Let's jump right in:

>>>City Paper cover story is more like a cover package: A.D. Amorosi interviews Charlotte Ford about CHICKEN, Mark Cofta on all the Billy Shakes, a piece on all the undead (so many undead), Shaun Brady on Bang on a Can and Release, and more.

>>>Philadelphia magazine's website has a slideshow of 11 of your favorite Festival performers.

>>>Daily News: Jonathan Takiff interviews Joe Blake, former DN reporter turned playwright and writing teacher, about his Philly Fringe show A Separate Sun.

>>>Edge Philadelphia: What's gay at the Festivals? They've got us covered.

>>>Edge redux: Article on the very talented Meg Foley, whose choreography will be featured next week as a part of 8: eight choreographers/eight new works.

>>>TheaterMania: J. Cooper Robb covers the opening of the theater season in Philly, with plugs for the Live Arts production Cankerblossom and the Philly Fringe show The New & Improved Stages of Grief.
>>>First Person Arts shares their picks too, focusing on memoir and documentary, of course. Click on over, and find out how to get an FPA discount to Cedric Andreiux.

--Nicholas Gilewicz

Photo by Jay Dunn.

I call him that because we're family.

In what will hopefully be an avalanche of lovely stories about all things Live Arts and Fringe, J. Cooper Robb reports for the Philadelphia Weekly on the adventurous Shakespeare and Shakespeare-inspired productions as part of the two Festivals. Quoth Robb:

"[Shakespeare]'s technically been responsible for thousands of hours of dull, turgid theater over the last few centuries (even though he obviously needs to be credited with thousands more of great theater), and the festival is all about breaking those conventions. This year, though, there's a subset of groups taking on the Bard instead of dodging him, with at least five shows based on the words, images and ideas of Shakespeare."

We'll go with the hours of great theater, thanks. Shows like: Romeo and Juliet, Jester's Dead, ¡EL CONQUISTADOR!, Titus Andronicus, and Cankerblossom, all of which Robb discusses.

--Nicholas Gilewicz

Image credit: Rhett Henckel.

A couple items worth your while:

Before Cankerblossom rocks Christ Church at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, Pig Iron's spend this weekend finding out whether it will play in Peoria La Jolla. Sarah Laeuchli, the La Jolla Playhouse's artistic intern (she's also serving as script assistant on their production of Cankerblossom), had this to say about getting ready for the weekend:

"Right now everyone is working together to make sure all of the physical elements are in place. The set (which is made entirely out of cardboard) is being decorated with cardboard gears and cardboard pipes. One of the actors is wearing a cardboard vest and cardboard glasses. Backstage, people are putting the finishing touches on animal masks, wigs and giant bear claws. As I sign off now, I'm going backstage to join them in the construction of a cardboard baby's bottle."

And look at that! Pig Iron rears its head again, along with Headlong Dance Theater (we're screening the doc about More titled No One Else Could Love You More), in this piece by Lauren Dubowski for our friends at Culturebot. Headlong and Pig Iron have both started performance training programs, and Lauren has the inside look at how the dance-theater hybrid scene here is going to benefit. My summary won't do the thorough piece justice, so go read it.

--Nicholas Gilewicz

New York playwright/director/actor Barry Rowell has blogged about past Philadelphia Live Arts Festivals on his blog A Strange Interlude. Sadly, it doesn't look like he's going to be able to make it to the Fest & Fringe this year, but he's still selected his top picks for the first weekend (Sept. 3rd - 5th) because, he says "this year's festival looks especially good." We agree. And a guy can dream right?

Check out his list to see what Live Arts and Fringe shows he's got his heart set on (Cankerblossom, FREEDOM CLUB), what shows he's intrigued by (TAKES, AFOOT!:Northern Liberties) and what conflicting shows he'd need a time-turner to be able to see all in one weekend.

--Ellen Freeman

Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

All I've heard about Christ Church's Neighborhood House lately has been about the air conditioning. Bryan Clark and Deborah Block both played it up when I spoke with them about Theatre Exile's June fundraiser, and past Theatre Exile patrons (as well as our Live Arts & Philly Fringe audience) may remember some great artistic experiences, but perhaps some less pleasant physical ones.

