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.
Weather Underground might be calling for rain and a chance of thunderstorms this weekend, Swatties, but that shouldn’t keep you from having fun. Here are some rain-friendly suggestions:
On campus tonight, San Francisco-based Melody of China is performing a concert at 8:00PM in Lang Concert Hall. Musicians from some of the most prestigious conservatories in China will present traditional Chinese music in a modern American context. Their repertoire includes folk music from different Chinese ethnic groups, classical, jazz, and contemporary. This is a Cooper Event, which means it’s free of charge, and is preceded by a lecture and demonstration starting at 7:00PM.
Those still looking for a Halloween costume should attend the Used Costume Rummage Sale hosted by the LPAC Costume Shop tomorrow, Saturday the 24th. It will take place from 10:00AM – 4:00PM in the LPAC upstairs lobby. Items for sale will include vintage finds, dancewear, extra costume stock, and various accessories. For more information, you can e-mail the Costume Shop Supervisor Tara Webb at twebb1. Another Halloween-themed activity on campus this weekend is pumpkin carving at the Kitao Gallery. E-mail kitaogallery@gmail.com by midnight tonight to reserve your pumpkin, then stop by Kitao at between 3:00PM – 6:30PM tomorrow, Saturday, to carve it.
For those looking to get off campus, the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra is having a free concert tonight at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The concert, titled Seven Variations of Madness, is one of their most innovative to date, featuring the Virtuosi’s traditional live string music with a P.A.M. (Partially Artificial Musicians) band. P.A.M.s are instruments that fuse kinetic sculpture with robotic technology. The concert will be at 5:30PM.
The 2007 winner of Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rabbit Hole, opened last night, Thursday, at the Arden Theatre Company. The play is described as funny and heartbreaking. From the Arden Theatre’s website: “Becca and Howie had the perfect life – a great marriage, a beautiful house, and a lovely son. But after a tragic accident, the couple faces the challenges of surviving great loss and making a life with the family that remains.” Showings for this weekend are tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00PM and Sunday at 2:00PM, but the play will run every Tuesday through Sunday until December 20th. Tickets range from $14 – $38.
The brave can head to either the Terror Film Festival or Terror Behind the Walls. The Ethical Society of Philadelphia is hosting the fourth year of the Terror Film Festival, which features over sixty scary movies in the delightfully gothic Ethical Society Building at Rittenhouse Square. From the Festival’s website: “Terror Film Festival is a bad-azz, blood chilling, alien probing international genre arts film festival, founded for the purpose of offering filmmakers, screenwriters and movie lovers more.” The festival only lasts until Saturday night, and tickets range from $6 – $20.
Terror Behind the Walls is one of the region’s best haunted attractions. Called ”perfect for Halloween’’ by the New York Times and ranked no. 1 in the nation by America Online’s City Guide, Terror Behind the Walls takes place in a former prison, the Eastern State Penitentiary. From the website: “You bet it’s scary. We do our absolute best to terrify you and your friends. Imagine just being inside an 11 acre abandoned prison at night… Our goal is to make you scared. Really scared.” Also, you’ll be glad to hear that the attraction has been “‘hard hat free’ since 2001.” The attraction takes place from 7:00PM – 11:00PM every night except Saturday, when it goes until midnight. Tickets can be purchased online or at the site for $25 Fridays and Sundays and $30 Saturdays. If these prices displease you, on Tuesday the 27th they are discounting the price for students to $15.
