Philadelphia City Paper, October 23rd, 2014 by Philadelphia City Paper

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New: Philly Hyper Local // Bell Curve Fetus flicks a flop? // Prodigal poet returns citypaper.net

2 0 1 4 k e y s t o n e p r e s s a w a r d w i n n e r — b e s t b i g w e e k ly i n pa

@citypaper

| october 23 - october 29, 2014 | issue #1534

words by caroline russock photos by neal santos

Port of Call

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Season Sponsors

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We made this

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Associate Publisher Jennifer Clark Editor in Chief Lillian Swanson Senior Editor Patrick Rapa Arts & Culture Editor Mikala Jamison Food Editor Caroline Russock Senior Staff Writers Daniel Denvir, Emily Guendelsberger Copy Chief Carolyn Wyman Contributors Sam Adams, Dotun Akintoye, A.D. Amorosi, Rodney Anonymous, Mary Armstrong, Meg Augustin, Bryan Bierman, Shaun Brady, Peter Burwasser, Mark Cofta, Alison Dell, Adam Erace, David Anthony Fox, Caitlin Goodman, K. Ross Hoffman, Jon Hurdle, Deni Kasrel, Alli Katz, Gary M. Kramer, Drew Lazor, Gair â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dev 79â&#x20AC;? Marking, Robert McCormick, Andrew Milner, Annette Monnier, John Morrison, Michael Pelusi, Natalie Pompilio, Sameer Rao, Jim Saksa, Elliott Sharp, Marc Snitzer, Tom Tomorrow, John Vettese, Nikki Volpicelli, Brian Wilensky Editorial Interns Indie Jimenez, Alyssa Mallgrave, Nia Prater, Sam Fox Production Director Michael Polimeno Senior Designer Brenna Adams Designer & Social Media Director Jenni Betz Contributing Photographers Jessica Kourkounis, Hillary Petrozziello, Maria Pouchnikova, Neal Santos, Mark Stehle Contributing Illustrators Ryan Casey, Don Haring Jr., Joel Kimmel, Cameron K. Lewis, Thomas Pitilli, Matthew Smith Human Resources Ron Scully (ext. 210) U.S. Circulation Director Joseph Lauletta (ext. 239) Account Managers Colette Alexandre (ext. 250), Nick Cavanaugh (ext. 260), Amanda Gambier (ext. 228), Sharon MacWilliams (ext. 262) Classified/Adult Advertising Sales Alexis Pierce (ext. 234) Editor Emeritus Bruce Schimmel 22

The Edible Inevitable Tour

ROSS ONE

MUR.MUR MONDAYS MONDAY, OCTOBER 27

ROSS ONE

MUR.MUR MONDAYS MONDAY, OCTOBER 27

Reinventing Radio: An Evening With

Bruce Schimmel founded City Paper in a Germantown storefront in 1981. Local philanthropist Milton L. Rock purchased the paper in 1996 and published it until August 2014 when Metro US became the paperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s third owner. citypaper.net

30 South 15th Street, Fourteenth Floor, Phila., PA 19102. 215-735-8444, Tip Line 215-735-8444 ext. 241, Listings Fax 215-875-1800, Advertising Fax 215-735-8535, Subscriptions 215-735-8444 ext. 235 Philadelphia City Paper is published and distributed every Thursday in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Bucks & Delaware Counties, in South Jersey and in Northern Delaware. Philadelphia City Paper is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased from our main office at $1 per copy. No person may, without prior written permission from Philadelphia City Paper, take more than one copy of each issue. Pennsylvania law prohibits any person from inserting printed material of any kind into any newspaper without the consent of the owner or publisher. Contents copyright ÂŠ 2014, Philadelphia City Paper. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Philadelphia City Paper assumes no obligation (other than cancellation of charges for actual space occupied) for accidental errors in advertising, but will be glad to furnish a signed letter to the buying public. 55

Behind the Myths Tour

contents Cover story, see p. 10

Naked City ...................................................................................5 A&E ...............................................................................................20 22

Events..........................................................................................28 26

Food ..............................................................................................33 34

Kimmel Center for the performing arts

Sex .................................................................................................35 cover photograph by neal santos design by brenna adams

c i t y pa p e r . n e t | O c t O b e r 2 3 - O c t O b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

A Night of Timeless R&B

with Grammy Award winner Jody Watley and Lillo Thomas Presented by

With Special Guest

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Saturday, November 15th, 8pm. The Tower Theatre, 19 South 69th St., Upper Darby, PA Tickets available at: WWW TICKETMASTER COM s WWW LIVENATION COM s WWW THETOWERPHILLY COM s Call 1-800-745-3000

naked

the

20 35

thebellcurve

city

CP’s Quality-o-Life-o-Meter

[ + 2] According to a new report by cityobser-

vatory.org, educated millennials living in Center City rose 78 percent between 2000 and 2010. “Pretty sure there are more than 78 of us, bro,” says educated millennial.

[ - 1] City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds

Brown introduces a bill to tax e-cigarette merchandise to raise money for schools. Why stop there? Let’s go after people who breathe outdoors in the winter! And sizzling fajita platters! And cartoon trains! 22

[0]

SEPTA is considering installing glass walls on subway platforms separating riders from the tracks to improve safety and cleanliness. Because nothing stays clean like giant panes of glass.

[ - 2] Police in Wilmington, Del., say adults encour-

aged kids to fight while they recorded it. Police also say this is a pretty cynical way to describe high school football.

[ - 1] Philadelphia Union fans say security per-

sonnel confiscated their signs criticizing the team’s management. “Preposterous! Everyone knows I’m a champion of the common man,” says GM Boss Tweed.

[ - 4] Thieves steal the 1974 Stanley Cup ring

belonging to 1970s Flyers great André “Moose” Dupont. “And now the Moose drinks tears,” Dupont says. “And beer.”

[ + 4] The Constitution Center awards its Liberty Medal to recent Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. “So I guess I’ve peaked, huh?”

[ - 6] The Broad Street headquarters of Phila-

delphia International, where Teddy Pendergrass, Chubby Checker and more recorded hits, closes its doors as the building preps for demolition. But not before doing a thorough MFSB head count.

[ + 1] Several politicians tour a dredging barge at Penn’s Landing, including Vice President Joe Biden. “Sorry, didn’t mean to barge right in!” says Biden. “But really, what the fuck is this thing? Some sort of a floating floor?”

This week’s total: -7 | Last week’s total: +2

SURVEY SAYS: The pro-life group Created Equal set up shop on Independence Mall last week, displaying its antiabortion message in an electronic slideshow and in large, bloody photos. Passersby were asked about the impact. Maria pouchnikova

[ abortion confrontation ]

