Philadelphia City Paper, February 12th, 2015

Opens Feb 16

The pride of Japan.

Only in Philadelphia.

7 Things You Must Know Before Putting Your Home Up for Sale

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Save 25% on Copeland bedroom furniture ordered until 3.1.15

Philadelphia - A new report has just been released which reveals 7 costly mistakes that most homeowners make when selling their home, and a 9 Step System that can help you sell your home fast and for the most amount of money.

This industry report shows clearly how the traditional ways of selling homes have become increasingly less and less effective in today's market. The fact of the matter is that fully three quarters of homesellers don't get what they want for their homes and become disillusioned and - worse - financially disadvantaged when they put their homes on the market.

As this report uncovers, most homesellers make 7 deadly mistakes that cost them literally thousands of

dollars. The good news is that each and every one of these mistakes is entirely preventable. In answer to this issue, industry insiders have prepared a free special report entitled "The 9 Step System to Get Your Home Sold Fast and For Top Dollar".

To order a FREE Special Report, visit http://www.phillysbesthomes.com/ seller_mistakes.asp or to hear a brief recorded message about how to order your FREE copy of this report call toll-free 1-800-560-2075 and enter 4000. You can call any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Get your free special report NOW to find out how you can get the most money for your home.

This report is courtesy of Larry Levin, Coldwell Banker Preferred. Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract. Copyright Š 2014

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cpstaff We made this

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 “Dev 79� 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, Julie Zeglen Editorial Interns Lauren Haber, Ryan Hughes, Owen Lyman-Schmidt, Kelan Lyons, Sam Yeoman Production Director Michael Polimeno Senior Designer Brenna Adams Designer & Social Media Director Jenni Betz Contributing Photographers Jessica Kourkounis, Charles Mostoller, Hillary Petrozziello, Maria Pouchnikova, Neal Santos, Mark Stehle Contributing Illustrators Ryan Casey, Don Haring Jr., Joel Kimmel, Cameron K. Lewis, Thomas Pitilli, Matthew Smith 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 Advertising Sales Jennifer Fisher, 215-717-2681.

Editor Emeritus Bruce Schimmel 22

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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 paper’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 Š 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.

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F e b r u a r y 1 2 - F e b r u a r y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 | C i t y Pa P e r . n e t

contents Cover story, see p. 8

Naked City ...................................................................................4 A&E ...............................................................................................14 22

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Sex .............................................................................................. 24 Cover illustration by ChristoPher fernandez design by brenna adams

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CP’s Quality-o-Life-o-Meter

[ - 2]

A Germantown artist is on trial for making and detonating homemade “weapons of mass destruction,” including the one that blew off part of his right hand. “Who’s got one thumb and has trouble guesstimating fuse lengths?”

[ + 1] A monument proposed for a South Jersey park will pay tribute to an 1800s workhorse named Diligence, said to be the sire of 400 offspring. The statue depicts a horse sitting on a bag of ice and smoking a cigarette with an expression on its face like “OMG, my balls feel like empty Capri Sun pouches.”

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[ - 1]

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C onvention Center CEO John McNichol claims members of the Carpenters Union tampered with the auto show by pamph­ leting and disconnecting wires under the hoods of display cars. And by doing so, they accidentally crossed the picket line of Saboteurs Local 114.

SECOND CHANCE: Alphonso Griffin was granted a new trial after questions were raised about a cop who testified against him.

Maria PouChnikova

[ + 1] West Philly underground rock venue

Golden Tea House announces it will stop hosting shows following a three­year­run.

And one day, years from now, anthropolo­ gists will brush away the layers of dust and glass and discover the outlines of hundreds of pristine skate shoes branded into the linoleum by the chemical com­ mingling of virgin sweat and inexpensive beer, and they will wonder what wild ritu­ als took place on this site all those years ago. Then they will Bing it and find out right away. Also everybody in the future uses Bing which, whatever.

[0]

New Jersey considers adopting an electro­ nic driver’s license system in which drivers can display their licenses on their phones instead of with a physical card. Let’s see if you identity thieves can outwit this state­ of­the­art, low­res jpeg technology.

[ - 2]

A new study by the William Penn Foun­ dation says that some weaker Philly arts organizations should quit so the scene as a whole can thrive. “In conclusion: We hereby resign because Pew does the same stuff we do, only better.”

This week’s total: -3 | The year so far: +9 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

[ drug war ]

TainTed TesTimony A deaf man’s drug conviction is overturned amid corruption prosecution. By Daniel Denvir

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ne indication that alphonso Griffin, 28, may have been wrongfully convicted of selling drugs is that he is deaf.

It’s not that a deaf person couldn’t sell drugs. It’s that Philadelphia Police Officer Stephen Dmytryk testified he had twice observed a confidential informant “engaged in conversation” with Griffin while allegedly purchasing heroin and marijuana.

“We know this to be impossible because Griffin is deaf and needs a sign-language interpreter to understand his court proceedings,” wrote Griffin’s lawyer, public defender eric Zuckerman, in an email to City Paper.

The implausibility of Griffin’s alleged drug dealing, however, is not what prompted Judge Joan brown, the same judge who convicted Griffin, to grant him a new trial last month. brown did so because Officer Dmytryk makes an unsavory appearance in a straight-outof-Hollywood federal indictment, announced just three weeks after Griffin’s July 9, 2014, conviction, accusing six narcotics cops led by Officer Thomas Liciardello of violently robbing suspected drug dealers. a seventh officer is reportedly cooperating with federal prosecutors, and pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and gun charges.

Questions about Dmytryk’s credibility as a witness are creat-

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ing a familiar problem for District attorney Seth Williams’ office.

