This Week: The First QOTA of 2013

Plus: Secret Cinema's Exotica Music Films, a free gallery tour at William Way and more.

A one-stop guide to what’s happening this week in gay Philadelphia.

TONIGHT:

  • Sip on “Bitches of Eastwick” cocktails and catch a screening of 1996’s The Craft, starring Neve Campbell, at Movie Mondays. 10 p.m., free with drink purchase, Valanni, 1229 Spruce St.
  • Break out some En Vogue or Waiting to Exhale-era Whitney at 90s Karaoke. 9 p.m., free, Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar, 200 S. 12th St.
  • Not in the mood to go out? Snuggle up to one of the collections of poetry written by today’s first openly gay inaugural poet laureate, Richard Blanco. Place of Mind can be had in an instant via Amazon Kindle.

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

  • The first Queers on the Avenue (QOTA) of 2013 kicks off tonight at Marra’s with free pizza and pasta and a bunch of drink specials. Chhaya Café and Home are getting in on the festivities, too. 6 p.m., free, various locations along East Passyunk Avenue.
  • Secret Cinema hosts Exotica Music Films 2:  Music and More!. The all-16mm screening includes a 1964 performance by Astrud Gilberto singing “Girl From Ipanema,” and a “dream-like and meditative” series of Pan Am-produced promotional shorts from the 1950s and 60s. 8 p.m., $7, The Trestle Inn, 339 N. 11th St.

THURSDAY:

  • Local historian Bob Skiba leads guests on a free tour of the John J. Wilcox Jr. Archives, which features “photos and tee shirts, buttons and matchbooks, pulp novels, early homophile journals” and more queer memorabilia. 6 p.m., free, William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.
  • Philadelphia Theatre Company is hosting a happy hour prior to tonight’s staging of their latest, The Mountaintop. Katori  Hall’s thrilling drama imagines what may have transpired the evening prior to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 6:30 p.m., free, Philadelphia Theatre Company, 480 S. Broad St.

Check back on Friday for a rundown of what’s happening this weekend.