BSR PODCAST | BLOG | ARCHIVES
BSR_S07E07 - PVLA -The Arts Affair
(PVLA) will celebrate a milestone 45th anniversary during this year’s annual benefit celebration The Arts Affair 2023 on Wednesday, June 7th from 6-9pm at University of the Arts’ Hamilton Hall. Featuring live performances by local artists, visual art, and awards for both Volunteer Attorney and Law Firms of the Year, the event will highlight PVLA’s deep dedication to Philadelphia’s arts & cultural community.
LOCATION: Dorrance Hamilton Hall, University of the Arts, 320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia
DATE: Wednesday, June 7, 6-9pm
TICKETS: $45 (artists, students, nonprofit and public interest employees), $125 (general admission), $200 (general admission x 2), or tickets can be purchased to sponsor artists; ie. Sponsor 1 Artist ($45), Sponsor 2 Artists ($90), Sponsor 4 Artists ($180)
Ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-arts-affair-2023-tickets-522560531617
More about PVLA: https://PVLA.org
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IG: @PhillyVLA
Twitter: @PhillyVLA
FB: @phillyvolunteerlawyersforthearts
LinkedIn: @Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
BlackStar Film Festival: https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/
August 2-6, 2023
Kimmel Center
The Women's Coalition for Empowerment, Inc. https://www.TheWCE.org, and our upcoming event:
Philadelphia Juneteenth Wine & Arts Festival - https://Juneteenth-Wine-Art.eventbrite.com
Saturday, June 17, 2023, | 1pm - 6pm | Cherry Street Pier
BSR_S07E06 - ABANDON - World Premiere by James Ijames
ABOUT ABANDON
Luella is alone – haunted by the ghost of her son. Joshua is alone – kicked out of his house by his brother. One winter night these two people collide. Luella is looking for redemption; Joshua is looking for family. By the next morning, these two lonely souls are meshed together into an American Family in its truest sense. A world premiere by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright James Ijames, Abandon is sometimes violent, sometimes healing; with a gossamer veil that separates the worlds of the living and the dead, and shame and acceptance.
Melanye Finister (Luella, she/her) is an artist and resident company member at People’s Light, a member of Wilma Hothouse, and an artistic advisory board member at PlayPenn. People’s Light: The Diary of Anne Frank, The Matchmaker, All My Sons, Fences, The Winter’s Tale, Seven Guitars, The Return of Don Quixote, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Something You Did, Fabulation, and The Member of the Wedding. Theatre Includes: Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company, Flashpoint Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Venture Theatre, Temple Theaters and Walnut Street Theatre. Training: BFA, Carnegie Mellon University.
Brenson Thomas (Gabriel, he/him) is a Black and queer writer, actor, and theatre-maker. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA Theatre program, his plays include how i got over, or…red Kool-Aid stains on bubblegum lips; What We Lost & Never Knew; and How We Return, an upcoming commission for Constellation Stage & Screen in Bloomington, IN. Brenson also writes for TV/Film, most recently on Emmy Award winner Lena Waithe’s Twenties on BET. As a performer, Brenson has collaborated with Tony Award Winner Stew, Raja Feather Kelly, Lightning Rod Special in The Appointment (FringeArts/Next Door at NYTW; Barrymore Nominee for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical), Arden Theatre Company in the world premiere of R. Eric Thomas’ Backing Track, and Into the Woods, and with 1812 Productions for This is the Week That Is: 2020, and the Wilma Theater. When he’s not hunched over his laptop crying about blank Google docs, Brenson enjoys long walks around his beloved Philly, doing bad accents, smashing patriarchal white supremacist structures, and Beyoncé.
FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION: https://theatreexile.org/shows/abandon/
BSR_S07E05 - Philly Theatre Week - Cannonball Festival | Miniball
Miniball is a micro-version of Cannonball Festival featuring encores of previous Cannonball shows, as well as other works not featured in the festival before, to keep the spirit of Cannonball sailing strong throughout the year. Make sure to follow @cannonballfest on Instagram and turn on notifications to be the first to hear about upcoming festivals, show announcements, pop-up programming, and more!
