Regional arts and entertainment events

Sunday

Onstage gossip In 1960, at the behest of the drama critic Kenneth Tynan, Orson Welles staged Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros with Joan Plowright and Laurence Olivier (then married to Vivien Leigh, but having an affair with Plowright). Austin Pendleton's drama Orson's Shadow imagines the fireworks when these big names collided. The Philadelphia Theatre Company production goes on at 3 p.m. at Plays & Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St., and continues Tuesdays through Sundays through June 3. Tickets are $33 to $45. Call 215-985-0420.

Local heroes For its season finale, the Choral Arts Society performs works by composers with local connections, including David Ludwig, Jennifer Higdon, Anthony Mosakowski and Samuel Barber, at 4 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave. Tickets are $18 to $30. Call 215-545-8634.

Monday

Super team-up The estimable baritone Matthias Goerne performs works works by Schumann and Brahms, accompanied by Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Christoph Eschenbach in his other guise, as a pianist. The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society recital takes place at 8 p.m. at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater, Broad and Spruce Streets. Tickets are $22; $10 for students. Call 215-569-8080.

Buzz band Singer-songwriter Alex Brown Church, who calls himself Sea Wolf when he performs with a band, is topping our playlist with the moody cello-driven "You're a Wolf" off his new EP Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low. The band version opens for the equally buzzworthy Silversun Pickups (whose teen-angsty "Lazy Eye" makes our list, too) at 8 p.m. at the Trocadero, 1003 Arch St. Tickets are $16. Call 215-922-5483.

Tuesday

Lost America In his works, British novelist Jim Crace examines the ways communities are stressed, from Bronze Age tribes to modern urban markets. In his latest, Pesthouse, a couple wends their way from the West coast of a dystopian future United States, heading east in hopes of escaping to Europe. The National Book Critics' Circle Award-winner reads at 7 p.m. at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Montgomery Auditorium, 1901 Vine St. Admission is free. Call 215-567-4341.

Faith and uncertainty John Patrick Shanley won the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for his 2005 drama Doubt, about a nun at Bronx Catholic school in the 1960s who is struggling with suspicions about a priest's relationship with a student. Cherry Jones returns to her Tony Award-winning role in the show, at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. next Sunday. Call 215-336-1234.

Wednesday

The Exes These days, ex-Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger perform as Riders on the Storm (with ex-Fuel singer Brett Scallions taking the Jim Morrison role and drummer John Densmore off doing his own thing elsewhere). They play at 8:30 p.m. at the Keswick Theatre, Easton Road and Keswick Avenue, Glenside. Tickets are $38 and $48. Call 215-572-7650.

Thursday

Body art Described as a "daredevil dance-illusionist troupe," Momix performs a retrospective of their inventive, body-bending works at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $29 to $44. Call 215-898-3900.

Folk art With her deadpan delivery and kitschy-cool look, Laura Veirs manages to combine folkie authenticity and art-rock edge with a pure pop aesthetic. She plays at 8:30 p.m. at the Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St. Tickets are $12. Call 215-928-0770.

Friday & Saturday

Jazz pop On her new CD, Dept. of Good and Evil, pianist Rachel Z mixes in covers of the Police and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with some straight-ahead swing. She plays at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and the Parkway, at 5 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $12; $9 for seniors; $8 for students (includes museum admission). Call 215-763-8100.

Ambient atmosphere Electronic-music pioneer Steve Roach creates flowing soundscapes at the Gathering, St. Mary's Hamilton Village, 40th and Locust Streets, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $30. Call 610-734-1009.