By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Mother’s Day Weekend Chamber Music Concert
There are a lot of great ways to celebrate Mother’s Day around this area. One of the best will actually take place the day before Mother’s Day.
On May 10 at 11 a.m., Winterthur (Route 52, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-888-4600,www.winterthur.org) will host “Mother’s Day Concert with the Kennett Symphony.”
The Kennett Symphony (kennettsymphony.org) will present a special Mother’s Day concert at Winterthur’s Copeland Lecture Hall under the direction of Music Director, Michael Hall.
The “Mother’s Day Weekend Chamber Music Concert” is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. (Winterthur Museum, 5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware).
This year’s program will include “Lyric Quartette” by William Grant Still, one of the most important African American composers of the 20th century. Composed in 1960, this work reflects three of Still’s friends, characterized as The Sentimental One, The Quiet One, and The Jovial One.
Also featured is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet No. 14 in G major, often referred to as the Spring Quartet due to its warm and sunny nature. Composed in 1782, this beloved quartet will fill the hall with its lively and elegant movements.
“It’s part of our connecting with Winterthur’s exhibitions,” said Hall during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from his Canadian home in Prince George, British Columbia.
“When we get invited to play this wonderful recital hall, we try to work it in with their exhibition for the year.
“One segment features African-American composer William Grant Still to go along with Winterthur’s African-American picture exhibit.
The other is about spring — Mozart’s “Spring Quartet.”
Winterthur’s special gallery – “Almost Unknown – Afric-American Picture Gallert” will run now though January 2, 2026.
Inspired by an 1859 essay written by a free black journalist and educator named William J. Wilson, this exhibition takes visitors on a tour of Wilson’s imagined gallery of prints, paintings, sculptures, books, and other decorative objects that represent Black life in the United States and across the Diaspora, as interpreted by curator and historian Dr. Jonathan Michael Square.
Known for being one of the original African-American composers of the 20th century, Still’s legacy lives on today.
Still was an American composer of nearly 200 works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, and more than 30 choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo works.
Born in Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas Still attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and then as a student of Edgard Varèse.
Because of his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, Still is considered to be part of the Harlem Renaissance.
Still was the first American composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera. He is known primarily for his first symphony, Afro-American Symphony (1930).
Still often is referred to as the “Dean of Afro-American Composers.” He was able to become a leading figure in the field of American classical music as the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, have an opera performed by a major opera company, and have an opera performed on national television.
On December 1, 1976, Still’s home at 1262 Victoria Avenue in Oxford Square, Los Angeles was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #169.
“Lyric Quartette” was composed in 1960, and was dedicated to Still’s friend, Joachim Chassman. Set into three movements subtitled “Musical Portraits of Three Friends”, the quartet takes the listener on a personal journey.
It starts with “Movement I – The Sentimental One.”
Subtitled ‘The Sentimental One’, the opening unison fluctuations create warmth between the quartet’s timbres. Throughout much of this movement the ensemble plays as a unit of sound, which creates ripples of music. The style in which this movement is written showcases Still’s more sensitive style of writing, which is highlighted through the textures and rhythms of the music.
The definition of “Sentimental” is “of or prompted by feelings of tenderness, sadness or nostalgia” and Still manages to get all of these things within the first movement.
The lack of big dramatic changes and the familiarity and warmth of the style accentuates the nostalgia and tenderness of this sentimental friend and the effect they had on the composer. The music resolves on the final chord to end this sentimental movement quietly.
Next is “Movement II – The Quiet One.”
Throughout this movement Still holds back in the way that the melody is presented, which perhaps reflects the characteristics of the quiet friend. The sweetness of the upper strings sits neatly on top of the warm lower strings, creating perfect harmony.
Deeply reflective and personal, “The Quiet One” really shows Still’s maturity as a composer.
The final segment is “Movement III – The Jovial One.”
The finale movement, dedicated to “The Jovial One,” opens with a playful melody. The most energetic and driven of the three movements, the jovial character is established straight away.
Exciting whirling from the upper strings in the central section builds tension as the driving force of the lower strings keeps the music moving along at quite a pace. The bouncy melody, led by the violin at the end, comes to its epic finale with all the parts coming together.
“I will be speaking prior to and during this piece – talking about William Grant Still,” said Hall.
