Tag: See It, Hear It, Feel It

A country hip-hop horse opera at the Mann, all thanks to Shaboozey

Shaboozey make both kinds of music: Country & Western.

That’s a Blues Brothers joke, but it’s also spot on when it comes to the artist born Collins Obinna Chibueze, particularly when it comes to the Virginia-raised rapper and singer’s 2026 release The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales. That’s his ambitious, cinematic, and loaded-with-guests album that’s the follow up to Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, the 2024 breakthrough that made him a star.

That album, of course, included “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” that, along with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Ella Langley’s current world dominating “Choosin’ Texas,” is one of the biggest country mega hits of the past decade.

To his credit, Shaboozey followed that breakout success with “Tipsy,” and multiple contributions to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, by swinging for the fences with Cherie Lee, a horse opera of an album that tells a story about a woman who sets out to sense her father’s death as not to make some bad relationship choices that put her own life in peril.

To tell the tale that plays like a Black cowboy spaghetti Western by way of Sergio Leone and Quentin Tarantino, Shaboozey enlists a stellar cast.

That includes Teyana Taylor, Jamie Foxx, Leon Bridges, Sam Elliot, Gunna, Kehlani, and Orville Peck on a set of songs that lean into Old West gunfighter tropes while mixing country, hip-hop, and film score flourishes.

When Shaboozey brings this shoot ‘em saga to Philadelphia with his “Outlaws Never Die Tour” — which is playing the Highmark Mann, where he made his local debut at the Roots Picnic in 2024 — he surely won’t have all those big name co-stars with him.

Or maybe he will, on screen.

The tour will include “cinematic pre-shot visuals that unfold throughout the performance, complementing the songs and immersing audiences in the world of the album,” so this show promises to be not just a concert but also a night at the movies.

Shaboozey’s “Outlaws Never Die” tour at the Highmark Mann, 5201 Parkside Ave, at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Highmarkmann.com

— Dan DeLuca

Best art, for, always emerges from the most unexpected places. Like gusset plates seen through the length of the Kensington Ave. underbridge; the triangular metal sheet piece that connects the horizontal and vertical beams of the SEPTA Metro track.

After getting my order of the excellent yuzu ginger cider from Càphê Roasters, I looked up on my way to the L. The afternoon sun fell on the avenue and lit up the art on each little triangle of metal. The artwork — dragons, cats, Pride flags, flowers, monkeys — is part of Mural Arts’ “Heart of Kensington Creates,” a community arts initiative. Each piece — there are more than 400 peeping out from under the bridge from Huntingdon to Tioga — has been drawn by Kensington residents.

Right outside Càphê Roasters, at the intersection of J Street and Kensington Ave, a little triangular sea blue, red, yellow, and green peeps out from under the bridge. Right beside it, a mural called The Future Is Worth The Fight Just Hold On & You Will See by artists Jess X. Snow and Frisly Soberanis lights up a wall in its swathe of purple and pink.

A little street corner witnessing a conversation between artworks before the rush of the L took over the moment.

— Bedatri D. Choudhury

Dainty fine china fit for a president

Fine china is one of the most utilitarian pieces of art work a person can own; delicate and sturdy like the familial connections that use and enjoy it.

Winterthur Museum, Garden, & Library offers a peak at a famous family’s fine china: George Washington’s. Several pieces from his 302-piece set called “The Society of Cincinnati” are on display at the Delaware museum. “The Society of Cincinnati” was an elite organization of Revolutionary War officers of which Washington was the first president general.

The president and his family used this very set of china while living at the President’s House at Sixth and Market.

Each piece features a blue border with the Society of Cincinnati’s emblem: a winged figure blowing a trumpet.

What an interesting way for war and art to come together.

With 74 pieces in its collection, Winterthur has the largest number of surviving pieces, acquired by the Delaware estate’s owner Henry Francis du Pont in the early 20th century.

Visitors to Winterthur can view the porcelain works of art in two places in the museum: the Du Pont Dining Room and on the fifth floor in China Hall.

We can only imagine how many slices of cherry pie were served on these dainty plates.

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library is located at 5105 Kennett Pike. Hours are Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

— Elizabeth Wellington

Hidden art at your feet

Museums and galleries are spaces we enter expecting to find joy and beauty in art. Even when we leave overwhelmed with feelings, we know that we went in looking for that beautiful indescribable emotion. That joy is doubled when art comes at you from unexpected corners.

I was walking across the John F. Kennedy Boulevard Bridge one morning when my eyes fell on a manhole cover. A metal lid on the city’s unseen river of waste? Decidedly not art.

But imagine it’s early morning and the sun isn’t too strong yet, you’re walking to work with purpose and a head full of to-dos. You see the metal lid that conceals what you’re not supposed to see. The lid is stamped with a design of what looks like shoots of a plant with little leaves growing on them, and the words “Philadelphia Water” occupy the center in symmetrical typographic harmony.

It’s beautiful; its beauty enhanced by the fact that it didn’t have to be anything but a plain metal lid screwed to concrete. No one is supposed to stop and look at manhole covers in silence like framed art in a gallery but someone somewhere in the long line of civic workers at the Philadelphia Water Department decided to build something beautiful just in case someone on their way to work decided to stop and look. Someone came up with a design, someone forged a stamp, someone stamped the metal with it, and someone put that metal lid on the bridge I walk to work. There’s so much joy in discovering this silent gift. Thank you.

— Bedatri D. Choudhury

Netflix’s ‘A Different World’ is everything I wanted ‘Bel-Air’ to be

For those of you who don’t remember, A Different World was NBC’s 1987 spinoff of North Philly’s own Bill Cosby’s The Cosby Show. It featured Cliff’s second daughter, Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet), as a freshman at her parents’ alma mater, the fictional historically Black university, Hillman College.

After one season, however, Denise was out, Whitley (Jasmine Guy) was the center, and viewers were glued to their seats every Thursday night following Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley’s budding romance. By the end of its six-season run, Dwayne and Whitley were married, and we assumed they lived happily ever after.

After almost 30 years, Netflix has revived A Different World millennial-style, and this week it’s back.

The 10-episode first season gives Philly-inspired Bel-Air vibes; it’s a serious take on a fun-and-games ’90s comedy. At first glance, the male lead, Shaquille Johnson (Cornell Young IV), looks a lot like Jabari Banks, the West Philadelphia-born actor who assumes Will Smith’s character on Peacock’s Bel-Air.

But that’s where the similarities end.

The updated version of A Different World is what I thought Bel-Air would be. It remains true to the original show’s characters: Whitley is still an entitled snob. Dwayne remains as thoughtful as he is brilliant. And Dwayne and Whitley’s daughter, Deborah (Maleah Joi Moon), is a delightful blend of her mom’s sense of bougieness and her dad’s altruism. It’s a stone-cold gas that her favorite accessory are flip glasses just like Dwayne Wayne. (It made me want to dig mine out)

Yet, the new A Different World is more than a nostalgic walk in the park. The first few episodes deal with 2020s issues like the current presidential administration’s attack on Black history, rampant mismanagement of funding by university administrators, and what it’s like for this generation of college students to engage with professors and each other after almost two years of COVID-19 lockdown.

Just like its 1980s predecessor, A Different World millennium-style has the same immediacy.

“A Different World” is now airing on Netflix.

— Elizabeth Wellington

Beethoven meets Joe Hisaishi, thanks to the Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin opened the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 127th season Thursday night with a message at once broad and universal, and very local.

The piece was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and the orchestra’s music and artistic director was no doubt referencing the state of the world when he spoke to the Marian Anderson Hall audience of the work’s shared humanity and how it reminds us that “there’s much more that unites us than what divides us.”

But “this is why,” he continued, “I want to finish by saying that it’s important for me and all of us to recognize all the musicians who have devoted their lives to the orchestra.”

No one said it explicitly at this gala fundraiser, but musicians and management of the orchestra recently agreed to remain united another three years. A new labor contract was ratified last week by players — “overwhelmingly,” a union official said — after six months of talks.

Nézet-Séguin not only praised orchestra members who have been “at the service of this incredible … treasured sound that’s unique in the world,” but an unusually large number of them populated tables in the Kimmel Center lobby for the dinner following the concert, where flowered tablescapes featured photographs of the players.

If the orchestra had wanted to extend the theme of unity, it might have programmed Valerie Coleman’s Umoja: Anthem of Unity, which the ensemble premiered in 2019 and has since championed. But Joe Hisaishi is the orchestra’s composer in residence, and his Orbis, a work whose sound straddles film and concert music, fit the moment.

The orchestra, too, now occupies both of these stylistic realms, making Hisaishi’s ethereal-to-brightly-stirring score — whose Latin text sung by the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir speaks of joy — emblematic of the season ahead.

