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					Also this issue: Taking the Stage After years in the making, the Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival becomes a reality. -Lewis Whittington Feast on Furniture -Lori Hill Artquicks More stuff going on this week... Wonders in Wood -Susan Hagen Day of the Poet -Ainé Ardron-Doley The Importance of Being Earnest -Juliet Fletcher Happy Alliance -David Anthony Fox See Red -Toby Zinman

June 5-11, 2003

artpicks

BigSmorgasbord WunderWerk

The New York Times called it "ingenious and hypnotic." It was disqualified from the Tony Awards because it didn't fit the definition of a musical. Critics and theatergoers have a hard time labeling BigSmorgasbord WunderWerk, but almost all have enjoyed it.

Its unconventional style appeals in particular to young urban audiences, and so the Prince Theater is hosting its creators, who call themselves Squonk Opera, in two different productions this month. First up is WunderWerk. Developed at Pittsburgh's City Theatre in 1998, this "wonder work" is a mixture of performance art, music and culinary creativeness. Set in a restaurant kitchen of the mind, the production features cutlery that comes alive, household items with goofy powers and oversized puppets as characters. The original score contains traces of Kurt Weill, Claude Debussy, Ravi Shankar, medieval chant and rap. One paper likened it to Laurie Anderson, another to Philip Glass laced with Irish and Indian melodies and heavy metal. WunderWerk played off-Broadway in 1999 and then made the leap into Broadway's Helen Hayes Theater. The group will be back at the Prince June 24-29 with Inferno, which examines the underground coal fires in Centralia, Pa., in a mix of film, concert and puppetry.

BigSmorgasbord WunderWerk, June 6-8 and June 18-22, $25-$48, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., 215-569-9700.

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