Delco Collage

The perils of being popular are showcased in the pink, pop-filled musical Mean Girls  now onstage at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia through Dec. 1. The stage show is based on the hit 2004 movie of the same name written by and starring Upper Darby’s own Tina Fey. Danielle Wade (Cady), Megan Masako Haley (Gretchen), Mariah Rose Faith (Regina) and Jonalyn Saxer (Karen Smith) in "Mean Girls." Photo by Joan Marcus.  This national tour, the show's first since debuting on Broadway just two years ago, features Philadelphia native Mary Kate Morrissey who plays Janis Sarkisian. Morrissey attended Bishop Shanahan High School in Downingtown and was a member of the Philadelphia All-Catholic Chorus and was a former Kimmel Center programming intern. Her family has resided in South Philly and Upper Darby, and now live primarily in Downingtown. The much-loved movie, which starred a teenage Lindsey Lohan, matches the musical with a few updates and tweeks. Cady Heron (Daniell...

Adventurous stories mixed with the sentimental tugs of fatherhood and forgiveness, take the stage in Upper Darby Summer Stage’s “Big Fish." Based on the novel by Daniel Wallace and the 2003 film directed by Tim Burton, "Big Fish" tells the story of Edward Bloom (Chris Monaco of Drexel Hill), a charming traveling salesman who has shared his wild stories of giants and witches to his wife Sandra (Sarah DeNight of Philadelphia) and their son Will (Chris Murphy Smith of Philadelphia) for years. Now grown, Will is somewhat embarrassed by his father, whose tales of mermaids and werewolves have become more tiresome than treasured. Recently married and expecting a child with his wife, Josephine (Sabrina Follo of Springfield), Will is distancing himself from his dad. The story shifts between two timelines and during a flashback scene in “Be the Hero,” Edward implores his young son Will (the talented Mickey Geddes) to rewrite his own fate. In the present-day real world, senior...

The crashing of the massive boulder thundering through the collapsing temple filled the TD Pavilion at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts  recently.  The adventures of Indiana Jones were  projected on a 40-foot-high screen as part of the Mann Center’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark in Concert.” "Raiders," the summer blockbuster and top-grossing film of 1981, kicked off this season's Movies @ the Mann series. With the Reading Symphony Orchestra performing the score live, it brought a new found excitement to re-watching Steven Spielberg's classic about the archaeology professor and his quest to recover the legendary Ark of the Covenant before it falls into the hands of the Nazis. Audience members were part of a full sensory experience as the orchestra, conducted by  Andrew Constantine,  heightened the excitement and anxiety as they performed the Academy Award-nominated score by John Williams. Even though I’ve seen the movie many times, listening to the...