The short work was written in 2007 as a companion piece to Beethoven’s symphony, which on Thursday featured the expert choir and four soloists who ranged from strong to stupendous: soprano Leah Hawkins, mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, tenor Issachah Savage, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green.

Gala concerts of this sort often feature a single big-name soloist. The spotlight here was on the Beethoven, this great undying statement of humanity, and it was a programming decision endorsed by an audience that responded to the conductor’s push of the tempo at the end with a spontaneous roar.

There was another notable singer in attendance — Kathleen Battle, not on stage, but in the audience. At 78, the soprano still has presence, and you couldn’t help but sense her place as a bridge in history, a link from the pioneering Black contralto for whom the hall is named to the four soloists on stage who represent the future of the art form.

— Peter Dobrin

Ladies of liberty and Boricua pride

Thousands of Philly Ricans will celebrate the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade on the Parkway this weekend in one of the loudest and proudest parties of the year spotlighting our city’s incredibly strong Boricua community. All year round, though, there are other places in Philly with quieter but no less exuberant representations of Puerto Rican history and culture that recently made me smile.

In Fairhill — where I was thrilled to see the indie band Chuwi from Isabela perform at Feria del Barrio a couple weeks ago — there’s a towering, brightly colored mural by Philadelphia artist Parris Stancell that’s a joy to see. There are two vejigante figures in striking red, green, and yellow masks, one with arms wide open like it’s about to embrace the viewer. (These characters typically appear in festivals with frightening, monstrous masks to scare away bad spirits.) Beautiful birds and symbols from Indigenous Taino tribes adorn the vibrant scene.

Also, picture the Statue of Liberty with a Puerto Rican flag hanging from her crown. If that sounds familiar, you may have seen a mural in Fairmount depicting Lady Liberty with the same flag. That painting offers a close-up look at the statue’s mournful, softly defiant face.

Both murals show a powerful symbol in the history of Puerto Rico’s independence movements: These ladies of liberty were not some artistic imagination but recreations of a protest from 1977, when a group of Puerto Rican nationalists occupied the Statue of Liberty and draped their flag across her forehead to demand independence for Puerto Rico.

According to Mural Arts, the Fairmount mural was first made by an anonymous graffiti artist in the early 1980s who wanted to honor that significant historical event, but the mural was later covered up, only to be recreated after Philly Ricans petitioned the mayor to replace it.

These murals have me reflecting on the power of the diaspora in Philadelphia and beyond as Puerto Ricans on the archipelago are struggling through a devastating water crisis. That Statue of Liberty takeover happened nearly 50 years ago to criticize the government for treating Puerto Ricans as second-class citizens. Today, during Latino Heritage Month, when many Latin American nations ring in anniversaries of their independence days, Puerto Rico remains in colonial limbo. And Philly Ricans won’t let anyone forget it.

— Rosa Cartagena

Finding balance at Fringe

Chris Davis is still learning to let go of the barre. A literal ballet barre, from his years of late-in-life dance training. But the barre also represents the vices of his past — drugs; alcohol; unrealistic romantic expectations, thanks to too much exposure to ‘90s media; a codependent relationship.

And, he might admit, maybe they’re not all left in the past.

Dressed in a white tank top, tights, and slippers, Davis stretches and speaks to the Fringe Festival audience with nothing beside him onstage, except the barre and a boom box, which he occasionally holds above his head à la Say Anything.

The sparse set and sub-hour runtime are effective in centering Davis’ emotional journey from the guy who takes up ballet because of a ballerina ex, to the guy who keeps up with ballet (five to six days a week!) because it is what’s filling the existential void. There are more toxic ways to start over.

“The 40-Year-Old Ballerino” runs until Saturday, Sept. 26, at Studio 34.

— Julie Zeglen

A Bayeux Tapestry seen nearly after a century

“Bayeux mania” struck London last week. Throngs filed through the British Museum to see the Bayeux Tapestry, the famed 220-foot tapestry from the 1070s that returned to England from France for the first time in centuries.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, a Bayeux Tapestry has returned to public view for the first time in decades.

The piece is one of the stars of “Workshop of the World,” which opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in July and runs another few weeks. With 270 textiles, ceramics, pieces of furniture, works in stained glass, as well as paintings and prints, the exhibition takes a deep dive into the Arts and Crafts movement and industrial design in Philadelphia. The material is thoroughly Philadelphia, starting with the Centennial Exposition and following the city’s art schools, including the various iterations of the University of the Arts, and explores the idealistic craft communities of Bryn Athyn, New Hope, Rose Valley, and, in Delaware, Arden.

It’s also a show that probably packs in more beauty for beauty’s sake than any other at the museum in recent years while spanning an incredibly diverse aesthetic. It’s not often you see Golden Age book illustrator Maxfield Parrish, contemporary stained glass artist Judith Schaechter, and fabric swatches from the 19th century pulled together in one place, much less threaded into a story this convincingly.

The Bayeux Tapestry on view is gorgeously rendered and quite old, but not a millennium old. It is, rather, a full-scale reproduction from about 1873 both mechanically produced — with photography — and handmade.

“It was a project overseen by the South Kensington Museum in London,” said PMA curator of American decorative arts David Barquist. “They sent a photographer to France and made hundreds of glass plate negatives to print this out [on paper, mounted on cloth], and it was hand-colored because, of course, they didn’t have color photography at that point.”

Six copies were made, one of which was acquired by the Art Museum in 1888. Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts owned another copy. It was bought by the Bayeux Museum from Watts’ estate in 2023.

You can see only a relatively short stretch of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s facsimile. It’s been unfurled to the scene of King Harold’s coronation and a visit from Halley’s comet, which was seen as a bad omen.

Still, to see it at all is a rare treat. The museum displayed the piece when the museum was housed in Memorial Hall, but when the PMA moved into its current building, in 1928, the Bayeux reproduction was put into storage and wasn’t seen again until now, said Barquist — nearly a century later.

“By the time we moved here, Fiske Kimball was the director. This is not Fiske Kimball’s cup of tea,” said Barquist. “He was about modernism and Duchamp and all that stuff.”

Duchamp, by the way, promises to take the spotlight once again, with a major show opening at the museum Oct. 10. Call it “Duchamp mania.”

“Workshop of the World” continues at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Oct. 11. philamuseum.org.

— Peter Dobrin

Philly Fashion Week pleats, tucks, seams seen up close

I’ve watched Kevin Parker and Kerry Scott build Philly Fashion Week for 21 years.

Each year, I’m more impressed with the way they’ve made the biannual four-day style event not just a runway extravaganza but also a teaching opportunity. Fashion is an industry and Parker and Scott are dedicated to helping Philadelphia designers not just be fabulous but sell their fabulosity.

Tuesday night’s Immersive Fashion Show, the kick-off event to this fall’s Philly Fashion Week “From the Runway to the Streets: Philadelphia is Fashion” was another example of that. The show featured collections from five designers whose models did more than walk a runway: They walked up to the audience, allowing onlookers to see each pleat, tuck, seam, and swish of a hemline close up.

“We wanted to give the audience a chance to see the clothes, admire them, take pics, talk to the models, interact with the designers,” said Parker. “It’s a different way for designers to see the clothes.”

Among my favorites were Jeanette Limas’ romantic, yet no-nonsense silhouettes. I think there is a red gown appropriate for every occasion, and those with billowing sleeves, cinched waists, and ruffled hemlines give feminine energy with a powerful twist. Melani Von Alexandria’s hot girl looks were tailored and sharp in black and white. Sculpted hair designs by Kia Sterling took the gowns up an avant-garde notch.

Philly Fashion Week culminates Saturday, Sept. 19. The Business of Fashion Panel will be Saturday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., featuring a fireside chat with celebrity stylist KJ Moody — whose clients include Beyoncé — followed by the Runway II show, with more than dozen looks by national and local designers. The show will be outside between Market and Filbert Streets on Ninth. Tickets are available here.

— Elizabeth Wellington

Greek tragedy meets an American tragedy at Philadelphia Fringe

Remember when you got paired up with two other kids to present a history project in middle school? That is the premise of little ghost party’s 2026 Fringe production: three awkward middle schoolers having to put on a presentation about Greek playwrights. The three protagonists take turns hilariously recreating some of the best Greek tragedies, which unearths emotional moments for each.

Many Greek tragedies are considered violent, and the brutality makes it difficult to adapt in modern times. However, little ghost party smartly sets this middle school presentation in the wake of a neighboring school shooting. The students use that grief, along with raised alertness and fear, which makes the violence in some of these tragedies seem more contemporary.

Great performances from the three creators of the piece and some nostalgic projection work makes for a wonderfully unique Philadelphia Fringe experience.

“Offstage Onstage: Everything You Didn’t See the Greeks Do” is running at the Asian Arts Initiative Black Box until Sept. 28.

