Philadelphia Info
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 Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:12 am Post subject: NIGHTLIFE IN PHILADELPHIA / PHILADELPHIA NIGHTLIFE GUIDE |
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NIGHTLIFE IN PHILADELPHIA
Most cultural attractions keep their box offices open until curtain time. Also check out UPSTAGES (tel. 215/569-9700), the city's premier nonprofit box-office service, representing smaller dance companies and theaters such as the Adrienne. They take phone orders Monday through Friday from 10am to 6pm, and the principal walk-up location is at the Prince Theater, at 1412 Chestnut St.; hours are from noon to 3pm Monday through Friday. There's a small service charge. The venues themselves generally sell tickets at their own box offices starting an hour before curtain.
For commercial attractions such as large concerts, Ticketmaster (tel. 215/336-2000; www.ticketmaster.com) is your best bet. Local ticket brokers such as the Philadelphia Ticket Office, 1500 Locust St. (tel. 215/735-1903), or Ticket Warehouse (tel. 800/252-8499) are also reliable. Out-of-state brokers may have better selections, though their prices could be exorbitant. Many of the fine performing arts such as the Philadelphia Orchestra have assigned their telephone box office to Ticket Philadelphia, at tel. 215/893-1999 and www.ticketphiladelphia.org.
Seniors can receive discounts of about 10% or $5 per ticket or more at many theatres, including the Annenberg Center and Wilma Theater. Concert halls generally make rush or last-minute seats available to students at prices under $10; these programs sometimes extend to adults as well. Groups can generally get discounts of 20% to 50% by calling well in advance.
Bowling
Philadelphia is not much of a bowling town; no lanes are found in Center City, but there are lanes out along the northern routes leading out of the city, or across the Delaware in New Jersey. Many lanes have adapted to a younger social crowd by offering special "cosmic" or "extreme" bowling nights on the weekends -- same lanes but spiced up with loud music and black lights.
Cinema
Center City's movie-going options are clustered mainly in Old City and along the river. United Artist Riverview, 1400 S. Columbus Blvd. along the Delaware River waterfront (tel. 215/755-2219), features stadium seating and 17 screens, but it's a considerable taxi ride from Center City (though less than $10 from Society Hill and Old City).
In the historic district, Ritz 5 Movies, 214 Walnut St. (tel. 215/925-7900 or 215/440-1184), is the best choice for independent releases. It has five comfortable screening rooms and shows sophisticated, often foreign, fare. The first daily matinee performance is $4.
Its sister theatre, the five-screen Ritz at the Bourse, 4th and Ranstead streets (tel. 215/925-7900), behind the Bourse and the new Omni Hotel, has the advantage of an espresso/cappuccino bar replete with long leather sofas. The minichain also owns the Ritz East, on 2nd Street between Chestnut and Walnut streets, with two screens ([tel) 215/925-7900).
The Tuttleman IMAX Theater at the Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St. (tel. 215/448-1111), shows exciting adventure and nature movies (Titanica, Whales) on its four-story, domed screen.
In University City, there's the well-designed, upscale Bridge Cinema de Lux, 230 S. 40th St. at Walnut (tel. 215/386-3300). International House, 3701 Chestnut St. (tel. 215/387-5125), presents a fine series of foreign films, political documentaries, and work from independent filmmakers. Cinemagic 3 at Penn, 3925 Walnut St. (tel. 215/222-5555), screens intelligent releases from the U.S. and abroad.
Salons
Several spots around town have started catering to the large pool of intellectually curious singles in Philadelphia. Judy Wicks at the White Dog Café, 3420 Sansom St. (tel. 215/386-9224), has instituted "salon meals," calling on local academics, artists, and her own contacts to address issues such as domestic and foreign policy, the arts, and social movements. The salon talks include a three-course dinner for $30 per person, and reservations are recommended.
Bars & Clubs
Great drinking spots are everywhere in Philadelphia: They range from neighbourhood bars to elegant hotel lounges to dimly lit hipster hangouts, where you need to buy an entire $200 bottle of champagne just to hold a table. The hottest bars in town now are in Old City and Rittenhouse Square. Ironically, Rittenhouse Square has always been a place where residents walk dogs, artists set up easels, and children play in fountains. Now, however, thanks to some smart entrepreneurs, the stretch along the entire east side (18th St.) glows with heat lamps and candles, and resounds with murmurs of conversation and the clink of glasses. Neil Stein initiated the alfresco movement in 1998 with his 1920s-style bistro Rouge, at 205 S. 18th St. It's a Mobil Travel four-star awardee, and it serves a great $15 burger. In 2000, he followed Rouge with Bleu at 227 S. 18th St., where whimsical murals enliven a great $29 three-course prix-fixe dinner. Also present are Devon Seafood Grill, and Potcheen around the corner on Locust Street. All are active until 11pm Sunday through Thursday, and until 1am Friday and Saturday. Just off the Square is Twenty Manning, on 20th Street between Locust and Spruce, where stylish, vibrant owner Audrey Claire Taichman draws a crowd of young professionals to her mod indoor-outdoor lounge, with excellent cocktails and appetizers.
