Best Bets
Music Southside Johnny and Leon Russell. Two all-American artists whose music has stood the test of time, and who are still out there making it, even if the marketplace has not always been kind to them. They are on the same bill Saturday night at the Keswick Th
Music
Southside Johnny and Leon Russell. Two all-American artists whose music has stood the test of time, and who are still out there making it, even if the marketplace has not always been kind to them. They are on the same bill Saturday night at the Keswick Theatre. Headliner Southside Johnny (a.k.a. John Lyon) came out of the same Jersey Shore music scene that spawned Springsteen. Leon Russell came out of Oklahoma in the 1960s to become a member of the Wrecking Crew, the famed group of L.A. session aces. - Nick Cristiano
Summer Fiction. Like a chilly late-August breeze, there's a sweet strain of melancholy coursing through the sharply written songs on Summer Fiction, the album title and band name of the new project led by South Philadelphia songwriter Bill Ricchini. "Send her out into the world, you know that she's bound to get hurt," Ricchini sings, hinting at complications to come on the understated and insinuating opening track, backed by keyboard player Brian Christinzio and shrewdly, sparely employed horns.
- Dan DeLuca
Family
Sesame Place Holiday Party.
Sesame Place will open several rides - including Grover's World Twirl, the Sunny Day Carousel, Cookie Mountain, Big Bird's Court, Ernie's Bed Bounce, Snuffy's Slides, and Nets 'n' Climbs. The party will feature "A Sesame Street Christmas" in the Monster Rock Theater and the Rock Around the Block Parade. Kids can see how various cultures celebrate the holidays at the park's new show, "Elmo's World Live Christmas." Characters will make appearances throughout the day.
- Monica Peters
Films
New this week: Tangled *** (out of four stars). A fractured fairy tale in the spirit of Enchanted, Tangled is a boy-friendly version of Rapunzel, more of a hair-raising adventure than a yearning romance. PG (mild violence) - Carrie Rickey
Burlesque **1/2 (out of four stars). Preposterously entertaining schlock starring Cher as a nightclub owner and Christina Aguilera as the corn-tasseled Iowa girl who makes her name there. PG-13 (erotic dancing, sexual innuendo, posterior nudity)
- Carrie Rickey