— Frank Schierloh, For The Inquirer

An Oasis documentary that’s much more than a band biography

I first saw Oasis at J.C. Dobbs on South Street in 1994. And then in 1996 at the first-ever show at the CoreStates Center — now, several name changes later, Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Then in 2025, battling brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher finally made peace after more than 15 years of not speaking to each other. But when the biggest Brit-pop band in the world reunited, they didn’t come any closer to Philadelphia than MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. That time, I didn’t make the trip up the Jersey Turnpike to see them.

And now that I’ve seen the new film, Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, I’ve come to see the error of my ways.

The documentary, which is directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, is an excellent concert film that captures the majestic roar of the Mancunian band’s guitar-army wall of sound.

But as it follows the Gallaghers as they fill stadiums in the U.K., U.S., and around the world, with 50,000 and more at every tour stop, it also achieves something improbable.

Don’t Look Back in Anger, which credits Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight as a writer, also tells a moving story about reconciliation.

That’s because it’s not just about the brothers, who were so completely estranged that their children had never met. It’s also about the fans to whom Oasis obviously means so much. And the kick is that so many of those ardent enthusiasts seen in the movie — particularly those in Asia and South America — are much, much younger than the band.

“Supersonic,” the first-ever Oasis single, from 1994, opened with the line “I need to be myself, I can’t be no one else.” The under 30 fans in the film who have taken that credo to heart and have waited most of their lives to finally see their favorite band live, include a Korean haenyeo, a “diving woman,” like the swimmer in the Japanese Breakfast song of that name.

There’s also a young Brazilian woman who finds her identity through an Oasis fan group and names her German shepherd after the band’s guitarist, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs. And a Manchester priest fashions a compelling sermon about forgiveness around Oasis finally making peace. If the Gallagher brothers can put their acrimony aside and love one another, he reasons, perhaps there’s hope for us all.

Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger is playing at Philly-area theaters and expected to stream on Hulu and Disney+ later this year. The band has announced Oasis ’27 tour dates. Once again, Philadelphia is not on the itinerary, with the band doing 11 hometown dates in Manchester next June and the only U.S. shows are three each in Boston and Las Vegas in August. Anyone up for a road trip?

— Dan DeLuca

Trauma Queen holds court at Philly Fringe

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you? Tell the Trauma Queen and she’ll make a hilarious joke out of it. Philadelphia playwright/comedian Liv Shoup presented a reading of her work in progress, Trauma Queen, to a packed house at Plays and Players’ Skinner Studio as part of the Fringe Festival’s Lemonade Stand hub. And, despite the dark subject matter, she had the audience snort-laughing almost the entire time.

Shoup’s titular queen brimmed with charisma in bright pink hair and compelling stage presence, despite the binder holding the script in front of her. She puts herself out there by trying stand-up at open mic nights, only to get kicked out for trying to tell rape jokes.

Her trauma, the sheepish stage manager tells her, isn’t funny, it just makes people uncomfortable (she excels in evoking both humor and discomfort in revealing, fascinating ways).

Then when she tries presenting in group therapy, she’s dinged for taking such a light tone about such serious topics. Doctor’s suggestion? Try stand-up. Instead of digging through her personal history, she turns it over to the audience (and the internet) to solicit their bad experiences so she can poke fun at them — and it leads to her surprise success.

The script was smart and biting, with Shoup delivering stream-of-consciousness rants with sharp barbs and excellent comedic timing. Her recovery journey provides pointed critiques of the perils of becoming an internet personality and the challenges of finding true friends who support and believe victims of sexual assault. It was refreshing, hysterical, and heartbreaking. I can’t wait to see where the play goes next.

The final performance of “Trauma Queen” is 1 p.m. Sept. 27, Plays and Players’ Skinner Studio, 1714 Delancey St., Philadelphia.

— Rosa Cartagena

Rubber Band Gun’s ‘Bloodwork’: More musical gems from Historic New Jersey

Kevin Basko has a suggestion: Music might make everything better.

“If you don’t know what to do because you’ve never been this sad before,” Basko sings. “You don’t feel those problems when you’re singing the songs you love.”

That lyric about music’s comforting and healing power is from “Songs You Love,” the closing track on Bloodwork, the winning new album by Rubber Band Gun, Basko’s primary vehicle for the many, many songs he loves to write.

It’s been a good year for Historic New Jersey, the label that — somewhat confusingly — is based in South Philadelphia and whose emergence is one of the most heartening indie rock stories of 2026.

Basko and his Historic NJ pals Emily Moales, who records as Star Moales, and sibling act Sam and Louise Sullivan have been producing a steady stream of retro-leaning but wholly in-the-moment high-level songcraft for a few years now.

Since the spring, the national and international music press has caught wind of what makes Historic NJ special, praising the warmth and camaraderie that comes through on Star Moales’ Highway to Hell and the Sullivans’ Love & Devotion.

Now, it’s Basko’s turn. Rubber Band Gun’s Bloodwork, like all of the other Historic NJ projects, was recorded and produced at Basko’s home studio in South Philly, with Moales and the Sullivans contributing musically and vocally.

The newest of the dozens of streamable releases on Rubber Band Gun’s Bandcamp page showcases Basko’s canny, inviting songwriting. Tunes like “Love Me Dawg” and “Money on My Mind” consistently offer subtle surprises and are never merely clever, even when Basko is punning on Rihanna and Rage Against the Machine lyrics while singing about feeling out of place in America in “Zombie in the Country.”

— Dan DeLuca

A Fringe Festival performance gives agency to enslaved member of P.T. Barnum’s 19th-century circus troupe

In 1835, showman, businessman, and politician P.T. Barnum bought an elderly enslaved woman, Joice Heth, from a Kentucky enslaver, added her to his circus, and falsely claimed she was George Washington’s 161-year-old nursemaid.

His advertisements described her as weighing 46 pounds and being blind and toothless — supposed evidence of her extreme age.

To reinforce the trope of the frail, subservient, illiterate Black person, Barnum insisted she use a poor, Southern dialect to regale the audience with stories about her relationship to Washington.

Heth died in 1836 at 80 and Barnum even exploited her in death, charging circusgoers 25 cents to see her dead body, an experience he marketed as a public autopsy.

A Philadelphia Fringe Festival performance underway at Crane Arts’ Icebox Project Space is running hot hula hoops around Barnum’s narrative of Heth. Strange Root, or the Murder of P.T. Barnum by Joice Heth stars Chicago-born circus performer and acrobat Julia Baccellieri as Heth and New York-based actor and teaching artist Lex Alston as P.T. Barnum.

Baccellieri created the work.

Baccellieri doesn’t portray Heth as a weak woman beaten down by her circumstances. Instead, they use dance trapeze, aerial apparatus, Chinese pole, and hula hoops to give Heth power, agency, and beauty.

The music is contemporary and soulful, weaving in Nina Simone’s jazz with Kendrick Lamar’s bars. Baccellieri dons a clown mask during the performance. They affix it as the audience listens to Maya Angelou read Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1896 poem “We Wear the Mask,” which speaks to Black Americans’ dual consciousness.

Alston’s portrayal of Barnum as a buffoon gives voice to the stupidity of racism, speaking truth to power: Racists who refuse to see the evil in their actions will cause their own demise.

Strange Root is short — it runs under 45 minutes — but it’s powerful.

“Strange Root, or the murder of P.T. Barnum” will be Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m., Crane Arts building, 1400 N. American Street. Tickets are $25. Ticket information is here.

— Elizabeth Wellington

Skeletal spectacles

South Street’s Magic Gardens are often packed with tourists and fans walking through the outdoor mosaic labyrinth of mirrors, glass bottles, clay sculptures, and ceramic tiles lovingly built by South Philly legend Isaiah Zagar. Inside, though, the building hosts rotating exhibits from other artists; currently on view is “Living Through Death” from Puebla artist Ivette Chaires, who spent time working in Philadelphia as part of the Julia Zagar Residency for Women Artists.

Using papier-mâché, Chaires crafted 36 skeletal figures in the Mexican tradition of cartonería, often seen during Día de los Muertos celebrations. Her skeletons are strikingly animated, decked out in funky modern clothing and thick-rimmed glasses or posing cheekily. There’s a Frida Kahlo figure and an Edgar Allan Poe — and a football fan with an Eagles cap. Several works depict the Zagars, like one with Isaiah and Julia wearing colorful mosaic outfits. The show debuted five months after Zagar died, making it a powerful tribute to his legacy.

Each delightfully spooky sculpture contains incredible layers. Tejedora (Weaver) features a bony woman bending over a loom attached to a tree trunk on one end and wrapped around her waist on the other. The details are so carefully crafted, from her twisted belt to her intricately woven gold earrings. Nearby stands a sweet little chicken with a living head and a dead underbelly. It was a fascinating, fully-formed scene that accomplished Chaires’ goal — for the viewer to feel deeply connected to the dead.