The Performing Arts
Music, theatre, and dance are presented regularly all over the city. There's really no off season for the performing arts in Philadelphia; when the regular seasons of the Philadelphia Orchestra or Pennsylvania Ballet finish at the end of May, they move to the outdoor venues such as the Mann Music Center that make Philadelphia so pleasant.
Dance Companies
Local troupes perform successfully alongside such distinguished visitors as White Oak Dance Project, Pilobolus, and the Dance Theater of Harlem.
Theatre Companies
At any given time there will be at least one Broadway show in Philadelphia, on its way into or out of New York. There are also student repertory productions, professional performances by casts connected with the University of Pennsylvania, small-theater offerings in the various neighbourhoods of Center City, and cabaret or dinner theatre in the suburbs.
The Club & Music Scene
Club kids of all ages (and interested onlookers) will be happy to learn that Philadelphia has plenty of home-grown DJ talent and enjoys frequent visits from New York artists and DJs. Most of the clubs mentioned below are within blocks of the Delaware waterfront. The minimum legal drinking age in Pennsylvania is 21. Bars may stay open until 2am; establishments that operate as private clubs can serve until 3am.
Old City, Rittenhouse Square, Northern Liberties & the Delaware Waterfront
If you ask most Philadelphians in their 20s through mid-30s where the epicenter of Philly nightlife is, they'd answer that it has moved to young, stylish Old City, the restaurant- and lounge-heavy district that's close to both art galleries and the historic district. North of Old City, and even younger and more trend-obsessed, is Northern Liberties, a neighbourhood of old warehouses and historic homes that is quickly being gentrified and boasts cool spots with excellent food, such as the popular and casual Standard Tap.
Beautiful people in their 30s and older gather at the sleek lounges and restaurants around Rittenhouse Square: Singles flirt at outside cafe tables at Rouge, sip pomegranate margaritas at Twenty Manning, or try to elbow their way into the VIP bar at Denim Lounge. With its huge, open spaces and lights shimmering off the water, the Delaware Waterfront -- nightclubs built onto piers along Delaware Avenue (aka Columbus Blvd.), both north and south of the Ben Franklin Bridge -- was popular in the mid-1990s, and is a little more seedy and rough 10 years later. One place that is pleasant is the summer-only Rock Lobster, where you should take a taxi or valet-park to avoid the dangerous drivers and traffic patterns along Delaware Avenue.
Jazz & Blues Clubs
Philadelphia is one of the great American hot spots for jazz, boasting performances from everyone from John Coltrane to sax phenomenon Grover Washington, Jr., to bassist Christian McBride. The Kimmel Center now presents a popular jazz series, and the Mellon Jazz Festival is held in May. The Philadelphia Clef Club on the Avenue of the Arts has given jazz an intimate performance home. Even the Philadelphia Museum of Art offers live jazz on most Wednesday and Friday evenings. For specific information, write or call Mill Creek Jazz and Cultural Society, 4624 Lancaster Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19131 (tel. 215/473-2880).
Rock Clubs & Rock Concert Venues
Two firms control the presentation of large rock concerts in town, and advance tickets are almost obligatory. Clear Channel (tel. 215/569-9416; www.electricfactory.com) usually books major talent into the Wachovia Center (box office tel. 215/336-3600), the city's major indoor arena, in South Philly, as well as at the 25,000-seat Tweeter Center on the Waterfront in Camden (tel. 856/365-1300). Other venues include the Electric Factory, 421 N. 7th St., a plain industrial rehab with questionable acoustics; the Tower Theatre, at 69th and Market streets in Upper Darby (scene of recent Sting and Todd Rundgren concerts); and, in the summer, the Mann Music Center in Fairmount Park. The Theater of Living Arts at 334 South St. (tel. 215/922-1011), now bereft of all seating, is used for smaller shows like Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Tickets are available in advance through Ticketmaster for most venues (tel. 215/336-2000). |
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