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Argentine tango, a '90s bar crawl, Dinos After Dark and more things to do in Philadelphia Jan. 26 to Feb. 1

What you should be doing in the city from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1.

Globally renowned dance troupe Tango Fire performs at the Kimmel Center next Wednesday.
Globally renowned dance troupe Tango Fire performs at the Kimmel Center next Wednesday.Read moreTango Fire

THEATER

A Doll’s House

Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is great theater — there's no argument about it — so catch it at the Arden Theatre Company this weekend. The theme of the play is a familiar and relevant one: women have been burdened with helplessness through history, and men have been burdened with the task of always playing rescuer. Can't make it this weekend? The Arden just announced it will extend the run of the classic through March 4. — Bethany Ao

Through March 4, Arden Theatre Company, 40 North 2nd St., $15 to $52, 215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Haydn and Beethoven with the Philadelphia Orchestra

Zurich Opera Music Director Fabio Luisi takes the stage to conduct Wagner's beautiful score from Tristan and Isolde, a tragic love story steeped in Celtic mythology. Israeli-American pianist Yefim Bronfman will join the orchestra for a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37.

2 p.m. Friday, Verizon Hall, 300 South Broad St., $37 to $134, 215-731-3333, kimmelcenter.org

Curtis Symphony Orchestra

See some of the best student musicians in the country perform Bartók and Rimsky-Korsakov at Verizon Hall, led by Gilbert Varga, a masterful British conductor. Many of the students also have solos, allowing the audience to experience their individualism in this larger group. — B.A.

3 p.m. Sunday, Verizon Hall, 300 Broad St., $20 to $50, 215-731-3333, kimmelcenter.org

DANCE

Tango Fire

The world's leading Argentine tango company is bringing its sizzling chemistry and lively music to the Merriam Theater. Tango Fire's exhilarating and sensual performance will have you feeling as if you're spending the evening in Buenos Aires.

8 p.m. Wednesday, Merriam Theater, Manning and Broad Streets, $39 to $74, 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org

ART

George Weymouth

The Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art is showing 65 of George Weymouth's best works, which demonstrate his love for nature. Visitors will be able to see how Weymouth's style changed over time, from loose and energetic to the highly detailed temperas in his later career. — B.A.

9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art, 1 Hoffman Mill's Road, $18, 610-388-2700, brandywine.org

MUSEUMS

Dinos After Dark

The Academy of Natural Sciences is opening its doors from 5 to 8 p.m. so visitors can spend an evening mingling in the exhibition galleries. There will be a beer garden in the iconic Dinosaur Hall and the Academy's naturalists will be doing live animal demonstrations throughout the evening. — B.A.

5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, pay-as-you-wish admission, 215-299-1000, ansp.org

Chinese New Year at the Penn Museum

Celebrate the Year of the Dog at the Penn Museum's Chinese New Year Celebration, where visitors will learn calligraphy, watch vegetable-carving demonstrations, and try tai chi. The family-friendly event will end with a spirited lion dance finale by Cheung's Hung Gar Kung Fu Academy.

11:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Penn Museum, 3260 South St., $15 for adults, $10 for kids, 215-898-4000, penn.museum

DRINKS

’90s Bar Crawl Philadelphia

It has been 18 years since the second millennium came to a close, but that doesn't mean you have to leave all of your favorite tunes and styles from its final decade behind. All (ages 21 and over) are welcome on this '90s-themed bar crawl, including lots of people who are probably too young to remember those years of pastel geometric prints and colored flip phones: this year's legal drinking crowd includes people born in 1997. The crawl stops at five bars, and all participants are required to register by 5 p.m. at Drinkers Pub to get the night rolling. — Thea Applebaum Licht

2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Drinkers Pub, 1903 Chestnut St. $30-$40, ages 21+. 90sbarcrawl.com.

TRIVIA

Quizzo Bowl XIV

Join Johnny Goodtimes on Saturday for the country's most prestigious team trivia event, ahead of next week's Super Bowl — Quizzo Bowl XIV. The Wallace Brothers will perform between rounds, and author Gregg Gethard will be on hand to host the wild-card round and provide attendees with some solid financial tips. — B.A.

8 p.m. Saturday, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. $30 for single admission, $200 for a table of 8. 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com

SHOP

Art Star CRAP Bazaar

An excellent opportunity to check out the Northern Liberties boutique, the CRAP Bazaar features slightly imperfect works from makers and creators selling artwork, jewelry, and clothing. It's a great way to find something unique for yourself (or a slightly imperfect buddy) on the cheap. Proceeds to go places like the ACLU of Pennsylvania, which received $2,000 from the CRAP Bazaar last year.

11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; noon-7 p.m. Sunday, Art Star, 623 N. Second St. artstarphilly.com

MUSIC

Cashmere Cat, MØ and Darius

Dance your heart out to Norwegian DJ Cashmere Cat's tracks, which feature music heavyweights such as The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, and Tory Lanez. Danish pop singer MØ will be opening for the turntable wizard, and expect to see her make a stage appearance to perform their collaboration, "9 (After Coachella)." — B.A.

