Weekly Entertainment Guide

WHYY's Arts Calendar curator Robin Bloom sorts through hundreds of listings each week to find out what's happening in the Delaware Valley. Here are her picks and listings.

Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia

The 16^th Annual Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia brings the culture of Israel to life with the screenings of nine prize-winning films exclusively by Israeli filmmakers, providing audiences with a diverse perspective of Israel. Films selected have received critical recognition and acclaim both in Israel and abroad and reflect modern-day issues in the country. Screenings will be held on Saturday nights and Sundays in venues throughout Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs, for six weeks through April 1. The IFF kicks off this Saturday night, February 25, 8pm with Intimate Grammar, directed by Nir Bergman, based on the acclaimed novel by David Grossman and winner of the Best Feature Film at the 2010 Jerusalem Film Festival and the Sakura Grand Prix at the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival, at International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Guest speaker, actor Roee Elsberg will be in attendance, with a gala dessert reception following screening. Tickets $12-$18 general admission, $10-$15 seniors

Dreck Groove at the Breadboard

On display at the EKG Exhibition Space at University City Science Center are new works by Shelley Spector, "Dreck Groove," a collection of embroideries on fabric, re-purposed from shirts, pants, and other clothing, presented in frames fabricated from discarded wood scraps. The imagery is based on the extreme environmental events of the summer of 2011 and are partnered with site-specific wallpaper created from reclaimed cardboard, through March 30, 3600 Market Street, Philadelphia. Presented by Breadboard, a hybrid program that explores intersections between contemporary art, design, science and technology. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9am-5pm

Antigone at Sedgwick Theater

Quintessence Theatre Group continues its second season with Jean Anouilh’s 1943 adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone with a new translation by Jeremy Sams, directed by Alexander Burns. A “pay what you can” preview begins on Wednesday, February 29, 7pm, and the show runs through March 25 at the historic Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Avenue, Mt. Airy. A discussion on Sophocles, Anouilh and Antigone will be held with the director before the show, Thursday, March 15, and a post show discussion will be held with the cast and creative team on Sunday, March 11 and Wednesday, March 21. On Saturday, March 17, Quintessence will present Sophocles’ entire Oedipus Cycle, allowing audiences to hear the whole trilogy in one day with the first two plays, Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, presented as readings in the afternoon, followed in the evening by the performance of Antigone. Tickets $30, $20 seniors (65+), $15 youth (25 and under), $10 industry and student rush tickets at box office one hour before performance

Authentic America at Haverford College

Opening this weekend at Haverford College’s Atrium Gallery is Jack Carnell, Authentic America – Color Photographs 2006 to 2008, 30-40 color prints from the photographer’s travels to the Southeast, through April 22, with an artist talk, Wednesday, March 14, 4:30pm, Fine Arts Center, 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA.

Princeton ArtWalk

The second Princeton ArtWalk is Thursday, March 1, 5-8pm, a self-guided evening of drop-in visual art activities and events open to the public free of charge at ten arts institutions in downtown Princeton, including the Princeton University Art Museum and Lewis Center for the Arts, presenting “Inhabited,” first solo exhibition of oil paintings by senior Genevieve Irwin, at 185 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ.

Time Stands Still at Act II Playhouse

The Broadway drama "Time Stands Still" is onstage at Act II Playhouse with an emotionally wrought look at the role and risks of war journalism, through March 11, 56 E. Butler Avenue, Ambler, PA. Tickets $27-33

Jazz in the Wood

Jazz Bridge, the non-profit that assists local jazz and blues musicians in crisis, hosts March neighbourhood concerts: Jody Janetta and Adelante, Thursday, March 1, Collingswood Community Center, Kombu Combo, Wednesday, March 7, Kennet Square Flash, Saxophonist George Barron, Wednesday, March 7, Cheltenham Center for the Arts hosted by Dave Posmontier, Three Blind Mice trio, Thursday, March 15, Society Hill Playhouse, percussionist Doc Gibbs, Wednesday, March 21, Unitarian Universalist Church, Media, hosted by Denise Montana. All shows start at 7:30pm. Tickets $10, $5 students.

New Music Delaware

New Music Delaware presents a selection of vocal and chamber works by New York based composer Nkeiru Okoye and Texas-based composer Peter Fischer with faculty performers Noël Archambeault, soprano, Julie Nishimura, piano, and retired faculty member Marie Robinson, soprano, Saturday, February 25, 8pm, Gore Recital Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, DE. Tickets $12 adults, $8 seniors, $3 students.

Network for New Music Ensemble presents Philadelphia Voices: O My Earth along with FELYX-M, members of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, performing the works of Philadelphia composers Thomas Whitman, Jan Krzywicki, and Cynthia Folio as part of the Community Music School’s A Little Night Music concert series, Saturday, February 25, 8pm, 775 West Main Street, Trappe, PA. On display is “New Works” by Barbara Straussberg of Wyndmoor, PA, through March 11. Tickets $12-16

Other events and listings throughout the Delaware Valley.

