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.