8:30 p.m. Friday, Electric Factory, 421 Seventh St. $28. 215-627-1332, electricfactory.info

Destroyer

Vancouver's Dan Bejar has been releasing albums as Destroyer since 1996, starting with lo-fi bedroom screeds, then working through many permutations of word-rich, allusive, Bowie-esque glam and art rock (in addition to his contributions to the New Pornographers). With 2011's Kaputt, however, Bejar began dialing back on the lyrical density and dialing up the musical sophistication, turning to albums such as Roxy Music's Avalon (for Kaputt), Scott Walker's Scott 3 (for 2015's Poison Season), and New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies (for last year's ken) as catalysts. The albums have become less manic but even more alluring, more focused but no less cryptic. We can expect the same from the live set Friday night. The also-intriguing Mega Bog opens. — Steve Klinge

9 p.m. Friday at Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill Ave. $22. undergroundarts.org

Live On Walnut – Straight Outta Philly

Hear some of Philly's finest female hip-hop, rap, and R&B performers under one roof. These songwriters, singers, and rappers hail from all around the tri-state area, but they'll be bringing their creative energy together for a night of good company and great music this Sunday. Make sure to catch these rising artists while you can. — T.A.L.

7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., Toasted Walnut Bar & Kitchen, 1316 Walnut St. $8 advance, $10 at the door, ages 21+. nicerackllc.com/tickets.

Howie Day

At only 37, it seems as if Howie Day has already had several careers. The first began as a teenager, when the Maine native made a name for himself playing college office houses around the country, releasing his acclaimed indie CD Australia at age 19.  From there, he scored a platinum-selling single off his 2003 major label debut with the uber-romantic "Collide," but a couple of well-publicized brushes with the law threatened to derail things for the multi-talented musician. ("I did my growing up in front of a lot of people," he has said). Relentless touring and a well-received crowd-funded effort, 2015's Lanterns (Day's fourth full-length CD), have rekindled the momentum. Known for his emotionally resonant lyrics and often-soaring melodies, onstage Day becomes a veritable one-man band through the use of a loop-pedal to layer percussion, guitar, and vocal harmonies. — Nicole Pensiero

8 p.m. Sunday, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St. $22. 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com

Wood Brothers

With their blend of down-home rootsiness and musical sophistication, the Wood Brothers have carved out their own place in the Americana landscape. The trio includes guitarist Oliver Wood, who takes the lead vocals, and Chris Wood, whose bass plays an unusually prominent role and gives the music some of its progressive touches — no surprise since he also is part of the adventurous jazz-funk group Medeski, Martin, and Wood. (Multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix rounds out the trio.) The band's sixth album, One Drop of Truth, due next week, finds the Wood Brothers in an even more  adventurous mood, expanding on their basic sound sonically and musically, while retaining their usual warmth and infectiousness. — Nick Cristiano

With the Stray Birds, at 8 p.m. Sunday, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. $25 and $27. 215-232-2100.

Benjamin Clementine

British pianist and songwriter Benjamin Clementine won his native country's prestigious Mercury Prize in 2015 for At Least for Now, in which he took his idiosyncratic piano ballads off in experimental directions that have won him fulsome praise.  His new album I Tell a Fly was inspired by the wording on the his U.S. travel visa, which described him as "an alien of extraordinary abilities." That label that rang true to the restless artist who made first his name as a busking, homeless musician in Paris before he was named best new act at Les Victoires de la Musique, the French equivalent of the Grammys. He has since gained the imprimatur of such arbiters of taste as David Byrne and Damon Albarn, the latter of whom collaborated with Clementine on "Hallelujah Money" on last year's Gorillaz album. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Monday, Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St. $25. 215-922-1011, venue.tlaphilly.com

Brockhampton

In the last two years, Brockhampton has redefined what it means to be an American boy band. The 15-member-strong group has rappers, producers, and art directors, and their talent really shone through on their three-part 2017 album, Saturation. Expect raw energy and rapid-fire verses at their Philly show. — B.A.

9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St. Sold out. 215-922-1011, venue.tlaphilly.com

Jen Cloher

Attendees of November's Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile show at the Tower Theater who were smart enough to arrive early also caught the opening set by Jen Cloher. The Australian songwriter whose Neil Youngish "Fear is a Forest" Barnett and Vile covered on their album Lotta Sea Lice is, like her wife Barnett, a gifted wordsmith with a winning rock 'n' roll attitude, as is displayed on her self-titled fourth album, which came out last year. Cloher played solo at the Tower, but at Johnny Brenda's she's fronting a quartet, featuring Barnett on guitar. Mia Johnson opens. — D.D.

8 p.m. Wednesday, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. Sold out. 215-739-9684. JohnnyBrendas.com

Kimbra

The old adage about someone being able to sing the phone book and still give it soul easily applies to Kimbra. The New Zealand vocalist touched by the spirits of '90s R&B, LCD Soundsystem and modern jazz must not be judged by the horrible and ubiquitous smash duet "Somebody That I Used to Know" with Gotye, but instead, her own handsome electro-soul albums such as 2011's Vows, 2014's The Golden Echo, an her soon-to-be-released Primal Heart. Until that new album arrives, the most recent display of her talents is "Human," a smoothly click-clacking track with a hauntingly repetitive hook and a grrr-purring vocal line that's pretty irresistible. — A.D. Amorosi

8:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31, at Union Transfer, 1026, Spring Garden St., $25, utphilly.com