Have some virtual fun this weekend
From music to comedy to poetry to an online escape room, here’s a rundown of some upcoming regional streaming events.
Here are some virtual cultural events of regional interest that are planned for the week ahead:
Philadelphia Youth Orchestra
WRTI is broadcasting concerts by the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra on Sundays in May. Conducted by Maestro Louis Scaglione, the concerts will be streamed from 4 to 6 p.m. and will be co-hosted by WRTI’s Kevin Gordon and Scaglione. They will be available on the radio at 90.1 FM, online at WRTI. org and on the WRTI app.
Airing this Sunday will be the Feb. 23 concert with guest violinist Francesca dePasquale, a PYO alumna. The program will open with Samuel Barber’s Medea’s Dance of Vengeance, then proceed with dePasquale as soloist with the orchestra in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and conclude with Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3.
The PYO features 130 instrumentalists who range in age from 15-21.
Comedy Conversation
1812 Productions, Philadelphia’s all-comedy theater company, presents Comedy Conversation, a one-night-only special event featuring storytelling and a live reading with author and humorist R. Eric Thomas, as well as a Q&A with Philadelphia storyteller Hillary Rea, on Monday, May 11, at 8 p.m. The event will be streamed live at www.crowdcast.io/e/1812-comedy-conversation.
Thomas is an award-winning playwright, storyteller, author and the creator of Eric Reads the News, a daily humor column for ELLE Magazine. His first memoir, “Here for It, or How To Save Your Soul in America,” which Lin-Manuel Miranda hailed as, “pop culture-obsessed, David Sedaris-level laugh-outloud funny,” was released in February.
Following a live reading, Thomas will be joined by Rea, who is the founder of Tell Me A Story, an organization whose mission is to assist entrepreneurs, business leaders and artists in finding their own narratives.
Comedy Conversation is pay what you choose. Questions can be emailed to info@1812productions.org.
Virtual Escape Room
The Escape Game King of Prussia has launched The Escape Game Remote Adventures — escape games you play on Zoom from anywhere in the world.
Players progress through the room using an online clue bank, a live Game Guide and a 360-degree view of the room. You explore by controlling an avatar wearing a live camera feed and use what you find in the room and the items in your digital dashboard to progress through the adventure. You have 60 minute to escape.
Cost is $25 per person. To reserve a time, go to theescapegame.com/remote-adventures.
Berks Bards Poetry Reading
The grassroots poetry group Berks Bards will hold its First Thursday Poetry Reading on Zoom today at 6 p.m. Special guest will be Brandon Krieg, the author of “Magnifier,” winner of the 2019 Colorado Prize for Poetry; “In the Gorge”; “Invasives,” a finalist for the 2015 ASLE Book Award for Environmental Creative Writing; and a chapbook, “Source to Mouth.”
Krieg is an assistant professor of English at Kutztown University. To join the Zoom, go to https://tinyurl.com/VirtualBard.
Comedy Night Online
The Kelly Center for Music, Arts and Community in Havertown is presenting Comedy Night Online hosted by Mark Lipsky on Saturday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Included will be an interview with “Saturday Night Live” alum Gary Kroeger, a conversation with shape-shifting comedian Jillian Markowitz and comedy clips and stand-up video from Rob Stant, Joan Weisblatt and Mike Eagan. The event is pay-what-you-can and can be viewed on the Kelly Center’s Facebook page or on Youtube.
Philoso-Fest
The Lawn Chair Philosophy Foundation, Bala Cynwyd, presents Philoso-Fest on Saturday from 3:30 to 11:30 p.m. Artists and academics are invited to present 20 to 30 minutes of songs, poems or readings from academic papers, and talk about their personal philosophies. The lineup is posted on the group’s Facebook page.
Friday FB Live Concerts
The Friday FB Live Concert Series continues this Friday with performances by Tin Bird Choir (Eric and Heather Hurlock) at 8 p.m., followed by Mike Baker (Rumi Kitchen) at 8:30, Kevin Killen at 9 and Dave Cope at 9:30.
A $20 donation is requested, with 75% of the money going directly to the artists and 25% going to the charity Feeding America, which provides food to people in need through a nationwide network of food banks.
Philadelphia Virtual Music Phest
The Philadelphia Virtual Music Phestival presents an interview with violinist David Kim, concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra, on Saturday from 7 to 8 p.m. on its Facebook group page.
Kim frequently appears as a guest with famed modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty at venues such as the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn., The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall. He appears as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra each season as well as with numerous orchestras around the world.