“Living Through Death: Works by Ivette Chaires” is on view through Nov. 8 at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, 1020 South St., Philadelphia, 215-733-0390 or phillymagicgardens.org.

— Rosa Cartagena

Philly’s favorite foods that you can wear

A manicured hand holding a cheesesteak, a hoagie, or an iron skillet filled with scrapple. Now imagine that on a hoodie or T-shirt. Add to that the beloved moniker “Philly Jawn” printed on the back in Philadelphia Phillies-style print and I’m hooked.

I may be a born and bred New Yorker, but after living here for 23 years, I’m a total Philly Jawn.

This latest sartorial homage to Philly food is a collaboration between interior designer Sheila Bridges and food writer, producer, and media entrepreneur Stephen Satterfield.

Earlier this year Bridges partnered with Walmart on a Philly-centric collection of tableware featuring her iconic Harlem Toille de Juoy print. Satterfield is best known for Netflix’s Peabody and NAACP award-winning series High on the Hog. Its first season featured Philadelphia food and Black catering families including Robert Bogle.

The Sheila Bridges X COMOCO T-shirts and hoodies are available in six foodie styles. In addition to the cheesesteak, hoagie, and scrapple designs are a soft pretzel, a rainbow water ice, and a hot dog.

Black tees feature hands raising hoagies, cheesesteaks, and hot dogs to a clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds. To me, it depicts the heavenly experience of biting into a yummy hoagie, cheesesteak, or hotdog.

“Because of the 250th, I was in this very Philly mindset,” said Bridges, Bill Clinton and author Tom Clancy’s interior decorator, who is calling Philly home these days.

“I love Philly food,” she said. “Every time I’m in town, I’m always looking for a soft pretzel with mustard or a cheesesteak.”

One of Bridges’ in-house artists nailed the illustrations. The shirts were produced by COMOCO Cotton, Satterfield’s apparel brand that uses cotton grown by Black-owned family farms in the South.

“I love how all of the cotton in our products is fully traceable from seed to garment,” Bridges said.

So do I.

Sheila Bridges X COMOCO Cotton’s limited-edition Philly-centric shirts are available online at SheilaBridges.com. Hoodies are $100. T-shirts are $85. Sizes: S, M, L, XL, and 2XL

— Elizabeth Wellington

A childhood anime favorite in 4K

Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988) is one of my favorite films ever. I watched a grainy pirated copy of it from an USB drive a friend lent me on my laptop screen and was spellbound by the hand-drawn animated frames. The film, based on the manga of the same name, is set in the dystopian faraway year of 2019 where Tokyo is in ruins following sudden destruction in 1988. It is plagued with protests, unemployment, corruption, and an overwhelming sense of decay and anger.

The action of the film unfolds when Shōtarō Kaneda’s bike gang, the Capsules, races against a rival gang in the midst of a rally that quickly escalates and becomes disruptive. In the middle of the action, Kaneda’s best friend Tetsuo Shima clashes with an otherworldly esper and gains supernatural powers, the same powers possessed by Akira who caused 1988’s wreckage. What follows is a tale of Shima developing superhuman strength and a destructive rage that consumes much of the city. The army and the police fail to manipulate Shima into submission.

It is a cyberpunk action film; so yes, there’s blood, death, several crashes, splintering glass, and never-ending dystopic vistas. The excellent score draws heavily from traditional Japanese and Indonesian styles and is composed by Shōji Yamashiro.

Imagine experiencing all of that on a grainy .mov file on a laptop screen. But you don’t have to! A new 4K and IMAX restoration, distributed by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment, has been released with English subtitles and English dub. Watching it felt like I was watching the film for the first time.

The glass shimmers, the blood glows redder, and everything looks grander on the big screen. It is an epic for our times, and for any era where too many people suffer under the reckless might of men drunk on their own power.

The 4K restoration of “Akira” is playing in theaters across the region, including AMC Broadstreet 7, AMC Cherry Hill 24, and AMC Voorhees 16.

— Bedatri D. Choudhury

A new mural at the Mann Center

Twelve color-soaked murals, filled with silhouettes entranced in dance, music, and community, adorn the entrance gates at the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

As visitors walk along the gravel-covered trail on Georges Hill Drive, they see a series of 10-foot-long panels that are a part of Echoes Beyond the Stage. The new installation was developed by artists Nile Livingston and De’von Downes to commemorate 50 years since the Mann moved to its current West Fairmount Park location.

Livingston and Downes collaborated with Streets Dept founder Conrad Benner and Mural Arts Philadelphia to create artwork that reflects the amphitheater’s history, while illuminating the people, historic blocks, and other institutions that surround its borders.

One mural references one of Aretha Franklin’s final performances at the Mann. Another highlights the century-old rowhouses that line the outside blocks, and others reflect the energy of past block parties, barbecues, and other activities brought to the community. Musical notes float from one panel to the next, showcasing the musical influences and memorable performances that have passed through time. Dancers, vocalists, DJs, and instrumentalists perform under purple, green, and amber-covered skies, while spectators watch from their amphitheater seats or windowsills.

While each panel differs in focus, they are bound by visual harmony. These works show Mann is not just a performance venue; it’s an essential part of the community and an integral piece of the city’s broader music history. And the best part? Visitors get a glimpse of it before stepping foot inside through the entrance gates.

The Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts is at 5201 Parkside Ave., Phila.

— Earl Hopkins

Turnstile’s ‘Never Enough’ reimagined by Will Yip, Alex G., and … Elton John?!

What do Alex G., Will Yip, and Elton John have in common?

The Havertown indie songwriter, Grammy-winning Philly producer and studio owner, and “Philadelphia Freedom” British rock legend all have a hand in Never Enough: Versions, the new album that reimagines Never Enough, the 2025 album by Baltimore pop hardcore band Turnstile.

Never Enough was already one of the most-acclaimed rock albums of the decade. At this year’s Grammys, the Brendan Yates-fronted band’s “Birds” won for best metal performance. And Turnstile and Yip, the owner of South Philly’s Memory Music Studios, who engineered the album and assisted Yates in producing it, won prestigious best rock album trophies.

Now, the 14-song album has been expanded with 22 new tracks, with the original songs remixed, rearranged, and reinterpreted by a dazzling array of artists.

The most mind-blowing presence is John, who turns “Seein’ Stars” into a proper song, and whose fame exponential outreaches that of his fellow Turnstile fans.

Those fans include Paramore singer Hayley Williams, who interprets “Ceilings”; boygenius’ Julien Baker, who teams with Sudanese Canadian poet Mustafa on an absolutely gorgeous “Time Is Happening”; jazz trumpeter Brandon Woody, who turns in a lovely instrumental “Dreaming”; and breakout electro-pop star Slayyyter, who soars on a high-flying “Birds.”

Both Baltimore club party MC Rod Lee and New York synth-pop songwriter Porches take on the Never Enough title track. Alex G. — whose full name is Alex Giannascoli and is also in music news for his score to Jane Schoenbrun’s movie Teenage Sex and Death and Camp Miasma — delivers an atmospheric, cinematic spin on “Magic Man,” which is also interpreted by Panda Bear of Animal Collective.

All in all, it’s a thoroughly impressive project that makes Turnstile seem like they might possibly be the coolest band in the world.

“Never Enough: Versions” is available to stream and purchase on music stores and platforms.

— Dan DeLuca

A favorite Dolly Parton, Doc Watson musical memory

Dolly Parton’s death this week spurred innumerable tributes celebrating her kindness and generosity of spirit from seemingly everyone who ever knew, worked with, or even had a chance encounter with the beloved country singer.

And along with the heartfelt testimonials to a truly one-of-one cultural figure also came the outpouring of video clips that flood social media when a cherished performer dies. The digital grieving ritual reminds us why we fell in love with our heroes in the first place and maybe shows us something to make us treasure them even more.

Lots of cool clips have been circulating, all easily findable if they haven’t already shown up in your feed. Among them is a 2019 snippet from backstage at the Newport Folk Festival that’s barely over a minute long, with Parton dressed in an embroidered cowboy suit, leading the Highwomen in a version of her song “Eagle When She Flies.”

Still more impressive is a 1999 performance from The Late Show with David Letterman with Trio, the threesome of Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. They cover Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” beautifully, with Parton front and center and Harris and Ronstadt supporting her in perfect harmony.

Other charmers includes an adorable duet with Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo on Texas country singer Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” which Hidalgo posted with a note remembering how Parton could tell how nervous he was and put him at ease telling him, “You’re shy and I’m not.”

There are two clips of performing for a clearly smitten Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in the 1970s, each playful and clever, but also displaying what a fine finger picking guitarist she was.

