MUSIC
I’m So Bored with You: An Art and Music Extravaganza
Friday, 7 p.m.
Connie’s Ric Rac
1132 9th St.
$5, 21+, 314-297-7785
Sick of your boss? Over your friends? Significant other not answering your texts? Let ’em all go hang and get some punk rock into your some eyes and ears with music from Mikey Erg, Ruby Buff, No, The Pussy Dogs and Curtis Cooper, plus art from Cait Stoddard, JP Flexner, Kelly Campanile, Leta Gray, Michelle Krysztofiak, Mike Graziano and more. The Bad Plus Joshua Redman
Saturday, 8 p.m.
World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut St.
$45, 215-222-1400
Jazz wizards the Bad Plus are awesome enough as a three-piece, but add Joshua Redman, one of the form’s most celebrated contemporary sax players, and you kick it up a notch, as Emeril Lagasse likes to say. Redman has collaborated with the group on several occasions, but this one’s been the biggest yet, culminating in an album that dropped May 26. BOOKS
Asali Solomon
Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Bindlestiff Books
4530 Baltimore Ave.
Free, 215-662-5780
bindlestiffbooks.wordpress.com
This local author will read from and sign copies of her latest novel, “Disgruntled,” which traces the coming up of Kenya, an African-American girl from West Philadelphia with an eccentric father who’s like a wannabe cult leader, spouting eccentric mythology and insisting that his kids call him “Baba” instead of “Daddy.” Unsurprisingly, she turns out a bit, well, disgruntled. THEATER
‘Bortle 8’
Through Saturday
The Rooftop
1632 S. 4th St.
$10, 800-838-3006
Chris Davis performs this one-man play on an actual rooftop, beginning after the sun sets — which means that at this time of year, it begins about a minute later every two days. It’s inspired by the work of amateur astronomer John Bortle, inventor of the scale that measures the amount of light pollution in the night sky. ‘Children of Eden’
Friday through Sunday
Bluett Theater, St. Joseph’s University
N. 56th St. and Overbrook Ave.
$12-$18
wolfperformingartscenter.secure.force.com/ticket
Wolf Performing Arts Center presents this musical by Stephen Schwartz, which tells a selection of stories from the Old Testament, in particular those of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah. God is referred to throughout simply as “Father,” a nod to the intimacy the characters have with their Creator, who seems to have spoken a lot more in those days. DANCE
Pennsylvania Ballet: Keigwin, Fonte and Forsythe
Thursday through Sunday
Merriam Theater
250 S. Broad St.
$30-$125, 215-895-1999
Change is good, spring has come and gone, embrace the new! Pennsylvania Ballet does its part by performing three premieres for the company at this concert. Larry Keigwin’s“Canvas” mixes classical and contemporary dance; Nicolo Fonte’s “Grace Action” is set to music by Phillip Glass; Willaim Forythe’s “the Second Detail”, described by the Ballet as “full of attitude”, makes use of electronic music. MOVIES
‘Level Five’
Friday, 7 p.m.
International House
3701 Chestnut St
$7-$9, 215-387-5125
This 1997 sci-fi film by Chris Marker concerns Laura, tasked with finishing a virtual reality video game about the Battle of Okinawa — one which doesn’t allow history to change. As she does more and more research on this event (largely played down, not to say forgotten, on the American side of history) she becomes increasingly absorbed into the world of the game. ‘The Treatment’
Friday 11:45 p.m.
Roxy Theater
2023 Sansom St.
$9-$10, 267-239-2941
This 2014 Belgian crime drama is about a police inspector, Nick, who’s hunting down a homicidal pedophile. It’s a case he can’t help but take personally, since his own kid brother fell victim to a similar felon. Be warned: there’s some very disturbing imagery in this film, which pulls no punches — they aren’t showing it at midnight for nothing. ART
The Usable Earth
Friday through July 24
Esther Klein Gallery
3600 Market St.
Free, 215-966-6188
Nine artists or groups, including architects, filmmakers, scholars, and writersas well as artists, contribute to this multimedia exhibition exploring humanity’s relationship with the Earth. One piece, “The Backup Tapes Of Moon and Mars” sardonically imagines colonies on Mars and the Moon that have fallen victim to upper class suburban sprawl —because the big problem with space is it has no gated communities. Pancakes and Booze Art Show
Saturday, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Underground Arts
1200 Callowhill St.
$5, 21+
Art shows don’t have be all wine and cheese and stilted conversation. There can be free pancakes and booze and live music. Stuff your face and check out the work of more than 75 emerging artists. If you’re inspired to paint your own body, you’ll be in luck, because there will also be live body painting. FOOD
Burger Brawl
Sunday, 3 to 6 p.m.
XFINITY Live!
1100 Pattison Ave.
$35-$100, 215-732-6622
It’s the fifth year for this fundraising event, with proceeds going to promoting literacy through technology for Philadelphia children. The past Brawls have pulled in a cool $900,000 and funded three computer labs at local schools. Over 60 restaurants will compete to see who can make the best burger, as voted by you, the beef-hungry audience. COMEDY
Aries Spears
Thursday through Sunday
Helium Comedy Club
2031 Sansom St.
$22-$30, 21+, 215-496-9001
“MADtv” always suffered in comparison to its rival “Saturday Night Live,” but if it was an inferior show, longtime cast member Aries Spears wasn’t one of the people adding to that reputation. Expect his standup show to strongly feature his diverse stable of impersonations, from his famously cross-eyed Shaquille O’Neal, to James Brown, to Al Pacino.
12 things to do in Philadelphia this weekend
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