{"id":444415,"date":"2025-12-13T11:59:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T11:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/444415\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T11:59:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T11:59:31","slug":"what-to-see-read-and-hear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/444415\/","title":{"rendered":"What to See, Read, and Hear"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Nutcracker at the Academy of Music \/ Photograph by Alexander Iziliaev<\/p>\n

Whether you want to catch the latest Broadway show to visit Philly or simply dig into your next great read, \u2019tis the season for embracing the arts. Applause, please!<\/p>\n

The Nutcracker<\/a><\/p>\n

The Classics
The word:<\/strong> \u201cA triumphant performance, in which the dancers seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves.\u201d \u2014 Philadelphia Inquirer
The\u2004details:<\/strong> Through December 31st, Academy of Music
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> Set to Tchaikovsky\u2019s earworm score, George Balanchine\u2019s recurring fever dream about toy soldiers locked in an epic dance battle against rodents of unusual size has been delighting and confusing audiences since the \u201950s \u2014 and nobody does it better than Philadelphia Ballet.<\/p>\n

The Crossing<\/a><\/p>\n

The Classics
The word:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWe sing a lot of pieces about the world we live in, and the problems that we face, and we try to pre\u00adsent them almost journalistically. Art does help us understand our world a little better.\u201d \u2014 Donald Nally\u00a0
The details:<\/strong> December 19th and 21st at multiple venues
The gist:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019d say we\u2019re the middle of the Venn diagram of choral music and contemporary music ensemble,\u201d says Donald Nally, conductor and co-founder of the Crossing. Philly\u2019s quadruple Grammy\u2013winning chamber choir, he says, is just as likely to earn fans from the avant-garde Bowerbird scene as the classically trained Mendelssohn Club. During its two decades of experience, the Crossing\u2019s daywalker status has led to performances at churches and concert halls, yes, but also NPR\u2019s Tiny Desk Concert<\/a> and wildflower preserves. The Crossing has dozens of singers, plus a conductor and other key roles; they never commission sacred music, choosing instead to focus on modern stories from contemporary composers. The Crossing\u2019s 2025-26 season continues with the world premieres of resident composer Sarah Rimkus\u2019s Nativity and Ukrainian composer Natalia Tsupryk\u2019s Kyiv.<\/p>\n

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Suffs at the Academy of Music \/ Photograph by Joan Marcus<\/p>\n

Suffs<\/a><\/p>\n

Broadway Ticket
The word:<\/strong> \u201c[Suffs] has memorable music, star-making performances, and an inspiring message with moments that tug at the heartstrings.\u201d \u2014 New York Theatre Guide
The\u2004details:<\/strong> January 6th to 18th, Academy of Music
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> Critics agree that whatever Shaina Taub\u2019s musical about the women\u2019s suffrage movement may lack in historical accuracy it makes up for with clever jokes and rousing songs. The Hamilton comparisons were ubiquitous, and not entirely unfounded. Suffs was nominated for six Tonys in 2024 and took home statues for Best Book and Best Score.<\/p>\n

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Poor Judge at the Wilma \/ Photograph courtesy of Pig Iron Theatre Company<\/p>\n

Poor Judge<\/a><\/p>\n

Revival
The word:<\/strong> \u201cIt was the best version of that difficult-to-capture feeling when you see a show you don\u2019t fully understand, but you get its brilliance all the same.\u201d \u2014 Philadelphia Inquirer
The\u2004details:<\/strong> January 13th to 25th, the Wilma
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> Pig Iron Theatre Company\u2019s 2024 Fringe dance-theater cabaret hit, dreamed up by South Philly legend Dito van Reigersberg and based on the lyrics and adventures of Aimee Mann, returns to the Wilma stage for two more weeks of wigs, music, and mayhem.<\/p>\n

Clue<\/a><\/p>\n

Broadway Ticket
The word:<\/strong> \u201cA very fun, very silly 1950s-set whodunit that strikes some contemporary parallels on the way to its grand reveal.\u201d \u2014 New York Times
The\u2004details:<\/strong> January 20th to 25th, Forrest Theatre
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> In this golden age of blockbuster musicals, Sandy Rustin\u2019s adaptation of the 1985 movie adaptation of the WWII-era murder mystery board game succeeds with no notes. Clue keeps score with fraught pacing, frantic physicality, and a rising body count.<\/p>\n

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Clue at the Forrest Theatre \/ Photograph courtesy of Ensemble Arts Philly<\/p>\n

Good Bones<\/a><\/p>\n

Revival
The word:<\/strong> \u201c[A] plot that feels so much of the moment it could have gone viral on a news site rather than live to the stage.\u201d \u2014 Washington Post
The\u2004details: <\/strong>January 22nd to March 8th, the Arden
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> It\u2019s a no-brainer for the Arden to give Good Bones its Philly premiere. Pulitzer Prize\u2013winning South Philly playwright James Ijames\u2019s comedy about gentrification, community, and plans to plop a sports stadium onto an established neighborhood should ring a bell here in his adopted hometown. Directed by Akeem Davis.<\/p>\n