And her excellent taste is also apparent in a 1988 episode from her ABC variety show Dolly in which she headed to the Crescent City for Dolly Down in New Orleans and teamed with Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, and Dr. John for a delightful take on Lee Dorsey’s “Workin’ In a Coal Mine.”

(Dolly also yielded the Patti LaBelle duet on “Short’nin’ Bread” my colleague Elizabeth Wellington wrote about this week.)

My favorite of the bunch, however, is of Parton paired with the late guitarist Doc Watson in rehearsals and on stage in 2001 at MerleFest, the North Carolina traditional music festival named after Watson’s son, Merle, who died in 1985.

Parton and Watson work up a tender “The Last Thing on My Mind,” the Tom Paxton song she and Porter Wagoner recorded as their first single in 1967. She shadows Watson vocally, perfectly complementing him with her angelic voice. The furtive camera grants us the privilege to witness a private moment between a pair of legends working together for the first and only time, both now sadly gone.

— Dan DeLuca

A treasure trove of a coffee-table book celebrating Black art collectors

Last Saturday afternoon, I attended a book signing at Germantown’s Ubuntu Fine Art for the coffee-table book Keepers of a Movement: Black Collectors Who Preserve Art, Stories, and Legacies That Define Black Life (Schiffer Publishing, $50).

The 272-page text written by art historian, archivist, and curator Myrah Brown Green features the collections of Philadelphia-based art connoisseurs including Donnell Walker, founder of Fine Art for All Roots, a Lansdowne-based community arts organization; Vashti DuBois, founder of Germantown’s Colored Girls Museum; and the late Danny Simmons, owner of North Philadelphia’s Rush Gallery.

(Simmons’ widow, Keia D. Carter Simmons, associate director of Temple Contemporary Art Gallery, penned the foreword.)

Portraits by Philadelphia artists Tara “Misty Sol” Pearson, Nile Livingston, and Chantelle Phillips are also featured. A sculpture by North Philadelphia potter and ceramicist Roberto Lugo is pictured, too.

The glossy volume is a beautiful work of art overflowing with pieces that are timeless, unique, and oozing with history. Images of rare prints from African American masters including Elizabeth Catlett’s 1957 portrait Nina, part of 94-year-old Brooklyn-based sculptor Otto Neals’ collection, are in the book. As is a Romare Bearden 1980 watercolor Man Seated with Red Rooster from the collection of the late Brooklyn-based attorney Patricia Scipio-Brim.

Six paintings from actress CCH Pounder’s massive collection are photographed in Keepers.

Even more important than the art of the masters are the works from lesser-known artists. Often without recognition, they too document the lives, history, and experience of Black Americans and all who consider themselves part of the diaspora.

Simmons’ collection of comic books, toys, and superhero figurines is the kind of art I grew up with but didn’t consider art until recently. New York-based jewelry designer Donna Chambers’ collection of 19th-century Black cameos by unknown artists are a window into my obsession of the untold stories of the lives of my ancestors. Ohio-based quilter and historian Carolyn Mazloomi’s social justice textiles expanded my idea of art with a purpose.

“This book is the appropriate response to the current conditions that are removing Black art and Black history,” DuBois told audiences at the end of the show. “Black collectors have always done this work. We will continue to do this work as keepers of the movement.”

Amen. Alleluia.

“Keepers of a Movement: Black Collectors Who Preserve Art, Stories, and Legacies That Define Black Life” is available for purchase at the Colored Girls Museum located at 4613 Newhall St. in Germantown.

— Elizabeth Wellington

A ceiling like no other

Like many other people going in and out of Philadelphia, I had gotten used to the scaffolding at 30th Street Station until this week a little sign from Amtrak urged me to look up. The scaffolding pipes were gone and a newly restored ceiling gleamed. Innumerable perfect squares with more perfect squares nested within. The sienna (the exact shade is called Tuscan Red, a reader pointed out), gold, and cream colors look different as the light streams in from the 50-foot-tall windows and plays with the patterns and solid blocks of color along the length and breadth of the 93-foot-high coffered ceiling.

The indented panels are clean, the ornate art deco chandeliers are glowing, and the pendant lights are on. Philadelphia union workers have painted, fixed, and restored the station’s ceiling and it’s breathtaking in its art deco glory. A grand entry into a grand city.

The station, which opened in 1933, was designed by the Chicago-based firm Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White. It was part of the City Beautiful movement where, in the late 19th- and early-20th-centuries, governments took to designing grand and beautiful public spaces.

As part of a recent $550 million restoration, there’s talk of a food court and other things that’ll crowd into the main concourse of this awe-inspiring building that is on the National Register of Historic Places. A small corner of the ceiling above the Dunkin’ kiosk remains unrenovated. Just outside, a world of steel, glass, and concrete awaits along with a news cycle of reflecting pools and algae.

But for the minutes we can spare, as we rush in and out of our commutes, the grandeur of the ceiling and the building do their very best to make us forget that outside world and immerse us in a bygone time when wrecking balls didn’t charge through the White House but governments believed in investing in grand, beautiful spaces accessible to all.

— Bedatri D. Choudhury

A meeting of worlds with Diego Rivera and Gabriel García Márquez

There’s a pair of stunning Diego Rivera paintings at the Art Museum from 1931 — depicting scenes of harsh, back-breaking, intensive labor in Mexico — that I can’t stop thinking about.

The bright bluish-green stalks in Sugar Cane tower above the workers who hunch over, some attacking the crop with curved knives while others hoist overweight bundles onto their backs for transport. In the background, a white foreman reclines on a hammock above two sleeping dogs while another overseer is on horseback with his whip at the ready. The exploitation cuts across age groups, too, as a little Indigenous girl is pictured, helping her mother harvest papaya.

The violence of Sugar Cane is quieter than that of its companion, on view across the narrow hallway, called Liberation of the Peon.

Both illustrate the devastatingly difficult reality for farmworkers forced to labor under inhumane and cruel conditions. In Liberation, four revolutionary soldiers come to the aid of a worker who was stripped naked, tied up, and ruthlessly whipped. The men gently hold the victim, placing a vividly orange sheet around his bloody body and supporting his head as they cut the ropes on his wrists. Waiting patiently behind them are gorgeous horses; they are the only figures staring out from the fresco, their tender, wide eyes captivating the viewer with probing gazes that feel fittingly accusatory.

These artworks feel directly in conversation with the exquisite-yet-underrated show One Hundred Years of Solitude, the Netflix adaptation of Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez’s 1967 masterpiece of the same name that just released its series finale this week. It’s a beautifully shot, profoundly magical, and deeply tragic story following multiple generations of the Buendia family.

García Márquez used his incredible writing to condemn exploitative labor practices in Colombia as one major storyline took aim at United Fruit Company, an American corporation that monopolized land and resources across Latin America to violent excess (today it’s called Chiquita). One Hundred Years follows the expansion of banana plantations with horrifically abusive working conditions — concluding in the shooting of thousands of striking workers and their families, based on the Banana Massacre of 1928 — and mirrors the kind of greed-fueled brutality that Rivera captured in his paintings.

“Sugar Cane” and “Liberation of the Peon” are on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is streaming on Netflix.

— Rosa Cartagena

A Philly punk soundtrack for a stoner comedy

It’s a good month to be Mannequin Pussy.

Last week, the Philly band played its biggest ever hometown show as the first act at the Foo Fighters’ “Take Cover” tour at Lincoln Financial Field. Dressed in Eagles green, the band commanded attention, with singer Marisa Dabice stripping down to a T-shirt with a meme of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin proclaiming: “I will die for my country Philadelphia.”

Now, the band is also featured prominently in The Wrong Girls, the frequently hilarious new stoner comedy starring Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat. It’s written and directed by Stewart’s wife, Dylan Meyer, and the loaded cast includes LaKeith Stanfield, Kate McKinnon, Zack Fox, with Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani voicing a pair of cats.

In The Wrong Girls, the plot turns on a mistaken identity encounter that Stewart’s delivery driver/secret genius character Frankie has at a Mannequin Pussy show.

Just as they did onstage at the Linc, the band makes the most of its screen time, turning in ripping versions of “Patience” and “I Got Heaven,” the title track from the 2024 album that the band, who opened for Florence + the Machine this year and was featured in a NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, continues to support on the road.

They play European dates this month and will rejoin the Foos in North Dakota and Canada in September.

Besides Mannequin Pussy, The Wrong Girls, which is playing at area theaters, also features a Philly-connected garage-punk soundtrack that reflect Meyer’s excellent taste. The opening credits song is “What You Want” by Philly’s Sheer Mag, the score is by Ty Segall, and songs are heard by Tacocat and Slutever, the 2010s L.A. punk led by Philly natives Nicole Snyder and Rachel Gagliardi.