THE OTHER GARDENERS by Very Good Dance Theatre
What happens to (y)our gardens when we can no longer tend to them? When do the things and thoughts we leave behind become burdens, and when are they gifts? Can we both be refreshing fountains of reprieve for others, while we remember to pour into ourselves? What to do when our cup runneth over, and what to do when she's dryyyyyy ... we don't know, will you help us find out?
"The Other Gardeners" is a new project created collaboratively by Very Good Dance Theatre by and for Black artists and/or those from African lineage. "Gardeners" playfully (re)imagines what remains of Eden after its more popular residents (Adam & Eve) have moved on, and reminds us that paradise cannot be destroyed, only lost.
This project explores questions around lineage, diaspora(s), liberation, and asks all those in its midst to grapple with which burdens have been placed on them, by who, and how we can shoulder them (together). This is a Black queering of our origin stories, both a prequel and a sequel, and a conjuring of all the auto-biographies that never came to be ... or at least not yet?
Expect sobbing and laughing, remembering and visioning, dreaming and forgetting, and loving and loving and loving.
Come to learn, come to share, come to mourn, come alone (or not), leave together - connected - nurtured, just as gardens should be.
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Cannonball Festival is an independently produced performing arts festival, concurrent with the Philadelphia Fringe, that presents risk-taking independent artists in back-to-back performances next to delicious lounge spaces, fostering creative collisions and community conversation. Learn more at cannonballfestival.org
Miniball Spring keeps the spirit of Fringe rolling April 6-8, 2023, with back to back performances of new works from some of Philly’s best independent artists. Learn more at cannonballfestival.org/miniball
LINKS:
Philly Theatre Week - Theatre Philadelphia
https://theatrephiladelphia.org/whats-on-stage/2023-philly-theatre-week
Support Theatre Philadelphia
https://theatrephiladelphia.org/make-a-donation
Support Cannonball Festival | Miniball
https://www.cannonballfestival.org/donate
RECOMMENDED
Paige Phillips - The Tale of The Slaughtered Hog
https://theatrephiladelphia.org/whats-on-stage/the-tale-of-the-slaughtered-hog
Your Sunday Best
https://theatrephiladelphia.org/whats-on-stage/your-sunday-best
The World
https://theatrephiladelphia.org/whats-on-stage/the-world
Annie Wilson - Always The Hour
BSR_S07E04 - 2023 Philly Theatre Week and Jenna Kuerzi
This year, experience over 50 unique events with hundreds of shows during Philly Theatre Week! Plus, join the 2023 Philly Theatre Week Kick-Off Celebration on March 20th at the Kimmel Cultural Campus. See preview scenes, songs, and interactive performances from participating Philly Theatre Week companies.
Johnny Depp! (A Retrospective on Late-Stage Capitalism)
FERGIE’S PUB - Second Floor
Join “Johnny Depp”, preteen heart-throb turned wino forever, for a retrospective on every film in his entire career, even the ones we didn’t watch, in order to ask… what happened?
Fresh off an international tour and a lot of rewrites because of a trial, comes a satirical “press tour” that is part ritual and part drunken singalong. Johnny Depp! (A Retrospective on Late-Stage Capitalism) features throwing things at random intervals, “fabulous” prizes, and a celebrity circus we keep tuning in to.
“To watch a show like this recalls the sense of imagination that the Fringe is really all about.” – Broadway Baby
“Johnny Depp: A Retrospective on Late Stage Capitalism is both exactly what you’d expect it to be and also something else entirely.” – Deadline, UK
“We’re all f*cked, enjoy the show.”- Phindie, USA
9 collective international stars! ★★★★★★★★★
Starring Jenna Kuerzi as Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow as Johnny Depp as Late-Stage Capitalism.
LINKS:
Philly Theatre Week - Theatre Philadelphia
https://theatrephiladelphia.org/whats-on-stage/2023-philly-theatre-week
Jenna Kuerzi
Bonnie & Clyde - Media Theatre
https://www.mediatheatre.org/shows-tickets
Support Theatre Philadelphia