Prosecutors are now sifting through, and sometimes fighting defense lawyers over, hundreds of cases tied to a growing roster of allegedly corrupt or abusive cops.

Dmytryk is quasi-anonymously identified in the indictment as police officer “S.D.,” according to Zuckerman and the District attorney’s Office. That’s because Dmytryk is not himself indicted. and, unlike the indicted officers, he is not accused of hanging anyone over an 18th-story balcony or viciously beating a suspect and stealing their cash. but the federal grand jury did suggest that Dmytryk, a 19-year veteran of the force, intentionally lied on police paperwork to cover up a November 2011 theft carried out by indicted Officers Perry betts and brian reynolds. This, too, would be a serious crime.

Dmytryk could not be reached for comment, but it isn’t hard to discern his identity in the federal indictment: The facts match those of a 2011 drug-and-gun case against Center City barber Kenneth Mills (and are echoed in a federal civil lawsuit that Mills filed against Dmytryk and other officers).

Dmytryk is alleged to have falsely written that Officer betts had “found only $1,950 in a dresser drawer” in a West Philadelphia home that police searched, omitting an “additional $4,050 in cash and [a]

A grand jury suggests the cop lied on a report.

>>> continued on adjacent page

✚ Tainted Testimony <<< continued from previous page

gold ring” that officers had stolen. The indictment further alleges that Dmytryk falsely charged Mills with possessing a gun when another person said they owned the gun, and had the paperwork to prove it.

“These officers are now charged in federal court with one of the largest and most deplorable police-corruption cases in the history of Philadelphia,” Zuckerman wrote, referring to Liciardello and company. “If the information contained in the indictment is true, it means not only that Dmytryk lied in police paperwork, but that he also committed perjury when he testified in [Kenneth Mills’] preliminary hearing.”

In the federal lawsuit, Mills also alleges that Dmytryk made false statements on search-warrant applications for his two properties, and that Dmytryk and other officers “knew or had reason to know of the falsity of these allegations.”

Though Dmytryk has received far less attention than the officers who were charged, his predicament signals a larger problem for the Police Department and District Attorney — and for the drug war they carry out. Narcotics officers, long accused of lying, are faced, once again, with numerous credible accusations of perjury. The steady stream of corruption and abuse allegations poses a troubling question: Should judges and juries continue to give police testimony in these cases the benefit of the doubt? “unfortunately, these types of cases are not uncommon in Philadelphia,” emails Zuckerman. “Often people are brought to trial on drug charges without any hard evidence to corroborate the claims of a single police officer. … One must wonder how many people have been wrongfully convicted based on the word of a single officer’s testimony.”

➤ It Is unclear why Dmytryk has not been charged by federal

prosecutors.

A joint FbI-Philadelphia Police task force investigating police corruption has refused to turn over information on Dmytryk’s alleged misconduct, according to court records, apparently because of federal grand jury secrecy rules. (A second judge appears to have issued a similar order, also to no avail.) Contacted for comment, the u.S. Attorney for the eastern District of Pennsylvania said that, as a general practice, “We don’t confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of investigations.”

The indictment’s phrasing that “S.D.” made false statements “to conceal the theft from authorities” suggests that they believe he did so knowingly. but the District Attorney’s Office insists that Dmytryk is a credible witness.

And they have some reason to do so.

For one, the Police Department says that Dmytryk is not the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation. What’s more, Assistant District Attorney Louis Tumolo presented Judge brown with a letter from the u.S. Attorney’s Office, which states that Dymytrk is not the subject of an investigation related to the Mills search and seizure. The u.S. Attorney sending such a letter, says First Assistant District Attorney ed McCann, “is extremely unusual.”

“Dmytryk is still testifying” in ongoing cases, Tumolo said in court. “It couldn’t be more clear that he is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing.” but Gerard Deacon, a Philadelphia Police sergeant deputized as a federal agent on the task force, testified last September that he had

Testimony could prove radioactive for the DA.

DAYS LEFT

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[ the naked city ]

knowledge of information substantiating the allegations against “S.D.” but could not elaborate because of grand jury secrecy rules.

Dmytryk is also named in a number of other federal civil lawsuits, including two that accuse him of signing paperwork to secure warrants for allegedly bogus searches carried out by members of two groups of narcotics officers that have faced allegations including theft, perjury, drug dealing, assault and sexual assault.

Whether Dmytryk did wrong or spent too much time working alongside those who allegedly did, Dymtryk’s testimony may turn radioactive for the DA as long as law enforcement refuses to explain exactly why his actions in the Mills case were not criminal.

In court, Zuckerman said that he has so far successfully persuaded Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Sean F. Kennedy and a second Common Pleas Court judge to bar the officer’s testimony after the task force refused to turn over information on Dmytryk. Kennedy’s order is under appeal. >>> continued on page 7

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[ the naked city ]

[ police ]

Author credits ‘BLAcK LiVes MAtter’ with chArges AgAinst cops

By Daniel Denvir

M

ichelle alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, credits the national movement against police brutality for Philadelphia District attorney Seth Williams’ unusual decision last week to charge Police Officers Sean McKnight and Kevin robinson with assaulting Najee rivera in 2013.

