(upbeat music) - [Shirley] She started storytelling salons as a way to meet her neighbors.

- I'm really happy to be where it's happening right here.

- [Shirley] There's a lot of secrecy surrounding this Philadelphia comedy show.

- A large majority of people find out about shows because of social media ads.

- [Shirley] Plus, the Lansdowne Theater lifted the curtain on its comeback.

- We're very grateful for everything the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corporation did.

(upbeat music continues) (air whooshes) - [Shirley] Thanks for tuning in.

This week, we are getting you out of the house and out on the town.

After nearly four decades of sitting unused, the Lansdowne Theater in Delaware County reopened its doors.

(bright music) - It's great to be the first show in, you know, because it's a gorgeous theater.

They put a hell of an event together.

- Tonight's a great night because this was our ultimate goal.

It was to do this.

It was to have a show here, preserve this building, and bring benefit to the community.

- We're very grateful for everything the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corporation did to have it open for the community, and it should be something that everyone can enjoy.

(lively music) - We're in the historic 1927 Lansdowne Theater, opened on June 1st of 1927.

"Knockout Reilly" was the first movie here.

It was a silent movie house, and the theater ran as a silent movie house until the early '30s when talkies first came out.

Converted to talkie house and then operated until 1987.

During the showing of "Beverly Hills Cop II," there's a fire in the electrical system that shuts the building down.

And the way that people watched movies and television shows was changing.

So the Landsdowne Theater at that time was really sort of obsolete, it was not financially viable, and the owner simply walked away from the building.

In 2007, Historic Landsdowne Theater Corporation purchased the building with money from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

And then we set about figuring out how we could reuse the building.

And we were lucky enough to get a phone call from Bill Rogers from BRE Presents, the leading regional concert promoter, who came over and said, "I can do 70 shows here a year."

So with that idea, we moved forward in starting to raise money.

(gentle music) It was clear from what was going on in the community that they did not wanna see the building significantly changed.

So we spent a lot of time going through historic photographs, working with a theater decorator to recreate a faithful reproduction of what this place looked like in 1927.

The project cost, in the end, about $20 million to do.

If you had been here on June 1st of 1927 for "Knockout Reilly," that original film, you would walk in tonight with Chazz Palminteri performing here and it would be very familiar to you.

- It's very important for BRE Presents and for the community at large to have these spaces.

Local entertainment is not always easy to come across.

You don't wanna have to drive miles to see the top entertainers in the world.

So we're hoping that we can have something special here where people can come from close by and from far away to see the theater.

And we have a really special stage here to welcome some of the entertainers.

(jaunty music) - Historic preservation plays a role in, I hope, in all communities.

People today crave uniqueness in their communities and in their buildings and in their worlds, and I think that that's sort of what the Lansdowne is.

You can't find one of these buildings on every corner.

They never existed that way, and they especially don't exist today.

So when I was a kid and lived three blocks from here, I loved coming here on Friday night.

For a lot of people in this town, it's an amazing touchstone for them.

And we are so glad to be able to restore this, bring it back to life.

And then we wanted to spur economic development in the neighborhood surrounding the theater.

And we always talked about that, and I sort of got the sense from people that they didn't really believe that was gonna happen, but we are in the middle of it right now.

- The economical impact of a place like this is great for Landsdowne.

There's already restaurants opening all along Lansdowne Avenue.

We're hoping we're really gonna bring a spotlight to downtown Lansdowne and bring it back to the way it was in 1927 when the theater opened.

- The arts is very important to me.

So, you know, the first thing people cut in the government is the arts.

So whenever you get, like, an old theater that was dead like this, and then to come back and redo it and spend millions of dollars and make it as beautiful as it is, that's something that'll last forever, I think that's important.

- I'm glad to see the theater is back in business.

Well, now to the comedy show that keeps you laughing with a catch.

It's called "Don't Tell Comedy," and the performances take place at secret locations.

(uptempo music) - [Jon] Hello, welcome to "Don't Tell Comedy."

(audience cheering) And a huge round of applause, the biggest you can give right now, to Arena Fitness for letting us do this show in here.

