Philadelphia’s culture stretches a long way back into America’s past - the city lays claim to both the country’s oldest music hall and oldest theater. South Broad Street, known as the ’Avenue of the Arts,’ is crammed with theaters, concert halls and performing arts schools. Its crown jewel is The
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 260 South Broad Street (tel: (215) 790 5800; website:
www.kimmelcenter.org). The Kimmel Center’s state-of-the-art
Verizon Hall is home to the
Philadelphia Orchestra (tel: (215) 893 1900; website:
www.philorch.org), and
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops (tel: (215) 893 1900; website:
www.phillypops.org), which performs everything from classics to rock ’n’ roll. The Kimmel Center’s
Perelman Theater’s resident companies include the
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (tel: (215) 545 5451; website:
www.chamberorchestra.org) and the
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society (tel: (215) 569 8080; website:
www.philadelphiachambermusic.org).
Entertainment listings appear in newspapers such as the
Philadelphia Inquirer, the
Philadelphia Daily News and the monthly
Philadelphia Magazine, as well as in free publications such as
City Paper and
Philadelphia Weekly. Tickets can be purchased directly from the venues or from
TicketMaster (tel: (215) 336 2000; website:
www.ticketmaster.com). For Kimmel Center events, contact
Ticket Philadelphia (tel: (215) 893 1999; website:
www.ticketphiladelphia.org).
Music: Opened in 1857, the
Academy of Music, Broad Street and Locust Street (tel: (215) 893 1999; website:
www.academyofmusic.org), is the country’s oldest music hall and home to the
Opera Company of Philadelphia (tel: (215) 893 3600; website:
www.operaphilly.com).
Theater: America’s oldest theater,
Walnut Street Theater, Ninth Street and Walnut Street (tel: (215) 574 3550; website:
www.wstonline.org), is in Philadelphia, along with the award-winning African-American
Freedom Theater, 1346 North Broad Street (tel: (215) 765 2793; website:
www.freedomtheater.org); the
Forrest Theater, 1114 Walnut Street (tel: (215) 923 1515; website:
www.forrest-theater.com), performs Broadway blockbusters, and the
Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street (tel: (215) 569 9700; website:
www.princemusictheater.org), produces original musicals. The
Arden Theater Company, 40 North Second Street (tel: (215) 922 1122; website:
www.ardentheater.org), stages innovative productions. Productions at the
Wilma Theater, 265 South Broad Street (tel: (215) 546 7824; website:
www.wilmatheater.org), vary.
Dance: The
Pennsylvania Ballet (tel: (215) 551 7000; website:
www.paballet.org) dances classics and new works at the
Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets, and
Merriam Theater, 250 South Broad Street. A leading African-American dance company,
Philadanco (tel: (215) 387 8200; website:
www.philadanco.org), performs at the
Kimmel Center, 260 South Broad Street.
Film: Philadelphia has been the setting for many films, including
Rocky (1976),
Trading Places (1983),
The Sixth Sense (1999),
Unbreakable (2000), portions of
National Treasure (2004) with Nicholas Cage and, of course,
Philadelphia (1993). Cinemas showing mainstream films are
Ritz Five, 214 Walnut Street (tel: (215) 440 1184), and
The Ritz at the Bourse, 400 Ranstead Street (tel: (215) 440 1181), which has comfortable reclining seats, and also shows foreign and limited release films. See cutting-edge films at the
Philadelphia Film Festival and the
Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (tel: (267) 765 9700; website:
www.phillyfests.com).
Literary Notes: The city’s most famous citizen, Benjamin Franklin, penned his timeless words of wisdom in his annual,
Poor Richard’s Almanack (1733-58), and
Autobiography and Other Writings (1771-1788) here. Esmond Wright wrote
Benjamin Franklin: His Life As He Wrote It (1990).
From 1837 until 1847, Edgar Allan Poe resided in Philadelphia and wrote his famous
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839),
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) and
The Gold Bug (1843), as well as the poem
Annabel Lee (1849), dedicated to his beloved wife. His house at North Seventh and Spring Garden streets is now the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.
Other renowned literary Philadelphians include the poet Walt Whitman and author James A Michener, who hails from nearby Bucks County. Bucks County was also home to the Pulitzer- and Nobel-prize-winning author, Pearl S Buck, author of
The Good Earth (1931). Her farmhouse at Perkasie is a tourist attraction. Upper-crust Philadelphia society was portrayed in Philip Barry’s play,
The Philadelphia Story (1939), which was made into a film starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart.
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