“This is remarkable, because police officers are almost never criminally charged for excessive use of force,” alexander posted on her public facebook page. “The black Lives Matter movement deserves much credit for creating a political environment nationally in which police departments aren’t able to get away with business as usual so easily. We have the power to transform the way policing happens in this country; the time is now.” according to the Da, the two officers pulled over rivera on his motor scooter on May 29, 2013, in fairhill. rivera became frightened and fled on the scooter. a surveillance camera then allegedly captured the officers driving up and knocking rivera off his scooter. The two officers then allegedly exited their car, and “grabbed and repeatedly struck rivera with their fists and baton while rivera, who received a fractured orbital bone and numerous

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CHARGED IN ASSAULT: Above, Officer Kevin Robinson, left, and Officer Sean McKnight. At right, evidence of Najee Rivera’s severe head injuries sustained during his arrest in 2013.

lacerations to his head, cries out in pain.” a grand jury report said, “rivera was wailing loudly and uncontrollably. although he was moving around on the ground while being struck, he was not resisting the officers or engaging in any aggressive actions.” alexander wrote, “I remember when I was in law school many of my (mostly white) classmates would wonder aloud why anyone would run from the police. ... but there is another america. and in that Other america, it doesn’t matter whether you’re innocent or guilty or if your arms are raised high or low. any encounter with the police can prove humiliating, brutal or deadly, so avoid all contact if you can. This young man was brutally beaten by the police

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for no reason other than he tried to flee on his scooter.”

Corruption prosecutions of Philadelphia police officers frequently make headlines, but prosecutions for excessive use of force alone are rare. It is too early to tell whether the arrest of the two officers might signal a shift in policy.

(Daniel.denvir@citypaper.net) ✚ Kelan Lyons contributed to this report.

✚ Tainted Testimony

[ the naked city ]

<<< continued from page 5

Griffin was arrested on “shockingly little evidence.” according to the Da, a third judge rejected defense efforts. ➤ Griffin was arrested “with shockingly little

evidence,” says Zuckerman. “There is no physical evidence that corroborates Dmytryk’s claim that he saw Griffin sell drugs. Griffin had no drugs or pre-recorded buy money on him when arrested.

He has no connection to the house where drugs were found. The sole evidence against him was a single officer (Dmytryk), who says that he saw Griffin sell drugs to a confidential informant on two occasions days prior to his arrest.” for his part, Griffin says when he was arrested in September 2013, he had no idea why he was being detained. “first of all, they restrained my hands and I couldn’t talk in sign language,” Griffin said through an interpreter last month. “I was trying to nod my head and they were just talking to me and I didn’t understand what was going on. It just went over my head. I didn’t know what to say, so they just continued talking. Their mouths were moving. … I didn’t understand the reason why I

was being arrested.”

Griffin says he was not provided with an interpreter at the police station or during a videolinked preliminary arraignment with a judge. He just stood there, comprehending nothing.

“I was trying to figure out how do I communicate?” he said. “and I need get in touch with my mom. I got to get in touch with my dad.” finally, he says, an officer realized that he was deaf and called his mother, who took him home from jail.

“I don’t blame cops in general, but that cop should have known,” says Griffin. “It’s obvious that I’m deaf … It just seemed like he didn’t want to communicate. and all he did was talk and all I did was see mouths moving. and it really bothered me.”

(Daniel.denvir@citypaper.net, @DanielDenvir)

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bLack & wHiTe pHoTos courTesy oF HOTEl HERSHEy coLor pHoTos by luCaS CORal

S

tanding atop Pat’s Hill looking out over the company town that is Hershey, Pa., it’s easy to channel the classic creepyhotel vibes of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, especially when the property is blanketed in fresh snow. But once you’ve reached the front desk, any remnants of haunted hotels and wild-eyed Jack Torrances are quick to slip away.

During check-in at most hotels, guests are generally asked if they’d prefer a king or queensized bed.At Hotel Hershey, the question is “Milk or dark?” referring to the full-sized candy bar each guest is given along with a room key resembling a Hershey Bar. A palatial hotel that hands out candy bars at the front desk, has a chocolate spa and smells sweetly of chocolate throughout seems straight from the pages of a long-lost Roald Dahl book. This wildly ornate hotel was instead the brainchild of a millionaire confectioner almost as eccentric as Willy Wonka named Milton Hershey.

“Chocolate always seems to do well during recessions and depressions,” explains Albert Rossi, the hotel’s resident historian. “People give up that big-ticket item, but not that little reward.” Perhaps that’s how, at the height of the Great Depression, Milton Hershey was able to construct this 170-room palace of a hotel.

For Hershey, who had made his money in caramel, chocolate and Cuban sugar prior to the market crash, the hotel was a passion project that was never intended to make money — at least, not during the early years. “Other men have their yachts to play with,” said Hershey, defending the extravagance of the hotel’s plans. “The hotel is my yacht.”

An avid traveler, Hershey was inspired by trips to the Mediterranean, southern Europe and northern Africa — particularly Spain, Portugal and Morocco. For his own hotel, Hershey initially hoped to recreate Egypt’s Heliopolis Palace Hotel, one of Africa’s most luxe properties.

“He acquired the plans for it and thought this is what he wanted to build,” says Rossi, before dramatizing architect D. Paul Witmer’s reaction to the idea: “‘It’s much too ornate, much too expensive, we can’t get the materials, you realize that our country is in a very bad situation.’ Remember, we’re smack in the middle of the Depression.

“So he says to his architect, ‘OK, if I can’t have the Heliopolis, can you incorporate these ideas?’ He gives him pictures and postcards of places that he’s been that he really admires.

That’s why we have Moorish architecture in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch country.”

The Hotel Hershey’s 1960s-era reception area doesn’t do justice to Hershey’s Moorish vision the way the Fountain Lobby does. The lobby is equal parts opulent and kitschy, with Spanish-style stucco walls, wooden balconies, terra-cotta tiled overhangs and a ceiling painted with cotton-y cumulus clouds. There are overstuffed couches (where Rossi says guests have a tendency to fall asleep), potted palms and the centerpiece — a mosaic fountain that’s been softly bubbling since the hotel’s 1933 opening.