(audience cheering and clapping) - "Don't Tell" is a secret show where no one's gonna find out where it is until 8:00 AM the morning of the show.

So tonight, despite being in Philadelphia inside of a gym, we have a great mix of comedians.

- Everybody, all the way from New York, start putting your hands together, Shaunak Godkhindi, everybody!

(audience cheering and clapping) Yes!

Philly!

I was doing research, I was watching TikTok, and there's this history guy that was saying that all the ancient worlds leaders were, like, all kids.

King Tut, the most famous pharaoh, came to power at nine years old, died at 19.

That means for 10 years, Egypt was run by a child.

(chuckles) Is that better?

(chuckles) I can't imagine what that was like!

All these Egyptians waiting to see what he's gonna do next.

He walks out onto a balcony like, "Hello, Egypt!"

(audience laughing) - The large majority of people find out about shows because of social media ads.

And essentially what they will see is pretty bare bones.

It'll basically say the neighborhood.

And essentially, then they just have to trust us and say, yeah, I'm gonna go to a show in Center City tonight, or I'm gonna go to a show in Fishtown.

And then they learn nothing else until 8:00 AM the morning of the show.

You know what's crazy?

My dad keeps forgetting my birthday.

But you know who's able to remember my birthday?

Toyota of Ardmore.

(audience laughing) You never know the comedians you're gonna see, but you also never know where you're gonna be.

(upbeat music) That's a really cool experience when someone in the crowd sees maybe one of their favorite comics in the world just happen to walk on stage in a random show on a Friday night in Rittenhouse.

- I don't attend comedy shows.

And if I did and my boyfriend was like someone that was like, "Whoo, yeah, we're dating," we'd break up, obviously.

(audience laughing) That's embarrassing.

- I've been a comic for 20 years.

"Don't Tell" gives comics an opportunity to perform across the country in multiple locations.

Here we are in a location now that's a gem.

I'm happy to be here in Philadelphia.

- Please put your hands together right now for Shawn Banks, everybody, Shawn Banks!

(audience clapping) - You know what's strange about living on a golf course is that I have white men in my yard all the time looking for their balls.

I don't know what's- (audience laughing) - The people that come to a "Don't Tell" show are looking for a unique night out.

They'll see a show in the back of a thrift store and they'll say, "That was so cool, now let's see where we're gonna show up next time," and it'll be in a rock climbing gym.

- If you've ever been on a man's dating profile, every photo looks like a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster.

(audience laughing) They're all, like, grainy and out of focus.

It's either that or like a photo from a true crime documentary.

It's like all the women's faces are blurred out.

It's like, this could be you.

(uptempo music) - The main goal is we want people to leave and have had a great time.

We want them to have laughed a lot.

We want them to be talking about the jokes and the comedians, and we want them to experience those again.

Follow the comedians, go to their place of business and buy some of their services.

That has been our show.

Thank you all so much for coming out.

Make some noise one more time for all the comedians that you've seen this evening.

(audience cheering and clapping) - Next, we visit a home where neighbors connect through storytelling.

The host of a private storytelling salon hopes her initiative inspires others.

(lighthearted music) - Every month when seven o'clock rolls around, I think, well, this will be the month we don't get anybody to show up.

(people laughing) Who here is a first-time, never-been-here, look at those hands!

Look at that!

(people cheering and clapping) I believe it's our 9th or 10th season that we've done this.

I grew up with storytellers.

My mom told us stories at bedtime.

My dad was a wonderful raconteur.

I went to church, and some of the preachers could tell really good stories.

But when I heard storytelling for the first time, it was a library conference.

And this woman stood up and talked about a storytelling revival in the United States.

This was back in the '80s.

And she looked up and she said, "There was once a shoemaker who, through no fault of his own, had fallen upon hard times."

And she went into a three-minute story.

And it took me into such a deep place and such a magical place, I thought, whoa, okay, my identity crisis is over.

You know, I'm 36 years old and finally finding out what I'm gonna do when I grow up.

I became a children's librarian.

The library where I worked sent all its children's staff to the National Storytelling Festival with different storytellers from all over the country, from all over the world.

