What to do in Philly this week (Feb 28-Mar. 5): Flower Show, Bassem Youssef, Philip Glass Ensemble, and more

Leap Year? Are you kidding me? No one asked for an extra day of February, but here we are. Here are the best ways to keep busy as we finish out this long second month and barrel on towards spring:

— thingstodo@inquirer.com

It’s a safe bet that of all the comedians coming to Philadelphia this spring, Youssef is the only former heart surgeon and Egyptian political dissident. He’s also an award-winning documentarian and writer. Youssef, often referred to as the Jon Stewart of the Arab world, also hosts the podcast Remade in America. — Jesse Bernstein

Feb. 28-29, Punch Line Philly, 33 E. Laurel St., $25-$35, 215-606-6555, punchlinephilly.com

Join Philly chefs, bakers, distilleries, and breweries for a delicious evening centered around grains. Make empanadas with Jezabel’s, taste fresh pasta with The Pasta Lab, talk malt with Deer Creek Malthouse, and learn about oat growing with Morganics Family Farm. Each ticket includes a drink and a feast of food options. — Grace Dickinson

6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Craft Hall, 901 N. Delaware Ave., $30, grainandmaltsymposium.com

The group performs Music in Twelve Parts, Glass’ epic work written between 1971 and 1974. Repetitive and something of a lava lamp for the ear, the piece will undoubtedly leave some bored, others pleasantly dazed and even changed. Performed with two intermissions and a dinner break over a span of five hours. — Peter Dobrin

6 p.m. Saturday, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., $29-$59, 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org

Pennsylvania Ballet is bringing this most breathtaking of ballets to the Academy of Music, the latest full-length work artistic director Angel Corella is re-choreographing. La Bayadère is somewhat controversial, but Corella worked with consultants to come at the piece in a more racially sensitive way. It is a signature piece for the corps de ballet, generally considered the backbone of ballet, which doesn’t always get the glory. La Bayadère presents it in its most precise, sumptuous light. — Ellen Dunkel

Opens Thursday, Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St., $110 and up, 215-893-1999, paballet.org

Pennsylvania Ballet’s delightful second company presents the Three Little Kittens, who meet up with Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, and more fairy-tale stars in a sublimely kid-friendly introduction to ballet. Spoiler alert: The mittens get found. — Lauren McCutcheon

10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Esperanza Arts Center, 4261 N. 5th St., $5 for adults, free for those 18 years and under, 215-893-1999, paballet.org

Women won the vote in 1920, so where are we now? This exhibit by New York’s DOME Collective includes “infographic furniture" showing progress toward equality and "physical interventions” (for instance, visitors can ride a bike to “exercise” their right to vote). Free in the Kimmel Center lobby 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. — Stephan Salisbury

Starting Sunday through Sept. 30, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-895-2000, women100.org

Learn how sap becomes syrup at this annual event, inviting families to explore the maple sugaring stations at Tyler Arboretum. Afterward, get ready to pour on the sweet stuff at an all-you-can-eat pancake and sausage breakfast. — G.D.

8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, 515 Painter Rd., Media, $16 for adults, $10 for children ages 3 to 12 years, free for those 2 years and under, tylerarboretum.org

They were two British pop duos sometimes mistaken for each other: Peter and Gordon, and Chad & Jeremy, which both enjoyed a string of catchy, wistful hits in the mid-60s. Now, there’s some British cross-pollination with Peter and Jeremy. The Peter in question is Peter Asher, who produced 22 platinum albums from the likes of Linda Ronstadt and 10,000 Maniacs; the Jeremy is sometime actor Jeremy Clyde, who’s had small roles in Downton Abbey and the like. The longtime friends started playing together a few years ago for fun, then started touring their mix of music and storytelling. Fans will find new takes on Peter and Gordon and Chad & Jeremy hits like “Lady Godiva,” “A Summer Song,” and “A World Without Love,” written by a then-teen Paul McCartney. — Nicole Pensiero