A question of tActics The gory anti-abortion images at the Liberty Bell gained attention, but did they change anyone’s mind? By Emily Guendelsberger

ast Friday, a bunch of fresh-faced activists from columbus, ohio, set up large orange warning signs around Independence Mall — WArNING: AbortIoN VIctIM PHotoS AHeAD. this was, frankly, a little disingenuous — if you could see the warnings, you could also see their graphic, bloody photographs blown up on signs and playing in a slideshow with musical accompaniment on a 12-foot-tall video screen. right up front: this is fine. the First Amendment covers ugly things. the Liberty bell is a magnet for people desperate to tell America their truth, and the courts have been very clear that they are allowed to speak it to the tourists. In 2010, an appeals court sided with a pro-life activist who in 2007 was arrested when he refused to stop haranguing tourists with a bullhorn and graphic abortion photos. between 2010 and 2013, the National Park Service estimates it has issued roughly 170 day permits per year for “First Amendment events,” as they’re called, at Independence National Historical Park. It’s likely you only noticed a few, if any. Protests that use inflammatory tactics are effective at getting attention. but are

they any good at changing minds? City Paper set up shop in the park last Friday to ask people who’d walked past the display set up by the pro-life group created equal one question: “Did seeing these images change your mind?” the answer was almost uniformly, “No.” there was one outlier in the dozens of people we spoke to: a 65-year-old Asian man from Philadelphia who said, “Maybe a little bit.” there was also the young Asian man in a Wharton jacket and headphones who somehow managed not to notice the enormous display. “About what?” he asked. though we didn’t ask what people thought about abortion or the display, many felt compelled to tell us. A young African-American woman from Philly: “I’ve never been pro-abortion anyway, but the pictures really should change some people’s minds — it’s really messed up.” “Fuck no,” said two young white women, one in town from Georgia to visit the other. “We were actually just saying that it was disgusting, and that if I had a child here, I’d be very upset.” An older African-American couple visiting from cleveland, the man wearing a cross necklace walking beside his partner’s wheelchair: “It hasn’t changed my mind — I believe that abortion is murder,” said the woman. Her companion nodded.

Many felt compelled to tell us what they thought.

>>> continued on page 6

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✚ A Question of Tactics

[ the naked city ]

<<< continued from page 5

A 31-year-old white woman visiting from Memphis: “It actually makes me more solid in my beliefs. I think this is a disgusting display.” Her companion, a 60-year-old white man: “I’m pro-choice too; this is bullshit. It’s what the whole damn country is about — choice.” A 55-year-old white man pushing a heavy bicycle said that he thought the images were fantastic, and necessary. “What changed the Vietnam War is when reporters went into the field and actually showed the carnage — that’s what helped get the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations going. People need to see all the blood and guts.” It’s true — frightening or disgusting visuals grab and hang on to our attention in a way that comes in second only to pornography. It’s human nature. Fear and disgust are hard-wired preferences that keep us away from things that might be dangerous. In general, “disgust” keeps us away from microscopic things that might kill us if we eat them — spoiled or infested food, feces, vomit, dead bodies, disease. Fear keeps us away from situations in which something might kill and eat us. Interestingly, fresh blood and gore appear to hit both our fear and disgust triggers — studies have found that gory pictures and video raise the heart rate more than simply disgusting things like vomit or maggots. Unsurprisingly, having your fight-or-flight button pushed by gory images doesn’t prime people to hear nuanced philosophical arguments. It mostly makes them ready to fight. Seth Drayer, director of training for created equal, looks like one of his earnest, clean-cut college-age volunteers plus maybe five years. there were no bullhorns on Friday, though the images were unavoidable and the music loud. Nobody was even trying to strike up conversations with passers-by. created equal tries to offset their gruesome images with almost absurdly polite behavior. “Sometimes we’re connecting on emotional levels with people, and so we have to learn how to try to defuse anger, how to chat with someone on a perhaps difficult topic in a way that is not going to elevate emotions,” said Drayer. “We take a lot of inspiration from the Freedom riders of the 1960s.” created equal frequently draws parallels between themselves and the civil rights movement; their slideshow opens with an image of Martin Luther King Jr., and the trance-y beat behind it samples his voice. Drayer wore a very obvious GoPro camera strapped to his chest; it’s clear why when you check out a video he shot this July in columbus that figures into an ongoing lawsuit. because of the weird vantage point, half the time all you can see of the woman yelling at Drayer in the video is a close-up of her gray burger King work shirt. “You fucking dipshit, that is not what a fetus looks like. oK? It’s a clump of cells at 12 weeks!” the woman’s shouted problem is one that a lot of pro-choice people have with the images pro-life activists use — they claim they’re misleadingly labeled. Many of these images are of sketchy provenance, so it’s never really been settled. the woman eventually kicks over the sign. “And get that camera out of my face,” she yells, shoving Drayer and walking away. Drayer follows her while calling the police as she kicks over another sign half a block away, yelling, “Fuckwit! … Your signs deserve to get fucked up!” “occasionally we do have someone who’s angry, in our face and yelling, but that is not the norm,” said Drayer. In Philly, a few people confronted the protesters, but not many, and nothing loud. Few people acknowledged them at all. “to have people change their minds right on the spot — it’s unusual, frankly,” says Mark Harrington, national executive director of created equal. He says that’s not the point — his orga | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

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HER MESSAGE: Juliana, who didn’t give her last name, was among those handing out anti-abortion pamphlets. She tried to engage those walking by about the impact of abortions. Maria PouChnikova

nization is more about the long game. “the photos don’t go away, and neither does the video. they stay in people’s heads. … We talk about putting the stone in people’s shoe that they can’t get out.” emily Alley isn’t sure about the stone-in-the-shoe theory. As far as she knows, the 2013 study she did for her thesis at the University of Kansas is still the only one specifically measuring the impact of graphic abortion ads, and it was on short-term effects. For her thesis on polemical advertisements, Alley asked study participants to rank themselves as pro-life or pro-choice on a scale of one to 10. two weeks later, she brought them back in, had them sit through three very graphic randall terry anti-abortion ads that were broadcast on tV in 2012 (one aired during the Super bowl). then she asked them to rank themselves again. “there was no statistically significant change in people’s beliefs,” Alley found. “In fact, in the most extreme cases, the people who considered themselves very pro-choice considered themselves more pro-choice after viewing the advertisements.” She has caveats: those were outliers, her study was made up of a couple hundred undergrads, more research should be done before drawing broad conclusions about the use of graphic imagery in prolife ads. “but I would say there is no evidence to say it is effective.” other studies have found that scaring people into having safer sex by showing them graphic images of people with AIDS doesn’t work, and that disgusting anti-smoking ads showing cancerous lungs just tend to make true-believer smokers want a cigarette. but, Alley says, abortion is different. there’s nobody arguing the pro-cancer side, and no one wants to get HIV. Few women are super-psyched to actually get an abortion, but the numbers don’t lie: Women want them, women have wanted them, women will continue to want them. “When you drive across the state of Kansas, where I’m from, you see a lot of signs on the side of the road that are very graphic, very hostile, very confrontational,” Alley says. She says these signs inspired her study. “I thought to myself, ‘You know, it’s not that I necessarily disagree with the message, but this doesn’t move me to want to agree.’ And I don’t know that I could see anyone possibly being convinced by something like that. It maybe makes the person feel better who put up the sign.” (emilyg@citypaper.net, @emilygee)

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at first glanCe, the intersection of allegheny avenue and Richmond Street in Port Richmond isn’t strikingly different from other crossroads in neighboring kensington and bridesburg. but if you take a moment to focus on the signs on the storefronts, things seem a little more northeastern europe than northeast Philadelphia. Home to the most concentrated Polish population in the city, Port Richmond is the place to go to for a taste of kuchina polska. in just a few blocks, there are countless pierogis (some cheesesteak-filled, it’s still Philly after all), hundreds of hand-stuffed sausages and perhaps the best doughnuts in the city. and even if you don’t know your golabki (stuffed cabbage) from your golonka (stewed pork hock), the proprietors of these Port Richmond Polish spots are more than happy to walk you through the menus. They’re friendly, proud and ready to introduce you to the warm and entirely comforting world of Philadelphia-accented Polish fare. words by caroline russock photos by neal santos