Down a short flight of stairs in the lobby is the sun-soaked Circular, the hotel’s original restaurant. The story of its semicircular dining room is classic eccentric millionaire lore.

“It’s circular because it was a mandate from Hershey to his architect that it had to be,” Rossi says. “While traveling throughout the world and the united States, many times on business, [Hershey would] be by himself, and he wasn’t a very good tipper. They’d put him behind a pillar or next to the kitchen. He said to his architect that he wanted everyone to have a good view. ‘No pillars, no corners and I want my diners to be as far away from the kitchen as possible.’”

The Circular was stripped of its white tablecloths as part of a 2013 makeover into a less

formal dining option. Where there was once a wooden dance floor, there is now Nowadays, a circular bar featuring carefully crafted cocktails like a sherry martini finished with a floral splash of Lillet.

The kitchen is still well out of sight and earshot, though they now plate stripedbass ceviche with cucumber and passionfruit instead of seafood a la Newburgh.

But very little appears to have changed at the across-lobby Iberian, a moodily lit cocktail lounge. A painting of a Moroccan market sits behind the bar, spanning its entire length. Painted by German artist Robert Von Ezdorf and titled Hispaniola, the painting is another piece of the hotel’s oddly endearing history.

Commissioned the year after the hotel opened, Hispaniola doubles as a game of I Spy. “Look at that pathway that leads out to the sea,” Rossi points out. “The mosaic in that pathway is the same pattern that you’ll find out in the Fountain Lobby.

Look at the tiled roof — that’s out there.

The same balcony is out there, and there’s

similarities in the bumps on the wall and the lanterns. And there’s the fountain.”

But the painting’s recognizable elements aren’t nearly as fascinating as the puzzles. Walking from one end of the bar to the other, the ocean horizon seems to shift dramatically. And why exactly is one of the striped lampposts leaning off the dock? Rossi also has an answer for this question via veteran Iberian bartender Joe Frascella. “So one day I asked Joe … about the leaning post [and] he … said, ‘Al, that’s for me. Whenever that straightens out for the people I’m serving, I know I have to cut them off.’”

When beverage director Brian Confair took that position six years ago, the first thing he did was revamp the martini program. “The martinis are dangerous,” he explains. “We wanted the cocktails to taste like the candy, we didn’t want to taste the alcohol, we wanted them to be palatefriendly — and they are. You don’t realize that you just had three of the chocolate martinis until you stand up.”

SWEET RECEPTION: The original check-in area of Hotel Hershey and the Fountain Lobby, then and now.

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curtaincall

By David Anthony Fox

KaTIe reINg

CuriousEr and CuriousEr

➤ DaviD LeDDy’s Long Live the Little Knife, a

2013 Edinburgh Fringe hit now receiving a stylish production at Inis Nua, is like one of those enormous weekend flea markets you find in country towns.

Everywhere you turn are curiosities — the pleasure (as well as the challenge) is to make sense of it. If you’re the sort of shopper who wants to find shirts in a shirt department, it’s not your thing. If you love the sense of exploration, you’ll have fun — but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Liz and Jim, Little Knife’s two characters, are embarking on a career in art forgery. The business isn’t totally new to them — they’ve previously trafficked in knockoff Prada bags and fake high-end watches.

But the stakes are higher here, and their new line of work brings Liz and Jim into a very unpredictable world — a story they narrate with panache. Liz and Jim, you see, are their own best creations.

To all this, Leddy brings vivid imagination and a gift for wordplay. On opening night, much of the audience laughed appreciatively, though as with other Fringe imports, the frame of reference is often unfamiliar to Americans.

I admire Leddy’s virtuosity. But Little Knife mixes edgy fun with some very serious topics — the disappearance of authenticity and other, even darker elements (not to be spoiled here) — and I don’t think the play pulls it together.

Director Tom Reing has given Little Knife an ingeniously staged production, and the company — Tim Dugan as Jim, Corrina Burns as Liz — throw themselves into it with brio. With a short running time (65 minutes), it never drags.

Ultimately, I think the old adage applies here — for those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like. (david_fox@citypaper.net) ✚ Through Feb. 22, Inis Nua at Off-Broad Street Theatre,

1636 Sansom St., 215-454-9776, inisnuatheatre.org.

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FRESHMAKERS: The three co-leaders of the Fresh Cut Orchestra: trumpeter Josh Lawrence, bassist Jason Fraticelli and drummer Anwar Marshall.

[ jazz ]

Cutting EdgE How a one-off experiment evolved into one of the most exciting collaborations on the local jazz scene. By Shaun Brady

W

hen I first dropped in on the fresh Cut Orchestra in a uarts rehearsal room in October 2012, none of the ensemble’s members were thinking about a future much past their “one night only” debut performance scheduled for a couple of weeks later. The fCO’s formation was the opposite of organic, so all involved could be forgiven if they were still skeptical about its longevity in those early days, despite some promising indications.

The band’s three co-leaders — trumpeter Josh Lawrence, bassist Jason fraticelli and drummer anwar Marshall — were selected by Painted bride music curator Lenny Seidman to pull together a large ensemble of locals to help celebrate the venue’s four decades of presenting jazz. at the time, Marshall half-jokingly referred to the trio as “test dummies,” thrown together despite having little or no history of working with one another. but that one-time experiment has since evolved into one of the most exciting and fruitful collaborations on the local jazz scene, and this weekend the 10-piece ensemble will celebrate the release of their first CD, From the Vine (ropeadope).