Complications in Sue<\/a><\/p>\n

World Premiere
The word:<\/strong> \u201cJustin Vivian Bond is a cabaret singer who commands the stage with a mix of glamor, menace \u2014 and gender.\u201d \u2014 Wall Street Journal on a previous Bond show
The\u2004details:<\/strong> February 4th to 8th, Academy of Music
The\u2004gist: <\/strong>Opera Philadelphia debuts this daring opera-in-vignettes written by Michael R. Jackson (who won a Pulitzer and a Tony for A Strange Loop), with music by no fewer than 10 composers. Stars trans cabaret luminary and MacArthur genius Justin Vivian Bond.<\/p>\n

Gemini<\/a><\/p>\n

Revival
The word:<\/strong> \u201cInnaurato has written a picnic table scene that is an hilarious and indelible statement on the manners and mores of low-class society.\u201d \u2014 Boston Globe
The\u2004details:<\/strong> February 4th to 15th, Theatre Exile
The\u2004gist: <\/strong>Cultures and generations mingle and clash in a South Philly back yard in this once-controversial 1976 drama by Albert Innaurato (who grew up at 19th and Wolf). Gemini still ranks as one of the longest-running non-musicals in Broadway history, and should make a splash when the famously risk-taking EgoPo Classic Theater revives it.<\/p>\n

Caesar<\/a><\/p>\n

World Premiere
The word:<\/strong> \u201cIn this moment, it feels especially urgent to wrestle with the play\u2019s central themes: the tension between democratic and autocratic rule, and how far someone will go to do what they believe is right for their country.\u201d \u2014 Tyler Dobrowsky
The\u2004details:<\/strong> February 6th to 22nd, Suzanne Roberts Theatre
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> Philadelphia Theatre Company stages this brand-new version of William Shakespeare\u2019s Julius Caesar adapted by the company\u2019s own co-artistic director Tyler Dobrowsky. Directed by Morgan Green, who headed up HILMA at the Wilma in 2024 and Five Models in Ruins, 1981 at the Lincoln Center last spring.<\/p>\n

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Beauty and the Beast \/ Photograph by Matthew Murphy<\/p>\n

Beauty and the Beast<\/a><\/p>\n

Broadway Ticket
The word:<\/strong> \u201c[Kyra Belle Johnson\u2019s] bibliophilic Belle is strong-willed, saucy and smart, key ingredients for a successful ing\u00e9nue.\u201d \u2014 Chicago Sun-Times
The\u2004details:<\/strong> February 11th to 22nd, Academy of Music
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> Disney\u2019s tale as old as time is on tour for the first time in 30 years, bolstered by new sets and costumes plus the return of original choreographer Matt West. Stars Kyra Belle Johnson and Fergie L. Philippe are getting raves for their performances and chemistry.<\/p>\n

Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition<\/a><\/p>\n

World Premiere
The word:<\/strong> \u201cGuests will play, create, and explore the artistry behind Universal\u2019s most iconic attractions.\u201d \u2014 Abby Bysshe, chief experience and strategy officer of the Franklin Institute
The\u2004details:<\/strong> February 14th to September 7th, Franklin Institute
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> It\u2019s time to debut the Franklin Institute\u2019s next big interactive edu-tisement exhibit your kids will beg to see. Kidding. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s lots of cool STEM stuff to think about on your way to Florida.<\/p>\n

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Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center \/ Photograph by Becca Mathias<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flower Show<\/a><\/p>\n

The Classics
The word:<\/strong> \u201cThe Philadelphia Flower Show has always been more dreamscape than landscape.\u201d \u2014 New York Times
The\u2004details: <\/strong>February 28th to March 8th, Pennsylvania Convention Center
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> While those pandemic years in FDR Park were a breath of fresh air for some, most petalheads agree that the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society\u2019s marquee event is resplendent in the comfortable confines of the Convention Center. The theme is Rooted: Origins of American Gardening, which seems appropriate for an event in its 197th year.<\/p>\n

Ministry of Awe<\/a><\/p>\n

World Premiere
The word:<\/strong> \u201cWe want to immerse our visitors in the sublime, to discover new pockets of their own consciousness, and to feel alive with the joys of human connection.\u201d \u2014 Meg Saligman
The\u2004details: <\/strong>Opening March 14th, 27 North 3rd Street
The\u2004gist:<\/strong> After creating intricate, oversized works of art on walls around the city (and beyond), esteemed Philly muralist Meg Saligman has announced plans to go big in the third dimension. She and her arts supergroup (including Best of Philly\u2013winning Eric the Puzzler<\/a>) have converted an Old City bank into a six-story, 40-room art funhouse she plans to pack with performers, installations, soundscapes, and other interactive surprises.<\/p>\n