It just sucked me right in and I've never been sorry about it.

We start setting up early afternoon, put the lights up and the little sign that's out at the street.

Jack will have already gone to the wine store and gotten the wine.

Then we start popping popcorn when the first people start coming.

(popcorn popping) (gentle music) - Thank you for having me.

- You're so welcome.

Everybody kinda makes themselves at home.

We have not advertised, nor do I want to.

We're as big as we need to be and about as big as we can be.

- I heard about it from a friend that she'd opened her house to people who wanted to come and hear stories.

I'm really happy to be where it's happening right here.

(bell ringing) - At 7:30, I'll ring a little silver bell and call everybody in.

And we'll introduce the teller.

He is a man of many stories.

So would you please welcome Laconia Therrio.

(people cheering and clapping) - I'm gonna give you stories from around the world.

"The Basket."

It's from Ghana.

It's about 600 years old.

Once there was a man who owned many black-and-white cattle.

I imagine me taking them on a bus ride and I'm the driver with the story.

And my job is to get them from the beginning of the story to the end of the story safely.

What harm's gonna come to me if I look in the basket?

After all, she's my wife.

What's in that basket is mine too.

Since I was a little boy, I've always been interested in other cultures.

One way to understand cultures is to learn their stories.

And it is still the same today.

People still think that the things of the spirit must be seen.

(people clapping) I'm going to do a slave folktale from South Carolina.

The name of it is "The Ballad of Belle Dorcas."

Storytelling is television of the mind.

And she said, "Mama, I'm either gonna marry Joshua or I'm gonna die."

- [Megan] When a story is being put out, each person listening makes that narrative their own in their imagination.

So you've got all these unique works of art going on simultaneously.

- She had tears in her eyes, and she said- - [Megan] I would encourage people to start something like this at home, like we do here.

Here in Philadelphia, there are festivals, there's Patchwork Storytelling, NABS, National Association of Black Storytellers.

- I deeply appreciate Megan's willingness and desire to create a place for people to hear story.

I've had fun with all of you.

Thank you for your ears, your hearts.

Thank you.

(people clapping) - [Megan] It's a small but passionate group of people.

(people clapping) (soft music) - Storytelling is television for the mind.

I just love that.

Well, the life you live is the story you leave behind for your loved ones.

And with that in mind, an Ardmore artist is helping those who are grieving to hold onto those memories with his ceramics memorials.

Reporter Kenny Cooper and videographer Kimberly Paynter from our WHYY News Digital Studio introduce us to Ahava Memorials.

(bright music) - My aunt had passed, and I told my parents about this technique where you can include ashes in the glaze of a ceramic object, and they were interested.

And so I did all my glaze research and crafted a memorial for her.

It was a really personal experience, you know, making the very first one from my aunt.

You can see at the top and the shoulder, all of that is the ash.

The speckles are part of the color, but this lighter color that's got all that movement at the top is the ash.

It's said in the, you know, ceramic community that clay has memory.

And what they mean by that is that as you work it, the folds and the imprints you make, they kind of come through in the final piece of it.

So just that sentiment felt like the right material as well for this business.

Customers will pick the shape the want and the color they want.

And when the order comes through to me, I will send them a collection kit.

The collection kit has a container and a scoop and instructions with exactly how much I need for each memorial.

I never saw myself in the death care industry.

In fact, I was very afraid of it for a long time.

When I was in high school, I had a tumor on my sinus.

It, like, rocked me to my core.

And for years afterwards, I was kind of paranoid about it.

Doing this business has gotten me a lot more comfortable with all of it.

(soft music) - Olive was our first of six dogs, and she was 15 when she passed.

And she was like my soulmate dog, and her passing was very difficult.

It just brings me happiness to know that she's represented by something so beautiful.

- Each person grieves differently.

And I just learn to meet folks where they are and talk to them, and really most of my time would just be spent listening as they're talking to me about their loved one or pet.

(upbeat music) (air whooshes) - With the 250th anniversary of American Independence happening next year, we'll show you what the National Park Service is doing to make visitors wanna keep coming back.

But first, it's the document that framed the ideals of an independent America.

