Regional arts and entertainment events
Sunday Better late After putting her singing on hold to raise a family, soprano Tonia Tecce returned to her voice studies. Despite the 20-year break, she found that her abilities were still there and embarked on a second career that led to appearances with the P
Sunday
Better late After putting her singing on hold to raise a family, soprano Tonia Tecce returned to her voice studies. Despite the 20-year break, she found that her abilities were still there and embarked on a second career that led to appearances with the Philly Pops, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra, and the Newark Symphony Orchestra in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center, and the Academy of Music. And she's just released her second CD of opera and pop standards, Smile, sure to be showcased when she performs at 2 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Broad and Cherry Streets. Tickets are $10. Call 215-972-2011.
Play's the thing If there is one essential work by Shakespeare, this is it for us: Hamlet, the tale of the melancholy Dane, racked by indecision and emotional storms. The Lantern Theater Company's production is powered by a scintillating performance by Geoff Sobelle in the title role. The show goes on at 2 p.m. at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th and Ludlow Streets, and continues on a Wednesday-through-
Sunday schedule to May 17. Tickets are $25 to $35. Call 215-829-0395.
Monday
Solo, with band The Swedish chamber pop genius Emil Svanängen makes his self-distributed records under the moniker Loney, Dear in his studio apartment and his parents' basement, playing all the instruments himself. But he's no recluse, putting together a quintet to perform his intricately layered songs live, as they will at 8 p.m. at Kung Fu Necktie, 1248 N. Front St. Tickets are $10. Call 1-866-468-7619.
Tuesday
Another man's treasure Writer Davy Rothbart is our kind of guy, an inveterate collector of ephemera - discarded notes, lists, doodles, and photographs blowing through the world. He created Found magazine in 2001 to showcase the mysterious narrative of detritus, discovered there were many like-minded souls willing to contribute items, and soon had a career as a chronicler of finding. His new book is Requiem for a Paper Bag: Celebrities and Civilians Tell Stories of the Best Lost, Tossed, and Found Items from Around the World, which includes contributions from Seth Rogen, Dave Eggers, and Chuck Klosterman. Rothbart discusses his work, with musical accompaniment by his brother Peter Rothbart, at 8 p.m. at the Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St. Tickets are $15. Call 267-402-2055.
Wednesday
Sizzle and style The Pennsylvania Ballet features Hans van Manen's Five Tangos, along with works by Matthew Neenan and Robert Weiss, in an intriguing program at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $21.50 to $126.50. Call 215-336-2000.
Poet's love Tenor Christoph Prégardien performs Schumann's celebrated song-cycle of a lovelorn poet, Dichterliebe, plus works by Hugo Wolf and Mahler, at 8 p.m. at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater, Broad and Spruce Streets. Tickets are $23. Call 215-569-8080.
Thursday
Heart of the country Alt-country craftsman Greg Koons gets down to the roots on his new CD Welcome to the Nowhere Motel, drawing inspiration from his childhood memories of highway traffic buzzing by his central Pennsylvania home ("It was nowhere to them, but it was somewhere to me") and his songwriting apprenticeship, served while working in a Sunset Strip hotel ("Los Angeles Looks Prettier When You See It on TV"). He headlines a six-band bill at 6 p.m. at the Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave. Tickets are $7. Call 267-671-9298.
Friday & Saturday
Tough stuff Former machinist
Chuck Palahniuk
has made himself into the dean of contemporary hard-guy novelists with works such as
Fight Club
and
Choke
, keenly delineating the undercurrents of anger and violence that burble beneath the deadening fluorescent hum of modern life. His latest,
Pygmy
, is a darkly comic take on terrorism, in which a cell of adolescent exchange students is sent to violently disrupt middle America and middle school. Palahniuk reads at
the Free Library's
Montgomery Auditorium, 19th and Vine Streets, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Admission is free. Call 215-567-4341.
Dance party The Nichole Canuso Dance Company presents a cabaret featuring performances by the host troupe, Rainpan 43, Kate Watson-Wallace/ anonymous bodies, Martha Graham Cracker, Charlotte Ford, Kim Carson, Tempo Dello Spuntino, and Headlong Dance Theater, plus tarot card readings and an auction at Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20. Call 215-739-9684.
What are you looking at? The sensational Lisa Lampanelli is an all-purpose offender. She brings her raunchy insult comedy to the Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow Streets, Upper Darby, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $39.75. Call 610-352-2887.
Distinctive voices Indie groove merchants Oso celebrate their new CD The Bellringer at Connie's Ric Rac, 1132 S. Ninth St., at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20 (includes CD). Call 215-279-7587. . . . All we know about Meiko is the infectious song "Boys With Girlfriends," but that's enough for us. She plays at the Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., at 10 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $12. Call 215-928-0770.