Uwishunu.com

Bruce Springsteen purchased this Corvette in 1975, after the success of Born to Run. Photos of the car have appeared on various album and single sleeves. It will be on display at the National Constitution Center, starting next Friday, February 17.
(Photo credit: Frank Stefanko courtesy Bruce Springsteen)

The sure-to-be epic Bruce Springsteen exhibition — From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen — opens next Friday at the National Constitution Center.

Yesterday, one of the signature pieces from the exhibition — Springsteen’s 1960 Chevrolet Corvette — arrived at the NCC.

Bruce Springsteen purchased this Corvette in 1975, after the success of Born to Run. Photos of the car have appeared on various album and single sleeves.

The classic Corvette is just one of more than 150 artifacts from the iconic musician’s career that will be featured in the 5,000-square-foot exhibition, including:

• Family photos of Springsteen’s childhood in Asbury Park, N.J.
• Scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, photos and handbills from Springsteen’s early music endeavors
• Handwritten lyrics from all phases of Springsteen’s career
• Clarence Clemons’ microphone used for his saxophone
• Springsteen’s Fender Esquire from the cover of Born to Run
• The outfit Springsteen wore on the cover of Born in the U.S.A.
• Springsteen’s 1993 Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Streets of Philadelphia”

From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen is a must-see exhibition, featuring a collection never before seen outside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. It’s the first major exhibition about the American songwriter that takes a comprehensive look at Springsteen’s catalog, from such early bands such as Child, the Castiles and Steel Mill through his work with the E Street Band and as a solo artist.

Bruce fans, plan ahead and get your tickets now. You’re not going to want to miss this.

From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen
Where: National Constitution Center
When: February 17 to September 3, 2012
Cost: $24.50 for adults, $23 for seniors and students and $12 for children ages 4-12
More info: www.constitutioncenter.org

Take a trip to the sunny Amalfi Coast with Positano's popular Winter Escape menu. (Photo courtesy Positano Coast)

Back starting this week by popular demand, Positano Coast is reprising its well-received $55 five-course tasting menu for two.

Available Sunday through Thursday (with the singular exception of February 14), this scrumptious “winter escape” menu combines highlights from land and sea.

Included in this delectable deal are dishes such as salmon carpaccio with fennel and dill aioli, braised beef short ribs over rosemary potatoes, sea urchin pasta with black squid ink pasta, sea urchin, crabmeat and a dessert sampler.

A wine pairing is also available for an extra $20 per guest. Big bonus: Sundays and Mondays are BYOB!

Valet parking is available. For more information or to make reservations, call (215) 238.0499.

“Winter Escape” Five-Course Menu at Positano Coast
When: Sundays through Thursdays
Where: 212 Walnut Street, 2nd Floor
Cost: $55
More info: www.positanocoast.net

The always-impressive Arden Theatre has a truly sensational play in production now on the upstairs Arcadia Stage.

Titled Clybourne Park, the piece, a 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, leases characters and setting from the 1959 classic A Raisin in the Sun.

The play deals with important issues of gentrification, particularly poignant in Philadelphia’s urban setting. It takes you through the story of a house, a neighborhood and the people who have come and gone over five decades’ time.

Get tickets online.

Clybourne Park at the Arden Theatre
When: Now through March 25
Where: 40 N. 2nd Street
Cost: Tickets start at $29
More info: www.ardentheatre.org

 
Few documents have inspired as much conversation, argument and adoration as the U.S. Constitution.

It’s surely open to interpretation, but one thing is clear: the Constitution deserves one heck of a celebration to honor its 225 anniversary, and its getting one from the place bested suited for the occasion, the National Constitution Center.

The center is marking the historic occasion with programs and events running throughout the year until September. Check out the center’s brand new commercial, above, for a stirring reminder of both the power of the document itself and the immersive experience that awaits you when you visit the NCC in person.

A sampling:

• Sign the Constitution: The center invites you to reaffirm your commitment to American freedom by signing the Constitution. Not the actual parchment, mind you, they’ve set up a web application online. If you visit the center in person you can also sign a special commemorative 225th anniversary Constitution on display in Signers’ Hall.

• Share Your Freedom Story: Come springtime the center invites you share your American pride by submitting a 90-second video about someone (or a group) who has answered the call of freedom, and thus contributed to the story of “We the People.” Submissions air on the Center’s website and viewers select their favorite entries via online voting. The top three will earn a starring role in the Constitution Day extravaganza in September.