The CD was recently lauded on NPr by no less a jazz eminence than fellow Philadelphian Christian Mcbride, who declared him-

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self “bowled over” at the richly layered arrangements. The disc pulls together many of the city’s most gifted young musicians, most of them leaders and composers in their own right: saxophonists Mark allen and Mike Cemprola, trombonist brent White, pianist brian Marsella, guitarist Matt Davis, guitarist and laptop musician Tim Conley and percussionist françois Zayas.

“I have to say we were lucky,” says fraticelli. “The fact that Lenny chose us three and that we had an instant chemistry just worked out perfectly. We’re all involved in different scenes, but everybody was open to put all those worlds together and just create some stuff.”

Whether by accident or design, it also helped that the three coleaders played instruments that are amenable to a trio setting.

Keeping a 10-piece band working can be a daunting prospect, but the three have continued to play together as a trio or quartet, with other members of the fresh Cut Orchestra or special guests. They’ve also been hired as a unit to bring their cohesive sound to other artists’ projects. In 2013 they served as the bride’s house band for a regular series of shows featuring guest artists like Orrin evans and John Swana. Last summer, they premiered a new four-part suite tracing the stages of life, co-composed by the leaders along with Conley.

“Everybody was open to put all those worlds together and just create.”

>>> continued on page 16

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movie

shorts

Films are graded by City PaPer critics a-F.

Duke of Burgundy

: New THe DUKe OF BURGUNDY | A Despite their pitch-perfect recreations of 1970s european genre aesthetics, “homage” is an inadequate descriptor for the films of Peter Strickland. In Berberian Sound Studio, the british writer-director turned the Italian horror film into a set of nesting dolls with an uneasy sense of alienation at their center. Now, with The Duke of Burgundy, Strickland creates an exacting replica of the sort of tabooteasing softcore sex film trafficked in by the likes of Jess Franco and radley Metzger, but as an incisive peek into the negotiations, compromises and rituals that make up a truly loving relationship. at the outset, the dynamic between stylish entomologist Cynthia (Sidse babett Knudsen) and the younger evelyn (Chiara D’anna) appears to be that of a domineering employer and her fragile european maid, but it soon becomes clear that the two are a couple involved in elaborate bDSM roly-poly. Their interactions are minutely stage-directed by the submissive evelyn and reluctantly indulged by Cynthia, whose overwhelming adoration and need for

her lover show through the cracks in her steely adopted facade. For those familiar with Strickland’s eurotrash models, the mood of uncanny eroticism is instantly suggested by the prismatic light, the gently psychedelic fluteand-string score, and the black capes and leather gloves of the severely clad extras. but even for the uninitiated, Strickland infuses every moment with a claustrophobic sensuality, from the musty opulence of the pair’s lavish home to the piercing butterfly calls that occasionally erupt into the soundtrack. all of which is unsettled by the mysterious otherworldliness of the setting, a vaguely european village lost in time, devoid of men and cars and populated entirely by women with an avid interest in lepidoptery. In some instances, the odd details hint at something strange and unsettling, at other times they’re wickedly funny — Fatma Mohamed’s inscrutable gestures when describing a “human toilet” out of earshot, in particular. In the end, though, Strickland examines these lush and forbidding specimens like the film’s pinned butterflies, only to discover an empathetic and touching love story beneath the glass.

—Shaun Brady (Ritz at the Bourse)

LeVIATHAN | A International admirers of andrey Zvyagintsev’s fourth feature — and there are many — have characterized it as one of the most devastating criticisms of the russian Federation ever committed to film. but to american audiences, so accustomed to chuckling into our cheese fries while terrorists mortar-bomb the White House or stoned comedians murder world leaders, its grievances can come off as downright subtle. This gap in discourse might make Zvyagintsev’s indictments seem less blistering than they are, but all you need is a little context to understand why Leviathan has so many pissed — and so many pleased. barely eking out a living as an underemployed mechanic in the far north, aleksei Serebryakov’s Kolya is loosely inspired by the biblical Job, sans the benevolent ending. a salty, temperamental drunk with a disaffected wife and son, Kolya can cite multiple sources for his misery, most prominently Vadim (roman Madyanov), a bloated, yeltsin-esque bureaucrat who’s gamed the corrupt system to commandeer Kolya’s land.

Despite maneuvering by his lawyer (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), shit just

keeps getting shittier. but instead of orchestrating some sort of off-themat redemption tale, Zvyagintsev uses Kolya’s misfortune to expand the scope of his skewering, prodding national leadership, the gilded Orthodox Church and the conceptual russian psyche along the way. It’s an aesthetically beautiful but profoundly unhappy piece of work, valuable for its honesty as much as its artistry.

—Drew Lazor (Ritz Five)

: RepeRTORY FILm BRYN mAwR FILm INSTITUTe 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-527-9898, brynmawrfilm.org. La Forza del Destino (2008, austria, 161 min.): The Vienna State Opera’s 2008 performance of Verdi’s beloved work. Thu., Feb 12, 7 p.m., $20, and Sun., Feb. 15, 1 p.m., $20. Herbie Goes Bananas (1980, u.S., 100 min.): The fourth installment in the Herbie series, which sees the zany, surprisingly fuel-efficient VW beetle’s hijinks in Mexico and brazil. Sat., Feb. 14, 11 a.m. $5. An Image (1983, Germany, 25 min.)

and Images of the World and the Inscription of War (1988, Germany, 73 min.): Two works from late German filmmaker Harun Farocki that dissect “the politics of imagery.”

Wed., Feb. 18, 7 p.m., $12.

