🎭 Your guide to the Fringe Festival | Things to Do

It’s already a bit chilly this week as we inch closer to the beginning of fall. While summer is coming to a close, Philadelphia is already gearing up for an electrifying season overflowing with amazing events, festivals, concerts, and plays.

This weekend, catch one of hundreds of upcoming Fringe Festival shows, explore mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar’s South Philly studio for the first time, and cheer on the Eagles in Brazil.

— Rosa Cartagena (@_RosaCartagena, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

The Philadelphia Fringe Festival is taking over stages across Philadelphia this month with more than 300 productions showcasing experimental, wacky, and unbelievable talent from the region’s boundary-pushing performing arts community — from theater to circus arts to dance. Tonight I’m going to the opening of ambitious stage adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses from Elevator Repair Service. The sheer size of the festival might have you searching for a good place to start, and that’s where we can help: with a Fringe Fester’s guide to the festival.

🦅 Birds in Brazil: The Eagles play the Green Bay Packers in Brazil this week in the first NFL game hosted in South America. For those of us staying home, we’ve got recommendations for 21 Philly bars and restaurants where you can cheer them on from afar.

🖼️ Connections across generations: “Black Like That,” a new exhibit at Temple’s Tyler School of Art and other venues across the city, examines Black history in Philadelphia to find connections with contemporary artists. Legendary queer blues singer Gladys Bentley, who grew up here, gets a special highlight.

📸 This ain’t Texas: But we’ve got a history of Black cowboys here in Philly, too. Take a look at the incredible collection of photographs from photojournalist Ron Tarver who spent decades capturing the unique beauty of Black cowboys and cowgirls; beginning Friday, his work will be on display at InLiquid Gallery.

🍝 We’re all getting emotional, Tony: The Sopranos is in the spotlight again with a new documentary focusing on writer and creator David Chase and going behind-the-scenes of the iconic New Jersey mob drama. The two-part doc premieres on HBO on Saturday.

📖 Essential reading: Nearly 40 years after police bombed a West Philly city block killing 11 people part of MOVE, a Black power activist organization, Mike Africa Jr., son of two leading MOVE members, has released a compelling memoir about the horrific history he hopes will never be forgotten.

🎨 Go before it’s gone: A towering quilt at the Philadelphia Museum of Art interrogates the violent, painful legacy of Rikers Island jail in New York. Philadelphia artist Jesse Krimes, a formerly incarcerated artist himself, walks us through his elaborately detailed artwork.

📅 My calendar picks this week: The Amazing Acro-Cats, Midnight Pasta Party, Spring Garden Sunflower Festival

Have you ever wanted to look inside Philadelphia mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar’s South Philly studio? This weekend, you’ll have your chance: The Philadelphia Magic Gardens, the organization that runs Zagar’s outdoor maze of mosaics on South Street, is hosting two open houses on Thursday, Sept. 5 (from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.) and Saturday, Sept. 7 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) at 1002 Watkins Street, a former mechanic warehouse that the artist transformed both inside and out. While the studio has been quiet for years — the 85-year-old’s health has been in decline — PMG plans to open the space for workshops, artist residencies, and small tours this fall. Take an exclusive look inside the wondrous, glittering space.

🎤 A brat plans ahead: Pop diva Charli XCX lands at Wells Fargo Center later this month — with opener Troye Sivan — and Philly fans are more than ready to keep bumpin’ that brat summer all year long. Here’s what you need to know.

🍽️ New and noteworthy: We break down the best new restaurants and bars coming to the Philadelphia region this fall, from a revival of the West African spot Kilimandjaro to a bistro behind a secret door.

🍏 Fall fun: If you’re itching to ditch shorts and grab your flannel for fall, we rounded up 10 great places to go apple picking near Philadelphia.

⚾ Watch and cheer: No Phillies fan can forget the game last year when one smart superfan encouraged the crowd to clap — not boo — for shortstop Trea Turner, who was lagging. The overwhelming response of positive reinforcement turned Turner’s season around, and that moment in Phillies history is now the center of a new documentary.

🪩 Ballroom bachelor: You might remember Joey Graziadei, who grew up in Collegeville, as one of the most popular stars of The Bachelor in recent years. Now he’s trying out Dancing with the Stars. Here’s what we know so far.

Pop music critic Dan DeLuca breaks down some of the best shows coming to town.

🔊 Friday: St. Vincent takes over the Met. Annie Clark stumbled with the high concept, New-York-in-the-1970s-inspired 2021 album Daddy’s Home, but the singer-guitarist is back on form with the ferocious new All Born Screaming.

🔊 Saturday and Monday: Pearl Jam’s special relationship with Philadelphia goes back to the Seattle grungers playing tiny J.C. Dobbs in the early 1990s and closing down the Spectrum in 2009. This election-year tour is for the band’s new album Dark Matters.

🔊 Saturday and Sunday: Waxahatchee plays back-to-back shows. Former Philadelphian singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield — who now lives in Kansas City — put out one of the standout releases of the year with the excellent new Tigers Blood. She’s doing two nights at the Fillmore with Tim Heidecker and Gladie opening the first night, Snail Mail and Greg Mendez the second.

Is Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship a public relations stunt? Rumors circulated online this week of a supposed contract between the pop star and the footballer that allegedly planned a staged relationship and scheduled breakup on Sept. 28 — which Kelce’s PR team has denied and fans have claimed might be the work of ChatGPT. Inquirer reporter Emily Bloch says we know one thing for certain: “They definitely can’t break up on Sept. 28 now.” What do you think? Let me know!

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

This week I’ve been obsessed with Industry and it’s not just because Kit Harrington stars in the new season. It’s an addictive watch that’s as cutthroat as Game of Thrones, as interpersonally messy as Riverdale, and as jargony as Succession. What are you most excited to watch this weekend? Let me know!