New Year Celebration
When: Friday, February 4th, 6 p.m.
Where: Ibrahim Theater, 3701 Chestnut Street
Cost: $8 general admission, $5 for IHP residents
More info: www.ihousephilly.org/

Inside the Rosenbach's historic house, Photo courtesy the Rosenbach Museum

Most people know the more famous fairy tales retold by the Brothers Grimm — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, etc. But the original stories the brothers told are often far darker and more disturbing than the popular versions relayed to children today. Maurice Sendak preferred those more chilling variations and has illustrated these stories often throughout his career.

In it’s continuing effort to cover all things Sendak, the Rosenbach Museum and Gallery has collected an assortment of his sketches, inspirations, final illustrations and musings on the Grimm tales in its summer exhibit Dreadful Things Happen: The Brothers Grimm and Maurice Sendak.

The small exhibition is broken into four sections, each taking its name from a recurring lesson in the fairy tales and displaying Sendak’s wide variety of illustrations along with a bit of perspective on the stories themselves.

Sendak fans will see many similarities between his work and these folk tales, from children with a bit too much independence to many instances of less-than stellar parenting. But the real value of the exhibit is in the many different styles Sendak used to depict these stories. Yes, Where the Wild Things Are’s illustrations are great, but the guy was capable of a whole lot more.

The exhibition itself is quite kid-friendly, even if most of the drawings themselves lack the color and pizazz of more popular contemporary children’s stories. One highlight for kids will certainly be the whiteboard covered in magnets with words common to the fairy tales (think of a giant, educational dorm room mini-fridge), where visitors can concoct their own moral lessons, or just come up with silly sentences.

But it’s tough for anyone, young or old, to walk away from the exhibit without having learned a bit more about Sendak and the Brothers Grimm tales he illustrated. It seems that the Rosenbach has a near endless supply of ways to incorporate Sendak’s work into larger exhibits and themes — and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Dreadful Things Happen: The Brothers Grimm and Maurice Sendak
Now through Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Rosenbach Museum and Gallery
2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 732-1600
www.rosenbach.org

The Mann Center is an amazing place to see a summer concert. (Photo courtesy The Mann)

Philly has plenty of great music venues, but few are better suited for summertime shows than The Mann Center in Fairmount Park.

With a lineup for late summer 2010 that includes MGMT, Pavement, Herbie Hancock, Yo Gabba Gabba, Tony Bennett, Cake, and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia with Fireworks, the Mann has a show for just about anyone.

And this weekend features two of those shows. On Friday night, the Mann aims to please jazz aficionados, hosting Herbie Hancock’s The Imagine Project. Best known for his work with Miles Davis and his 1973 album Head Hunters, Hancock will play hits from throughout his career, including cuts from his most recent release, The Imagine Project.

And on Sunday, progressive pop-synth outfit MGMT bring their psychedelic beats and unparalleled stage presence to the Mann, touring in support of their latest release, Congratulations.

Regardless of which concert you attend, the bigger question will be: do you get seats under the amphitheater closer to the stage and the music, or do you bring a blanket and sit up on the lawn to take in the amazing view of Fairmount Park and the Philadelphia skyline?

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts [Visit Philly]

The Korean Fried Chicken at Meritage. (Photo by A. Irwin)

Philadelphia residents craving Korean Fried Chicken (ahem, KFC) can finally chow down on the delicious East-meets-West combination within the city limits — but only on Thursday nights this Summer, and only at Meritage.

Like Meritage’s Tuesday “Date Night” special, the $25 Korean fried chicken dinner is intended for two, with five or six deliciously double-fried chicken pieces, a cilantro-heavy cole slaw, pickled radishes and carrots and a chilled sesame spinach, washed down with a Japanese Sapporo beer.

The side dishes are refreshing and well-portioned companions, but the chicken’s obviously the centerpiece of the dish. It’s tender and juicy, without being greasy, and is covered with a sweet and slightly spicy sesame glaze that’s likely to ruin every Chinese takeout experience you’ll have after eating it — and did we mention they fry it twice?

