Depending on your feelings about romantic comedies, going to see the soon-to-open James L. Brooks movie How Do You Know? may only appeal to you because it was partially shot nearby. Scenes for the film, which opens Friday and stars Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson, were shot at the Armory at 33rd and Lancaster Avenue as well as the Widener building near 13th and Chestnut.
Another film with a little more of the West Philly vibe is Cafe, which was filmed here in the summer of 2009. Any of you who have spent time at the Green Line Cafe on Baltimore Avenue will recognize the cafe in Cafe. That’s because writer and director Marc Erlbaum wrote much of the screenplay at said Green Line (renamed “West Philly Grounds” for the movie). The film, which stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, was screened October 16 at the Philadelphia Film Festival. We have been hunting around for other screenings. Let us know if you hear of any.
Here’s some footage from Cafe, including some outside the Green Line, that includes co-star Daniel Eric Gold.
Tonight is a good chance to hear some great music in a nice venue at a great price – if you live in West Philly and can prove it. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a New Orleans staple, is playing tonight at 8 p.m. at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts‘ Zellerbach Theater (3680 Walnut St.)
The band is performing its “Creole Christmas” show, which is always a hot draw in New Orleans. If that weren’t enough enticement, tickets are only $10 if you have ID showing that you live in one of the following zip codes: 19104, 19131, 19139, 19142, 19143, 19151 and 19153. The ticket price is part of the West Philly Rush Hour Program.
Tickets are available two hours before the show for one hour. So tickets for tonight’s show are available from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. You can only buy them at the Center box office and a limited number are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. The seats will be located throughout the venue at the management’s discretion. Up to two tickets are available per person and the purchaser must show a valid driver’s license or non-driver’s license ID that shows the zip code.
Elyse Fenton, a poet who is temporarily living in West Philadelphia, won the prestigous Dylan Thomas Prize earlier this week for Clamor, a collection of poems about her experience as the wife of a soldier serving in Iraq.
“The full spectacle of this is just starting to dawn on me,” she told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Peter Florence, the chair of the judges for the prize, called Fenton’s work an “astonishing, fully accomplished book of huge ambition and spectacular delivery.”
Fenton was presented the award during a ceremony Wednesday at the University of Swansea, located in the Welsh city where Thomas was born. The prize includes a 30,000 pound ($48,000) cash prize. Fenton’s work was the first time the 3-year-old prize has been awarded to a book of poems. Authors under the age of 30 who have published a work in English are eligible for the award.
The Inquirer reported that Fenton is staying in her brother’s West Philly row home while her husband, who served in Iraq in 2005, serves a legal clerkship in Trenton.
A sampling of stuff happening around the area today/tonight. See happenings for information on other events.
• Eateleh: A Life in Klezmer • 7:30 p.m. • Calvary Center for Community and Culture • 801 S. 48th St. (at Baltimore Avenue) • Tickets: $10-$30 A production of the Philadelphia Folklore Project and Crossroads Music, this event includes a documentary about klezmer music and a performance by Elaine Hoffman Watts and Susan Lankin Watts (mother and daughter) who are part of a family of klezmer musicians. The documentary tells the story of their family and the legacy of klezmer, a musical style rooted in Ukrainian and Romanian traditions.
Organizers strongly recommend buying tickets in advance. They are available online and at the door until they sell out.
Every year since 2003 the folks at Neighborhood Bike Parts put out a call to local artists to come and scrounge around in their used parts bins. Tonight we get a chance to see (and buy) what they’ve created from all those chain rings, cranksets and pedals. The annual Bike Part Art Show runs 7-10 p.m. tonight at Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave).
Proceeds from the silent auction and raffle that will run during the show benefit the Neighborhood Bike Works’ free after-school programs and summer camp scholarships. The show will also include beer and snacks. A $5 donation at the door would be greatly appreciated.
The monthly installment of Philadelphia’s longest running and most authentic hip-hop happening is Thursday at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.) Dubbed the community-based celebration of “The struggle, the Love,and the culture of Hip Hop,” The Gathering has been running since 1996 and usually takes place on the last Thursday of the month, except for November (Thanksgiving and all). It features b-boys/b-girls, emcees, pop-lockers, grafitti artists, DJs and men, women and children of all ages.
The night also features open cyphers and a tag wall. Warning, the cyphers and such often trickle outside the Rotunda and last well into the wee hours. Yep, even on a school night.
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