10 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

Czerw’s Kielbasy 3370 TilTon ST. • 215-423-1701 • kielbaSyboyS.com

hilly has an underground network of encased-meat enthusiasts who are so passionate about their sausages, hot dogs and links that seeking out these foods has become something of a second career. For these folks, Czerw’s is Mecca. It’s really not surprising, given that you can smell Czerw’s for a block before you walk into the unassuming shop on a residential corner of Tilton Street. There will be a line when you enter, but that’s understood. Count yourself lucky. Around the holidays, the line snakes around the block. And once it’s your turn, there will be more than a few Czerws on hand to help you out. The family business has been in operation since 1938 when Jan Czerw opened the shop in a converted horse stable and built the smoke room that’s still being used. If you’re lucky, John Czerw will give you a tour of the production area where links of hand-stuffed, coarse-ground kielbasa are looped and ready to head into the very well-seasoned smoker. Their golabki is legendary and sells out early, so if they have it, grab it. The hand-folded pierogis are made by the thousands at a table in the back, and the kabanosa, snappy sticks of spicy-salty smoked pork, are the meat snacks of Slim Jim eaters’ dreams.

o c t o b e r 2 3 - o c t o b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 | C i t y Pa P e r . n e t

hours: Tue.-Fri., 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat., 7 a.m.-2 p.m. reCommended dishes: kielbasa, smoked bacon, golabaki, kabanosa

Donna’s bar 2732 E. AllEghEny AvE. • 215-426-7618

onna’s is the kind of neighborhood bar you didn’t know you needed until your first visit. Lunchtime on a Friday, the place was half full with regulars nursing bottles of Zywiec beer. The faint hum of Polish daytime TV on a flat screen and a thin veil of cigarette smoke gave the room a welcome, back-intime vibe. The chatty bartender was quick to pop open a few bottles of Zywiec and explain that the owner, Sophie (Donna’s daughter), makes everything on the menu, and it’s all very, very good. She talks up the pierogis (potato, cheese, sauerkraut, meat and cheesesteak) and tells us that sometimes, when the cabbage heads come in too small, Sophie doesn’t make the golabki because who wants an anemic stuffed cabbage? A regular, with shot-and-beer and cigarette in hand, informs us that Donna’s was recently renovated top to bottom (though we later find out that “recent” was actually about 15 years ago). The bartender’s not kidding about Sophie’s food. Half a dozen delicate meat pierogies arrive boiled, along with a soufflé cup of sour cream. Delicate as the best dumplings in Chinatown, the pierogies are filled with perfectly spiced meat that doesn’t really need that swipe of sour cream (although it doesn’t detract). The burrito-sized golabki comes in a pool of vibrant, sweet-tart tomato sauce. The tender cabbage leaves are filled with a fine ground mix of meats which are more like a rustic pate than crumbly meatloaf.

hours: Daily 8 a.m.-2 a.m. recommenDeD Dishes: Pierogis, stuffed cabbage

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krakus market

3150 Richmond St. • 215-426-4336 • kRakuSmaRket.com

ith a few miniature shopping carts by the door and faded photos of the motherland lining the windows, Krakus Market seems like something from a mid’90s film set in Krakow. The neon overhead lights illuminate aisles packed with Polish groceries. There are colorful cans of wiejska, a country-style sausage; pasztet, a pork pate; canned and cured fish, juices, teas and a mind-blowing candy selection. There’s a newsstand’s worth of Polish magazines and newspapers, ranging from socialist papers printed in red and black to psychedelic horoscope rags; along with shelves of Polish beauty supplies. Head to the back of the store for fridges stocked with grab-and-go flats of pierogies, plastic quarts of bigos, a hunters’ stew of kielbasa and cabbage; and zupa jarzynowa, a vegetable soup featuring beans, Brussels sprouts and kohlrabi. Near the checkout counter, there’s a small diner that serves hearty Polish plates served with some of the cheapest beers around.

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hours: tue.-thu., 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Fri., 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. recommended dishes: Juniper-smoked sausage, pork pate, bigos

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marian’s bakery

2615 E. AllEghEny AvE. • 215-634-4579

arian’s Bakery has been turning out a gorgeous array of Polish baked goods on Allegheny Avenue since 1959. While the pristine, sugary-sweet-smelling bakery is not worse for the wear, the aesthetics are Eisenhower-era. Owner Ray Dabitz radiates pride when talking about the bakery’s selection of Polish and American pastries. While the cinnamon rolls and cheesecakes are picture perfect, it’s the swirly, chubby babka and paczki that are the stars here. The babki are eggy-sweet, hefty, round loaves just waiting to be unwrapped and pulled apart for breakfast. The paczki, doughnuts the size of softballs, are rolled in sparkly sugar and filled with your choice of cream, custard or jelly. If you feel like being authentic, ask for the prune preserves. Occasionally, you can find chrusciki in the supermarket, but those have nothing on Marian’s lacy, fried, bow-tie cookies, especially after a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

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hours: Sun., 8 a.m.-1 p.m.; Tue.-Thu., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Closed Mon. recommended dishes: Paczki, babka, chrusciki

new wave cafe 2620 E. AllEghEny AvE. • 215-634-3224

he hand-painted sign at New Wave Cafe, boasting a restaurant, bar and disco, is decorated with sunny palm trees and a bobbing eighth note. The dining room feels more like a neighborhood meeting spot than a nightclub, but with what’s going on in the kitchen at New Wave Cafe, you don’t really need a DJ. On a sunny afternoon, an equally sunny bartender keeps patrons happy with icy Lech beers and little tumblers of schnapps and brandy, while gracefully running down the menu for newcomers. If you haven’t tried the pierogis, you probably should, and she’s happy to order you a sampler with two meat, two sauerkraut and two potato — all fried golden with a side of sour cream. (You can also get them steamed or boiled.) New Wave’s take on bigos marries chunks of kielbasa with bright pickled cabbage. Their kopytka, potato dumplings reminiscent of gnocchi, are bathed in a paprika-scented pork sauce. You can round it all out with a palate-cleansing scoop of beet salad that mixes the earthy-sweet fuchsia root with sour cream, dill and chunks of white onions.

hours: Mon.-Sun., 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (bar until 2 a.m.) recommended dishes: Kopytka with meat sauce, beet salad, bigos

c i t y pa p e r . n e t | o c t o b e r 2 3 - o c t o b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

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up next week » SOUTH STREET

« ToP: Styer, right, with fashion partner Kera Anderson.

Red, white and green

« BoTTom: A lineup of colorful runway looks.

All photos courtesy of Nicole Rae Styer

CP: So East Passyunk is Styer territory, huh? NRS: Yeah! And my sister-in-law, his wife, also has a bakery another block up, Belle Cakery. CP: Any grand plans for the future? NRS: I guess just keep on doing what I’m doing, and getting better every time. The K. Nicole thing is really taking off, so I really just have to balance both of them, which is kind of crazy. But everything in here I make by myself. Interns here and there, but I like working for myself.

Scenes from the St. Nicholas of Tolentine Festival held earlier this month on South Ninth Street, near Moore Street, in South Philly. The festival, which begins with a Mass and a procession of statues of the saints, has been held annually since 1987. The street fair featured live music, games for kids and plenty of traditional Italian cuisine. hillary petrozziello

CP: What’s the one thing you dislike about Philly fashion? NRS: Well, this isn’t just Philly, but wearing pajamas out. I don’t think people care as much as they used to. Now it’s UGGs and pajamas. CP: I’m so glad I didn’t wear my UGGs and PJs. That would have been awkward. —Jim Saksa

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Marty Watt returns The legendary performance poet unretires.

