Agenda

Shopping Spree

The group show consists of several types of media, including manipulated technology like hacked video games, in which artists changed the code of old games to create something highly different. Robert Schlesinger traces an alternative history of the modern presidency through the speechwriters who aspire to communicate (and, in many cases, influence) policy. Abandoned buildings serve as an endless source of inspiration, and in Philadelphia there's no shortage of them on their way to a pile of rubble or grand renovation.

Expect the salty, dark tones and underpinnings in the songs to contrast perfectly with the giddy schoolyard crush looks Mr. and Mrs. Coats exchange onstage. Silver Apples produces a pre-Krautrock, pre-Suicide burst of noise that still manages, 30-plus years later, to enthrall and disgust.

If you're new to the opera experience, 1896's La Bohème makes for a fresh, amusing, moving introduction. Elwork introduces tarot cards, folklore and a magician who wants to harness Emily and Michael's power for his own use in this compelling tale of people coping with loss.