8 p.m., Wednesday, Sellersville Theater, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville, $39.50-$50, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com

With a guitar sound that’s both instantly recognizable and endlessly malleable, Bill Frisell has released dozens of albums that have been filed under jazz, for want of a better category. He’s a serial collaborator who loves to explore the American songbook, from Sousa to Dylan to Madonna (all on 1992’s Have a Little Faith). Last fall’s Harmony is one of his best. The band, also called Harmony, includes vocalist Petra Haden, cellist Hank Roberts, and multi-instrumentalist Luke Bergman. The album mixes Frisell originals with songs deep from the American songbook (“Red River Valley”) and a few jazz standards (“The Street Where You Live”). Frisell’s liquid, languid guitar works well with Haden’s often wordless vocals; the results mesmerize. — Steve Klinge

8 p.m. Saturday, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, $25-$59, 610-649-8389, ardmoremusic.com

Country singer and bandleader Marty Stuart has been on the road since joining bluegrass great Lester Flatt’s band at 14. The Philadelphia, Miss. native has the best band (and best hair) in Nashville, and has undoubtedly acquired a new cohort of public television fans after being featured in Ken Burns’ epic documentary Country Music. Stuart is marking the 21st anniversary of 1999′s The Pilgrim, which is also the subject of a new book, The Pilgrim: A Wall-to Wall Odyssey. Zephaniah O’Hora opens. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Friday, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, $40-$149, 610-649-8389, ardmoremusic.com

Bluesman Robert Cray has been buddies with drummer Steve Jordan since Keith Richards brought them in to play on the 1987 Chuck Berry tribute movie Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll. That friendship has paid off on Cray’s last two albums, both of which were produced by Jordan, who’s a powerhouse player. The Glenside show comes a day after the release of Cray’s Memphis soul-fired album That’s What I Heard, which includes covers of Curtis Mayfield’s “You Want Me Back” and late Philadelphia songwriter Don Gardner’s “My Baby Likes To Boogaloo.” — D.D.

8 p.m. Saturday, Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside, 215-572-7650, keswicktheatre.com

The slightly smoky, new school, NYC-based R&B singer Emily King opened for plaintive piano-pop queen Sara Bareilles at the Met last November. There, King was cocksure — piled high dark hair, falsetto in full flight — channeling Prince (the mellower Prince of, say, “Diamonds & Pearls” as opposed to “Kiss”) with her swiftly kicking and funky “Remind Me” and the mid-tempo, harmony-driven “Distance.” Expect those, and more, to be a part of King’s repertoire on Friday when she gets the stage all to herself. — A.D. Amorosi

8:30 p.m. Friday, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., sold out, 215-232-2100, utphilly.com

When you’re old enough to legally drink in the bars you’ve been playing since you were 15, are you no longer a prodigy? That’s the question for blues phenom Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, the Clarksdale, Miss.-raised guitarist who turned 21 last month. Ingram’s 2019 Kingfish debut leans toward traditional blues and showcases him both as an explosive player and a confident vocalist. Those wowed by him at last summer’s Xponential festival or as an opener for Vampire Weekend now have a chance to see him tear it up at a more intimate venue, where he’ll play an afternoon and evening show on Saturday. — D.D.

2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, City Winery Philadelphia, 990 Filbert St., $30-$40, 267-469-7373, citywinery.com/philadelphia

Since his days leading the local bands Flight of Mavis and Buzz Zeemer, Frank Brown has displayed an unerring knack for melding pop songcraft, intelligent writing, and rock-and-roll muscle. On, the outstanding new eight-song EP with his current band, Travel Lanes, suggests the singer-guitarist is getting even better at it. And in addition to the spot-on power-pop stuff, Brown and the band take a terrific honky-tonk turn with “Answer My Prayers.” With David Cope. — Nick Cristiano

9 p.m. Friday, 118 North, 118 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne; $10, 610-971-2628, 118northwayne.com