Mannequin Pussy is playing the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., Oct. 28, r5productions.com.

— Dan DeLuca

The largest mobile in the world

When Calder Gardens opened nearly a year ago and the spotlight was on the pioneer of the mobile, Calder fans were unable to see the artist’s largest contribution to the genre. That’s because public access to White Cascade in the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia was closed off for a year during an exhibit renovation in the atrium.

In June, though, the Philadelphia Fed reopened access to the piece, one of Alexander “Sandy” Calder’s last before his death in 1976.

You do wish it were a little more accessible. The piece is hung quite high, so you have to try a few spots to fully appreciate it. Employees looking into the atrium from areas not open to the public probably have the better view.

Still, one overcast morning this week, its lithe, hypnotic presence belied the superlative statistics. White Cascade is not only Calder’s largest piece — it is 100 feet tall, and weighs almost 10 tons — it is often cited as the largest mobile in the world.

And yet, it has a way of disappearing.

“We get folks who stop and look up at it,” said Todd Zartman, the Philadelphia Fed’s economic education manager, “and then other folks, they might work here two or three weeks and they’ll walk right under it and not realize what it is until someone points it out to them.”

What might not be obvious to either kind of viewer is that the mobile isn’t static. It’s hung from a motor that rotates the entire work at a very slow — though adjustable — speed.

“It’s been at this speed for quite a while, as long as I can remember, but I know it has been quicker at times,” said Zartman.

The gradual journey, which takes about 45 minutes per cycle, adds to the arresting effect. White Cascade moves so slowly, you can find yourself standing there for a while trying to prove to yourself that it does move.

If there’s any larger meaning to the piece, it’s up to the individual viewer to find it.

“The economy is constantly moving, it’s also not static, so I often tell people it kind of fits well here,” said Zartman.

“To most people who look at a mobile,” Calder once said, “it’s no more than a series of flat objects that move. To a few, though, it may be poetry.”

The artist might have appreciated the response of one visitor.

“I had a young girl who said it reminds her of the wintertime, of snowflakes coming down,” said Zartman, “and I thought about that, and I was like, ‘That’s kind of relaxing.’”

“White Cascade” can be seen at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 10 Independence Mall (Sixth St. between Arch and Race), Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.

— Peter Dobrin

Lit snakes, foxes, flowers, and butterflies

I played tourist last weekend as my parents were visiting and finally made my way to Franklin Square for the annual Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival. Unlike the weather in recent nights, it was a perfect evening to stroll through the wow-worthy sculptures of steel and silk.

At points, I felt like I was walking around an animatronic zoo as a giant bear scooped up salmon and raccoons played around. (I could skip the ones that talked.) Artisans from Zigong, China, created rows of flowers and families of animals like tigers, horses, and otters that completely take over the park. The central fountain is dotted with lit-up lily pads and dazzling swans while nearby there’s an entire jungle habitat with monkeys, birds, butterflies, an elephant, and a sassy snake whose automated mouth opens like a greeting.

The welcome arch features an array of traditional lanterns with multicolored silk and cool graphics that make for an excellent photo op as does the massive dragon that takes up nearly an entire block.

The shining star of the night for me was the stunning fox from the persimmon tree display meant to express “blessings of happiness, harmony, and success in the year ahead.” It lounged in front of the bright red fruit tree with a Mona Lisa smile, its mostly white fur illuminated by rainbow lights along its body and bushy, multilayered tail.

This diva deserves its own animated movie because its presence was pure magic.

The Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival runs through Aug. 30.

— Rosa Cartagena

A wooder ice perfume for your pulse points

With top notes of Italian lemon, sweet orange, and bergamot, perfumer Alex Rodriguez’s latest fragrance, Wooder Ice, smells exactly like lemon water ice, a favorite Philly sugary-sweet summertime treat.

But the perfume’s black currant middle notes and cedar wood and vanilla base gives it a musky vibe turning the warm weather-inspired scent into one that boasts sultry fall redolence.

And I love it, surprising even myself. I’m not a fan of florals or citrus scents but warm amber and musk notes ground me in reality. A few sprays of RDZ Parfum’s Wooder Ice on my pulse points lit up my summertime glow. Yet, I could see myself cozying up by the fireplace in the wintertime with Wooder Ice wafting in the background.

That’s the point, said Rodriguez, who released RDZ’s 15th perfume Friday.

“This is a lemon vanilla gelato,” Rodriguez said. “I want people to take their summer memories into the cold, winter months.”

Rodriguez, the 40-year-old founder and creative director of RDZ Parfum, was born in Camden and spent his preschool years in Puerto Rico before moving back to live in South Jersey and North Philadelphia. He now lives in Pottstown.

He launched his prestige perfume collection in 2023 to make scents that celebrate his Puerto Rican heritage and Philly-area upbringing. Leyenda 21, his first scent is a salute to Pittsburgh Pirates’ rightfielder Roberto Clemente — one of the first Puerto Ricans to play in the MLB. RDZ’s Art Museum scent, infused with palo santo, is an olfactory nod to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

But wait a minute. If Wooder Ice is an ode to Philadelphia, shouldn’t the first scent be cherry?

He kind of already did that.

Two years ago, Rodriguez released Philadelphia.

In addition to geranium, rose, and grass notes in honor of Longwood Gardens and Fairmount Park and salty hints for the soft pretzel, Philadelphia had a very cherry vibe.

Rodriguez decided to center lemon as the first in his Wooder Ice grouping because it’s his favorite flavor, reminding him of the days when he would frequent Rita’s Ice on South Jackson Street in Camden. “It was just so refreshing,” he said, adding that he’d like to expand Wooder Ice to center other flavors like cherry, grape, and mango.

“RDZ is about my landscapes, my memories, my culture, and my background,” he said. “Wooder Ice is an extension of that.”

Wooder Ice is $160 for a 100 ml bottle. It is available at Perfumology, 25 N. Third St. and on RDZParfums.com

— Elizabeth Wellington

The return of Isaiah Rashad

The past five years for Tennessee-born rapper Isaiah Rashad haven’t been quite as blissful. In fact, by the emcee’s own account, it’s been pretty awful.

In February 2022, an alleged sex tape involving Rashad was leaked on social media, prompting the introverted artist to address his sexual fluidity in media interviews. His bouts of alcoholism, substance abuse, and family drama only added to the descent, which led to a five-year stretch of inactivity.

That was until Rashad released It’s Been Awful in May. It’s an album unveiling his thoughts at the height of the descension, and the journey he’s undertaken to climb out of it.

His performance on Thursday started on shaky ground. He opened the show to “The New Sublime” and dropped the mic while leaping from one platform to the other. The crowd recited his lyrics as Rashad, smiling from the embarrassment, walked around to find a quick fix.

Right before the final verse, someone from backstage handed him a fresh mic, and he reverted into rap mode without missing a step.

Despite the technical missteps and Rashad’s irritated vocal chords, it was incredible seeing him fight through it all to perform records like “Free Lunch,” “4r Da Squaw,” “Heavenly Father,” and other records that span his decade-long career.

But no track was more symbolic than “The New Sublime,” an especially breezy song that signals his personal ills, and the ones shared among those closest to him. Even with everything he has been through, Rashad calls for prayer and self-reflection to keep his mind at ease. Like the contrast of the song’s lyrics and instrumental, it’s chaos contained.

That level of resilience, even in conditions as awful as this one, is why Rashad is considered a high-caliber artist. And why I walked away from his performance feeling like I not only “found” the real Isaiah Rashad, I understood him deeper as a man and artist.

It’s Been Awful is available on all music platforms.

— Earl Hopkins

Lady Alma’s newest Philly anthem

The career of Philly house music singer Alma Hornton — who performs as Lady Alma — stretches back to the 1990s, when she was a featured vocalist at the now “Back 2 Basics” nights at Silk City Lounge and gave voice to projects like King Britt’s soulful “Sylk 130″ and British electronic duo 4Hero.

Hornton had put music aside in the 2010s until a video of a fan dancing to her song “Let It Fall” went viral on Facebook, reviving a career that has gained momentum since, including her 2023 duet with the Eagles’ Jordan Mailata on “Merry Christmas, Baby.”

Now, she is a natural fit for the ongoing “Philly Anthems” project, an initiative of WXPN-FM (88.5) with support from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Her song “Liberty” is the fourth to be heard from the project, which also includes “Better Times” by Eric Bazilian, “America the Beautiful” by the War on Drugs’ multi-instrumentalist Eliza Hardy Jones, and “Freedom” by XPN 24 Hour Song Challenge winners the Flying Vees.

The “Philly Anthems” concept is to give Philadelphia artists “the opportunity to reflect on themes in the Declaration of Independence that resonate today through original music,” according to XPN station manager Roger LaMay.

