Dig into fall

Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

FunTimes Magazine “Culture + Entertainment” column, Week of November 20, 2023

Get the winter chill out with a parade of jazz, art, history tours, holiday movies, and more. Check out these entertaining and educational free or low-cost autumn activities in the Philadelphia area. Enjoy the decadence of fall, but please take precautions, especially when in groups and indoors, with the current COVID variants.

Hear the marching bands comin’? 

Thursday, November 23, 2023. Who loves a parade? We do! We do! And there are few better than the 6ABC Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia – the oldest Thanksgiving Day parade in the United States. It will present a star-studded lineup with (ready, take a breath…) TV hosts Ryan Seacrest, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, the Eagles’ Jordan Mailata, The Commodores, The Village People, ABC’s The Bachelor star, Joey Graziadei, the cast of Dancing with the Stars, The Philadelphia Orchestra and singers Felicia Punzo and Ashlee Keating. For the kids: Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Mummer Fancy Brigades, the Eagles Cheerleaders and Drumline & Pep Band, Horton the Elephant, the Bountiful Harvest float, the Bumble, My Little Pony, Philadelphia’s Freedom float, Strawberry Shortcake, Smurfette, Under the Sea float, and Santa Claus. Add to that a ton of local marching bands, special units, and arts groups that will fill the street and floats. Check out the “The Parade Zone “at Eakins Oval, 23rd Street, and The Parkway, featuring giveaways, family activities, treats, free coffee, ice carving, a prize wheel, and the Boy Scouts’ canned food drive. Free event including metered parking in the Parkway area, 9 a.m. to noon EST. Televised live on 6abc Action News, with hosts meteorologist Cecily Tynan, news anchor Rick Williams, and TV personality Carson Kressley, beginning with a pre-show at 8:30 a.m. EST. The parade will start at 20th Street and JFK Boulevard, head to 16th Street, and then to the Ben Franklin Parkway. The parade turns left on the Parkway to the main staging area at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Go in person or watch on TV. 6abc.com.

‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ with a dream score

Weekend of Friday, November 24, 2023. Immerse yourself in the 1993 holiday animation dark fantasy film, Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, while the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos, performs Danny Elfman’s evocative songs and scores live in concert. Enjoy the movie on a giant screen above the orchestra’s stage performance. The plot was derived from a Tim Burton poem. The Grinch-like Jack Skellington, the King of “Halloween Town,” goes to “Christmas Town” and weasels his way to disrupt the holiday. Bad little boys and girls better beware! Friday, 8 p.m. EST, Saturday-Sunday shows, 2 p.m. EST. $36 to $110. Kimmel Center/Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999 or kimmelculturalcampus.org/family.

Life in the 7th Ward in the early-to-mid 20th century.

Tour artfully links to the past

Saturday, November 25, 2023. Check out the archival photo installation, Reflecting Revenants: Recalling Black Life In the 7th Ward, guided by the artists Amelia Carter and Beth Naomi Lewis. Hosted by Mural Arts Philadelphia, the tribute tour features historian Amy Hillier. The outdoor installation celebrates the vibrant history of Philadelphia’s former 7th Ward as a community hub of African-American culture. More than 15,000 Black residents lived in the 7th ward, including prominent civil rights activist Octavius V. Catto and writer and intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois. The ward covers the neighborhoods of Graduate Hospital, Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square West, and Society Hill. With decals and banners, artists Carter and Lewis merge archival photographs of Black residents from the early-to-mid 20th century connecting them with the present-day in the ward. The images adorn the exterior of buildings across the ward for an immersive experience. According to promotional material: “Reflecting Revenants offers a unique and introspective journey into the historical heartbeat of the 7th Ward, reviving its memory for the next generation.” The tour is 2-1/2 hours long and spans 20 city blocks. Wear comfortable shoes. The tour will begin at Mother Bethel Church and end at Rex at the Royal, 15th, and South streets, where you will be able to view the installation’s extended archival photo gallery. Free but pre-register, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST. Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 419 South 6th St., 215-925-0616 or eventbrite.com.

Photo by Matthew Murphy of MurphyMade.

Unmarried at 35 is her dilemma….

Tuesday, November 28, 2023 to Sunday, December 10, 2023. The critics have described the remake of COMPANY as bold, sophisticated, and funny. The awards prove that. Stephen Sondheim’s groundbreaking musical comedy garnered five Tony Awards® including Best Revival of a Musical. Three-time Tony Award-winning director Marianne Elliott breathes contemporary life into this age-old theme: The play’s lead character Bobbie reaches her 35th birthday, and is pressured by family and friends about getting married. At her birthday party, she wonders why matrimony has not happened for her. COMPANY features Sondheim’s award-winning songs — You Could Drive a Person Crazy, The Ladies Who Lunch, Side by Side by Side, and Being Alive. For ages 10 and older. Tickets start at $40, times vary (shows mostly at 8 p.m. EST), Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St., 215-790-5800 or kimmelculturalcampus.org.

That You Not Dare To Forget III, 2023, mixed media on canvas. Photo courtesy of Mikel Elam.

Blissful art…

Through Sunday, February 18, 2023. Bliss Consciousness is a thoughtful expressive exhibition of paintings of acrylic, drawings, collages, and more by Philadelphia artist Mikel Elam. The promotional material is descriptive: “Bliss Consciousness brings together recent works that connect Elam’s interests in mindfulness, Afrofuturism, and an overarching philosophy of love. The subjects become abstracted through his process of layering, erasing, deconstructing, and reimagining imagery.” Elam, a visual artist in the art of mixed media, blends themes of history, futurism, and cultural unity. The exhibit is curated by Heather Moqtaderi of Past Present Projects. Free, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. It is supported by the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation and produced by The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation with Penn Live Arts. Annenberg Center Feintuch Family Lobby, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900 or pennlivearts.org. 

All that jazz, Philly style

Friday, November 24, 2023. Arts and cultural activities generate $4.1 billion fueling the economic engine of jobs, benefits, and business in the Greater Philadelphia region. Organized by the city’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, projects like Arts Access TV celebrate the growth of the arts. See performances and programs by Philadelphia’s diverse cultural organizations and artists. This week’s feature is hosted by the Philadelphia Jazz Legacy Project — an online monthly series focusing on Philadelphia’s innovatively rich jazz scene in Philadelphia, past and present. Enjoy Philadelphia Jazz Stories – Illustrated, an online discussion led by Diane D. Turner, jazz historian and curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, Temple University Libraries, Homer, and Director of the Philadelphia Jazz Project. Turner is joined by Eric Battle, a popular illustrator of comic books, graphic novels, fashion illustration, children’s books, and advertising. Singer and project director Dr. Suzanne Cloud will be the host. Free. 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST. View on Channel 64 PHLgovTV (Comcast channels 64 and 1164, Verizon channels 40 and 41), online: phillyjazzhistory.org or creativephl.org.