The other part of the performance will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet No. 14 in G major “Spring Quartet.”
The “Spring Quartet” was composed by Mozart in 1782 in Vienna.
As with all later Mozart quartets, this quartet has four movements:
Allegro vivace assai
Molto allegro.
The first movement, in G major, contrasts fairly diatonic passages with chromatic runs. It is a long minuet, written in the tonic key of G major, with its chromatic fourths set apart by note-to-note dynamics changes.
“Mozart’s spring quartet is a really sunny piece,” said Hall. “This is the first time we’re doing it with the Kennett Symphony String Quartet.
“This is our fourth year doing this Mother’s Day concert at Winterthur and we draw larger crowds each year. It’s become a Mother’s Day tradition.”
Attendees may pay an additional $10 for admission to Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library – including 90,000 objects in the 175-room mansion Henry Francis du Pont called home, 1,000 acres of rolling hills, streams, meadows, and forests, as well as a research center dedicated to America’s artistic, cultural, social, and intellectual history from colonial times into the twentieth century.
Performance tickets are $25.
The Weight
If you’re familiar with Americana, folk music, Bob Dylan or folk-rock, then you surely are no stranger to the music of The Band. Unfortunately, The Band lost two members who have gone to the other side and now no longer exists as a band.
In case you’re not familiar with Bob Dylan’s first foray into electric rock music and his performances with The Band, The Weight Band will help you learn this piece of American music history – actually American/Canadian music history.
“The Weight” is a song by The Band. The Weight Band is a band named after The Band’s song “The Weight.” The Weight Band is a music group put together to keep alive the music of The Band.
The Weight Band will play two shows in the area this weekend – May 9 at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) and May 10 at the Baby Grand (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, www.thegrandwilmington.org).
The Band was a Canadian-American rock group featuring Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson. In 1965, Dylan hired them as his touring band when expanded for a solo folk artist to a folk-rock musician with a group behind him.
After a while, Roberston left to pursue a solo career and then later Manuel died. The remaining three members continued to tour and record albums with a succession of musicians filling the departed members’ roles. The final line-up included Richard Bell, Randy Ciarlante and Jim Weider.
Danko died of heart failure in 1999, after which the group broke up for good. Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998 and continued to perform until cancer won the battle in 2012. A passing wish of Helm was for the music and spirit of The Band to live on.
The Weight was formed to do just that. The Weight came into existence to bring a live performance to fans of The Band — but not as a tribute band.
Replicating the music of The Band is a tall order but interpreting the music of The Band is an art.
Performing songs of The Band, The Weight Band is keeping the spirit and the music alive that helped define an era. Members of The Weight Band were either actual members in The Band or are directly and deeply connected to its legacy.
The group features Jim Weider from The Band; Brian Mitchell of the Levon Helm Band; Albert Rogers, who shared the stage with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson in The Jim Weider Band; Michael Bram, who played with Jason Mraz; and Matt Zeiner, who was a member of the Dickey Betts Band.
“A few years ago, after we lost Levon, Randy Ciarlante and I put The Weight together with a couple other musicians,” said Weider, during a phone interview from his home in Woodstock. “We did songs of The Band and the shows sold out.
“Then, we got Marty Grebb. We did a few shows and it really started to take off. We added Brian Mitchell and Byron Isaacs. Now, Byron has left the group and we pulled in a new bass player — Albert Rogers. He had played in my band — the Jim Weider Band — in the ’90s.”
The members all have other projects, but it is the music of The Band that binds them together.
“I started playing with Levon in the early ’80s in the Levon Helm Band,” said Weider. “Randy was in the band too. In 1985, when Richard and Garth moved to Woodstock, we toured with Crosby, Stills and Nash. We went out as The Band. That really changed my life.”
The Weight Band has stayed busy during the pandemic and has three live albums to show for it.
“We released ‘Acoustic Live,’ which was recorded at Big Pink’ in June 2021 and ‘Live is a Carnival,’ which came out in June,” said Weider.
“We also have ‘Live in Japan,’ which is a Limited-Edition CD that was recorded at Billboard Live, Tokyo in August 2019.”
The Weight Band’s most recent album was “Shines Like Gold,” which was released in 2022.