The German Society of Pennsylvania hosts the first annual Bierfest, a family friendly beer tasting, celebrating Pennsylvania’s German brewing heritage with German-inspired beers, live traditional bluegrass by the Keystone Mountain Boys, light German fare catered by Brauhaus Schmitz, a brewer’s discussion panel, and more including Sommelier Marnie Old and the Philly Roller Girls, Saturday, February 25, 1pm-5pm with a VIP seminar in the Ratskeller at 12pm, 611 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia.  Tickets $13 Beerless admission, $25 VIP seminar only, $38 General admission, $53 Full admission including VIP. Special member rates available.

The American classic “Death of a Salesman,” takes to the stage this weekend at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre, through March 4 at 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, NJ. Tickets $16 adults, $14 seniors, $12 children and students.

Opening this weekend at the Civic Theatre of Allentown is 33 Variations, the Broadway play by Moises Kaufman, inspired by Beethoven’s eponymous work, through March 10, 527 North 19^th Street, Allentown, PA. Tickets $20-23

Onstage at New Candlelight Theatre is the Delaware premiere of Miss Saigon, through March 11 on Millers Road, Ardentown, DE, with a buffet meal served by the actors and crew included in ticket price. $33-56

Music Around the County hosts Pictures & Pipes, a silent film festival featuring Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton & Fatty Arbuckle with organist Wayne Zimmerman performing Saturday, February 25, 7pm, Alloway Baptist Church, 41 West Main Street, Alloway, NJ. Free

Singing City performs their Winter Concert: From Darkness to Light, Saturday, February 25, 7pm featuring the 2012 Singing City Prize for Young Composers, The Singing City Children’s Choir, guest conductor Frank Van Atta of Temple University, the Temple University Singers and guest host civil rights legend Gwen Appling, First Baptist Church, 17^th & Sansom Street, Philadelphia.  Tickets $20, $15 students and seniors

Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture’s Arab Music Concert Series continues with a performance of Emmy-nominated Syrian-born composer Kareem Roustom works, with Hanna Khoury, violin, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra Music Director Jeri Lynne Johnson, conducting, Kinan Abou-afach, cello, Kinan Azmeh, clarinet, Vladimir Dyo, violin, Megan Emigh, flute, and Leila Buck narrating, Saturday, February 25, 8pm, Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22^nd & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia. Tickets $30, $15 students

Perkins Center for the Arts annual photography exhibition “Photography 31” is on view through March 4. This year’s show includes 48 pieces by 35 artists from New Jersey and beyond. This Sunday, February 26, Perkins presents its Family Concert Series, 4pm performing the works of Faure, Haydn and more at 395 Kings Highway, Moorestown, NJ. $10 members, $12 non-members, free to students in Perkins Conservatory

From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen, is on display at the National Constitution Center with a comprehensive look at Bruce Springsteen’s entire career, through September 3, with related programs and events, Independence Mall, Philadelphia. Included with museum admission: $24.50 adults, $23 seniors and students, $12 children ages 4-12

Two exhibits celebrating nature-inspired art and artist Elaine Kurtz can be seen at Woodmere Art Museum. Elaine Kurtz: A Retrospective & Elemental: Nature as Language in the Works of Philadelphia Artists, brings together a diverse group of Kurtz’s peers and colleagues for whom nature has spurred creativity in form, style and composition, including Edna Andrade, Diane Burko, Thomas Chimes, Neysa Grassi, Elizabeth Osborne, Warren Rohrer, and more, through April 22, 9201 Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill. $10 adults, $7 seniors (55+), Children and students free

Marriage: An Utterly Improbably Occurrence in Two Acts, by Russian playwright Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852), is onstage through February 26 at the Walnut Street Theater Studio 5, Philadelphia. The production is by the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, who brings absurdist plays from around the world to Philadelphia and is directed by Tina Brock. Tickets $20

Opera Company of Philadelphia present a new production of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, through February 26, in German with English translations, Academy of Music, Broad Street, Philadelphia. Tickets $8-$225

Arden Concert Gild hosts March concerts: Hoots & Hellmouth, Saturday, March 3, 8pm, The Horse Flies, Friday, March 9, 8pm, The Bad Plus, Saturday, March 31, 8pm, Arden Gild Hall, 2126 The Highway, Arden, DE. Tickets $12-30

The Lenape Chamber Ensemble returns for its 37^th season with pianist Natalie Zhu, oboist James Austin Smith and a program of Haydn, Clara Schumann, and the English composer Arnold Bax, Friday, February 24, 8:15pm at the Upper Tinicum Lutheran Church, Upper Black Eddy, PA, and on Sunday, February 26, 3pm at Delaware Valley College, Doylestown, PA. Tickets $18 adults, $15 seniors and students, $5 children.

The Kimmel Center hosts The New York Philharmonic, appearing for the first time in Philadelphia with music director Alan Gilbert, Friday, February 24, 8pm, Verizon Hall, Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester, Friday, March 2, 8pm, Merriam Theater, Paddy Maloney and The Chieftains for traditional Irish music for St. Patrick’s Day celebration, Friday, March 9, 8pm, Verizon Hall, The Canadian Brass, Saturday, March 10, 3pm, Verizon Hall, Broad Street, Philadelphia. Tickets $25-100