20 35

➤ wiry marTy waTT paved the way for postBeat performance poets in the early 1970s. Even if they never caught his legendary act, Gerard McKeown, Lydia Lunch and Laurie Anderson benefited from the work of the Philly-born improvisational poet/no wave instigator. “Before Marty, there was nothing like ‘performance poetry,’” says singersongwriter Kenn Kweder, whose stage act takes cues from Watt’s schtick. “He wasn’t light years ahead of his time, he was light decades ahead.” Watt didn’t read or recite. He hyperactively psycho-babbled his way through spontaneous ruminations on whatever struck his fancy, often with the accompaniment of elaborate stage sets and props. Later, Watt’s manic, panicky performances grew eerily musical with a backing band of then-Philly allstars — including Chris Larkin and Hank Ransome — mixing elements of noise and dub reggae. Watt artifacts are hard to come by. He recorded an album that was never released. You can find a Contact magazine featuring Watt alongside poet Ted Berrigan on Amazon, and some used bookstore might be able to scare up a copy of Marty Watt is not Matt Marello and vice verse, which featured his poems illustrated by the one-time Executive Slacks leader. Watts wound up in Almost You, a 1985 Griffin Dunne/Karen Young film (and its soundtrack). In the late ’80s, he retired quietly. Watt’s got a website (dotfur.com) that has to do with dogs, ducks and chickens — is that what he’s been up to for 30 years? “It’s all a mystery,” says Kweder. And now Watt has reappeared with the new “The Rabbit Seven.” “Mostly I wanted to do a show with my dog Maddie on stage with me,” writes Watt.“‘The Rabbit Seven’ is somewhat autobiographical and ‘a silent film poem,’ so, the first out-loud, spoken performance poet is now the ‘first’ silent poet.” And the mystery continues. (@adamorosi)

DESIGNING WOMEN: Campbell M. O’Hare and Krista Apple-Hodge stop being polite and start getting real in Rapture, Blister, Burn.

✚ “The Rabbit Seven,” Sun., Oct. 26, 4 p.m., $20, Community Education Center, 3500 Lancaster Ave., martywatt.brownpapertickets.com. 20 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

alexander iziliaev

curtaincall By David Anthony Fox

➤ The wilma TheaTer Feminism. Post Feminism. raunch Feminism. the complex, ongoing evolution of the women’s movement — and its effect on living, breathing females — is the subject of Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn. It’s a fun and sometimes exhilarating ride, packed with ideas. Ultimately, though, the script proves more conventional than it initially appears. catherine (played by Krista Apple-Hodge), a media studies professor and semi-celebrity (think camille Paglia), has returned to the small town where she grew up to attend to her ailing mother. Once there, she’s also reunited with a pair of graduate school friends, Gwen and Don, now married, with whom catherine — whose career is in high gear but whose personal life is unfulfilled — shares significant history. the substance of Gionfriddo’s play takes the form of intergenerational conversations by and about women. Included in the group are catherine and Gwen and a brash young student named Avery (charmingly played by campbell O’Hare, in the show’s best performance). Alice, catherine’s droll mother (the fine Nancy boykin), sometimes joins in. Ostensibly, the context is a seminar catherine is teaching. but

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it looks more like a book group, where the reading assignment is regularly sublimated to what we might generously call autobiographical narrative. A lot of this is amusing, and Gionfriddo certainly shows off her sharp intellect. but the politics are muddled and ambivalent. With iconic, problematic figures like Phyllis Schlafly, Gionfriddo seems to want to both skewer and embrace them. (For me, I wish the play had the kind of bite Paglia can bring to the topic — I’m often infuriated by her thinking, but always captivated by her brilliantly sharp prose.) Rapture marks the Wilma debut of Joanna Settle, a noted director in regional theatre, now also director of the Ira brind School of theater Arts at UArts. Settle announces herself here in high style, with a visually arresting, sleekly deconstructed production. but it’s less sophisticated than it looks, and a poor fit for the fundamentally realistic play. there’s little sense of conversation and nuance. Instead, the talented actors (also including Maia DeSanti and Harry Smith) strike poses, and announce their lines like so much dogma. A more straightforward approach would work better, but there

It’s a fun and exhilarating ride ... but it’s less sophisticated than it looks.

>>> continued on page 22

[ words that have knees to get down on ] theartschart

[ album reviews ]

➤ thom yorke | b+

➤ dads | b

Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes (self-released via bittorrent) was

Wordy but blunt, vicious but earnest, bitter but raging against cynicism, John bradley is a complicated dude. Singerdrummers always are. On the new I’ll Be the Tornado (6131 records), his Jersey pop-punk duo churns out unslick, adrenalized melodies and dares to you to sing along to their wildest rants. “chewing Ghosts” could be their theme song: “this is uplifting instrumental music for people who need a good talking to.” Dads play the church tonight. —patrick rapa

Your culture crash course

immediately tagged with the “unusual release” hype and the “difficult-listen” label, but it’s not quite as strange as all that. the pulsing low end is an invitation, as is surprisingly, that alienated voice in the ether. A meandering second act weighs the record down, but I count three duds, three that make up for those and two worth your time (“the Mother Lode,” “Nose Grows Some”). —dotun akintoye

➤ thurston moore | b though some may dismiss The Best Day (Matador) as an easygoing, straight-

➤ hurry | b the riffs and melodies (and accompanying sentiment) of Everything/Nothing (Hot Green) could’ve opened some ’90s teen movie, the soundtrack to carfuls of giggling Socal kids pulling into the high school parking lot. Hurry knows how to stir up your nostalgia with power pop and deep feelings, making this a warm and fun record. the release show — Friday at the church — is prob a good place for a make-out sesh. —Marc Snitzer

flickpick

ahead rock record from an artist better known for challenging both listeners (and common pop sense) with his noisy explorations, don’t forget: Sonic Youth could be catchy as hell when they wanted to. Indeed this record recalls some of Moore’s old band’s most clearminded moments. “Grace Lake” and “Speak to the Wild” are folky and particularly lovely. It’s OK if you like them right away. Moore’s —patrick rapa show at boot & Saddle on Saturday is sold out.

[ movie review ]

Dear White PeoPle [ b+ ] the rare college comedy of the non-idiotic variety, writer/director Justin

Simien’s debut is built around a simple sociopolitical suggestion: People shouldn’t be defined by their views. Dear White People isn’t out to revamp racial discourse — it’s content pointing out how ineffectual “real talk” can be when nobody’s really listening. Inspired by his own studies at california’s chapman University, Simien keys in on a quartet of African-American undergrads at fictional Winchester, a snooty school run on old money and leftist self-satisfaction. textbook militant Sam (tessa thompson) organizes protests and shuns the hypocrisy of other black students who aren’t quite as conscious. Golden boy troy (brandon P. bell), head of the historically black residence hall is an expert schmoozer, always concerned with pleasing his dean of students daddy (Dennis Haysbert). Introverted writer Lionel (tyler James Williams) struggles to find a voice while tolerating clueless white girls playing with his Afro. Hopeful tV star coco (teyonah Parris) makes every effort to conceal her humble upbringing. the movie could easily have played out with these four dawdling in their corners, but Simien, with preternatural dexterity, manages to showcase how each is more than the sum of their external explorations. the offensive on-campus party that brings them together tests their tolerance for bullshit, but they don’t just come out on the other side as enlightened souls. Instead, they’re each placed in difficult positions complicated by questions of identity and expectation. Simien has a skill for capturing the tone of people so scared of speaking out of turn that they end up saying things they don’t believe. Dear White People doesn’t offer solutions, but it should spark better conversations. —Drew Lazor

Four kids at a snooty school.

