Au Revoir

Many Culture Vulture apologies for my less than regular postings this summer, but I've been preparing to move. After graduating, I decided to do a year of service and I've taken a job with a non-profit in Raleigh, North Carolina. Needless to say, my arts pursuit will not end with my move, but I must take a leave of absence from this blog until I've returned to the City of Brotherly Love. I can hardly post about Philly from the South! In the meantime, I will have another blog documenting my service experience, with particular focus on the simple lifestyle. The address will be posted when it's up and running. Thanks to everyone for your readership, and stay cultural, Philadelphia!

Wild

The Rosenbach Museum, one of Philadelphia's most underutilized gems, is displaying a can't-miss exhibit called There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak on famed children's author and artist Maurice Sendak. Most famous for Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak changed the nature of children's books forever by riding the new wave of child psychology that recognized the complex and sometimes scary emotions children experience.

Exhibit aside, the Rosenbach is a museum worthy of a visit in its own right. The literary collection contains original manuscripts of Pickwick Papers, Ulysses, and Lord Jim, as well as Herman Melville's bookcase complete with its small library (particularly interesting to one Culture Vulture who just spent an entire semester researching Melville). The Rosenbach always gets hype around Bloomsday, when it hosts a full-day tribute to Joyce's Ulysses, but this event tends to overshadow the worthy, ongoing work of the museum. I would resommend a visit to anyone with an interest in literature, not just scholars. The museum sets an accessible tone, and its unassuming location on Delancey Street and personal, inviting staff make each visitor feel like a VIP getting the back-door experience.

The current Sendak exhibit strikes a perfect balance between appealing to adults and children. Sendak donated over 10,000 drawings and manuscripts to the museum, so the museum had a lot to work with. The Rosenbach took full advantage of his delightful illustrations and memorable quotes by colorfully adorning the rooms with them. This exhibit will be changing over the next several months (inviting repeat visitors), but the current display focuses on Sendak's background, influences, and beliefs about child psychology.

It was very refreshing to see children's literature getting the seldom-delivered respect it deserves. In books like In the Night Kitchen, and Outside Over There Sendak did not simple come up with a "nice story," but created a catharsis for the confusing emotions children deal with. He incorporated in his books influential events from the collective culture, such as the Holocaust and the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Sendak recognized that adults weren't the only ones affected by these events, and that children also had to come to terms with them. The exhibit was engrossing, and more than one fellow attendant felt compelled to comment on how Sendak's books had affected their lives, both as children and as they re-read the books to their own children. For anyone who has had the pleasure of reading one of Sendak's books (and few among us have not), this exhibit is more than worthwhile. General admission to the Rosenbach is $10, and it's $5 for students. For museum hours and a full list of events connected with the exhibit visit www.rosenbach.org.

Groovin'

After the success of last weeks Global Grooves event, I thought I'd post about the rest of the schedule, beginning tonight with Pistolera. They are a Latin-alt quartet with traditional Mexican influences, and they're reputed to create a kicking dance beat. Pistolera performs at 7:30 p.m. in the Perelman Theater. Next Thursday, the 24th, the Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar brings its Balkan brass sound to the stage, and on August 21st (if you can wait that long) there will be an African tribute to James Brown called "Still Black, Still Proud." Tickets are $20-25 and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office, or online at http://www.kimmelcenter.org/.

The Casbah Rocks

Rachid Taha is nothing else if not a performer. On Thursday night at the Kimmel Center he turned the usually refined Perelman Theater into a slamming dance party. Taha's style of music, called rai, is a form of traditional Algerian folk music, but his sound was far from my concept of folk. His music - and image - has much more in common with punk.

Taha's persona, more so even than his excellent music, dominated the stage Thursday. In his bright red suit and white sneakers, with the occasional trademark fedora and sunglasses, he reminded me of an era when stage presence and personality were prerequisites for performers. Perhaps I've seen too many stiff-necked indie bands, but I think before you even consider taking your music public you need to develope some pizazz. Either that or join the pit orchestra, cause then we don't have to look at you.

Now, that said, Taha was such a ham that at times I almost felt a little uncomfortable. I was right in front by the stage, but when my roommate suggested we try to grab his hand I pulled back. He was so overtly sexual that I didn't want to get too close. At one point during the night he invited a bunch of people on stage and tried to make out with a (fortunately reluctant) 14-year-old girl, so my fears were well founded. And although I found his banter between sets a little difficult to understand (he spoke in a mixture of French, Arabic, and English), I definitely understood when he yelled, "I want some sex tonight!" Let's just say I inched back a little further from the stage.