"So many Live Arts shows," says Anna Drozdowski, "have been people sweating in uncomfortable folding chairs."

Since Live Arts shows will bookend the renovations—the last show before the theater space was closed was Wandering Alice, and the first show when it reopens will be Cankerblossom—and because we're presenting the next Meet the Artist event (for the New Paradise Laboratories/Riot Group collab Freedom Club, I figured I should go scope it out myself.

Anna, who has worked with everybody from Headlong Dance Theater to JJ Tiziou, has been brought on by Christ Church to develop use policies, contracts, and protocols for the renovated theater space. As she puts it, she also "translates between the theater population and the church population. Everyone has been very patient with what that process is."

The renovations are about more than simply the air conditioning. After all, Don Smith, the executive director of the Christ Church Preservation Trust, says $4 million has been spent renovating the Neighborhood house. He sees it as an investment in a community space, supported both financially (the Trust undertook a $10 million capital campaign, including substantial donations from Christ Church's parishioners) and in spirit, by the community.

"We're interested in all performing arts," Don says. "William Penn [Foundation, which also provided substantial funding] sees the need for performance space for emerging companies. Neighborhood House is a community center for Old City. It started that way, and we're going back to the beginning. It's just been low profile for the past 50 to 75 years."

Anna, who's well-connected in the Philadelphia performance scene, is charged with helping bring in those emerging artists and companies. She recently held an open house, and will host another in September.

"The real priority is to make the space affordable, setting the bar at a level where people can earn money on the box office [receipts]," she says.

The project faced some challenges along the way, but the recession had a million-dollar upshot for the project.

"It's a bad time to get loans," Don says, "but it's a great time to get contractors. What would've been a $5 million project came in at $4 million."

And the renovations—which made the space fully handicapped-accessible with a new elevator, added bathrooms on the same floor as the theater (and one in the dressing room with a shower), installed air conditioning, and found the most comfortable folding chairs I've sat in—haven't changed the fundamental nature of the theater at all.

"The space has a lot of character," Anna says, "but has a lot of capacity to be made your own. It doesn't suffer from being a proscenium. It's good for the cross-disciplinary hybrid work that makes Philly Philly."

The next Live Arts Festival Meet the Artist event, for FREEDOM CLUB will be held at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American Street, in the 4th floor theater. Wednesday, July 21, 7:00 pm. Free!

Cankerblossom opens for previews September 1, and premieres September 4, both at 7:00 pm. Through September 18.

--Nicholas Gilewicz

Photos by Nicholas Gilewicz; designs by Voith and Mactavish Architects.

Click more to see more pictures of the Christ Church renovations.

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I'll probably spend most of my weekend trying to untangle the knots in my brain after reading that somehow scientists finally proved that the chicken came before the egg . . . These events may not be quite as mind-blowing, but you should check them out anyways:

>>Thursday–Saturday: ComedySportz World Championship. Just when you thought the World Cup was over and there was nothing left to cheer for, improv comedy teams from over all over the world will compete for laughs at World Café Live. Four teams will take each other on at 7 PM and 9:30 PM each night this weekend. Theater people can be jocks too!

>>Friday: Remember getting up at 6 in the morning on Saturday to watch cartoons? Relive that magic at an adult-friendly hour this Friday when iHouse brings you The Best of the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival. Every frame in Postalolio was sent as a postcard through the mail, Please Say Something follows the foibles of a futuristic cat and a mouse, and Mac the Horny Mac Daddy will stop at nothing to get . . . well, you know.

>>Friday and Saturday: Johnny Showcase and the Lefty Lucy Cabaret at Connie's Ric Rac at 9PM. The "hilarious" ( - Live Arts development manager Anneliese) breakout star of the 2009 Fringe act Purr, Pull, Reign, Johhny Showcase (David Sweeney of Pig Iron's show for the Live Arts Festival Cankerblossom performs original numbers and raunchier versions of classic songs.

>>Friday–Sunday: Xponential Music Festival. WXPN presents 3 days, 3 stages, and more than 40 acts, including Bonny Prince Billy, Dr. Dog, Yo La Tengo, and many more. Plus, Live Arts will have a table set up where you can visit us and get one of Cankerblossom's Make-Your-Own Comic Books that you've been hearing so much about.

--Ellen Freeman