5 Must-Dos This Week in Philadelphia: Romeo and Juliet in Space, the “I Love You, I Hate You” Happy Hour and More

Every week we round up five of the best things to do in the week ahead. Weather pending, of course. 

Philly “rock and roll theater company” BRAT Productions is getting a head start on Valentine’s Day with “Three Chord Fiction: Love Bites.” Designed as a way to introduce Philly to the next generation of cabaret performers, the showcase pairs actor-singers with local musicians and tasks them to perform a musical tale about love. After every night’s show a different band will take the stage to woo the audience with an amorous-minded set of tunes. Singers include Red 40, drag queen Cleo Phatra, Senor Papos & Jota, and BRAT resident artist’s Jess Conda’s alter ego Len performing with the Ladies of the Cursed Church Theater. Scheduled bands are The Fancy Balloons (Feb. 4), TJ Kong (Feb. 5) and Upholstery (Feb. 6). Feb. 4-6, 8 p.m., $10, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St.

Azuka Theatre returns for its annual “I Love You, I Hate You Happy Hour,” an evening of dramatic readings of one of Philly’s guiltiest pleasures: Philadelphia City Paper‘s “I Love You, I Hate You” column. The most insane submissions will be read by a team of Azuka funny people, like Mike Dees, Corinna Burns and Keith Conallen in the lush setting of Bella Vista’s L’Etage. Money earned from the two-show event will benefit Azuka Theatre’s upcoming projects. Tue., Feb. 4 and Tue., Feb. 18, $20-$25, L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St. 

After having to postpone the original launch on January 22 because of snow, the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) finally gets to officially kick off its 12th annual One Book, One Philadelphia (OBOP) event at the Central Branch. The soiree will feature an appearance by Kevin Powers (pictured), author of this year’s OBOP book selection, The Yellow Birds (and a George Clooney look-alike if I ever saw one); a screening of vignettes inspired by former Philly journalist Yvonne Latty’s In Conflict; and Curtis Institute of Music cellist Tim Petrin will perform a musical piece inspired by The Yellow Birds. Fingers crossed this new snowstorm lets events go on as scheduled. Wed., Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m., Central Branch of the Free Library, 1901 Vine St. 

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is reviving its popular after-dark series with Peep Show 2.0. The event allows art-goers into the museum after hours to “let you in on the secrets of PAFA’s historic collection, flipping frames and peeking beneath the paint, to give you a rare, for-your-eyes-only glimpse of our art collection as you’ve never seen it before.” Besides browsing the art work, guests will have the chance to see a UV-light demonstration, hear a lecture on art world “Scandals and Successes” by curator Bob Cozzolino and shimmy to a performance by Philly’s neo-burlesque troupe Peek-a-Boo Revue. Thu., Feb. 6, 6:30 p.m., $8-$10, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118-128 N. Broad St.

Fishtown/Kensington theater troupe B. Someday Productions and Light Thief Productions are teaming up to take Romeo & Juliet where it’s never gone before: space! Romeo And Juliet In Space: A Space Opera Burlesque follows the star-crossed lovers in a divided galaxy far, far away, where “one man, the Duke, stands in the way of total annihilation for the human race and his health is failing. A boy and a girl fall in love, bringing the ruling Montague and Capulet houses to the brink of war.” I hope Romeo can swallow dehydrated poison. Feb. 6-8 and Feb. 12-15, 9 p.m., $18, Walking Fish Theatre, 2509 Frankford Ave.

Have an event you’d like featured in our weekly event roundup? Email details to jmiddleton@phillymag.com.