HIGHER LEARNING: Justin Simien’s debut film is built around the sociological suggestion that people shouldn’t be defined by their views.

[ sketch comedy ] ➤ Bent But not Broken

It’s a debate we’ll encourage you to fight about on the Internet if you hate yourself: What’s “OK” in comedy? Bent But Not Broken explores “uncharted territory” in sketch — disability — and swears “it’s OK to laugh.” The brainchild of Shannon DeVido, a comedian and actress who uses a wheelchair, one sketch will point out how having more arms makes you a better Shakespeare performer, while another has the cast playing the Burger King Kids Club gang (remember them?). It seeks to open up comedy to a more diverse population. And that’s OK. Thu.-Fri., Oct. 23-24, 9 p.m., $10-$12, Philly Improv Theater at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., second floor, phillyimprovtheater.com/events. [ lit ] ➤ 215 Festival

The 13-year-old 215 Fest presents the “all South Street” edition this year. Last year, the fest took place in a different ’hood each day, but now it plants its feet among the likes of Jim’s Steaks (hosting readings from J. Robert Lennon, Wintfred Huskey and Erik Bader) and Tattooed Mom (hosting readings from the Gigantic Sequins and Bedfellows lit journals).The Philly Poet laureates Soledad Alfaro-Allah and Frank Sherlock kick off the fest, and there’s so much more packed into the weekend, you must check it all out on your own. It’ll develop your character. Thu.-Sun., Oct. 23-26, Free, various locations, 215festival.org. [ visual art ] ➤ the Fugue

The sea — do you think of it as a deathtrap of undiscovered hellish creatures and potential tsunamis? Or like a slippery blue blanket hugging earth and gently lapping on our shores? Artist Lauren Boilini’s somewhere in the middle — she’s a long-distance ocean swimmer creating a wall-to-floor painting called The Fugue that puts you right inside the “terrifying, luxurious and life-affirming elements of the sea.” Ignore thoughts of that fish with the giant jaws and flashlight antennae on its head. Thu.-Fri., Oct. 23-24, by appointment, and Sat. -Sun., Oct. 25-26, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Free, Metropolitan Gallery 250, 250 S. 18th St., 215-545-6655, facebook.com/MetropolitanGallery250. —Mikala Jamison, @notjameson

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The Mechanical Theater Presents The Mechanical Theater Presents Masque of Poe

[ arts & entertainment ]

✚ Curtain Call <<< continued from page 20

A celebration of Edgar Allan Poe's Poems and Stories

Solo Performances of Edgar Allan Poe’s Poems and Stories

selfie love: laura Giknis and Davy Raphaely in Bad Jews. mark garvin

7:00 pm Tickets: $25 Oct. 23-25 Limited Seating Oct. 30-Nov 1 (252) 258-0454 The Powel House http://bit.ly/IqqAQEO 244 South 3rd Street

22 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

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are weaknesses in Rapture that no director can resolve. Put it this way — for all the knowing badinage about feminist theory, Internet porn and rousseau, by Act 2, the play has turned into Freaky Friday. No, make that Freaky Nancy Friday (as in the feminist author). Through Nov. 8, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824, wilmatheater.org.

➤ walnut street theatre In planning this fall’s schedule of theater reviews, I wondered about covering Bad Jews. I had seen Joshua Harmon’s brilliant, lacerating play last year at New York’s roundabout theatre, where I fell in love. On the other hand, that production was so sensational I worried it had set an impossibly high standard. In the end, as you see, I chose to review. How could I not? — I practically lived this story. Well, OK — not entirely. I’m a middle-class Los Angeleno, not an Upper West Side kid. but relationship-wrecking arguments among Jewish friends and family about faith and assimilation are something I remember with stomach-churning clarity. In Bad Jews, this timeless tension is played out as a face-off between two cousins at the beginning of their adult lives. Daphna identifies unequivocally as Jewish, in terms of culture and (mostly) religious practice. Her sometimes-abrasive manner is a total turnoff to Liam, who is more privileged and more assimilated. Liam is currently dating Melody, a shiksa goddess whom Daphna treats with scorn — and she’s even more contemptuous of Liam. to Daphna, Liam is selectively Jewish, using it only when it advances his interests. Strangely, Liam would say pretty much the same thing about Daphna. Let the games begin — in this case, a tug-of-war over the gold chai symbol necklace that belonged to their late grandfather (both Daphna and Liam want it).

Harmon’s script is hilarious and coruscating, often at the same time. to his great credit, he recognizes that nothing is clear-cut about the subject or his complicated characters. (Melody and another cousin, Jonah, could be seen as innocent bystanders to the mayhem, but they’re quirky, too.) I’d also say that while Bad Jews will have obvious, particular resonance for a specific audience, it makes a mournful, broader point — that family connections and identity wear away, generation by generation. At the Walnut Independence Studio, director David Stradley emphasizes the comedy. the play feels jokier than I remember, and while the four actors — Greg Fallick (Jonah), Laura Giknis (Melody), Davy raphaely (Liam) and Sofie Yavorsky (Daphna) — all score

Timeless tension is played out as a face-off between two cousins. points, the characters emerge more as types than the flawed, deeply human people I remember at roundabout. Still, the basic points come across, and Bad Jews is a show to see. One last word — while I don’t know which sides anyone will take, I am sure Bad Jews will offend some viewers with its deliberately crude language, and even more through its worldview. And those are only two of the great things about it. Through Nov. 30, $36.25, Independence Studio on 3, Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., 215-574-3550, walnutstreettheatre.org. (d_fox@citypaper.net)

c i t y pa p e r . n e t | O c t O e b r 2 3 - O c t O b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Presents our 43rd Annual Ethnic Festival

Enjoy the Sights, Sounds & Flavors of Eastern Europe

Homemade Ethnic Foods Christmas Shopping Tours of our Historic Church Free Admission and Parking

SatuRday, NOv. 8, 2014 from 12 Noon to 5:00 PM

SuNday, NOv. 10, 2014 from 12 Noon to 4:00 PM

817 North 7th Street Philadelphia, Pa 19123 215-209-9393

24 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

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VISION COMES FROM WITHIN

“A POWERFUL MOVIE ABOUT FOOTBALL AND PERSEVERANCE. THE WHOLE FAMILY WILL ENJOY!” -TONY DUNGY, SUPER BOWL WINNING COACH & ALL PRO DAD NATIONAL SPOKESMAN

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FOR THE THEATER NEAR YOU!

trained on the media sensation brewing in small-town Missouri. In the movie’s first section, Amy is a present absence: a smear of blood not quite erased from a kitchen floor; a voice from a diary’s half-charred pages. Later — well, that would be telling. Suffice it to say that Pike excels in a part that’s all but impossible to bring to life, playing a character that’s been constructed by others since her parents turned her into the star of a series of children’s books. “Amazing Amy” quickly outpaced the real McCoy, but the former’s success taught the real-life Amy how to hone in on the gap between who you are and who people want you to be. That divide, and the way we use lies and half-truths to build a rickety bridge across it, is at the heart of Gone Girl, and a slick and sickly heart it is. Where Flynn’s novel was blackly cynical, Fincher’s movie is more wryly bemused — a shift, though not an improvement. Marriages are bound by aspiration: We agree to play our better selves, at least until we lose the stamina to keep it up. It’s powerful stuff, but it’s also thin, and Fincher doesn’t do much more than slap on a coat of varnish. —SA (Wide release)