“The main thing we did during the shutdown was to go in the studio and record a new studio album,” said Weider. “It’s called ‘Shines Like Gold’ and features all originals and one cover. We started in December 2020 and finished the mixing and mastering in May and June 2021.
“After we released our last studio album ‘World Gone Mad’ in 2018, we wanted to slowly work on putting together a new album. The COVID pandemic gave me a lot of time to work on new music.
“All the songs were written during the pandemic. It definitely impacted the record. I wrote about positivity. I tried to look at it as glass half-full. Nobody needed negativity.”
On the group’s second studio album, The Weight Band looks at our troubled world, ponders the passage of time, and ultimately conveys a sense of hopefulness for the future.
Featuring nine original songs and a cover of a Willie Dixon gem, the band recorded the album live at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, NY, over four days – with minimal rehearsal during the height of the pandemic in 2020. Producer Colin Linden, an award-winning musician and Weider’s longtime collaborator and co-writer on several of the album tracks, was in Nashville.
According to Weider, “Colin had a big hand and footprint on this record. We go back, so there is a comfortableness working with him.”
Even with its original music, The Weight Band taps into that down-home style made popular by The Band.
“Our band has that real Americana feel,” said Weider. “The originals go right good with any Band tunes we play. People are going to get a big show – a very diverse show.
“Obviously, we play a lot of Band music and our won songs like ‘Shines Like Gold’ and ‘World Gone Mad.’ We do some Allman Brothers and some Dead and a few other covers. It’s a well-rounded show with five vocalists.
“We haven’t been in the studio. We’re just playing live – which has been good. The band is sounding better than ever.”
Video link for The Weight Band — https://youtu.be/I8xvgpZhB74.
The show on May 9 will start at 8 p.m. Ticket prices start at $45.
The show on May 10 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $56.
The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will showcase a variety of genres over the next few days with Satisfaction on May 9, Shemekia Copeland and Jeffrey Gaines on May 11 and Deadgrass on May 14.
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is hosting Dan Navarro on May 8, Kennett Metal Night on May 9 and Abbie Gardner On May 10.
Navarro became familiar to a lot of listeners not so much as a solo artist but more as one-half of the popular duo Lowen & Navarro.
Lowen & Navarro was a songwriting team composed of David Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro, who met in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s.
They wrote the song “We Belong,” which became a major hit for Pat Benatar in 1984. They became active as a performing group in 1987. In 1990, they began to release a number of records of their own, including “Learning to Fall” and “Purpose.”
In March 2004, Lowen was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Because of compromises to his playing and singing, Lowen ceased touring.
The duo played its last shows in June 2009. Lowen died of complications of ALS on March 23, 2012 at the age of 60.
After a career spanning decades and a dozen albums with Lowen & Navarro, Navarro released his first true studio-recorded solo album, “Shed My Skin.” It was recorded and produced by Steve Postell and released in spring 2019.
Video link for Dan Navarro — https://youtu.be/VXVw–kViXc.
The show on May 8 will start at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $30.
Gardner has built up a strong fan base in the Delaware Valley. And, she has done it in a variety of ways – as a solo act, as one-third of Red Molly and as part of a duo project with Jesse Terry.
Gardner, the fiery dobro player with an infectious smile toured with Americana darlings Red Molly for eleven years. The band took an indefinite hiatus in 2015, so Gardner started doing gigs with different bands, backing up her friends and stepping out into the spotlight for her own gigs.
Gardner has released seven albums — “Abbie Gardner” (2000), “My Craziest Dreams” (2004), “Honey on My Grave” (2006), “Hope” (2011), “Wishes on a Neon Sign” (2018), “Live at Arcata Playhouse” (2018) and “DobroSinger” (2022).
Gardner’s latest recording, “DobroSinger,” was released May 13, 2022. It’s intimate, real and raw – her dobro and voice recorded at the same time at home, without a band or any studio tricks to hide behind. You can hear every breath, every chuckle, as if you are in the room with her.
“I recorded the album at home in Jersey City,” said Gardner. “I recorded it in my closet with Logic, two microphones and a laptop. I wanted to get live takes of singing and playing at the same time.
“Originally, I put ‘DobroSinger’ out on Bandcamp by myself – only dobro and vocals. I wanted to establish my new self.