Hornton does just that in a pulsating dance track that’s a collaboration with esteemed old-school hip-hop producer Marley Marl and 88 Fingerz. “Need some answers for the madness” she sings over a house music groove that aims to find catharsis on the dance floor, “Seeing hope through the sadness.”

In a statement, Hornton describes “Liberty” as “a song that offers an honest perspective on what the world needs right now. The song carries a sense of joy. Embrace the message and find light in the darkness. Celebrate unity, love and the belief that one day we will truly have liberty and justice for all.”

The coming weeks will bring new “Philly Anthems” by Christian McBride and Devon Gilfillian, plus up-and-coming acts Grace Gardner, Black Buttafly, the Bul Bey, J.R. Everhart, Sug Daniels, and Moustapha Noumbissi. A 12-song album will be released timed to Record Store Day in April 2027.

— Dan DeLuca

An arty house in Queen Village

There’s a storied house in Queen Village that holds many names: Lego House, Clock-Tower House, Art Deco House, Mondrian (after Dutch painter Piet Mondrian) House. In a city full of architectural gems, it’s one of my favorites.

The marvelous corner building is dotted with color, featuring a cornice of red, yellow, and blue bricks — evoking Mondrian’s signature style — and a clock on the roof. A small statue of a little girl with yellow hair and a blue skirt is hidden among the lush flowers growing in containers in front of the house. The home dates back more than 100 years and once served as a deli before an architect in the 1980s transformed it into this visual landmark.

As striking as the home is on the outside, there’s now a rare chance for curious Philadelphians to get a peek inside, where the artistry continues with boldly colored staircases and decor. The house was sold earlier this summer and the doors are now open for an antique sale this weekend where you can explore the legendary home and find possible treasures within.

The antique sale runs through Aug. 16, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 514 Fitzwater St., Phila.

— Rosa Cartagena

Jon Batiste’s ‘Black Mozart’ is a balm for the current times

Alas, we didn’t get Jon Batiste in person this week. The pianist, bandleader, and TV personality no doubt disappointed many when, citing “personal circumstances,” he canceled Friday night’s scheduled appearance at the Highmark Mann Center.

He “truly can’t wait to come back and perform for you soon,” Batiste assured fans in a message posted on the Highmark Mann website.

But Friday did bring us Jon Batiste all the same, via the release of Black Mozart. The new recording finds the musician at the keyboard alone in a jazzy, gospel-y, contemplative (though still energetic) mood. Using Mozart tunes as the departure point, he develops the material liberally — harmonically, rhythmically, sliding back and forth across the centuries and genres, and doing so in a natural, fluid way.

With 10 tracks totaling 35 minutes, Black Mozart’s source material is a Mozart piano sonata, a piano concerto, the Symphony No. 40, and other works. Batiste, who has two degrees from the Juilliard School, is at his best when he gets creative with the 18th-century composer.

Gospel Andante uses the slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 as a framework. But it’s when the power of gospel asserts itself — where the genre line really blurs — that the music lifts off into another emotional dimension.

There is nothing revolutionary about Black Mozart. Performers and composers have blended classical with jazz and other genres for decades. Batiste himself covered similar ground with his 2024 release, Beethoven Blues. But if Beethoven was a generally dramatic and soulful impetus, the quieter moments of Mozart transformed by Batiste are the appeal here. These are the easygoing pleasures that might be the counterprogramming you need in the current atmosphere.

“Black Mozart” is available across all music platforms.

— Peter Dobrin

A road trip featuring Goofy and Max

Odyssey this, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that.

What about the cinematic brilliance that is Disney’s 1995 classic, A Goofy Movie?

The Philadelphia Film Society and Another Corner — a South Street novelty shop devoted to books, photography, coffee, and other specialties — are screening the movie next week for one night only.

It’s part of the Film Society’s series on road trips and Another Corner’s hobby of the month focusing on “movie loving.” Shop owner Lee Frank will say a few words at the beginning and there will be zines and other film buff collectibles on hand.

The movie, which is 31 years old (sorry millennials, I know that hurts!), focuses on Goofy and his son, Max, reconnecting as they head to a concert. They’re on their way to see the iconic fictional band, Powerline, featuring a “Michael Jackson-styled canine,” as described in the Miami Herald’s original review.

The Herald review praised the film, adding that “this fast-paced movie has enough colorful characters and rollicking gags to keep the tykes from getting bored.”

“A Goofy Movie” plays Aug. 20 at the Philadelphia Film Society Center, 1412 Chestnut St. Tickets are $16 and available on the Film Society’s website.

— Emily Bloch

A summer evening oasis with Rodin

In Rodin Museum’s courtyard last Friday evening, you could run into old friends, play a game of gigantic chess, or try to keep up with your toddler toddling through the garden.

Or you could just sit back, sipping white wine and taking in the scene.

This weekly urban oasis at the Rodin has often featured live music to accompany drinks and snacks in the gorgeously landscaped courtyard. The event is now in its seasonal homestretch, continuing each Friday evening with recorded music through the end of August.

Oh, and while you’re there, you could also take in the jewel-box of a museum, which offers a choice selection of works by the French sculptor. The current show, “Rodin’s Hands,” features 15 bronzes and plasters, some of which relate to Auguste Rodin’s famous The Burghers of Calais.

The Rodin Museum, 2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Friday-Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Fridays until 8:30 p.m. through Aug. 28. Friday evenings are pay-what-you-wish. philamuseum.org.

— Peter Dobrin

A devastating Glen Hansard tribute

The last Irish funeral I watched on YouTube was Shane MacGowan’s.

The musical peak of that celebration of the Pogues songwriter, who had been beset by health problems before his death in 2023 at 65, came on a thrilling duet between Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill on the whiskey-soaked holiday classic “Fairytale of New York.”

I watched another this week. This time, it was for Hansard, the Frames and Swell Season singer who had been working on an album in Philadelphia before his death at 56 in a Dublin motorcycle accident, on July 29.

The funeral mass, which was livestreamed Aug. 4 from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, — and is archived online — had a feeling of unwanted deja vu. Less than three years after MacGowan had been laid to rest, many of the same musician mourners again gathered to pay tribute to one of their own, in this case a life brought to an unexpected tragic end.

Mourners included U2’s Bono, who led the congregation in an a cappella “Beautiful Day,” and played a voice note recording of Patti Smith singing a lullaby she wrote for Hansard. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, whom Hansard opened for in Philadelphia in 2024, sang “A Song of Good Hope” with the Swell Season’s Marketa Irglova.

The service is a beautiful, devastating watch. Eulogies were given by Hansard’s wife, Maire Saaritsa, and his brothers Richard and Gary, the latter of whom sang the heartbreaking ballad “I Can See God,” written by the Hansards’ uncle Paul Cahill.

O’Neill, who was among the Dublin musicians who played with an expanded Pogues at Franklin Music Hall in Philly last September, was particularly moving on “Old Note,” a song she wrote in a Dublin apartment that Hansard lent her so she could work on her music.

The Philadelphia crew who worked with Hansard at Elm Street Studios in Conshohocken in 2025, and this year, was represented by producer Charlie Hall of the War on Drugs. He can be spotted in the church choir as the service came to a close with a fevered rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young,” mashed up with George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and led by Hot House Flowers singer Liam Ó Maonlaí.

The night of the funeral, Hansard was further celebrated at Dublin’s Vicar Street concert hall. Vedder led the way on Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” with Hall on guitar on his right, and Asbury Park repped by Jake Clemons of the E Street Band, and photographer/musician Danny Clinch.

Philly musicians who worked with Hansard, including Hall, Luke Carlos O’Reilly, Ben Arnold, and Kevin Hanson, shared their remembrances of him on the Craic Radio Hour on WPPM-FM (106.5). The show can be heard on Mixcloud.

— Dan DeLuca

The fabric of a person

For incarcerated individuals with long-term or life sentences, life outside of prison may seem unimaginable. Artist Jesse Krimes brings those future visions to life through his Elegy Quilts.

The quilts, currently on display at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, are made up of pieces of clothing from incarcerated individuals. Krimes then asks the subjects of these quilts to name three elements: a piece of furniture, an animal, and an object, all meant to represent the person’s identity.

Some commonalities are present, with multiple individuals selecting a bird or a bathroom setting. However, each quilt feels like its own distinct insight into this person’s life, whether that’s a memory they cherish or the life they wish to return to.

Krimes himself was incarcerated for five years, and used art as a creative outlet during his sentence. All of the pieces in the show are named after prisons.

The quilts feel incredibly personal, thanks to the elements that Krimes requested of the subjects. Particularly in pieces like Florence, where I could almost see the sadness of the quilt horse as he looks at this childhood playroom scene.