CHURCH OF THe ADVOCATe 1801 Diamond St., bit.ly/foodchainsphilly. Food Chains (2014, u.S., 83 min.): Narrated by Forest Whitaker, this documentary features the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which advocates for better treatment of farm laborers.

Followed by a conversation with advocates from the CIW and Philly Fair Food.

Fri., Feb. 13, 6 p.m., free (RSVP required).

pHILADeLpHIA mUSeUm OF ART 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 215763-8100, philamuseum.org. Harakiri (1962, Japan, 133 min.): edo period historical drama centered around one disgraced samurai’s desire to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide. Complementing the exhibit “Ink and Gold: art of the Kano.” Sun., Feb. 15, 1 p.m., $3.50 (does not include museum admission). : For more movie reviews and repertory film head over to citypaper.net/movies

c i t y pa p e r . n e t | F e b r u a r y 1 2 - F e b r u a r y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

17

events listings@citypaper.net | february 12 - february 18

[ we’re gonna get real weird with it ]

SNAKE CHARMERS: Ruby the Hatchet plays Underground Arts on Friday.

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.

2.12

thursday

Maori and Samoan traditions to create engaging works featuring vivid imagery that reflect on the human condition in expressive fashion. This stint marks black Grace’s Philadelphia debut and the program, which includes the hour-long Gathering Clouds, set to drumming, chants and music by bach and elvis Presley, showcases the breath and beauty of the group’s masterful physicality. It’s only february, but this could be a highlight of the local 2015 dance season. —Deni Kasrel

[ theater ]

[ dance ]

Black Grace $20-$50 | Thu.-Sat., Feb. 12-14, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org. blending tribal Pacific Island dance with contemporary choreography, black Grace offers a unique innovative cultural experience. This group from New Zealand draws on 18 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

of Janus films, which helped define the pantheon of world cinema by distributing the work of renowned filmmakers like Ingmar bergman, federico fellini and akira Kurosawa to american audiences. With “you Don’t belong to This Century,” printmaker Justin Miller (also I-House’s graphic designer) creates a series of prints offering vivid reinterpretations of many of the collection’s titles in the tradition of art-house poster graphics. —Shaun Brady

[ visual art ]

Justin Miller: You Don’t BelonG to this centurY Free | Through March 31, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org. for the past five years, International House has been celebrating the legacy

arcaDia $10-$25 | Through Feb. 21, Tomlinson Theater, Temple University, 1301 W. Norris St., 215204-1122, temple.edu/theater.

This season’s second production of Tom Stoppard’s 1993 masterpiece — after the Lantern Theater Company’s staging last fall — is directed

f e b r u a r y 1 2 - f e b r u a r y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 | C i t y Pa P e r . n e t

by graduate student Liz Carlson, and weaves two stories set nearly two centuries apart. a cast of undergrads bring to life a script that, Carlson says, “asks us to stop and marvel not merely at the nature of the universe, but at the very great miracle and mystery of the things we encounter every day.”

—Mark Cofta

hilarious, personal and often deep podcast, “I Seem fun: The Diary of Jen Kirkman.”

—Patrick Rapa

[ comedy ]

This ad-hoc ensemble is a regular feature of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s season, honoring the world’s most esteemed chamber music festival. as usual, there will be a varied and stimulating program, including masterpieces from Schubert and beethoven. a fluffy treat will be a presentation of the delightful “Neue Lieberslieder Waltzer” of brahms with four vocalists. finally, some four-hand piano music from the fascinating Hungarian master György Kurtág. —Peter Burwasser

Jen kirkMan $16-$27 | Thu.-Sat., Feb. 12-14, Helium, 2031 Sansom St., 215-4969001, heliumcomedy.com.

There are a bunch of places you might’ve caught Jen Kirkman — Drunk History, Chelsea Lately, the late lamented “Pod f. Tompkast,” Home Movies, Craig ferguson — but if you can’t place the name or the face, suffice it to say she’s one of the funniest and real-est comics going. Prep yourself for her run at Helium by checking out her

[ classical ]

Musicians froM MarlBoro ii $24 | Thu., Feb. 12, 8 p.m., Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-5698080, pcmsconcerts.org.

2.13 friday

[ movies ]

lost soul: the DooMeD JourneY of richarD stanleY’s islanD of Dr. Moreau $10 | Fri., Feb. 13, 8 p.m., PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 267519-9651, philamoca.org.

The notorious 1996 Island of Dr. Moreau remake is a can’t-look-away miasma with a menagerie of beastmen upstaged by an aggressively phoning-it-in Val Kilmer and a ludicrously off-script Marlon brando (whose duo act with “world’s smallest man” Nelson de la rosa inspired Austin Powers’ Mini-Me and South Park’s ass-grafting mad scientist).

The story behind the film, as recounted in David Gregory’s new doc, is equally bizarre, a Heart of Darkness struggle

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2.17

[ events ] +645 "%%&%

2.18

tuesday

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wednesday

[ jazz ]

IrvIn MayfIeld and the new Orleans Jazz Orchestra $29-$69 | Tue., Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m., Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org.

Irvin Mayfieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most recent CD, A New Orleans Creole Christmas (Basin Street Records), offered a second-line twist on the holiday season, but the trumpeter/bandleader will be presiding over a more traditional celebration at the Kimmel Center on Tuesday.

Mayfieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 18-piece New Orleans Jazz Orchestra will bring its boisterous Crescent City sound to Philly for Mardi Gras, making Verizon Hall the place to be for those looking for brass band abandon minus the beads and (excessive) booze. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Shaun Brady

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[ rock/pop ]

4"5

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0/ 4"-& '3* ĹŠ /00/

$25 | Wed., Feb. 18, 8:30 p.m., with Busmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Holiday, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 215-2322100, utphilly.com.