“Every time I sit to write a song, it’s a different way. With ‘Burn in the City,’ I came up with the riff first. Then, I brought it to Will Kimbrough, and we put the words on. “Other times, the vocal melody came first – like on ‘Three Quarter Time.’
“The biggest challenge is rearranging songs so they sound full. The exciting part is that when I play this way, I find myself wandering from one song into another. There’s more room for improvisation.
“Instrumentally, I’ll be sticking mostly to dobro. I used to do guitar, but dobro now is my main instrument. I love it. It frees me up for vocals and melodic lines.
“My main dobro was made by Paul Beard. I play a Hipshot dobro which is like two instruments in one. You can pull a lever and change the tuning. I put everything through a compressor microphone. It’s a throwback sound.”
Gardner’s songwriting has brought her much acclaim including 2008 Lennon Award Winner (folk) for “The Mind of a Soldier” and 2008 American Songwriter Magazine Grand Prize Lyric Winner for “I’d Rather Be.” Her song “Honey on My Grave” was also published in Sing Out! Magazine in 2008.
Video link for Abbie Gardner – https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?
The show on May 9 will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25.
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) is presenting Roy Book Binder on May 9.
Book Binder is at an age where his clan could include great-great-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, grandchildren and children.
Book Binder celebrated his 81st birthday this year.
Book Binder is billed as “an American blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and storyteller, who is equally at home with blues and ragtime.”
“I’m not a blues artist,” said Book Binder, during a phone interview from somewhere in Pennsylvania. “I’m an entertainer who plays the blues. I play music and I tell stories.”
Book Binder was somewhere in Pennsylvania as he was driving his “tour bus,” actually his comfortable motor home, with Philly as the eventual destination.
“I got my first bus/motor home in 1976,” said Book Binder. “I gave up my place in Greenwich Village and lived on the road for 17 years – until I met my new wife in 1990. I’ve had a lot of motor homes over the years.
“During the winter, I stay in Florida – for the last 26 years. I have a home in St. Petersburg. In the wintertime, I don’t tour. I just do about one gig a month locally.”
Book Binder, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., traces his music career back to his time in the Navy in the early 1960s.
“There was a kid on the ship from Oklahoma,” said Book Binder. “He had a guitar and taught me some chords. So, I bought myself a guitar when we were somewhere off the coast of western Italy.
“Another kid who was from Dallas who played sax. He had a battery-operated Victrola and introduced me to blues acts like Bobby Blue Bland. A third kid was from Brooklyn. He was reading F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jack Kerouac, so I borrowed some of his books.”
Even though Book Binder is an octogenarian, he is still mentally sharp. He recalls things from 60 years ago with the accuracy of a 14-year-old boy remembering his recent first-time trip to first base..
“I got out of the Navy in 1965 when Greenwich Village was still happening,” said Book Binder.
“I went to junior college in Providence, Rhode Island on the G.I. Bill. I played my first open mic there in 1967. It was then that I knew I was going to do it the rest of my life.
“I met Dave Van Ronk in Providence. A year-and-a-half later, I played an open mic in the Village and Dave heard my last song. I asked him if he remembered me. He said, ‘I do’ and ‘You did.’
“We went to his place and drank Irish whiskey all night. The thing I liked about him was that he made the music his own.
“That led me to Reverend Gary Davis. I took a five-dollar guitar lesson with him. We talked and he wanted me to go on tour with him – but not as a musician. He was blind so he needed an assistant. I was part of Gary Davis’ world until he died in May 1972.”
Soon, Book Binder got involved in recording.
“I recorded a few tunes on anthologies in 1967 and 1968,” said Book Binder, who was born Paul Roy Bookbinder.
“Then, I went to England where I really made my mark. I also got a gig playing with Arthur Crudup in 1969. Around that time, I signed with Adelphi Records.”
After meeting another of his musical influences, the bluesman Pink Anderson, Book Binder released his first album, “Travelin’ Man,” on Adelphi in 1971. The album was named after one of the songs he learned from Anderson.
Book Binder has released more than a dozen albums since then – the most recent of which is “The Good Book,” which came out in 2013.
“The most important album is ‘The Good Book,’” said Book Binder. “It was my best record.”