Losing My Religion<\/a><\/p>\n

World Premiere
The word:<\/strong> \u201cFor decades, Harris has been swerving away from stereotypes and expectations of hip-hop dance, all while staying true to its roots.\u201d \u2014 New York Times, on a previous Harris show
The\u2004details:<\/strong> March 19th to 21st, Annenberg Center
The\u2004gist: <\/strong>Rennie Harris Puremovement does not miss. The famed Philly choreographer \u2014 and artist-in-residence for Penn Live Arts\u2019 ongoing America Unfinished season \u2014 debuts a provocative work that uses street hip-hop and dance to examine social and political issues.<\/p>\n

BalletX<\/a><\/p>\n

This season, the dance company celebrates 20 years of modern interpretations of a centuries-old art form.<\/p>\n

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BalletX \/ Photograph by Scott Serio<\/p>\n

Christine Cox and Matthew Neenan were still dancing with one of the country\u2019s top ballet companies when they embarked on a bold side quest: to found a company of their own.<\/p>\n

Where their home base Philadelphia Ballet (then called Pennsylvania Ballet) had built a reputation for the classics \u2014 Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker \u2014 their upstart BalletX could focus on the new and the different.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really interested in looking forward, and seeing how the technique, the classical ballet technique, could be articulated with choreographers from today,\u201d recalls Cox. \u201cIt was really a chance to be adventurous with ballet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty years later, the company has expanded from eight dancers to 16 and built a rep that\u2019s earned them accolades, grants, and the opportunity to take the show on the road in the U.S. and abroad, all with Cox at the helm as artistic and executive director. Nee\u00adnan, meanwhile, has become an award-winning choreographer; his name remains a fixture on the BalletX performance calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve commissioned over 150 world-premiere ballets by 80 different choreographers from around the world,\u201d Cox says. \u201cWhen you bring a beautiful artist into a studio with dancers who have refined classical ballet technique, magic can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

BalletX\u2019s 20th anniversary season continues with debuts by Christian Denice, Itzkan Barbosa, and Lanie Jackson as well as an audience favorite by Noelle Kayser, set for December 12th to 14th at Goodhart Hall in Bryn Mawr. Further ahead, BalletX returns to the Suzanne Roberts Theatre March 18th to 22nd for a trio of works by Neenan.<\/p>\n

Reads
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Illustration by Denis Novikov\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cozy up by the fire with one of these new books with Philly connections.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking to stuff some stockings, several top titles with Philly ties are already on the shelves. The coolest is surely The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds of a City<\/a> \u2014 a coffee-table slab edited by Larry Magid, the legendary show booker behind Live Aid, the Tower Theater, and the Electric Factory. The Pasta Book: Recipes, Techniques, Inspiration<\/a>, by James Beard Award\u2013winning chef Marc Vetri<\/a>, is another colorful tome to sink your teeth into. Turning to the sports section, check out new memoirs by Sixers icon Allen Iverson (Misunderstood<\/a>) and record-setting Flyers enforcer Dave \u201cThe Hammer\u201d Schultz (Hammered: The Fight of My Life<\/a>). Prefer straight-up literature? Try It\u2019s Me They Follow<\/a>, the semi-autobiographical first novel by Jeannine A. Cook (proprietor of Fishtown\u2019s Harriett\u2019s Bookshop<\/a>), or Spring Garden\u2013based author Eshani Surya\u2019s Ravishing<\/a>, in which two Indian American siblings face off against a dystopian beauty-tech biz. And ward off post-holiday doldrums with Better Than a Touchdown<\/a>, a children\u2019s book by Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (March 10th).<\/p>\n

Film
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Illustration by Denis Novikov\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

With winter closing in, the city\u2019s movie clubs are ready for their close-up.<\/p>\n

New, niche, and often nomadic film clubs are popping up all over town, offering a chance for screen enthusiasts to find one another. When it comes to retro and repertory fare, the Philadelphia Film Society<\/strong><\/a> is the king, but there are lots of smaller screens and series for fans with above-average tastes. In addition to music and comedy, the Eraserhood\u2019s PhilaMOCA<\/strong><\/a> has established itself as a hub for indie, straight-to-VHS, and other unstreamable gems. Jesse Pires\u2019s reborn-again Lightbox Film Center<\/strong><\/a> series can be found in the Bok Auditorium, usually showing restorations of arthouse flicks. Exhumed Films<\/strong><\/a> is known for their marathon horror screenings (and for keeping the titles a secret till the lights go down). Secret Cinema<\/strong><\/a> offers only the rarest stuff, from cringey old etiquette specials to forgotten concert footage. And lots of clubs have built a social scene around their screenings, including Girls Like Horror<\/strong><\/a>, Be Reel Black Cinema Club<\/strong><\/a>, VHS Club<\/strong><\/a>, Not So Silent Cinema<\/strong><\/a> (live music accompaniment), Space Melt Cinema<\/strong><\/a> (\u201cmovies that ooze\u201d), Reel Nomadic<\/strong><\/a> (kung fu, among other things), and Heavy Cycle Cinema<\/strong><\/a> (East Asian action). Keep an eye on their social media channels for the next flick fest.<\/p>\n

Published as \u201cArts and Letters\u201d in the December 2025\/January 2026 issue of Philadelphia magazine.<\/p>\n

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