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The Judge | D Robert Downey Jr. plays a slick big-city lawyer who returns to his small Indiana hometown for the first time in 25 years in The Judge, and it feels like he brought the film back in time with him. Part Grisham-lite courtroom drama, part dysfunctional family treacle, David Dobkin’s film is an early-’90s throwback told with all the nuance and subtlety you’d expect from the director of Fred Claus and Shanghai Knights. Back home for his mother’s funeral, Downey is forced to reconnect with his estranged father (Robert Duvall), a local judge who’s arrested for a hit-and-run. Downey falls back on his smarmy but passionate shtick, Duvall does his patented blend of folksy and stern, and the two play tug-of-war with the scenery in their teeth. Dobkin is almost audacious in his bad decisions, never trying for an honest moment when a manipulative cliché will do. When things threaten to get dark, he brings in a cute little girl; when he needs to amp up the domestic drama, he slathers it in a gratuitous tornado. And when the material isn’t shameless, it’s shameful, as when using the family’s mentally handicapped youngest brother for comic relief.

There’s a single scene, when father and son are forced to confront the old man’s failing body, when something resembling real emotion manages to creep in, but it disappears again behind a cloud of awkward dialogue and Bon Iver songs by the time both plots come to a head in the courtroom. —Shaun Brady (Wide release)

Kill The Messenger | C A period thriller outlining the triumph, and then swift smearing, of controversial journalist Gary Webb, Kill the Messenger is blessed with a rich starting point and stocked with enough historical cojones and front-end intrigue to entice even the most casual conspiracy theorist. But as much as Michael Cuesta wants to sell his film as the definitive defense of Webb’s work, he’s saddled by the same shortcomings as his subject, struggling to find a balance between the cinematic and the academic. Jeremy Renner has always come off a little too poised to play the haggard, haunted roles he pulls so often, but he seems to understand Webb, a Pulitzer-winning reporter for the San Jose Mercury News who sat back and watched as his greatest professional accomplishment destroyed his career. In 1996, Webb’s paper published “Dark Alliance,” an incendiary

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investigative account linking CIA money with the Nicaraguan contra forces responsible for introducing crack cocaine to inner-city America. The impact of the story, aided by the Internet in its infancy, won Webb immense praise, then instant blowback, as government suits distanced themselves and jealous competitors locked in on discrediting the writer’s find-

ings. Cuesta, adapting Nick Schou’s biography of the same name, starts by digging into Webb’s hardscrabble process, beginning with a tip from the wife of a jammed-up drug lord that sends him scurrying between California and Central America sewing up sources. Maintaining an early pace that wouldn’t be out of place in one of Renner’s Bourne installments keeps initial interest high, but the running is slowed by a logical foe — the fact that reporting, especially the writing part,

[ movie shorts ]

is workmanly at best and monastic at worst, and glamorizing everything around it doesn’t automatically make it friendlier to shoot.In a more abstract sense, Kill the Messenger fails to highlight Webb’s importance to the news profession because it tries too hard to prove he was faultless. Webb, who died under suspicious circumstances in 2004, has been both praised as a journalistic genius and vilified as a gunner with a deadly agenda. Former colleagues insist that neither is accurate, but Cuesta is too occupied with righteous vindication to breathe deep and buy that. —DL (Ritz Five)

The sKeleTon Twins | C Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig spent seven seasons together on SNL, so it’s not surprising they can pull off sibling camaraderie. As twins Milo and Maggie, they alternately delight and enrage each other in the way only family can — with a life’s history of inside jokes and old wounds. Both are introduced in the midst of failed suicide attempts, which sets the mood for Craig Johnson’s morose dramedy, reuniting the estranged twins to rehash

a laundry list of midlife dysfunctions that includes parental neglect, adultery and statutory rape. Johnson and the cast, including an uncharacteristically bubbly Luke Wilson as Maggie’s clueless nice-guy husband, leaven the downer material with humor, but like the stars’ old show, it too often takes aim at the right targets with weak ammunition. Johnson has no real insight into any of these issues, so he just shrugs them off with one argument and reconciliation after another, one of which ends in a lip-sync performance of Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” that’s virtually begging to go viral. the sarcastic quips are not only a defense mechanism for the characters, but also for the film itself, which determinedly keeps all of these neuroses at an indie-cool arm’s length and makes peripheral characters disappear as soon as their storylines get interesting. —SB (Ritz Five)

✚ RepeRtoRy film AcAdemy of NAtuRAl ScieNceS 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 215-299-1000, ansp.org. Mega-Bad Movie night: The Lost World

(1960, U.S., 97 min.): the MSt3K-like dissection of bad science in movies continues on a dinosaur island in the Amazon. Thu., Oct. 23, 5:30 p.m., $15-$25.

[ movie shorts ]

free. Closed Curtain (2013, Iran, 106 min.): A screenwriter goes into hiding with his dog after the regime declares dogs unpure. then things get weirder. Tue., Oct. 28, 5:30 p.m., free. Before Snowfall (2013, Iraq, 96 min.): When his sister runs away from her own wedding, Siyar is tasked with tracking her down. A strange road trip ensues. Tue., Oct. 28, 8 p.m., free.

philAmocA 531 N. 12th St., 267-519-9651, philamoca.org. Seventh annual druid Underground Film Festival:

All sorts of weird-assed shorts like “Smerdly’s Seahorse” and “Fuck bike #001,” hosted by billy burgess. Thu., Oct. 23, 8 p.m., $5. The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013, belgium, 102 min.): We can’t say “erotic thriller” without giggling, but this one’s a Philly premiere. Fri., Oct. 24, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $10. Sinema after hours halloween edition: One of these horror shorts is called “Irradiated Satan rocks the World,” which … sold. Sun., Oct. 26, 8 p.m., $10-$15. Fateful Findings (2014, U.S., 100 min.): Know what The Room is? this is the next The Room. Tue., Oct. 28, 8 p.m., $10.

Ritz At the BouRSe dilwoRth pARk 15th and Market sts., 215-440-5500, ccdparks.org/events. The Sixth Sense (1999, U.S., 107 min.): You probably know the twist ending already, but it’s still super fun to play spot-the-Philly-location. Tue., Oct. 28, dusk, free.

iNteRNAtioNAl houSe 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org. Redes (The Wave) (1936, Mexico, 65 min.): Mexican fishermen organize in “the most beautiful strike ever filmed,” screened in tandem with the Art Museum’s big Paul Strand exhibit. Fri., Oct. 24, 7 p.m., $9. exhumed Films 24-hour horrorthon, part Viii: the one and only. If you don’t already have your tickets, good luck finding some. 24 hours begins Sat., Oct. 25 at noon, $40. Write Down, I Am an Arab (2013, Palestine, 73 min.): (these next three are part of the New Middle east cinema series.) First, the story of Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian national poet. Mon., Oct. 27, 7 p.m.,

400 Ranstead St., 215-440-1181, landmarktheatres.com. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, U.S., 100 min.): With live shadow cast by transylvanian Nipple Productions. Fri., Oct. 24, midnight, $10.

tRocAdeRo 1023 Arch St., 215-922-6888, thetroc. com. Hocus Pocus (1993, U.S., 96 min.) and Snowpiercer (2013, South Korea/U.S./czech republic/ France, 126 min.): took us a while to figure out why these two are on a double feature together. the answer? Delicious, delicious babies. Mon., Oct. 27, 7:30 p.m., $3, 21+.

citypaper.net/events

c i t y pa p e r . n e t | O c t O b e r 2 3 - O c t O b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

events listings@citypaper.net | oCtober 23 - oCtober 29

[ she’s the only survivor of a fire in heaven ]

FLOETRY IN MOTION: Marsha Ambrosius plays the TLA tonight.

