🪞 A portal opens in Philadelphia | Things to Do

Have you heard? The international event of the year arrived in Philly this week: Enter the Portal. The city is abuzz over the new sculptural installation in LOVE Park that allows Philadelphians to wave hello to three cities in Europe. The New York installment had some hilarious snafus (some people actually flashed the camera), so Philadelphians have been asking: What could go wrong? (Unserious answers only.)

What’s coming up:

— Rosa Cartagena (@_RosaCartagena, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

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This is not a drill — the Portal that has been taking over social media in recent months has landed in Philadelphia after a wild stint in NYC. The installation brings a livestream view rotating through three European cities — Dublin, Ireland, Lublin, Poland, and Vilnius, Lithuania — to LOVE Park. Like a no-audio massive group FaceTime call, we see them, they see us. Already hundreds have descended upon Center City, waving signs and dancing in costume. What will you do? (Keep it PG, I hope!). Despite Philadelphians joking about potential pranks, the first days were surprisingly sweet.

💀 Just in time for Halloween: Delco’s Aston Mills Arts opened “Skulls 2024,” an exhibit showcasing drawings, paintings, and sculptures of skulls, bones, and skeletons. It’s creepy, fascinating, and free.

📚 Book lovers: Romance fans, this one’s for you. A new bookstore in Collingswood opened this month focusing on all sorts of romantic novels, from fantasy to smut (or both!). Welcome to Kiss & Tale.

🎤 In harmony: The Jersey pride has hit the stage at the Walnut Street Theatre. The crowd-pleasing musical Jersey Boys, about the still-touring doo-wop stars Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Our take? The boys still got it.

🎞️ Queer history: A beloved gay bar in New Hope, Pa., is a parking lot today. But it was once a must-visit destination for drag queens, trans women, gay men, and others in LGBTQ+ community. You have to see it to believe it.

🩰 Raise the curtain: The Philadelphia Ballet kicked off its 60th season with a revival of artistic director Angel Corella’s pirate romance Le Corsaire, but the beautiful show didn’t quite fix its persistent problems from previous iterations. Decide for yourself.

📸 Looking back: For more than 130 years, Reading Terminal Market has served Philadelphians delicious food. That history has been well documented and archived, and rare photographs of the market now comprise a new collection at Penn that will soon open to the public.

📅 My calendar picks this week: CultureFest! Día de los Muertos, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Taste of the Philippines

Philadelphia artist Pepón Osorio bares his heart on the regular. One of the city’s most exciting artists right now, Osorio crafts intricate sculptures probing his personal life, social issues, and Afro Puerto Rican culture. His work rarely shows in museums or galleries, but his latest (free) exhibit has transformed the lobby of Thomas Jefferson University’s Center City campus focusing on true stories about five patients in Philadelphia navigating staggering health care inequalities. It runs through Nov. 1. The first story focuses on his personal experience seeking treatment for his rare form of cancer (mantle cell lymphoma). Wondrous and challenging, “Convalescence” is hard to view, but Osorio’s moving work makes it impossible to look away.

🍂 IG fodder: Pennsylvania’s trees have been changing colors in beautiful fashion across the state with peak foliage arriving in and around Philadelphia over the next week. Find the best foliage views nearby.

🥘 New bites: This season brings an influx of restaurant openings in the Philly suburbs, with cuisines including Indian, Mexican, French, Japanese, and more. Try a new spot near you.

🏟️ Beyond wings: Football season is in full swing and Eagles fans are flocking to the Linc, so we’ve put together a guide to the stadium’s best food and drink options.

🍽️ Don’t eat alone: Can dining with strangers cure loneliness? My coworker Hira Qureshi tried to find out, attending a recent dinner party organized by an app that matches Philadelphians, complete with icebreakers. It’s not as strange as it sounds.

🌵 A new leaf: The lush and lovely Longwood Gardens will open another conservatory among a number of new buildings showcasing modern architecture as part of a $250 million estate-wide renovation (including an upgrade to its 1906 Restaurant). Here’s why Philly can boast about it.

Pop music critic Dan DeLuca breaks down the best shows coming up, plus one rec from classical music critic Peter Dobrin.

🪕 Thursday: The buzziest show of the pre-weekend is MJ Lenderman, the country songwriter from Asheville, N.C., who’s a member of the band Wednesday and has made stellar contributions to Waxahatchee’s 2024 album, Tiger’s Blood. Lenderman’s droll, expertly crafted Manning Fireworks is one of the standout records of the year, and his popularity is growing: He’s playing Union Transfer Thursday with his band The Wind, and has already announced he’s coming back to town to play the more-than-twice-as-large Franklin Music Hall on May. 7.

🎸 Through Sunday: The eighth annual Philly Music Fest, running through Sunday at Ardmore Music Hall, carries on with Philly ska band Catbite headlining MilkBoy on Friday, Devon Gilfillian and Mondo Cozmo at Underground Arts on Saturday. Marshall Allen and Angelo Outlaw close out the fest at Solar Myth on Sunday night. And in addition to these gigs, there’s also a highly useful aspect of the PMF recommended for upstart bands and music professionals: Inside Hustle is a networking event where agents, managers booking agents, and artists share their knowledge. Gilfillian and his manager, Jon Smalt, will be on a panel moderated by Bruce Warren of WXPN-FM (88.5). It’s free at noon Saturday at REC Philly.

🎤 Friday: This year’s Powerhouse — presented by hip-hop station WUSL-FM (98.9), also known as Power 99 — is headlined by Bronx-born rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, back in town after a headlining tour for his 2024 album Better Off Alone, earlier this year. Also on the bill: Gunna, Sexyy Red, who tore it up at The Roots Picnic in June, Philly rapper Lay Bankz, and Northern Irish rapper Jordan Adetunji, among others. That’s at the Wells Fargo Center.

🎻 Thursday through Saturday: Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra will perform Verdi’s Requiem. Conductors are like hurricanes, exerting tremendous local power but possessing a weak steering current. Muti has mostly stayed away from the city in the more than three decades since he was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, so when he returns with Verdi’s big orchestral-vocal storm it will be a meeting of strangers. His fan base is long dispersed, and, with the overwhelming majority of the ensemble new since his time here, a once-razor-sharp rapport will be starting from scratch. It’ll be fascinating to hear. With vocal soloists and Philadelphia Symphonic Choir running Oct. 24-26 at Marian Anderson Hall.

Read more music picks.

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This week I’m back in the reality TV mix with the latest season of Love Is Blind where almost everyone is a total villain. It might be the best season yet.