University City Arts League is celebrating its 45th anniversary this Saturday, May 5 with cocktails, wine, live music, dinner, and silent and live auctions. There will be lots of bidding on rugs, vacations, restaurant dinners, ceramics and behind-the-scenes tours of the Union League and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails, followed by the silent auction, dinner and then the live auction starting its first bid at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $60 a person, or $110 for a couple – and that includes the bar.

The auction will be at USP’s Wilson Student Center, 42nd Street and Woodland Avenue. Lots of free parking is available. For more information, or to get tickets, go here or call the Arts League, 215 382 7811, or stop by at 4226 Spruce Street. Reservations can be made until Wednesday night (7 p.m.).

“We’re going to need real magic to pull this show off, and we’ve got it!” says the Curio Theatre Company, of their latest production, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which opens this Friday, April 27. A revenge story featuring drunken clowns, political intrigue, a magical slave-driving wizard, and a father-daughter duo marooned on an island for twelve years, The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling comedies.

Director Dan Hodge, co-founder of the Philadelphia Artists Collective, makes his directing debut with this production. “Ultimately The Tempest is about choice,” says Hodge, “and Prospero’s command of dark arts affords him an impossibly wide array of options.  The balance hangs on revenge and forgiveness.  And that’s a current that runs through nearly every character in the play.”

Paul Kuhn, Curio’s Artistic Director, has designed a “magical playground” for the production, rumored to include a rolling ocean, a ship, and a tropical island. The fifteen characters will be played by seven actors. Joining long-time company member Brian McCann as Prospero are Steve Carpenter, Liam Castellan, Robert Daponte, Aetna Gallagher, Ken Opdenaker, Eric Scotolati and Isa St.Clair.

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Opening April 27. Curio Theatre, 4740 Baltimore Avenue. 215-525-1350.

Two West Philly establishments have received nominations in Philadelphia Magazine’s Best of Philly 2012 list. The Rotunda was nominated in the Best Indie Music venues category and Fiume (45th & Locust) received a nomination in the Best Bar category.

You can help The Rotunda and Fiume win by casting your votes on this page. You can come back and vote daily until Monday, May 21. The awards will be announced in Philadelphia Magazine’s August issue.

Data Garden, a group of artists that brought The Switched-On Garden, a bio-interactive art and live outdoor musical festival to Bartram’s Garden in October 2011, is working on putting together another outdoor event this year. Over 700 people of all ages and backgrounds got to enjoy The Switched-On Garden, which, according to Data Garden co-founder Joe Patitucci, was a truly transformative day and the biggest event ever to take place at Bartram’s Garden (check out the video here).

For 2012 Data Garden wants to expand the event and increase the ways people can engage with the environment and history of Bartram’s. Same as last year, Data Garden wants the event to be free of charge and accessible to everyone. To get funding to make this event possible for a second year, they launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign. Additional funds will also allow them to attract and compensate some amazing artists from the US and beyond.

“One thing that we proved last year was that people really enjoy the type of events we produce and find it really refreshing,” Patitucci says. The event was covered by Inhabitat, MTV Brasil, the Philadelphia Inquirer and even Vice Magazine’s music blog among others.

Unfortunately, Data Garden hasn’t reached its funding goal yet and there are only five days left in this campaign. This project will only be funded if at least $7,000 is pledged by Tuesday, April 24 (11:59 p.m.). Click here to donate and help this project.

This Friday night, allow yourself to be carried back in time to the days when the movie-going experience always included live music accompaniment. The silent film from 1920 features Douglas Fairbanks portraying the romantic, swashbuckling Zorro, but this special evening will feature an original and live score by West Philadelphia Orchestra member Brendan Cooney, who’s taken his blend of silent classic films and new exciting live music on the road under the name “Not-So-Silent Cinema.”

“I try to bring together players from different corners of the music scene who don’t usually play together to create unique musical collaborations,” says Cooney, who told Metro reporters that this project is a “faux Latin-flamenco-tango-mariachi ensemble.” “The film’s full of adventure, bravura and romance, so I wanted the music to capture that, but also be a little over the top.” Cooney’s band brings together several mainstays of the West Philadelphia music scene including Patrick Hughes, Alban Bailey (Octomonkey), Josh Machiz (TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb), and Nezih Antakli.

Catch “The Mark of Zorro” this Friday, April 13, at 8 p.m. at The Rotunda (40th and Walnut). $10.

– Emma Eisenberg

Reminder: This year’s first GO WEST! Craft Fest will be held on Saturday, April 14, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at The Woodlands (40th & Woodland).

This will be the biggest Craft Fest yet – fifty of Philadelphia’s finest artisans will present their handcrafted wares like jewelry, ceramics, clothing, accessories, home accents, edibles, knitted & crocheted items, cards & paper goods, all-natural soaps & bodycare, terrariums, teas, toys and more. Also, don’t miss live entertainment by Sour Mash, Jay Sand of All Around This World, and TinyCircus by Tangle Movement Arts. Complete details and the list of vendors can be found at: gowestcraftfest.blogspot.com.

Note: The Fest will be on the lawn near the entrance, set apart from the actual cemetery. Rain date – Sunday, April 15.