Meritage is a pretty classy place — definitely classier than the carts and fast food joints where KFC is typically sold. But the sticky pieces can be pretty messy for such a fancy establishment, and using a knife and fork to eat it is pretty much impossible.

Your best bet? Dig in with your hands and eat it the way it’s meant to be eaten, just try not to look too conspicuous licking your fingers.

Meritage Restaurant & Wine Bar
500 S. 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 985-1922
www.meritagephiladelphia.com

Outside the museum on Delancy St, Photo courtesy the Rosenbach

The Rosenbach sure loves Maurice Sendak. And that’s a good thing — there’s plenty to love about the famed children’s author, and the museum is constantly coming up with creative exhibits that showcase Sendak’s creative talents and spirited personality.

Most recently, the Rosenbach’s offering Dreadful Things Happen: The Brothers Grimm and Maurice Sendak, a look at Sendak’s illustrations and interests in the classic folk tales. Sendak illustrated many of the Brothers Grimm’s most notable stories, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Hansel and Gretel.

But the exhibit goes one step beyond just presenting the drawings. Through notes Sendak made on his translations of the original stories, the museum highlights why Sendak chose specific scenes to illustrate and what he chose to draw.

And if anyone’s qualified to speak for Sendak, it’s the Rosenbach.

Dreadful Things Happen: The Brothers Grimm and Maurice Sendak
Now through Sunday, November 7, 2010

Rosenbach Museum and Gallery
2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 732-1600
www.rosenbach.org

Tagliatelle Mixed Seafood @ Alba

There’s a lot to be said for the menu options at Alba, the cozy Italian joint tucked away on King Street in Malvern. Chef Sean Weinberg makes full use of the open kitchen’s large wood-fired grill, churning out fresh takes on Northern Italian courses with a focus on local ingredients. But that freshness comes with a price — Alba changes its offerings on a regular basis, ensuring you won’t have the same dining experience twice.

In fact, only two dishes are mainstays on the menu — the Wood Grilled Octopus and the Rabbit Agnolotti Del Plin. But it’s easy to see why Alba keeps them around. Both made great use of their slightly more exotic main ingredients. The octopus had a great texture and was grilled well, with crisp grilled edges contrasting the tenderness of the meat.

Rabbit Agnolotti @ Alba

The rabbit agnolotti (think really, really tiny raviolli) showed the craftsmanship that goes into many of the dishes, with a mild rabbit flavor that was far from overwhelming inside the pasta.

The third appetizer, and the highlight of the course, was the Antipasto. The selections change daily, but the highlight of our plate was most definitely the bruschetta with local sheep’s milk ricotta, amazingly sweet English peas and pickled onions.

For our main course, we opted for the Wood Roasted Lamb and the Tagliatelle “Al Covo” Mixed Seafood. Once again, the wood grill made the lamb deliciously crispy, accented by its accompanying crispy spaetzle.

And as with the agnolotti del plin, the fresh pasta was the best part of the dish — though the excellent scallops, mussels and other seafood offerings didn’t hurt either.

Dessert @ Alba

It’s this varying menu with consistent flavors that sets Alba apart. And Apartivo, a new Wednesday night happy hour, will make sampling a selection of the menu and a few drinks that much easier. Once a humble BYOB, Alba now has a full wine menu as well as traditional and in-house cocktails (try the “Alba” — a refreshing sparkling drink made with Moscato d’Asti and Aperol).

In addition to libations, Apartivo will offer complimentary small plates of appetizers and main course offerings. It’s as good an excuse as any to stop by after work one night — but you’re probably going to want to stay for dinner too.

Alba
7 West King Street in Malvern, PA.
(610) 644-4009
www.restaurantalba.com

Yvette Ganier, Kate Czajkowski, and Genevieve Perrier in Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

Spoiler alert: The sisters never make it to Moscow.

From the very beginning of Three Sisters, it’s practically all the three titular characters talk about. The aristocratic siblings are stuck with each other in a small, unrefined town where knowing three languages is “an unnecessary appendage,” with only a few stationed soldiers to distract them from the doldrums of their everyday lives since their fall from high society.