• ElectNext in Voting Booths: In partnership with ElectNext, the Center revolutionizes how we vote. Like online dating for voters, the interactive technology inside these voting booths will feature issues-based questions to match visitors to the presidential candidate who best fits their political values. Screens outside the booths display live, on-site poll results, highlighting issues that are most important to visitors.

• Election Lounge: As the 2012 election heats up the NCC will present its own campaign headquarters on the Grand Hall Overlook. Here you can watch presidential campaign ads, cast a vote in a gumball poll, track primary results, create campaign buttons and more.

• Constitution Day and Liberty Medal 2012: The 225th anniversary closes out with a bang in September, when the center welcomes audiences nationwide to participate in programs and star-studded events during the weeklong Constitution Day celebration and the 2012 Liberty Medal ceremony. This special event always draws distinguished guests. Perhaps you’ll be one of them.

The Omni's decadent lounge is the perfect setting to nestle into a warm chair and enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate. (Photo courtesy Omni)

Few things are better than warm, creamy hot chocolate on a cold winter day.

Salon 401 at the Omni Hotel at Independence Park delivers with their brand new hot chocolate menu, offered daily 3-7 p.m. in the hotel’s magnificent lobby lounge. Bonus: the lounge includes a fireplace.

The hot chocolate menu, a twist on your standard happy hour, features an array of hot chocolate flavors and toppings and even an adult version capped with Bailey’s Irish Cream or Kahlua.

The hot chocolate menu features the option of a dark hot chocolate with a hint of espresso, Ghirardelli White Mocha, Ghirardelli Chocolate Hazelnut or classic milk chocolate.

All are served with a side offering of whipped cream, shaved chocolate, mini marshmallows, crumbled Oreo’s, Heath Bar bits, mini M & M’s, S’mores and white chocolate morsels. Toppings are unlimited.

Hot chocolate is $5 per steaming, sweet mug or $6 with the alcohol additions.

Located in the heart of the historic district, the Omni is the perfect place to stop in after ice skating at the RiverRink or catching the sights in historic Philadelphia.

Omni Hotel at Independence Park’s Hot Chocolate Bar
Where: 401 Chestnut Street
When: Daily, 3-7 p.m.
Cost: $5/cup, $6/alcoholic version
More info: www.omnihotels.com

Acclaimed photographer Tal Shochat's work will be on display courtesy of the Andrea Meislin Gallery in New York. (Photo courtesy Andrea Meislin Gallery)

The National Museum of American Jewish History invites you to help celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the Festival of the Trees, as it opens its new exhibit “In Praise of a Dream,” a special photo collection by acclaimed Israeli artist Tal Shochat.

Shochat’s work will keep with this theme as she highlights only the most beautiful fruit trees that she has found in her travels throughout Israel.

Shochat’s distinctive photographs produce an ethereal, dream-like feel, as each tree is impeccably pruned and photographed against a black background. The result is a symbol of strength in an otherwise unnatural environment, and a hand-picked reminder of the beauty in nature that surrounds us daily.

“In Praise of a Dream” will be the inaugural exhibit on the Museum’s concourse level, opening up an exciting new chapter for the Museum.

In case you haven’t had a chance to make it over to this phenomenally-designed building, “In Praise of a Dream” will be running, very appropriately, through Earth Day, April 22.

Advance ticket purchase is required for Saturday visits, and is available online.

“In Praise of a Dream”
When: Wednesday, February 1-April 22
Where: National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 S. Independence Mall East
Cost: $11-$12, Free for members, active military and children under the age of 12
More info: www.nmajh.org

UPDATE: EVENT NOW MOVED TO FALL 2012.

“Burgers and Brews,” Philly’s inaugural fundraiser for CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, will take place at Trust in Old City this Saturday, February 4, from 7-11 p.m.

Sample and savor the best burgers the city has to offer, complemented by a wide selection of premium beers, all while raising money for CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national non-profit foundation which funds children’s cancer research.

Sink your teeth into an assortment of mouth-watering burgers prepared by some of Philly’s finest restaurants including Devil’s Alley, Smoking Betty’s, Triumph Brewing Company, Rembrandt’s and more and wash it all down with thirst-quenching ice cold brews.

A live auction will top off the evening with items up for bid like four tickets to anywhere Southwest Airlines flies; an Elite Island Resorts Caribbean 7-night complimentary resort accommodation (airfare not included); tickets to Philly sports team events; and gift certificates to your favorite Philly restaurants.