Now, almost 60 years since he started playing music, Book Binder is still at it.
“I do around six gigs a month,” said Book Binder. “In my live shows, I sing and I tell stories. There is no greater joy than making people laugh.”
Video link for Roy Book Binder — https://youtu.be/Ot7VVFxXYrM.
The show on May 9 will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.
The schedule for the rest of May at Jamey’s House of Music is: 8, The Fabulous Dueling Pianos; 10, Michael London; 11, the Girke-Davis Project; 15, Lisa Chavous; 16, Todd Albright; 17, Settlement Music School; 18, Steve Shanahan’s Blues Muthas; 22, AC Steel & the Perpetrators; 23, Drivetime; 24, Clarence Spady Band; 25, Philly Blues Kings with Clarence Spady; 30, Tom Hampton and Jack Murray; 31, Mindstorm and the Lucky Break.
On May 10, SRUTI (www.sruti.org) will present a Grand Carnatic Vocal Music Concert featuring Ranjani and Gayatri at 4:30 p.m. at West Chester Henderson High School (400 Montgomery Avenue, West Chester, www.sruti.org).
SRUTI, The India Music and Dance Society is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization. Every year, around 10 or more world class music and dance recitals are presented during the Spring and Fall seasons by SRUTI in the Greater Philadelphia area.
Ranjani and Gayatri, sisters, are world-renowned musicians whose musical contributions include studio recordings, television, radio, concerts, festivals and lecture demonstrations. They have appeared as soloists, violin duos, accompanists, vocal duos, composers, educators and ambassadors of Indian Classical Music.
As top class Carnatic classical musicians, Ranjani and Gayatri are conservators of their genre’s unique beauty and preserve ancient tradition as they continue to innovate within it.
Ranjani Gayatri’s performances are highly acclaimed for their melodious renditions, impeccable coordination as a duo, and their ability to explore the depths of ragas through intricate improvisations.
They have a vast repertoire of classical compositions in several languages including Sanskrit, Tamizh, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi and others.
Perfection of sruti (pitching), powerful voice control, rich imagination and impeccable aesthetics which reflect the timeless values of classicism — these are some of the qualities that describe the music of Ranjani and Gayatri.
Their two voices blend and contrast to strike a fine balance between vibrancy and contemplation, intellect and emotion, tradition and innovation. Their concerts, which draw full houses across the globe, resound with energy, freshness and emotional intensity.
Ranjani and Gayatri owe their rich musical heritage to their Gurus, Sri T.S. Krishnaswami who taught them violin, and Sri P.S.Narayanaswamy, who guided them through their vocal journey.
They had their initial vocal training from their mother Smt Meenakshi Balasubramanian and their father Balasubramanian played a pivotal role in shaping their musical values.
They will be accompanied by Rajeev Mukundan, Manoj Siva and Krishna Shriram.
Mukundan is a dynamic and acclaimed Carnatic violinist, whose mellifluous playing and keen sense of aesthetics and musical understanding makes him a much sought-after accompanist in the Carnatic concert circuit.
Manoj Siva, a prime disciple of Sangita Kalanidhi Sri Palghat Raghu, hails from a family of musicians and music lovers. A Musician and a teacher par excellence he had his initial training in mridangam under Sri Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer and Sri Srirangarajapuram Jayaraman from a very young age.
Krishna Sriram is a distinguished percussionist who plays the Ghatam, a clay pot instrument used in Carnatic Music. Trained under the Ghatam Vidwan (legend) V Suresh and guided by doyens such as T.H Vinayakaram, Krishna (known as Ghatam Krishna) has been playing alongside Mridangists of various styles, accompanying both vocal and instrumental music.
The show at Henderson High on May 10 will start at 4:30 p.m.
Tickets are $60 for adults, $30 for seniors and $25 for students.
American Music Theatre (2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, www.AMTshows.com) will host Old Crow Medicine Show on May 10 on May 10 at 8 p.m. Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone on May 11 at 7:30 p.m.
The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble, a Philadelphia-based ensemble that centers the work of women in tap through performance, education, and community outreach, will present their Spring Concert Series at Harold Prince Theatre at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts (3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, www.ladyhoofers.org) on May 10 at 2 and 7 p.m.
The ensemble will perform innovative and original tap choreography by several accomplished choreographer.
