Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Temperatures are edging up and as spring blooms around us, groups on campus are sharing the results of a semester’s worth of practices and performances. On campus, you can listen to Swarthmore’s coed pop a cappella group Mixed Company in Lang tonight. The group’s “Spring Concert” will feature guest group “Mental Notes” from John Hopkins. Also this weekend is the Jazz Ensemble Concert at 8 pm on Saturday in Lang while Rhythm n Motion performs in LPAC.
If you want to relax a bit on campus this weekend, Movie Committee will be showing Le Scaphandre et Le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) a drama based on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered from locked-in syndrome after a stroke. Free Culture will be showing the classic (and public-domain) thriller Charade, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Saturday afternoon on Parrish Beach you can listen to fellow Swatties, including the Balkan Brass and Mariachi Band, playing in the “Peace on the Beach” concert for Peace Week.
For a night at the opera, it’s a great weekend to go into the city. On Sunday, the Kimmel Center will be showing a selection from Verdi’s Il Trovatore, in which a gypsy woman is accused of murder and burnt at the stake, and her daughter’s attempt to avenge her mother results in the death of her own child and the kidnapping of the son of her mother’s accuser. Despite a convoluted plot, the music is lovely and you have probably heard the second act’s “Anvil Chorus” in at least one Looney Tunes episode. Alternately, you can check out Bellini’s Norma at the Academy of Music, which gives a new meaning to “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Another restful option for those interested in exploring the city a bit tonight is stopping by the Church of the Holy Trinity at 8 pm to hear Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen for 23 solo instruments, Burleske for Piano and Orchestra, and Der Burger als Edelman (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme). While you’re there, you can wander the lovely Rittenhouse Square. Cafe Rouge on the square claims to have the best cheeseburger in America, while the much beloved Capogiro’s Gelateria is only a few blocks away (their “cioccolato scuro” weeds out the true chocolate lovers from the casual fans and the “champagne mango” leaves you with a happy buzz).
