From Impresario: The Weekender
WORLD MUSIC
Fresh off her first Grammy win, Beninese songstress Angelique Kidjo (pictured) brings her fusion of Afropop, R&B, jazz, and gospel to the Zellerbach Theatre in University City on Sunday ($25 to $40). Kidjo’s most recent album, Djin Djin, features cameos by artists as varied as her sound, most notably Peter Gabriel (where has he been, by the way?) and Alicia Keys (who hits the Liacouras Center on April 21st). And from India, Asha Bhosle, the real singer (known as a “playback singer”) behind all of those hot lip-syncing Bollywood actresses, brings the movie music of the Subcontinent to the Kimmel, also on Sunday ($49 to $100), with special guest Amit Kumar, her male equivalent. Bhosle claims to be the most recorded singer in the world, with more than 13,000 songs to her credit, and then there were those collaborations with Michael Stipe and, um, Boy George. Hmm.
FLICKS
Yes, it’s that time of year again. The 17th Philadelphia Film Festival opened last night, but things really kick into gear today. Here’s what you absolutely shouldn’t miss …
Tonight
The screening of In a Dream, the documentary on iconic Philly mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar, is sold out (as are the rest of the screenings; maybe they’ll add more.) Your best bets for Friday are from two completely opposite sides of the taste spectrum. First, there’s Mongol, an epic Genghis Khan biopic by Russian director Sergei Bodrov. If that’s too serious for you, try Bad Biology, a crazy horror film from the director of Frankenhooker featuring a freakish female with seven clitorides (yes, that’s the plural of clitoris).
Saturday
Thomas McCarthy’s (The Station Agent) The Visitor is sold out. Try To My Great Chagrin: The Unbelievable Story of Brother Theodore instead. Brother Theodore survived the Nazis and became a performance artist in the States before there really was such a thing. The Beatniks loved him, as did Woody Allen, Eric Bogosian, and Dick Cavett, all of whom talk about the great and bizarre man in this documentary.
Sunday
I’m a huge noir fan, so I can’t miss the ultra-rare Bogart movie Deadline U.S.A., which is not available on VHS or DVD. I was planning on checking out First Person, the documentary about six Philadelphia public high school students and their struggles to make it to college, but the Sunday showing is sold out. Get your tickets for next Saturday.
LEGENDS
There is something decidedly wrong with a world in which a performance by Kinks founder Ray Davies at the Tower Theater is not completely sold out. The folks at Live Nation tell me that there are still a handful of tickets available ($39.50 to $65) for Saturday night’s show. Also legendary but probably best left in the bargain bin at this point, Smokey Robinson is at the Taj in A.C. tonight and tomorrow.
AND BRIEFLY
Been hearing great things about local talent Frank X in Lantern’s production of the Shakespearean tragedy Othello. I’ve had more than a couple of invitations to the various Cherry Blossom Festival events on Saturday and Sunday. Honestly, this weather does not make me thing of such fun springy activities, but we’ll see. Lastly, here’s an intriguing one for you. Seems that Eastern State Penitentiary — which offers so much more than just those Halloween tours — is about to renovate its synagogue, which ceased serving Jewish inmates in the 1970s. Saturday and Sunday, you can take a peek before they start.
Get our take on the weekend’s best events every Friday on Impresario.