Here's a sneak peek of the upcoming exhibition The Declaration's Journey by producer Karen Smyles and intern Samantha Sonnie.

(dramatic music) - Our special exhibition for 2026 is The Declaration's Journey, which will open in October of 2025 and run through the first week of January in 2027.

We have an opportunity here in the 250th in Philadelphia with The Declaration's Journey to educate our visitors, not just Americans but people from around the world, about what the Declaration was, what it is.

I think it will be surprising to people to think about the Declaration all as a living document, that's very much a theme of this exhibition.

The museum's mission is fairly straightforward, I think.

It's to uncover and share compelling stories about the diverse people and complex events that sparked America's ongoing experiment in liberty, equality, and self-government.

One of the powerful experiences is just the way the core exhibition functions.

It is not like your grandparents' history museum.

It's not teacups on a shelf.

There's a lot of teacups, right, you know, they're there, but we're trying to create an immersive experience to have people feel a kind of emotional connection to what can seem like a very distant era and get them to feel relevance in the story for their lives today.

We have been telling what I would call chapter one of the story, which is how did this all come about?

But chapter two really is about what has it mattered that the American Revolution took place?

What has it mattered that independence was declared and, you know, was finally recognized in 1783?

This generation and those that follow would sort of recommit themselves.

So owning the Declaration, being proud of it, not throwing it away because the nation that was created in 1776 was not perfect at that moment, deeply flawed in many ways.

Probably paramount was the paradox of American liberty while enslavement still took place for hundreds of thousands of people of African descent.

But that generations, including the enslaved and their descendants, have gone back to that document and said, "No, no, no, no, no.

There's something really powerful and important here that we need to hold onto."

Dr.

King constantly went back to the Declaration, as so many other people in other communities did from the very first moment it was issued, and said, "Equality, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.

Those are ideas I can get behind."

It was always in our minds that when 2026 and the 250th comes, you know, we wanna be telling this broad story that spans a quarter millennium, that also reaches around the globe to catch the attention of all these international visitors, to say, "Hey, you're part of the story too.

We're part of your story, you're part of our story."

(gentle music) For people who can't come to Philadelphia, you'll be able to experience The Declaration's Journey online through a virtual exhibition.

And so we're hoping that all the public programming and experiences that we build around that exhibition can really reach across the nation.

What that generation did is expressed some really powerful ideas and passed that onto us.

And we are still in the American Revolution.

- [Shirley] You can witness The Declaration's Journey starting October 18th at the Museum of the American Revolution.

(dramatic music) - I'm Steve Sims.

I am the superintendent of the national parks of Philadelphia, and that includes four national parks: Independence National Historical Park, Gloria Dei Old Swedes' National Historical Park, Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, and Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial.

We have such a richness of story in all of these spaces, and our job is to ensure that they're available and accessible to the public and that we preserve them and maintain them in perpetuity.

It's about 55 acres in total of space, about 48 buildings, five national historic landmarks, and one World Heritage Site.

The renowned historian Wallace Stegner coined the term that national parks are the best idea that we ever had, and I tend to agree with that 'cause the national parks provide the story of America in all of its different facets.

I truly believe that every individual has a connection to a national park.

The beautiful thing about that connection is that you also become co-owners of these spaces.

As co-owners, you really have that responsibility to steward and to protect these places.

You're literally part of the National Park Service mission.

As we approach America's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we have a lot of infrastructure projects that we have underway to make the park accessible and available for the visiting public to experience.

First one is the rehabilitation of the First Bank of the United States.

It's a $30 million rehabilitation funded through the Great American Outdoors Act.

The other projects that we have going on, we've actually completed the rehabilitation of the Benjamin Rush Garden.

Benjamin Rush Garden now is the home of the Bicentennial Bell.

Some people know it as the Queen's Bell.

So this bell was donated to the United States in 1976 by Queen Elizabeth.

We also just completed a project in Washington Square where we rehabilitated the Washington Square guardhouse in partnership with Independence Historical Trust and the Society Hill Civic Association.

We've also installed an accessibility ramp on Independence Square, and you'll find that accessibility ramp just north of Walnut Street on 5th Street.