The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble is composed of 30 professional and pre-professional tap dancers, including the group’s First Company and Apprentice dancers. Additionally, local college tap groups will be invited to perform through an adjudicated process.
The Artistic Director is Tamera Dallam.
Dallam is a performer and teacher who put on her first pair of tap shoes in 2004 and hasn’t stopped tapping since.
She is well-known as one of the ensemble’s star improvisers and has performed with the company in Koresh’s Come Together Dance Festival, the Kimmel Center’s Fall Arts Fest, and That Which Connects Camden.
Another dancer with dual duties is Katie Budris, who is the company’s Managing Director.
“I’ve been with the Lady Hoofers since the beginning in 2011,” said Budris, during a phone interview from her home in Sicklerville, New Jersey.
“Kat formed it as part of Philly Fringe. The group got invited to perform in Philadelphia’s City Hall in April 2012. It got a grant for a performance at City Hall.
“I performed in the second ever Lady Hoofers show. Since then, we have built quite an extensive repertoire.”
The 2025 Spring Concert Series features innovative choreography by Michael J. Love and Dolores Sanchez, audience favorites by Katie Budris and Kat Echevarría Richter, and a world premiere by renowned Chicago tap artist Star Dixon.
“There are about 18 numbers in this weekend’s show,” said Budris, who is a Senior Lecturer of Writing Arts at Rowan University. “It runs about 90 minutes with an intermission.
“We’re doing about 12 numbers that are pretty typical of our Spring Concert. We also try to include two new premieres each Spring Concert.
“There is a resurgence in tap – live, TV, films – and we’re part of that resurgence.”
One of the young dancers in the company is dance apprentice Ava Keagle from Downingtown.
Keagle began dancing when she was just three and her love of tap began two years later. She currently trains at Lionville School of Dance in ballet, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, and tap. She is also a member of Nicole Billow’s youth tap group, Tap Impact.
Video link for Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble – https://youtu.be/5bfdgIwBpEU.
The shows on May 10 will be held at 2 and 7 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and $35.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) will host Better Than Bacon on May 8.
Better Than Bacon Improv is a short form improv comedy troupe based in West Chester. BTB performs short skits and games based on audience suggestions, often inviting audience members on stage.
Improv comedy is a one-time only performance without scripts or nets. What audiences experience in one show will never be seen again.
The spontaneity of improv makes improvisational comedy one of the most challenging forms of comedy.
BTB’s current troupe members hail from all over the Philly suburbs including Malvern, Exton, West Chester, Kennett Square, Media, Swarthmore, Wilmington and Phoenixville.
The troupe’s artistic backgrounds include improv, acting, stand-up comedy, and music.
The cast includes comedians Lauren Henry, Bob Curran, Jack Dibeler, Brett Heller, Lauren Burawski, Sarah Hennessey, Susan Price, Greg Faber, Dan Freed, David James, Jessica Berzon, Marielle Latrick and Kevin O’Connell.
The show at the Uptown on May 8 will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.
Better Than Bacon will also have its 14th Anniversary Show on June 13 at the Kennett Flash.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center will also present Chelsea Reed and the Fairweather Five on May 15; the Laugh Lounge at Uptown on May 22; The Philly Keys on May 29; and a comedy night with headliner Heather Shaw and opener Leah Knauer.
The Colonial Theater (227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, thecolonialtheatre.com/events) will present Anna Todd on May 8,
“80’s Prom” on May 16, The Ledbetters and Superunknown on May 17, and Vocal Fusion Spring Concert on May 21.
The Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, www.ardmoremusic.com) has a busy week with Brett & River on May 8, Unlimited Devotion on May 9 and 10 and Dandy Warhols on May 14.
This weekend, the Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com) will host Hayden Kauffman on May 8, the Sensational Soulcruisers on May 9, and Rust: Neil Young Tribute on May 10.
The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) will present Professor Brian Cox on May 9, Almost Queen on May 10 and Living Colour on May 14.
World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, www.worldcafelive.com) has a variety of shows this week –
Audrey Nuna on May 9, Shallow Alcove on May 9, The Ledbetters on May 10, Ace Monroe on May 10, Madeleine Peyroux on May 12 and Orrin Evans on May 14.