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Twee-prog whiz kid K. Ishibashi routinely loops and layers his ever-frolicsome fiddle-work into the equivalent of at least a quartet, so hearing him accompanied by four more string players at this â&#x20AC;&#x153;special seated showâ&#x20AC;? should approach chamber orchestra territory. If theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing it right, the show shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remain seated for long. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;K. Ross Hoffman

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➤ now seating

Bing Bing Dim Sum | Ben Puchowitz and Shawn Darragh’s long-awaited new-school dim sum spot is slated to open Feb. 16, and the menu looks absolutely killer. There are xiao long bao (soup) dumplings galore (regular and jumbo sized), horseradish and dill-stuffed potato dumplings, and Reuben pan-fried bao along with barbecuedmushroom-topped rice porridge, whole steamed fish with ginger garlic sauce, and black-beansauced lamb ribs. Although Bing Bing isn’t planning on dim-sum-cart service, there’s talk of servers sporadically circling the room with plates of specials. Open daily 5 p.m.-midnight. 1648 E. Passyunk Ave., bingbingdimsum.com.

Hunger Burger | In addition to a menu of fast-foodstyle burgers on potato buns, creamy lobster mac and cheese and some damned good Bassetts milk shakes, Reading Terminal’s Hunger Burger is also setting itself apart with its charitable mission: The stand is going to be donating one meal to No Kid Hungry for each burger they serve. Open Mon.-Sat., 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Reading Terminal, 151 N. 12th St., 215-922-2707, hungerburgerpa.com.

Me N Mo | This choose-your-own adventure meatball joint allows diners to pick from seven rolled meat options and seven sauces with combos ranging from the traditional beef and marinara, to lamb with a mushroom-cream sauce, and Buffalo-wing-inspired meatballs. The meatballs are available a la carte, on a roll or with pasta and a salad. Open Tue.-Sun., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. 214 South St., 267-928-3262, menmophilly.com.

Got A Tip? Please send restaurant news to restaurants@ citypaper.net or call 215-735-8444, ext. 207.

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

BON TEMPS: Cajun gumbo and real-deal po'boys at Khyber Pass. neal SantoS

[ southern exposure ]

Gras roots Vetting Philly’s New Orleans food scene with two NOLA ex-pats just in time for Carnival.

By Carolyn Wyman

M

ardi Gras is basically New Orleans’ Mummers parade: an excuse to dress up and get plastered. When you’re in that kind of state, any food will do.

Don’t bother looking for New Orleans food at fat Tuesday on South Street, for instance. “We serve stuff you would eat if you got hungry while you were drinking. It’s not anything you’d come here for,” an employee of that bar explained recently.

This story examines local restaurants that are seriously trying to cook Creole and Cajun food for those who want to celebrate fat Tuesday on feb. 17 and still be able to show up for church on ash Wednesday. To supplement my two weeks of eating in New Orleans as a tourist, I enlisted the help of Heidi Hess, a New Orleans native who teaches at Conwell Middle School in Kensington, and Lane Savadove of egoPo, a New Orleans theater company that relocated to Philly after Hurricane Katrina (and which, coincidentally, has a show opening tomorrow night.) although Strangelove’s, Warmdaddy’s and rex 1516 each have a few Cajun or Creole menu offerings and Cajun Kate’s and

f e b r u a r y 1 2 - f e b r u a r y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 | C i t y Pa P e r . n e t

Carmine’s Creole Cafe act ii have fans out in the burbs, we directed our attention to four Center City spots dedicated to letting la bonne bouffe rouler.

➤ Beck’s cajun café Reading Terminal Market, 59 N. 12th St.,

215-592-0505, beckscajuncafe.com. beck’s is a stand in reading Terminal Market, meaning no evening hours and no Hurricanes or Sazeracs to cloud the judgment. It features cafeteria trays of New Orleans food and diner-style seating and has a sister spot in 30th Street Station.

Bourbon Street Cred: Owner/chef bill beck is a Philly native who won most of his “best of Philly” awards for Miami fusion. taste test: “Not bad” was the general consensus on beck’s, although Hess didn’t like the way the rice was mixed with the sauce in their gumbo and wished for more crawfish in their etouffee. The shrimp po’boy was fresh and tasty, but Hess found the french bread too chewy and Savadove agreed.both thought the shrimp flavor lost to its fry.

Mardi Gras Plans: baby-Jesus-containing king cakes on offer through feb. 17.

read more citypaper.net/ mealticket

>>> continued on previous page

[ food & drink ]

✚ Gras Roots <<< continued from adjacent page

➤ Khyber Pass Pub 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888,

khyberpasspub.com.

Cantina restaurant czars Stephen Simons and Dave frank transformed this former rock dive into a Southern gastropub in 2010.

Bourbon Street cred: Co-owner frank loves New Orleans and visits there frequently. taste test: Gumbo of the right soupy consistency, properly topped with a rice dollop, said both New Orleaneans.

Savadove loved the complex, not very spicy-hot flavor of the Cajun-style dark roux base. “They have Crystal [-brand New Orleans hot sauce] for that,” he said. The shrimp po’boy had Hess at its New Orleans-sourced Leidenheimer roll; Savadove praised that sandwich's expertly cooked shrimp.

Mardi Gras plans: Their new daily brunch, featuring pork-belly doughnuts, launches feb. 17 at 10 a.m. ➤ Café Nola 414 S. Second St., 215-574-1687.

This twinkling jewel box of a restaurant is the latest incarnation of a New Orleans eatery that’s been kicking around Greater South Street since the early 1980s.

