artsquicks

theater
Writing fiction about terrorism in these strange times is a risky business indeed. But Armen Pandola isn't shying away from it. His play, Terror at the White House, concerns an embattled American president, his activist daughter and a first lady caught in the middle -- all over a cover-up about an "intelligence blunder" that left hundreds of Iraqi civilians dead. Pandola, a lawyer by day, most recently wrote Zelda & Scott: Boats Against the Current (produced at last year's Fringe) and an adaptation of Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession. June 9-20, $15-$20, Shubin Theatre, 407 Bainbridge St., www.greenlightplays.com

theater
The ultimate cheeseball rock opera comes to the Merriam: Jesus Christ Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's first professional collaboration, is getting a brand-new production supposedly "enthusiastically endorsed" by the dynamic Sirs themselves. This one starts Lawrence Clayton as Judas, Eric Kunze as Jesus and Natalie Toro as Mary Magdalene -- but we'll see if she can do justice to Yvonne Elliman's original "I Don't Know How to Love Him." June 8-13, $39.75-$69.75, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-336-1234.

ART
The National Conference on Mural Art is coming to Philadelphia for four days of lectures, workshops and discussions. Government officials, community activists, arts administrators, critics, historians, educators and mural enthusiasts are expected to turn up at the events, which range from a lesson in grass-roots fundraising to a discussion of the artistic value of murals as public art, to how-to workshops. Thu.-Sun., June 3-6, Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, 1701 Locust St., 215-685-0739, www.muralarts.org.

Performance
The Rotunda plays host this weekend to POWWOW, a festival produced by Native Nations Dance Theater, a local Native American dance company with an educational mission. Besides appearances by storyteller and singer Namorah Byrd, spoken-word artist Lakota Son and the Black Horse Butte drum and singing corps, there will be food vendors, musicians, dancers and Native American craft demonstrations. Fri., June 4, 10 a.m.-10:30 p.m. and Sat., June 5, 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m., free, The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., 215-573-3234, www.foundationarts.org.

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