But for Temple Repertory Theater’s production of Anton Chekhov’s classic, that stagnation’s a good thing. The characters may never go anywhere, but the actors portraying them make full use of Chekhov’s witty banter (adapted to more modern language) and multiple stories to create a dynamic social circle that’s fun to watch change and grow. Despite the show’s relatively long run time, the action moves quickly with subtle set changes and leaps forward in time that reveal a significant portion of these characters’ lives.

And there are a lot of characters –Three Sisters has a large cast with a lot of Russian names, which makes for confusing plot summaries and characters you remember but can’t name. But even with this web of romances and connected stories, the show itself is easy to follow, in large part because each character is well developed and faces a unique set of challenges, despite many coming from the same family and almost all belonging to the same declining class.

It’s hard to know exactly how to feel about many of these characters, which is often what makes them so compelling. When Irina (the charming Genevieve Perrier), at the ripe old age of 24, proclaims that she simply can not work another day at her mundane job, you almost feel bad for her and her perceived fall from grace. Or when the bumbling Kulygin (a standout performance from David Ingram) offers the middle sister Masha a chance to start their marriage over after learning she’s been unfaithful, it’s tough to judge if he’s being naive, or simply recognizing his own shortcomings as a husband. It was Chekhov who created these wonderfully rounded characters, but it’s the actors, with few exceptions, who really nail it in this production.

Three Sisters is heralded as a symbolic portrait of a dying class and a historical snapshot of Russian aristocracy — and Temple Rep’s production certainly has those elements. But it’s broader, more gripping appeal is the way these actors portray a family’s universal challenges of growing old, accepting change, settling for second best and just struggling to make it through the day.

Three Sisters
July 7 – August 1, 2010
$15 – $25

Temple Repertory Theater
1301 W. Norris Street, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 204-1344
www.temple.edu/theater

Yvette Ganier, Kate Czajkowski, and Genevieve Perrier in Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

There are many classic playwrights whose works are still produced on a regular basis, functioning as both a way to analyze and gain perspective on a particular historical period and as an excuse to continue to present the great stories contained within the texts.

But often, the best modern adaptations of these plays take the stories out of their traditional settings and show them in a refreshing way that repositions the drama or forces audiences to question the author’s original themes. Temple Repertory Theater is doing that with two shows this summer — William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

With Three Sisters, Temple Rep and Director Dan Kern begin with the established story of an aristocratic Russian family’s failing status as the three sisters struggle to cope with their rural existence that’s replaced their upscale life in the city. This production, however, removes the period commentary and focuses instead on the core group of actors that make up the family and their experiences.

And really, actor-driven productions are what the newly created Temple Repertory Theater is all about. The company describes its stagings as “disarmingly intimate,” with audience members close to the stage and close to the actors.

Three Sisters certainly certainly has a dramatic enough story for this format and should serve as an excellent jumping off point for such productions.

Three Sisters
July 7 – August 1, 2010
$15 – $25

Temple Repertory Theater
1301 W. Norris Street, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 204-1344
www.temple.edu/theater

Most people know the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice — the couple falls in love, Eurydice is bitten by a snake, and Orpheus travels to Hades to try to win her back. He does so, under one condition — he can’t look back at her as the two walk single file back to the world of the living. He looks, of course, and she is pulled back into the afterlife forever.

The story’s tragic themes of undying love and eternal damnation are perfect for an opera setting, and there are plenty of notable works to choose from for a staging. The Opera Company of Philadelphia has chosen Hector Berlioz’s take on Orphée et Eurydice, the 18th century opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. The production, directed by Robert Driver and designed by Philippe Amand, stars Ruxandra Donose as Orphée and Maureen McKay as Eurydice.

Many stories identify Orpheus as the son of Apollo (the god of music), so an opera based on his most famous myth should require some pretty awesome music. Expect OCP to deliver on this point, with a colorful and intricate set design to match.

Orphée et Eurydice
June 17 – 25, 2010, $15 – $130
www.operaphila.org

Kimmel Center
Broad and Locust Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19131
www.kimmelcenter.org