At the same time, as deep as the pieces feel, their ultimate message or theme can’t be known without knowing the subject’s intention. It creates this emotional reaction while also raising questions about these people’s identities and how they perceive themselves: What makes someone feel like they’re an owl? Or a flamingo?

The quilts are striking, and all I want to see besides a million more are the actual stories behind them. That being said, the mystery is heartbreakingly beautiful, too.

“Elegy Quilts by Jesse Krimes” is on display until Nov. 1, 2026, at the Fabric Museum and Workshop, 1214 Arch St., Phila. fabricworkshopandmuseum.org

— Morgan Ritter

Wonders in wood

Inside the quiet, well-air-conditioned Museum of Art in Wood, visitors can explore dozens of wondrous artworks that will leave them asking, “How did the artist make this?” Two floors in Old City are packed with treasures primarily inside humidity-controlled glass cases, though I’d encourage you to check every corner — and make sure to look up! — so you don’t miss a thing.

One disarmingly funny work that I loved was a pair of tall bar chairs made of cherry wood with a special design on the seat: meticulously crafted luscious lips. Artists Silas Kopf and Thomas Coughlin fittingly called them Kiss My Ass Chairs, but I was fascinated even before I learned the cheeky title. The lips (and nose) are multicolored to indicate texture, light, and shading with such impressive skill.

Kopf is particularly renowned for his expertise in marquetry, a style of woodworking that incorporates thin pieces of material (in this case, assorted types of wood) to create a design.

See also: Louise Hibbert’s stunningly shiny seashells, Daniel Forest Hoffman’s unbelievably realistic Ram, Jason Marlow’s enigmatic helmet, and John H. Williams’ Solar Storm, a deep orange vessel with fingerprint-like swirls.

Those picks are from the permanent collection — the museum also hosts rotating exhibits, with the latest spotlighting their artists-in-residence. (The gift shop is another must-see.)

Plus, if you’re looking to enjoy the air-conditioning a bit longer, enter the museum’s wooden games library and try your hand at various puzzles or the ancient Egyptian board game senet.

Museum for Art in Wood, Wednesday-Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m., 141 N. Third St., Phila. museumforartinwood.org

— Rosa Cartagena

Teeny tiny art in Queen Village

I’ve visited At My House a couple of times, scouring the aisles for quirky vintage pieces, loving the eclectic vibe of the store even when I didn’t buy anything. So I was not surprised to see them hosting what is possibly the most whimsical art show I’ve ever been to, displaying art about the size of a postage stamp.

The Queen Village clothing and homewares store is run by Kelly Braun who, in collaboration with artist Fabiola Lara, started the mini art show last year. They invited artists to create art that was 3 inches x 3 inches, so this year, it had to be even more silly, cutting it in half to 1.5 inches x 1.5 inches.

The opening reception for the show was absolutely buzzing, with people grabbing cocktails and lining up around the store to view the wall of tiny pieces. There was tiny clothing, houses, rooms, closets, and classic art pieces — those were made by Lara, who is no stranger to mini art.

You may have come across her mini art vending machines, of which there are 13 around the city.

After visiting several major museums with grandiose pieces, I never thought I would see people get the most excited over art that can fit in the palm of their hands. But there was an infectious energy and a sense of joy at At My House.

In a world where large-scale exhibits are so heavily celebrated, getting giddy over comically tiny art felt like a therapeutic break from artistic snobbery.

“The Mini Mini Art Show” is on display through Aug. 2 at At My House, 760 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia. atmyhou.se

— Morgan Ritter

Harmony-happy Hurry is back with ‘Zoned Out’

Matthew Scottoline is Zoned Out. That’s the title of the transporting new album by Hurry, the jangly Philadelphia band that has been his creative outlet since 2012, when Scottoline — previously the bassist in Philly emo band Everyone Everywhere, stepped out as leader of his own power-pop project.

Now six albums in, Scottoline continues to refine the harmony-happy Hurry approach, where longing and yearning and experiencing a bittersweet melancholy is elevated to an art form.

In his notes to the album — which began as home recordings on cassette and was completed at the Metal Shop in East Kensington — explains that the dreamy, hypnotic song that gives the collection its name came about because “I tend to disassociate. I zone out and sort of crawl into my own head.”

In this case, that dissociating is a result of facing life changes — the end of one relationship, the beginning of another, and the decision to become a parent — “and how [expletive] scary that is,” as Scottoline puts it in his notes.

But while that tension exists as an undercurrent, Scottoline’s knack for breezy, cascading melodies mean that Zoned Out is always riding a pleasurable, reassuring wave. The album — which features a cameo from Gerard Love of Scottish power-pop heroes Teenage Fanclub — conveys a sense that any conflicts or “Complications” that may arise will ultimately resolve themselves, just as the melodies do on this seriously catchy set of 10 songs.

Hurry will perform for free Aug. 1 at Main Street Music, 4444 Main St. in Manayunk with Planette Automatic, mainstreetmusicpa.com. After heading to England and Scotland for a short tour, the band will be back in town at Philly Typewriter, 1735 Passyunk Ave., with Chime School and Te Vista on Aug. 22. r5productions.com.

— Dan DeLuca

Saved by Mary Oliver

Before Mary Oliver’s poems became the stuff of Instagram inspiration posts, she was the patron saint of college girls discovering love and nature for the first time. I was 16 when I read “Wild Geese,” almost crying at the lines: “You do not have to be good. / You do not have to walk on your knees / for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.”

In the years since, I have met so many women in love with her words: a former coworker had a tattoo of her lines, a friend will often quote from Oliver’s “The Summer Day” from memory just to describe her joy of being in a beach on a day so hot that the water shimmers as it evaporates in the horizon.

Oliver, who lived with her partner, Molly Malone Cook, in Provincetown for several years, is also a queer icon whose words never fail to soothe a soul in need of a reminder of the love and tenderness in this world.

Now, a documentary on her life and career — featuring readings of her poems by the likes of Helena Bonham Carter and Oprah Winfrey — celebrates the poet who died in 2019. Peppered with poetry, remembrances, interviews, photos, and notebook pages, Sasha Waters’ Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World is a treat to those who love Mary Oliver and those who are waiting to start.

“Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” plays July 31-Aug. 6, at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. brynmawrfilm.org

— Bedatri D. Choudhury

Steven Lagos’ Philly pride at Rockefeller Center

Philly master jeweler Steven Lagos’ flag blows along the perimeter of Rockefeller Center with graphic images of a cracked bell, 13 stars, and red-and-white striped detail. At first glance, it does not look much different than other art shouting out Philly’s history.

Then, I noticed Lagos’ golden caviar bead ribbon dancing in the center of the red, white, and blue canvas and thought this is special in a Lagos loves Philly kind of way.

Those caviar beads are Lagos’ trademark, a part of the design dictionary of Philadelphia, where Lagos has lived and worked for more than 50 years. It’s amazing to see him continuing to integrate Philly in his work.

Lagos’ flag is among 130 featured in the “United Flags of Fashion,” a joint project between the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Vogue, Rockefeller Center, and America 250 to honor the country’s milestone birthday. CFDA describes the project as a “sweeping tribute to American creativity, identity, and design.”

Other household-name fashion brands with flags flying high are Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Gap, and Kenneth Cole. Bucks County-born Thom Browne’s flag is steely gray flag and features a crest; Main Line-bred Tory Burch’s red, white, and blue flag also showcases a Liberty Bell, but her image hovers over the words virtue, liberty, and independence. These Pennsylvania makers are full mast.

While those designers proudly say they are from the Philly area, Lagos — whose red and white stripes represent the columns at the Philadelphia Museum of Art — stayed in Philly. His flagship business is on Philly’s toniest street and, as evidenced in his Rockefeller Center banner, Lagos reps Philly in everything he does.

The flags will fly at Rockefeller Center through Sept. 4.

— Elizabeth Wellington

God bless you please, Michelle Buteau

It’s hard to say goodbye to one of my favorite shows, but the third and final season of Survival of the Thickest felt like a fitting ending for Michelle Buteau’s witty comedy. She plays Mavis, an aspiring fashion designer who wants to make clothes that fit all body types — thick girls, genderqueer folks, and anyone else who thrives outside of the fashion world’s narrow beauty standards.

In this season, (part-time) Delaware County resident Wanda Sykes joins the cast as Mavis’ fertility doctor and she’s a cool-headed, hilarious scene partner who deflates her patient’s babbling anxiety with well-timed precision.

The show remains funny, warm, and sassy, but the emotions reach new depths as Mavis experiences a miscarriage and struggles in her recovery. Nothing keeps her down for long though, and it’s such a comfort to see Mavis get back up. It’s an uplifting and heartwarming story that could help any viewer overcome summertime (or other time) sadness.

“Survival of the Thickest” streams on Netflix.

— Rosa Cartagena