MUSEUMS
Body Worlds: Animal Inside Out
Through April 12
Franklin Institute
222 N. 20th St.
$8-$30, 215-448-1200
This exhibition of animal anatomy is nearly freaky enough to make you feel like Halloween isn’t over — mostly, though, it’s just fascinating. You’ll get to see what many different creatures look like under the skin, delving into the staggering complexity of animal bodies. And of course no visit to the Franklin Insitute is compelte without a walk through the giant heart. COMEDY
Adrienne Truscott
Through Nov. 16
Adrienne Theater
2030 Sansom St.
$10-$25, [email protected]
Stand-up comic Adrienne Truscott will perform her one-woman show “Asking for It,” whose title refers to the horrible but not uncommon suggestion that certain rape victims are “asking for it” in one way or another. A big theme of her monologue is the problem of rape jokes and question of the limits of comedy regarding such traumatic scenarios. Note: Contains nudity! ART
William Glackens Opening Party: Vaudeville
Friday, 6 to 9 p.m.
Barnes Foundation
2025 Ben Franklin Pkwy.
$22, 215-278-7200
The Barnes opens its William Glackens exhibition with a bang, reviving the world of vaudeville for an evening, with comedians, tap dancing, circus stunts and more. Glackens, a close friend of Dr. Barnes, was a Philadelphia-born realist painter and member of the famous Ashcan School, which sought to depict the life of average Americans — the kind who loved to take in a vaudeville show. Flux: Four Artists Redefining Glass
Through Nov. 29
Wexler Gallery
201 N. Third St.
Free, 215-923-7030
The four contemporary glass artists in question are Dan Cutrone, Amie McNeel, Charlotte Potter and Wes Valdez, each of whom approaches the medium with a striking, radical vision. The show draws its title from the Fluxus movement of the 1960s, which sought, among many other things, to produce an anti-elitist art in touch with everyday life and everyday materials. THEATER
‘Henry V’
Through Nov. 16
Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre
2111 Sansom St.
$20-$35, 215-496-8001
Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre sets the Bard’s history play in a private high school —always a good place for war. Fictionalizing events from the early 1400s, the play features one of the great mic-dropping, rally-the-troops speeches in theater history, which, however imagined the words were, actually did boost morale when Laurence Oliver read them to beleaguered British citizens in World War II. ‘Mary Poppins’
Through Jan. 4
Walnut Street Theatre
825 Walnut St.
$72-$82, 800-745-3000
“Mary Poppins” is so familiar that it’s easy to forget how mysterious it is. A magical “nanny” appears out of nowhere to help care for a pair of British siblings, pro bono. But who or what is she, and where did she come from? We never find out. This musical follows the Disney film, with all your favorite songs — and the mystery — intact. TOURS
Vampires, Sex and Ghosts Tour
Through Nov. 29
Grim Philly Twilight Tours
599 Market St.
$20, 856-829-3100
If your taste for the macabre was not satisfied by Halloween (whose is?), we recommend this Grim Philly tour, which promises “an eclectic array of sites and frights from dark and deviant sexcapades to torture, mass burials and execution, to vampires, pirates, and ghosts!” And it’s all grounded in real history, because the truth is always way more screwed up than fiction. SHOPPING
Art Star Craft Bazaar
Saturday and Sunday
23rd Street Armory
22 S. 23rd St.
With more than 50 local and national crafts vendors plying handmade wares of every sort, from jewelry to cornhole boards, this might make a perfect first stop for your holiday shopping — or heck, screw it, just treat yourself to something nice. There’s also some delicious-sounding food on offer and the chance to do a little crafting of your own. STORYTELLING
First Person Arts Grand Slam
Thursday, 8 p.m.
Prince Music Theater
1412 Chestnut St.
$22, 215-972-1000
The winners of this year’s season of story slams (like poetry slams, but with personal stories) go head-to-head this evening, in a cutthroat competition hosted by comedian Dave Hill. Only one will be crowned Philadelphia’s best storyteller. DANCE
Fresh Juice 2014
Friday and Saturday
Mascher Space Cooperative
155 Cecil B. Moore Ave.
$10-$15, 800-838-3006
mascherfreshjuice.brownpapertickets.com
Every year, the Mascher Space Cooperative presents “Fresh Juice,” a show featuring its current artists in residence. This year’s artists include Almanac Dance Circus Theater, Antonia Z Brown, Loren Groenendaal/Vervet Dance and Nicole Brinder. The pieces range from Brown’s empathy-centered duet to Brinder’s transformation of what was originally a duet (awesomely titled “Dance Apocalypse) into a solo performance. MUSIC
Nano to Macro: Music of Kirigami
Friday, 8 p.m.
Christ Church Neighborhood House
20 N. American St.
$12-$15, [email protected]
Bowerbird and Soundfield present three pieces by experimental composer Gene Coleman, inspired by recent scientific research which used the centuries-old Japanese art of kirigami to help solve a modern technological problems. The research team’s leaders will explain the details in a pre-concert talk. Coleman’s music makes use of traditional Western and Eastern acoustic instruments as well as electronic instrumentation. CIRCUS
The National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China
Saturday
Kimmel Center
1500 Walnut St.
$29-$61, 215-893-1999
We all know about Cirque de Soleil — well how about “Cirque Peking”? That’s the name of this performance by the National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China, which includes eye-popping acrobatic stunts, plus music, martial arts magic and a general I-didn’t-know-human-bodies-could-do-that factor rivaling its French-Canadian counterpart.