Make a difference in the lives of the more than 40,000 children, adolescents, and young adults who undergo treatment for children’s cancer each year, while you dine and drink to your heart’s content.

Burgers and Brews
When: Saturday, February 4, 7-11 p.m. UPDATE: EVENT NOW MOVED TO FALL 2012.
Where: Trust, 249 Arch Street
Cost: Tickets start at $75
More info: www.phillyfoodandbeer.com

Enjoy gooey make-your-own grilled cheese at Wedge + Fig all winter long. (Photo courtesy Wedge + Fig)

The ultimate cure for the cold weather blues is best served hot and cheesy with a touch of flair.

We’re talking grilled cheese.

Luckily, the folks over at Wedge + Fig agree and are now offering a full-on grilled cheese bar stocked and primped with loads of fixin’s to accommodate your own savory style.

Choose from a variety of different cheeses like gouda, fontina, manchego, blue and brie to melt between white, wheat or pumpernickel loaves and indulge in extra toppings of avocado, apple, bacon, caramelized onions, olive tapenade, chutney or sauerkraut.

Plain-Jane’s (just cheese + bread) start at $7.95 while additional dollars and cents will be tacked on depending on cheese selection and number of toppings.

What goes better with grilled cheese than soup? Add a cup with your ‘wich for $2.95, and you have yourself a solid cure from the winter ‘haps.

And according to Wedge + Fig, sandwich artisans will be rewarded: really cool combos will get Panini of the Day status. Pressure’s on.

Wedge + Fig
160 N. 3rd Street
www.wedgeandfig.com

There will soon be a new addition to Old City’s shopping scene as Kaleidoscope gears up for its grand opening next month.

Specializing in women’s apparel and accessories, the 1,300-square-foot boutique will set up shop in Matthew Izzo’s former store location at 151 N. Third Street.

Store owner Irina Mitchell describes the store’s personality as “fun and edgy,” with bubblegum pink product displays, chic chandeliers, and a plush velvet couch adding to the shop’s creative, funky vibe.

As for labels, Mitchell promises to deliver an eclectic mix of recognizable and under-the-radar designers. “I picked pieces and vendors that I love, not that were safe or common, because I believe in our store motto ‘Shatter Your Scope of Fashion!’” says the boutique owner.

Think hand-sewn dresses by Mandalay (a favorite of Lady Gaga); jewelry by Tarina Tarantino and King Baby; leisurewear from L.A. label Young Fabulous & Broke; footwear from Boutique 9 and Enzo Angiolini; and a selection of vintage Chanel items.

Mark your calendars: Kaleidoscope officially opens to the public on Wednesday, February 15.

Kaleidoscope
151 N. Third Street
www.kaleidoscopeboutique.com

Watch the State of the Union at the National Constitution Center January 25. (Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC)

The National Constitution Center is hosting a State of the Union Viewing Party, Tuesday, January 24, the night of President Obama’s State of the Union address.

State of the Union Bingo, starting at 9 p.m., will have guests paying close attention to the commander-in-chief’s remarks as they compete for prizes.

Visitors who play will fill in their cards with current events (e.g. “Occupy Wall Street”), phrases the president might say (like “bipartisanship” or “economy”), and actions he or others might make (such as “standing ovation” and “Vice President stands”).

Winners will receive cool prizes, like tickets to the Center’s upcoming Bruce Springsteen exhibition!

During the address, audience members can also participate in a live, interactive poll using individual keypads. Results displayed on a large screen will track viewers’ reactions to issues raised.

And for trivia buffs, the evening will also include Constitutional Quizzo; the “Lurid Lives of the Founding Fathers” tour of Signers’ Hall, which offers a glimpse into the secrets and scandals of the signers of the Constitution; and an interactive program about the history of the State of the Union.

You can also submit your own “Six Word State of the Union” via text, which will appear on the talk-back wall as well as on the Center’s Facebook page and Twitter feed (use the hash tag #NCCSOTU).

Admission is free, and light fare and cash bar will be available. Register in advance at programs@constitutioncenter.org or by calling (215) 409-6700.

Can’t make it, but don’t want to miss out on the fun? Bingo cards are available for download online. In addition, home viewers can tap into the Center’s blog, Constitution Daily, which will feature expert coverage of the State of the Union and live blogging from the event at the Center.

State of the Union Bingo and Viewing Party
When: January 24, 7:30 p.m.
Where: National Constitution Center, 6th and Arch Streets
Cost: Free
More info: www.constitutioncenter.org