7 Days: Anna Deavere Smith, Gary Shteyngart, Tallest Man on Earth, and more

Sunday

American songwriter Without Irving Berlin, it's hard to imagine what American popular culture would sound like. The revue I Love a Piano celebrates the master's works, from "Alexander's Ragtime Band" to "Always" to "There's No Business Like Show Business." The show goes on at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Walnut Street Theatre's Independence Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St., and continues on a Tuesday through Sunday schedule to June 28. Tickets are $35 to $40. Call 215-574-3550.

Monday

Live on stage Actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith, best known for her stint on The West Wing, discusses her work and career at 7 p.m. at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, Broad and Lombard Streets. Tickets are $25. Call 215-985-0420.

Words, no music Back when everybody was wearing skinny ties and Dadaesque buttons on their lapels, when music mattered more if it seemed nobody knew about it except you and a couple of your friends and the rest of the world hated it, there was a documentary called Urgh! A Music War, a collection of punk performances that was like an underground travelogue. And in the middle of the cutting-edge sounds and pugnacious attitude appeared a guy dressed as if he were in a band, with a thin tie, nimbus of hair, and thick Lancashire accent, except that he didn't sing or play guitar. He was a poet, and he spat out a performance piece called "Health Fanatic" that was pure proto-rap ("Punch me there. Does it hurt? No way.") with a Borscht Belt comic's timing. He was unforgettable - but you did forget about him for a while, until an episode of The Sopranos featured his one big hit, "Evidently Chickentown." What ever happened to that guy, you wondered? Well, the punk poet John Cooper Clarke, now with an honorary doctorate and a face that tells a story, is still around and on tour. He performs at 8 p.m. at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Tickets are $20. Call 215-222-1400.

Tuesday

This American life Author Gary Shteyngart, best known for his satirical novels such as Absurdistan, reads from and discusses his memoir Little Failure, about his experiences as a Jewish-Russian immigrant growing up in 1980s New York, at 7 p.m. at the National Museum of American Jewish History, Fifth and Market Streets. Tickets are $15. Call 215-923-3811.

Wednesday

Art of living Terry Gilliam brings his inventive vision to the English National Opera's production of Berlioz's rarely performed Benvenuto Cellini, a dashing work in which the sculptor is caught between two loves - for his craft (a massive bronze of Perseus) and for a young woman promised to his rival. A film of the production screens at 7:30 p.m. at the PFS Theater at the Roxy, 1600 N. Fifth St. Tickets are $12. Call 267-239-2941.

Thursday

Moving story The intriguing troupe Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers presents an early look at Lin's autobiographical piece Home: S. 9th St. at the CHI Movement Arts Center, 1316 S. Ninth St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Tickets are $25. Call 267-687-3739.

Distinctive voices Good-rocking country girl Nora Jane Struthers arrives with the tough, twangy tunes from her fabulous new record Wake, opening for JJ Grey & Mofro at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $28. Call 215-232-2100. . . . Swedish singer- songwriter Kristian Matsson, who does business as The Tallest Man on Earth, plays his atmospheric folk-pop gems at the Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow Streets, Upper Darby, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $38.50. Call 215-922-1011.