THEATRE
ART
Walnut Street Theatre
825 Walnut Street
8p.m., $10-50
(215) 574-3550
Through March 3
The perfect name for... well, a play, actually. It's a comedy based on the reactions of three over-the-hill Frenchmen when one of the three friends purchases a pricey and controversial piece of abstract art. The interactions between the men range from humorous to frankly quite touching. It's sweet, really, considering we're talking about French dudes. The honest, moving storyline and entertaining dialogue have brought ART the Tony Award for Best Play, the Laurence Olivier Award and successful runs in New York and London.
Jambulu
InterAct Theatre Company
2030 Sansom Street
Various times, $20/$24
(215) 569-9700
Through February 17
I just do not think that I can ignore the fact that the actors in this play are painted a squeamish shade of green. I can try to understand the deeper meanings involved, to feel the ability to transcend race and color distinctions in a manner that is not humanly possible, according to the storyline by playwright Mary Fengar Gail. As the cast of Jambulu encounters verdant alien life forms, they learn what it is to eradicate racism. But, do you have to be painted green to do that?
La Perichole
Opera Company of Philadelphia
1420 Locust Street
$21/$37/$5 Rush Tickets 2 hours before performance
(215) 893-3600
Through February 2
I am known to have a weakness for Latin women. How can I resist? Quite simply, with the likes of Gisele running around, I am at the mercy of the femmes fatales of the Southern Hemisphere. And I am not alone. Oh no, there are many of us who fancy bronzed, slender, long-haired ladies. We shall all enjoy this opera based on the love story between a hot, Peruvian street singer and her quintessentially poor-but-equally-attractive lover and how they screw the rich guy that is pursuing her. Yada, yada, yada. Did I mention that she dances, too?
Lackawanna Blues
Freedom Theatre
1346 North Broad Street
2 p.m./8p.m., $22-$34
(215) 978-8497
Through February 10
Talk about a one-man operation. Ruben Santiago Hudson, who has appeared in Shaft, The West Wing and The Devil's Advocate, is now performing Lackawanna Blues at the Freedom Theatre. Santiago-Hudson wrote and directed the play and stars in it himself, playing 23 different roles. Actors are so vain. Having grown up half-black and half-hispanic, the play recounts his childhood in upstate New York. The Freedom Theatre, where Blues is running, is the oldest African-American theatre in the area.
CONCERTS
The Steve Wilson Quartet
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Benjamin Franklin Parkway & 26th Street
Friday, January 25
5p.m.-8:45p.m., $7 with Student ID
(215) 763-8100
Part of ongoing Friday Evenings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Culture, my friends, culture. It will only hurt a teeny bit, and only for a few seconds. The leadership at the Philadelphia Museum of Art believes that if it stays open just a bit longer on Friday evenings, throngs of eager Philadelphians and Penn students alike will rush to see the 200 exhibits, to eat catered hors d'oeuvres in the Great Stair Hall of the museum or even to listen to musicians entertain. Steve Wilson, a distant cousin of Beach Boy Brian, and his quartet headline this Friday's event.
Low Budgets/Satanic Butt Slayer
Trocadero Balcony
1003 Arch Street
Saturday, January 26
8p.m., $7, 21+ to enter
(215) 922-LIVE
I've got a confession to make. I don't really know anything about either of these bands, but, if the names indicate anything, they are probably disgruntled, jobless SAS seniors and opera singers, respectively. So these bands could, theoretically, totally suck. But then again, they are named the Low Budgets and the Satanic Butt Slayer. So, honestly, how awesome is this show going to be?
Tania maria
Zellerbach Theatre
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
3680 Walnut Street
Saturday, January 26th
8p.m., $21/$27/$32
(215) 898-6701
Do you sense a Latin theme here in the Guides section? It's intentional. This energetic songstress, Tania Maria is one of my favorite Brazilians. Brazil is the best Latin American country because demographically speaking, there are so many eligible females, which significantly helps my chances in finding a Latin lady. Enjoying a 30 year music career that was jump-started in the nightclubs of Paris, Maria combines funk, jazz and Brazilian influences into her own distinct sound. She has recently completed her third CD, Viva Brazil! a m‚lange of her own sentimental songs about her homeland and thunderous Brazilian futbol chants.
Wolfpac
Too Damn Hype Records
1619 East Passyunk Avenue
Sunday, January 27
2:00 p.m., Free
(215) 755-0601
For many years in the music industry, some bands have been all flash and very little substance. Wolfpac is definitely one of those, featuring a hugely fat frontman -- complete with a weird hairdo, piercings and tattoos -- who has more than once appeared totally naked on the Howard Stern show. Yummy. Recently, they've had some modest success with a cover of Digital Underground's "Humpty Dance," but that doesn't mean their music is at all good. Still, if your Prozac just isn't working this week, this show would work for a few laughs.
Creed
First Union Center
3601 South Broad Street
Monday, January 28
7:30p.m., $45
(215) 336-3600
When we became Guides editors this semester, we wanted to make more people read the section. Our predecessors did a great job, but we still felt like we had the most overlooked section in the magazine. We resolved to include a little more mainstream stuff in our listings. Yeah, that one's coming right back to bite us in the ass, because, damn, Creed sucks. Somehow they've managed to fuse the worst parts of tired classic rock with an absolutely terrible whiny lead singer. And this is a formula for success?
SPORTS
PHILADELPHIA WINGS LACROSSE Versus BUFFALO BANDITS
First Union Center
Friday, January 25
7:30p.m., $18-$36
(215) 336-3600
All hail the escaped Buffalo lacrosse team, those crazy Bandits! After digging themselves slowly and painstakingly out of eight feet of snow in Buffalo, they will arrive in Philly for a brief vacation. Sadly enough, they have to return to the hell hole that is Buffalo to wait until the snow shall melt once and for all. Optimistic forecasts are predicting that it will be April before the snow finally dissipates.
Philadelphia Kixx versus Milwaukee Wave
First Union Spectrum
Men's Indoor Soccer League
Saturday January 26
7:05 p.m., $16/$18
(215) 336-3600
Not an Eagles fan? Wanna see some sport, but don't want to risk wearing the wrong team's jersey and ending up in a wheelchair? Try indoor soccer. Unlike regular soccer, indoor games are action and scoring packed -- the last match between the Kixx and the Wave resulted in a 20-8 win for our hometown heroes. The team is led by Chris Handsor, who will face Joe Reiniger, the league-leader in scoring, as the Kixx, currently a half-game back from the Wave, play for sole possession of number one in the league. And who knows -- you might just even see that hot Survivor winner/soccer player at the game.
COMMUNITY
Gmc Philadelphia Home Show
Featuring Special Guest Sopranos Star Tony Sirico
Pennsylvania Convention Center
12th Street & Arch Street
11a.m.-9:30p.m., $9
(215) 418-4700
Through January 27
It would be quite a stretch for the average Penn student to call their house in West Philly a home. Unless they live in the Left Bank, which is immediate grounds for disqualification. So the draw of this year's Home Show probably lies in the fact that Tony Sirico of Sopranos fame will make a guest appearance. Be careful not to hurt any of the Mainline housemommies as you make your way to the front of the line -- it just might be your roommate's mother. That would be an unfortunate end to any possibility of a home-cooked meal this semester.
ALLIES Coffee House