Despite these seemingly un-Kimmel Center moments, however, Taha's performance stood alone. He danced around stage, gyrating those eager hips and caressing the microphone, his energy lighting up the audience. He drew a very mixed crowd - old, young, American, French, Middle Eastern - but everybody danced. I was sandwiched between a very rythmic mother with her two young girls, and a couple of headbanging college guys. Behind me was an elderly couple partners-dancing. Clearly Taha is a unifier. I have to say, my favorite number was definitely his Clash cover, "Rock el Casbah" (very difficult to translate). Taha has a new "Best of" cd out, and you can check out his music at rachidtaha.artistes.universalmusic.fr.

Also, a heads-up that this Tuesday at 9 p.m. the Lawn Chair Drive-In (lawnchairdrivein.com) is showing Gold Diggers of 1933, a depression-era over the top musical. So if last week's depressing modernist French piece wasn't your cup of tea, this is a real turn-around.

A Capital Fourth

This Fourth of July seemed more packed with events than any in recent years. Philadelphia's only getting better at making this the city for celebrating our nation's birth (Chris Satullo's suggestions to abstain aside). Here are just a few highlights from Culture Vulture's experience this week:

Yo-Yo Ma visited Philadelphia on Monday night to kick off the Philadelphia Orchestra's summer program. Although not officially related to Independence Day, the fact that Mr. Ma, as I like to call him, appeared with our very own orchestra and that the fates conspired to make it a lovely evening for this open air event at the Mann Center made me proud to be not only an American, but a Philadelphian. He only played one song - Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto No. 1 - but he made it count. His fingers were all over that cello neck, and he made it seem almost effortless. But what I was most impressed by was his humility. You would think an international star like Yo-Yo Ma would have an ego the size of Texas, but he redirected all of the applause to the conductor, Rossen Milanov, and the whole orchestra. Now that's true star quality.

On the actual Fourth, I eshewed the crowds of the city for the traditional-style Southampton Days celebration in the Philadelphia suburbs. The parade had just about every fire engine in Bucks County present, but it also had flavor. The bands were on point, and the floats creative. I was also pleased to see the Democrats - Patrick Murphy among them - represented for once, although appalled at the silence of the Republican crowd. One Culture Vulture, however, managed to make up for the quiet of others. The parade was followed by special events at the carnival (cow chip bingo, anyone?), and a complete fireworks display at nightfall. Sometimes it's nice to get out of the city and have a real down-home holiday.

I couldn't stay away from Philly for too long, though, and I found myself lured yesterday by the Super Scooper all-you-can-eat ice cream festival at Penn's Landing. The $5 proceeds went to the Joshua Kahan fund, and in case that wasn't incentive enough, there were representatives from all of the major ice cream producers - local, national, and international. The only problem, however, was that it was a mob scene. There was a very long line to even get in, and once inside only the aggressive ate ice cream. Culture Vulture went into take-no-prisoners gear, and boy, we ate ice cream. I must say, Bassett's is still my favorite (and apparently also has the highest fat content, according to a recent documentary), but we have a lovely selection of ice cream here in Philadelphia.

Finally, a heads-up about some events Culture Vulture will be attending during the post-Fourth recoup week:

First, Tuesday night there will be a free outdoor screening of Orpheus in the Liberty Lands Park (3rd and Poplar) at 8 p.m. This is the 1950s, psychological version, with the setting transplanted to France just after World War II. Because who couldn't use a little Greek tragedy to ward off the mid-week slump?

Secondly, and I am very excited about this, the Kimmel Center is kicking off its Global Grooves series on Thursday night with Algerian musician Rachid Taha performing at 7:30 p.m. in the Perelman Theater. Going on throughout the summer, Global Grooves is a series of peformances by world musicians with the Perelman transformed into a dance club with a cash bar. So no more quiet finger drumming at the Kimmel when you really want to be shaking it (it has been a problem for me in the past). Tickets are $20 and available at www.kimmelcenter.org. And with Taha self-decsribed as "Clash meets Cramps meets Egyptian strings back beat," I don't think anyone will want to miss this starter.

