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.

At Philly Fringe, traditional forms get reinvented. In the 2009 Philly Fringe, Sydney de Lapeyrouse, who has one of the best names in the Fringe Festival, appeared as Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) in Melissa Dunphy's The Gonzales Cantata. This year, Sydney sings in The Marriage of Figaro: The Las Vegas Version, and she writes in with this limerick about the opera.

All Figaro and Susanna want is to marry.
Of the Count's smooth moves they are wary.
Cherubino dresses in drag
And Countess drinks out of a bag.
We swear opera isn't that scary.

I swear too! The Marriage of Figaro: The Las Vegas Version runs September 11 and 12 at Moonstone Arts Center, 110A South 13th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia. 7:30 pm, $20.

--Nicholas Gilewicz

Image by Erin Lauer.

The 2010 Philly Fringe previews are almost done, and the cavalcade that is the Fringe is about to begin. Tonight? The final Fringe showcase at Plays and Players. The lineup, please . . .

Act Normal Theatre: Kid Out of Nowhere

Kapow Productions: Tiny Dynamite

Hella Fresh Theater: Cheap Guy HOF, Class of 2010

Plays and Players: Titus Andronicus

Anj Granieri: Casual World/Intimate Heart

DysFUNctional Theater: Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act

Duende Flamenco Fusion: Rosa de la Alhambra

MM2 Modern Dance Company: Emergence

Philadelphia Acting Studio: Acting Class (The Play)

Plays and Players presents Save The Day Productions: Super Heroes Who Are Super!

8:00 pm, Plays and Players, 1714 Delancey Place, Rittenhouse Square. $12.

--Nicholas Gilewicz

Awwww hell, it's getting apocalyptic up in here! Or maybe that's just been how last week broke for me. Wait, nope, not just me! I hear Mercury was in retrograde, and that Joe Fiercely is back with this limerick about the 2010 Philly Fringe show Felon Fiercely: Live at the Apocalypse, which opens Friday night.

Some say 2012's the last chapter
Felon Fiercely's a band of detractors
So please come along
And take in their songs
Cuz they'd rather you all die of laughter

Holy crap, the Festival is this week! Felon Fiercely: Live at the Apocalpyse opens this Friday, September 4 and runs every Friday and Saturday night throughout the Festival. O'Neal's Pub, 611 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia. 8:00 pm, $15. For details and tickets, click here.

--Nicholas Gilewicz

Image by Joe Quirk.

You know that there's a Bang on a Can Marathon this year as part of the Live Arts Festival, and you're totally coming, right? Even so, we think you'd like to get better acquainted with the musicians who you'll be seeing on September 12, in this handy video series.

Today, we're digging on the Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra:

You probably already know that there's a Bang on a Can Marathon this year as part of the Live Arts Festival. We thought you'd like to get better acquainted with the musicians who you'll be seeing on September 12, in this handy video series.

Today, watch bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma tear it up at the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival. The whole song's great, but Tacuma really takes off at about the five minute mark:

Did you know that Stew was on The View when Passing Strange was blowing up? Now you do:

You probably already know that there's a Bang on a Can Marathon this year as part of the Live Arts Festival. We thought you'd like to get better acquainted with the musicians who you'll be seeing on September 12, in this handy video series.

The Sun Ra Arkestra has been around for more than a minute, and they're still going strong. Peep the video below to find out where they're at these days. Space appears to still be the place.

You probably already know that there's a Bang on a Can Marathon this year as part of the Live Arts Festival. We thought you'd like to get better acquainted with the musicians who you'll be seeing on September 12, in this handy video series.

Today, a set from Philadelphia's own Normal Love, at Hampshire College's Red Barn.

You probably already know that there's a Bang on a Can Marathon this year as part of the Live Arts Festival. We thought you'd like to get better acquainted with the musicians who you'll be seeing on September 12, in this handy video series.

Today, Kyaw Kyaw Naing offers virtuosic traditional Burmese percussion on the pat waing, alongside the Bang on a Can All-Stars. On the screen behind them is a live overhead shot of Naing, so you can see his stilo for yourself: