THEATER‘Memphis’Through July 12Walnut Street Theatre825 Walnut St.$20-$75, 800-745-3000www.walnutstreettheatre.orgThis Broadway hit, winner of the 2010 Tony for Best Musical, is inspired by the story of Dewey Phillips, disguised here as “Huey Calhoun,” a white DJ who helps break the color barrier onMemphis rock ’n’ roll radio in the 1950s. The main story is Huey’s relationship with a blacksinger, Felicia, and the drama it causes as she becomes a bigger star.‘I Am the River Niger’Thursday through May 24Community Education Center3500 Lancaster Ave.$15-$25, 866-811-4111www.firstworldtheatre.bizThis 1972 play by Joseph A. Walker tells the story of Jeff Williams, newly returned home from the Air Force. Just as he’s getting reacquainted with his family, a former lover he met in South Africa shows up at his door and his old friend Mo comes calling, asking him to join the revolution. Can’t a guy catch a break?MOVIES‘This Is Spinal Tap’Today, 7:30 p.m.Roxy Theater2023 Sansom St.$10, 267-239-2941www.filmadelphia.orgMockumentaries have comebefore and after, as well asmovies lampooning rock stars, but few have hit all the buttons quite so well as 1984’s “This Is Spinal Tap,” a film not just about a very stupid fictional band falling hilariously apart, but the slow burnout of a whole genre ofover-the-top ’70s arena rock.‘Children ofParadise’Saturday, 7 p.m.International House3701 Chestnut St.$7-$9, 215-387-5125www.ihousephilly.orgThis 1945 film by Marcel Carné, often cited as one of the masterpieces of French cinema, depicts the theater world of Paris in the 1820s and ‘30s. It centers on the courtesan Garance and the four very different men who wish to win her hand: a mime, an actor, a criminal and an aristocrat.ARTMark Dion, Judy Pfaff, Fred Wilson: The Order of ThingsSaturday through Aug. 3Barnes Foundation2025 Ben Franklin Pkwy.$10-$25, 215-278-7000www.barnesfoundation.orgThree different artists respond with their own installations to Albert C. Barnes’ famouslyidiosyncratic arrangement of his collection, broken into “ensembles” that eschewedhistory and style in favor of a more artistic mode oforganization. G. Farrel Kellum: Urban AestheticsFriday through June 27University City Arts League4226 Spruce St.Free, 215-382-7811www.ucartsleague.orgG. Farrel Kellum’s sculptures draw inspiration from hip-hop in its sonic as well as visual aspects. Bright, raw and bombastic, his pieces pulse synesthetically with a street-pounding rhythm. If the colors remind us of old school hip-hop flavor, this is no accident, since Kellum is additionally concerned here with how we imagine hip-hop’s history.GOING OUTPreaknessat the PiazzaSaturday, 5 to 9:30 p.m.The PiazzaSecond St. and Germantown Ave.$75 -$150www.preaknessatthepiazza.comDon your best flower-strewn hat or pastel bowtie and head to Northern Liberties for this annual Preakness watching party, which raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “Good Day Philadelphia”’s Alex Holley and 97.5 The Fanatic’s Pat Gallen host, the horse race will be projected on the Piazza’s 400-square-foot screen, and there will be food, music and best dressed contests. What more do you need on a spring Saturday?A Ghostly CircusSaturday, 8 p.m.Laurel Hill Cemetery3822 Ridge Ave.$20, 215-228-8200www.thelaurelhillcemetery.orgProving once again that cemeteries need not be morbid places — not entirely morbid, anyway — Laurel Hill hosts an evening of aerialists, fire dancers and sideshow theater, ending with a “Dance with the Dead” DJ party. If any zombies show up, just give ’em the floor — they don’t talk much, but man, can they can get down!COMEDYJohn MulaneySaturday, 8 p.m.Merriam Theater250 S. Broad St.$30-$35, 215-893-1999www.kimmelcenter.orgEstablishing himself with a stint as a writer and “Weekend Update” anchor on “SNL,” John Mulaney went on to create and star in the semi-autobiographical Fox sitcom “Mulaney,” which debuted this past fall (but alas, didn’t last). His stand-up mixes personal stories with pop culture skewering; Mulaney plays the role of the “nice guy” who has a bit of snark in him.MUSICRising AppalachiaSaturday, 8 p.m.World Cafe Live3025 Walnut St.$17-$20, 21+, 215-222-1400www.worldcafelive.comSisters Leah and Chloe Smith are the frontwomen of this alterna-folk group, which takes its influence not only fromAppalachian music but pretty much every other genre from across the world, challenging the cliche of Appalachian music as conceived in some culturallyisolated mountain hideaway. Their sound is worldly and spiritual at once.