Events is our selective guide to what’s going on in the city this week. For comprehensive event listings, visit citypaper.net/events. iF yoU Want to be liSted: Submit information by email (listings@ citypaper.net) or enter it yourself at citypaper.net/submit-event with the following details: date, time, address of venue, telephone number and admission price. Incomplete submissions will not be considered, and listings information will not be accepted over the phone.

Music is a contemplative fivepiece suite exploring the cycle of life from birth to death with a quartet that includes former Philadelphian guitarist Matt Davis. Kuhns’ quiet sensitivity and ear for a poignant melody make for an introspective, self-searching take on human existence. —Shaun Brady

[ soul/pop ]

10.23 thursday [ jazz ]

Ryan Kuhns $5 | Thu., Oct. 23, 8 p.m., Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St., 215-717-6030, uarts.edu. bassist ryan Kuhns is in his third year as a faculty member at UArts, but his debut finds him performing at another institution altogether. Circle: Live at Manhattan School of 28 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

MaRsha aMbRosius $42 | Thu., Oct. 23, 8 p.m., with Mprynt and Brianna Cash, TLA, 334 South St., 800-745-3000, lnphilly.com. Steamy, british-born soul chanteuse Ambrosius no longer lives in the Philly area like she did in her Floetry days, but that doesn’t mean she’s lost her local love. Patti Labelle usually pops up on stage whenever Ambrosius visits our fair town. touring behind her most daringly sensual album, Friends & Lovers (rcA), expect

Ambrosius to play hits she’s penned for others (like Michael Jackson’s “butterflies”) as well as new smashes like “run.” —A.D. Amorosi

and maniacal Miss Havisham. based on the Arden’s previous success with classic literary adaptations, we have great expectations for this production. —Alyssa Mallgrave

[ theater ]

GReat expectations $15-$48 | Oct. 23-Dec. 14. Arden Theatre Company. 40 N. Second St., 215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org. After a strong start to its 2014-15 season with La Bête, the Arden theater company is tackling charles Dickens’ complicated coming-of-age classic, Great Expectations. barrymorewinning Arden veteran Matthew Decker directs Gale childs Daly’s adaptation of this tome, which ambitiously condenses more than 40 roles to just six actors. Josh carpenter stars as Pip, whose life is profoundly impacted by three encounters: first with an escaped convict, then with a cold and cynical peer and finally with the heartbroken

O c t O b e r 2 3 - O c t O b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 | C i t y Pa P e r . n e t

[ americana/folk ]

the stRay biRds $12 | Thu., Oct. 23, 8 p.m. with Jordie Lane, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com. What a jump for the Stray birds, from Lancaster county kids playing in the shadow of their parents’ established groups, to official showcasing at this year’s Americana Music conference — all in about two years. the acoustic trio — guitars, bass, fiddle — tours almost non-stop and somehow still managed to make a record, the new Best Medicine (Yep roc). the title song is one you feel you know by heart, the first time you hear it: “If

the body is a temple, the soul is a bell/ And that’s why music, is the best medicine I sell.” —Mary Armstrong

[ theater ]

haMlet $15-$34 | Through Nov. 23, Hedgerow Theatre, 64 Rose Valley Rd., Rose Valley, Pa., 610-5654211, hedgerowtheatre.org. Director Dan Hodge and actor Jared reed fearlessly fiddle with Shakespeare at Hedgerow theatre. Last fall’s Macbeth was bloody good fun, and now they collaborate on a 120-minute version of Hamlet, featuring only 10 actors. reed plays the title role, and his Lady Macbeth, Jennifer Summerfield, plays his bFF Horatio — one of many entertaining surprises they’re conjuring. —Mark Cofta

[ lecture ]

Ron Johnson Free | Thu., Oct. 23, 6 p.m., Temple

Contemporary, 2001 N. 13th St., 215-777-9138, tyler.temple.edu. You may or may not know who ron Johnson is, but you are definitely familiar with his work (especially if you were one of the thousands of people that lined up to get an iPhone 6 last month). A designer and businessman, Johnson’s most noticeable contribution to society so far is the Apple Store and its Genius bar. He’ll be speaking at temple about this and other work, and how he’s shaped the contemporary retail experience over the course of his career. —Alyssa Mallgrave

[ rock/pop ]

secRet chiefs 3 $15 | Thu., Oct. 23, 8 p.m., with Atomic Ape, Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., 877-435-9849, bootandsaddlephilly.com. After almost 20 years and numerous incarnations, this

O L i v i A O yA M A

Mr. Bungle offshoot is still going strong, busting genres and rocking monks’ robes. Their cinematic instrumentals — which have employed sitar, harp, heavy metal guitar and power drill — alternately soothe and startle. Fellow eclectics and Mimicry Records labelmates Atomic Ape will have fresh material to perform off their new album, Swarm. —Sam Fox

10.24 friday

[ dance/pop ]

Asteroids GAlAxy tour $15 | Fri., Oct. 24, 9 p.m.,

with Leisure Cruise, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org. One can imagine a battle for the soul of this wildly entertaining Danish dance pop outfit. On one side, there’s Heineken and Katy Perry, both of whom gave Asteroids Galaxy Tour a leg up on a global scale. And then there’s rest of us, who suspect all these horns and synths and

gorgeous melodies add up to something smarter and more classic than all that. The hot and slick new Bring Us Together (Hot Bus) conjures up cosmopolitan images of Motown and Manhattans on Mars, but doesn’t settle the matter. —Patrick Rapa

[ events ]

[ theater ]

AskinG For it $12.50-$25 | Oct. 24-Nov. 16, Simpatico Theatre Project at the Skybox at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-423-0254, simpaticotheatre.org. Writer-performer Adrienne Truscott’s award-winning show is subtitled “A One-Lady Rape About Comedy,” which hints at her unusual approach to a serious issue. Dressed from the waist up and ankle down, she explores American rape culture, exposing the oblique language of politics and pop music to open eyes and minds. —Mark Cofta

10.25 saturday [ dance ]

dAnse4niA $20-$25 | Sat., Oct. 25, 2 and 7

c i t y pa p e r . n e t | O C T O B e R 2 3 - O C T O B e R 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

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The multicultural Danse4Nia company presents contemporary dance designed to uplift, enlighten and empower the human spirit. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aLive @5 program celebrates five years of next-generation dancers and spoken word artists sharing their hearts and souls to provoke and raise our collective social consciousness. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dance with a purpose thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll move you inside and out. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Deni Kasrel

[ outdoors ]

Head of tHe ScHuylkill Regatta Free | Sat.-Sun., Oct. 25-26, Boathouse Row, 7 Kelly Drive, hosr.org. The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta should keep all fans of rowing satisfied until the Dad Vail Regatta in May. Rowers from all over the world are expected to attend, in addition to tens of thousands of spectators. Be sure to arrive early to claim your spot. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Nia Prater

[ events ]

10.26 sunday

askpapa By Ernest Hemingway

[ rock/pop ]

Scott BRadlee and PoStmodeRn JukeBox $33 | Sun., Oct. 26, 8 p.m., TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-2599, lnphilly.com. With help from some skilled backing musicians and singers, pianist Scott Bradlee has made a career out of redoing todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hits in yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s styles. Their 1950s doo-wop version of Miley Cyrusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;We Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Stopâ&#x20AC;? has more than 10 million views on YouTube. Be prepared to sing along and rediscover some (recent) old favorites. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Nia Prater

[ classical/new music ]

netwoRk foR new muSic $25 | Sun., Oct. 26, 4 p.m., Settlement Music School, 416 Queen St., networkfornewmusic.org. What better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Network for New Music than commissioning 30 composers?