Bourbon Street cred: Chef/owner Nick Ventura hails from the Mama Ventura Jersey Italian restaurant family and Nola’s window boasts of “Creole-Italian Cuisine.” Serves Mexican Cholula hot sauce. taste test: Our Gumbo ya ya and etouffee were two nearly indistinguishable plates of mushy rice ’n’ fish/ chicken and sausage. The gumbwo tasted mainly like flour. both dishes were too thick and too expensive, even given their generous amounts of protein. but the very Philly Metropolitan bakery wheat rolls were wonderful.

Mardi Gras plans: Nola is the last stop on the South Street-area Mardi Gras parade/bar crawl on feb. 15. ➤ Catahoula 775 S. Front St., 215-271-9300, catahou-

laphilly.com.

The former fancy La Creole is now a friendly neighborhood bar featuring New Orleans food and the Saints on the TVs. Bourbon Street cred: Owner Nikki Kaufman and chef Dave Williams are from Israel and South Carolina, respectively. at least one abita beer always on tap. taste test: Cajun-style “acadian gumbo” was right on the soupy-consistency and rice-glop fronts and tasty in a beef-gravy kind of way. The shrimp po’boy was, quality-wise, somewhere between beck’s and Khyber.

Mardi Gras plans: $5 abita drafts and free Mardi Gras beads. based on these few dishes, Khyber Pass is Philadelphia’s New Orleans food king, at least this Mardi Gras. all four of these places might want to do some Katrina-style battening of the hatches before the September opening of Tremé and Café beignet, a New Orleans food/music complex on North broad from John Mims of Carmine’s act II and New Orleans. (cwyman@citypaper.net) c i t y pa p e r . n e t | f e b r u a r y 1 2 - f e b r u a r y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

23

let’sgetiton

[ sex ]

Rachel Kramer Bussel on sex of all stripes

ADOP

ME

poly partners, expanded love

T

➤ In our culture,

PEPITA!

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I’m Pepita, a curious and sociable 6-10 year old Chihuahua mix who’s looking for a home. I was surrendered because my owners could no longer care for a pet. I’m full of spunk and waiting for you to be my companion!

Meet Pepita at PAWS Northeast Adoption Center at 1810 Grant Avenue (at Bustleton).

All PAWS animals are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped before adoption.

For more information, call 215-238-9901 or email adoptions@phillypaws.org

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romantic love all too often is equated with “one true love.” Society’s dominant messages strongly push us to believe that one person will complete us, a la Jerry Maguire. but open Cunning Minx relationships also have wonderful ways of showing love, both sexual and platonic, in a way that is equally fulfilling.

To explore this more, I asked several polyamorous people about their relationships with their metamours (essentially, the partners of their partner or partners). I’ll use Cunning Minx, “Polyamory Weekly” podcaster and author of Eight Things I Wish I’d Known About Polyamory: Before I Tried It and Frakked It Up, as an example.

She’s in a long-term relationship with LustyGuy, who is married to L; therefore, Minx and L are metamours. In that traditional “one true love” world, they would be rivals. but rather than defaulting to jealousy, poly people expand love to encompass more than one person.

So in Minx, LustyGuy and L’s case, they’ve all gone on vacation together. On “Polyamory Weekly,” Minx told L on the air, “The main reason this relationship [with LustyGuy] has worked for me is because you are so secure.” There’s something heartwarming to me about that, especially because jealousy has been an issue for me in similar situations. The trio also does a weekly relationship check-in to go over any issues that may have come up, something all relationships could benefit from.

There are no one-size-fits-all rules for how much contact to have with a metamour. rebecca Hiles is married and has four metamours, including her husband’s girlfriend, who lives with them. Of her metamours, she says, “Sometimes we bond almost instantly, and it’s like gaining a new friend.

Sometimes it’s like when your best friend has a boyfriend that you’re cordial with, but not close to.”

It’s not always love — or friendship — at first sight. Lyndzi Miller said of a recent partner, “When I first started dating him, I assumed his wife hated me. It was my first poly relationship. I couldn’t grasp that another person was able to like the girl their husband was dating.” Six months in, the women bonded over knitting, getting so close that, “even after they got a divorce and my relationship with him evolved into a close friendship, she and I are still friends who knit together,” says Miller.

Kevin, who’s been married for eight years,

doesn’t have a “pressing need” to meet his wife’s partners, “as long as she’s being safe and responsible.” but he was pleased when the partner of a woman he was dating complimented him at a party. “He actually thanked me for being great to our shared girlfriend,” Kevin recalled. “It was really touching. I felt like a valued member of the team.”

Kb has discovered that she has to have an emotional connection with her partner, “even if it’s just for playtime.” That means that she’s best friends with her boyfriend’s wife, and said, “I love her like a sister. Helping her through her breast-cancer diagnosis, treatment and reconstruction was hard, but I wouldn’t trade being able to support them like I did for anything.”

Sometimes, metamours cross the line from friends to lovers, as happened to Malin James when she wound up dating both halves

No one-sizefits-all rules for contact. of a male/female couple. Her relationship with the woman, f, was “very relaxing,” while her time with the man, P, was “emotionally intense.”

Not everyone wants a buddybuddy relationship with their metamours. Dave, who’s married with two secondary partners, says, “I don’t expect to become ‘part of the family’ when I meet someone new.” So while he gets along with the husband of one woman he’s dating, he explains, “We are not friends by any stretch.” emotion and intimacy can extend beyond sex and romance, and, as these metamours show, can strengthen a love that already exists. ✚ Rachel Kramer Bussel is the author of the essay collection Sex & Cupcakes and editor of over 50 erotica anthologies. She tweets @raquelita.

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