Americana

I'm going to admit something here. Ready? When it comes to classical music, I can be unsophisticated. Okay, that wasn't so hard. Now I can unclench my stomache. So why, you ask, would the author or a cultural blog admit to simple taste? Because sometimes simple can be good.

Take Thursday night's Philadelphia Orchestra performance, for example. Called "American Postcards," the bill featured only pieces by composers from the grand old U. S. of A. Now I know several of you officianados are probably choking on your palate cleansers right now. "What?" you cry, "No Russians?!" But hear me out. Sometimes - or most times - pieces have mass appeal for a reason: because they're moving and accesible. Thursday night's performance at the Kimmel Center highlighted this fact, often overlooked in salon circles.

The program opened with Berstein's Overture to Candide. We all know it. We all love it. But does that mean hearing a well-executed rendition of it is trite? Quite the opposite. It's deliciously satisfying. The same goes for Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Honestly I could listen to it from this moment until my last breath and never grow tired. So I may be a little biased. (My friend and I actually got into a fight during the concert over which one of us Gershwin would be more likely to date were he alive today. Totally me.) But let's be honest - he's a crowd-pleaser, and with good reason.

For their final piece, the orchestra performed Sousa's "Star and Stripes Forever." Hold your cringes, you purests. This is a damn good piece of music, and Thursday night's was honestly the best performance of it I've ever heard. The Kimmel Center's occasionally stuffy audiences were actually clapping to the beat enthusiastically and gave a standing ovation. And can I just say a word for Sousa? So marching bands have become uncool (unless your Nick Cannon, who was cool even while appearing in Drumline, but lost it when he married Mariah Carrey). But this stuff is America. My Grandpop still talks about how moved he was going to watch Sousa perform live at Willow Grove Park. Sousa is American music history, and guess what? He's also pretty cool to listen to. members of the classical inner circle. I'm not even too proud to clap along. Take that, members of the classical inner circle.

But before you unsubscribe to my blog, don't worry. Tomorrow I'll be reviewing Yo-Yo Ma.

Summer in the City

It took me a full day to recover from the Kimmel Center's Summer Solstice festivities - a full day! But when a celebration lasts from 3 in the afternoon until 6 a.m. the next morning, it tends to hit your pretty hard. But it is so worth it.

There were events for everyone from toddlers to yuppies to octogenarians. Funny how I find my interests falling into all three categories. I'll just provide a few highlights. The Swaray African Safari Ensemble performed in the Kimmel Center lobby with impressive energy. Few people could resist the urge to move to their music. The only strange aspect of their performance was that I looked away one moment and the next moment they had African dancers on stage in Vegas showgirl outfits. African dancers? Yes. Gaudy sequined bikinis? No. Next time don't distract from the theme, guys.

Philly native rock band The Brakes seemed thrilled to be performing in the impressive space of Verizon Hall, and they played with the ingenuity and enthusiasm to prove it. It was refreshing to see such a humble group of guys perform in a big-time concert hall, and the acoustics certainly did their indie/blues sound justice. Culture Vulture will definitely be keeping her eyes on these guys for future performances.

There was also a Guitar Hero death match, er, competition in Verizon Hall. The fact that it looked incongruous on the same stage as the Philadelphia Orchestra made it a little bizarre, but no less fun. Let me tell you, too, this competition was fierce. I saw a 12-year-old boy break a grown man with the flick of a wrist. Tensions ran high, but luckily there were no hard feelings.

On the Hamilton Rooftop Garden, which you have to visit if you've never gotten that close to the Kimmel Center's skylight ceiling, the incredibly strong women who comprise Shofuso Taiko performed traditional Japanese drumming. It was almost a dance as well as a musical performance, and the women were all in perfect unison. After the performance they offered a brief taiko workshop, in which I participated. Taiko is just a little bit harder than I anticipated. Let's just say I may have been singled out for extra help by the instructor.

Into the night, DJ Spinderella of Salt-N-Peppa fame (yes, as in, "Let's Talk About Sex") span dance tunes in the Perelman theater-turned-club. It was a little awkward at first grooving to hip hop in the same space where I usually listen to cello soloists, but I quickly adjusted, and judging from the packed room so did everyone else.

Although I didn't quite make it to the drum circle at dawn (I was going to improvise and somehow play my body), I definitely feel I got my money's worth out of the event. With my longest day of the year well-spent and the pagan worship checked off my to-do list, I feel entirely satisfied.