Enter to win tickets at CITYPAPER.NET/WIN

e Va N M . l O p e z

p.m., Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine St., 267-987-5581, danse4nia.org.

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â&#x17E;¤ We Must entertain Ourselves

Dear Papa: I hired a contractor to fix some problems in my house. He took my deposit and despite several serious talks over the last few months, continues to work at a snailâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pace. What should I do? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Tooled in Taney Dear Tooled: Another stern word will not do the work for you. Every time their tools are silent, you must walk into their workspace and sweep their supplies to the floor without speaking. Look each one in the eye as if to say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How dare you,â&#x20AC;? so they feel the shame of their idleness. Or, you can realize that nothing can speed up the work of craftsmen, and even a grand response will only make them laugh at you behind your back. Take some time to hire a boat. Go fishing for a few months. When you return and the work is not done, you can hire a new contractor. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Papa Dear Papa: During the two years Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked at the same office, I have experienced roughly seven intense and distracting crushes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; all of which proved to be dead ends. Dating is not unheard of among my co-workers, so I suspect my heart has chosen unwisely. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time; how should I put the brakes on work crushes? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Crushed in Chesterbrook Dear Crushed: There are no such things as crushes. There is love, there is the cold void where love once was, and there is how we feel when we are bored and we must entertain ourselves. I suspect that you are not falling in love with seven people, and you are too weighed with feeling to be dead inside. Find something besides another corporate cog for amusement. Hire a boat and go fishing. Spend a few nights in a cabin. Take up crochet, or drinking. Or watch a TV show. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a fan of Parks and Recreation. It makes me laugh. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Papa (askpapa@citypaper.net)

Hemingway communicates with writer Alli Katz via Ouija board. Send her your questions for him.

Celebr ating Ameri can Craft Beer and Classi c Arcad e Games

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Attend an advance screening for a special Girls Night Out! TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28

TO ENTER TO WIN, VISIT THE CONTEST PAGE AT WWW.CITYPAPER.NET/WIN *This film is Rated R for language, some sexual material and teen partying. Must be 17 or older to enter. No recording of any kind. No purchase necessary. Passes do not guarantee entry to screening. Theater is overbooked to insure a full theater.

IN THEATERS NOVEMBER 7 laggies-movie.com | @LaggiesTheMovie | Facebook.com/LaggiesTheMovie | #Laggies

f&d

foodanddrink

feedingfrenzy By Caroline russock 22

MIcHAeL GreGer

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➤ Now SeatiNg

2nd Story Brewing | Taking over the former Triumph Brewing Company in Old City, this four-way collaboration brewpub brings together the skills of a working farmer, a chef, a restaurateur and an IT guy for a massive two floor, 200 seater. Produce and hops are coming from Tilted Barn Farm in Pottstown and the draft lineup will showcase four house brews (an English mild, American pale ale, Vienna lager and an IPA) and five rotating drafts, all brewed on site. Daily, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. 117 Chestnut St., 267314-5570, 2ndstorybrewing.com.

ARMS RACE: Bardot’s citrus-braised octopus is a serious contender. hillary petrOzziellO

Little Spoon Cafe | With the opening of Little Spoon Cafe, South Street West is getting a cozy corner coffee shop along with pastries and baked goods from Tartes in Old City and Wild Flour Bakery. Upping its menu with a full kitchen, Little Spoon plans to serve breakfast, lunch, brunch and afternoon snacks six days a week. Breakfast offerings include cheddar-chive pancakes and a kale-and-acorn-squash vegan hash with tempeh bacon. Come lunchtime there’s a banh mi with pork belly, duck confit salad topped with a poached egg and rotating Little Spoon grilled-cheese specials. Coffee’s coming by way of Philly Fair Trade Roasters and milk is sourced from Green Meadow Farms. Tue.-Thu., 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri., 7 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun., 8 a.m.-5 p.m. 1500 South St., 267-587-6559, littlespooncafe.com. Ardé Osteria & Pizzeria | Beloved Neapolitan specialist Pizzeria DiMeo’s is bringing pies and more to Wayne. The newly opened BYO is firing up pies topped with buffalo mozzarella and topping combos like butternut squash, burrata and ’nduja along with a selection of antipasti, pastas, secondi and contorni. There’s also a mozzarella bar where you pair your cheese with toppings like pickled eggplant, white anchovies or fig spread and Marcona almonds. Sun.-Wed., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Thu.-Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. 133 North Wayne Ave., Wayne, Pa., 484-5806786, ardewayne.com.

[ review ]

Regally Blonde Boudoir vibes and new wave French fare at Bardot. By Adam Erace BardOt | 44 Poplar St., 267-639-4761, bardotcafe.com. Mon.-Fri., 4:30 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sat.-Sun., 11 a.m-1 a.m. Small plates, $5-$15; large plates, $18-$21; dessert, $7.

here are three different colored cauliflowers in the crock of plush “saffron dumpling gratin” at bardot. there’s white: transformed with garlic and shallot, melted leeks and Pernod into a béchamel-like sauce that blankets the dumplings — actually pebbly little spaetzel, scented with the rare crocus stigmas and turmeric — like a cashmere robe. And purple: roasted crispy, breaking up the soft, comforting textures. Finally green: shaved raw, adding a mustardy edge alongside pine nuts and Parm. White, purple and green, and they all look gray. Kasbah lanterns on drapey chains, an Adam Wallacavage octopus-tentacle chandelier and glass pendants shaped like pineapples and beehives form a solar system inside bardot’s edge-of-NoLibs digs. but it glows so low at this sex kitten of a bistro (named for the original blonde bombshell, brigitte) that dinner is a study in sepia and charcoal, buckwheat and black. the diners aiming

their iPhones at the speck kissed with pear jam or chicken liver mousse on house-baked brioche aren’t Instagramming. they’re pulling up Flashlight. It’s all part of the vibe at bardot, where crimson drapes part to reveal alcoves of come-hither sofas and the crimson wallpaper is so lavishly flocked it appears 3-D. It took longtime POPe owner Dennis Hewlett more than a year to turn the former Wine-O into the sultry taproom that stands before us today, a place where brilliance, on occasion, flashes in the shadows. Fresh off a short turn at Petruce, rhett Vellner is the source of said brilliance. the chef is better known for his time at resurrection Ale House, but you won’t find fried chicken here. At bardot, for the first time, Vellner hasn’t inherited someone else’s menu. “I’ve had my touch on the food here from the start,” he says. “It’s like my baby.” A multilingual baby at that. Stacked with cassoulet and Nicoise sandwiches, the neighborhood-friendly menu shares a native tongue with the restaurant’s namesake, but Vellner circles the Mediterranean as well. rubbed on lamb neck that’s braised and pulled, a merguez spice mix of cinnamon, cumin, coriander and company evoke North Africa in the heady eggs en cocotte, itself a French-speaking version of shakshuka. Harissa turns up, too, its Moroccan heat cooled by brown butter and mayo into a spread