And so for the first time, we now have access to Independence Square without somebody having to go through security screen.

We also have a project to rehabilitate the West Wing on Independence Square.

So it's the building to the west of Independence Hall.

The West Wing rehabilitation will not only rehabilitate the structure but also rehabilitate the Great Essential Exhibit as its name, the Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution in there, as well as the original Syng inkstand which was used to sign these documents.

(dramatic music) Some other ones that are ongoing is we have a $15 million energy improvement project to really make our systems more efficient and be good stewards of our environment.

And with regards to the environment, we also have another project in the works for bird deterrent film to go on some buildings 'cause we do have bird strikes.

Another preservation and protection project that we intend to implement this year is an upgrade and improvement to the fire suppression system of the buildings on Independence Square.

We currently have a project on Independence Square to improve the drainage.

Good drainage actually protects those buildings as well, and we wanna make sure that we are doing everything that we can to make sure it's protected in perpetuity.

(inspirational music) Through the Inflation Reduction Act, we are hiring additional gardeners and masons and mechanics so that we can make sure that your parks are clean, green, and maintained.

When something's well cared for, you know that it's important and it's meaningful.

It's truly an honor to be a steward of these places.

This is the birthplace of our nation.

And so when people walk away with a good feeling, a connection, they're bound to be supporters of the National Park System.

'Cause national parks exist because of the public, and they belong to the public, and so it's our job to make sure that they're stewarded, but also provide that opportunity for connection.

And through that connection, national parks will continue to exist and be an essential fabric of our nation.

- It's time now for Flicks.

Patrick Stoner talks to two of the stars of "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale."

- It's hard to accept that it's time to go.

Your friendship has never been more important to all of us.

(gentle music) But the future of Downton Abbey is now in Mary's hands.

- You will be a sensation.

- Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary is the centerpiece of "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale."

And then of course we have Joanne Froggatt, the multiple award-winning actress who plays Anna Bates.

I talked to both of them, but it was time to say goodbye.

I've been stalking these people for several years now.

(Michelle and Joanne laughing) I'm sure they constantly glance, "I hope he's not here this time."

(Joanne and Michelle laughing) Yes, but one last time.

Thank you, first.

I'm now speaking for all of us at PBS, 'cause, wow.

You know what you've meant to us.

Having worked together now so long, do you have sort of a way of dealing with each other that doesn't require words or what have you?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, we definitely have a shorthand.

- Yeah.

- And Jo and I often talk about the scenes that we do when it's just the two of us as some of our favorite, favorite moments over the years.

Because, you know, there are many scenes where it requires lots of characters and lots of actors, which is also great fun and hugely enjoyable, but there's something really special about those moments just between Mary and Anna.

It's been really special for us to have those moments over the last 15 years.

- With that kind of rapport, do you talk about little moments that you can have maybe in between lines or what?

- I remember right in the first read-through, Julian did a beautiful speech and told us some correct pronunciations of certain words, and also said it's what's between the lines- - Yes.

- You know, these characters are always saying something other than what they're saying.

- [Patrick] It's those moments with the characters that are relating to each other, even beyond the wonderful lines of Julian Fellowes.

But please, continue with that.

- Yeah, and, you know, and that is, you know, ultimately that's also good acting as well.

Because what you were feeling is that's our job to put across and what Anna feels about Mary and what Mary feels about Anna.

You know, it's all of those details that I think really- - You know, I just had this thought.

I think I've had an insight into acting.

You know, I think acting may be reacting.

(Patrick laughs) - Well, exactly.

- Exactly.

- Yeah.

- Exactly.

Again, thank you.

But it has been a pleasure talking to you now for years about this.

- Yeah.

- Have a wonderful life now.

I will meet you on other films or streaming series perhaps, but for "Downton Abbey," long live "Downton Abbey," and thank you very much.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

(lively music) - You'll catch some familiar faces in season six of "Check, Please!

Philly."

Avi Wolfman-Arent, Cherri Gregg, and yours truly join host of "Check, Please!

Philly" Kae Lani Palmisano as we dish on a few of our favorite restaurants.

We also talk about some things that could be a little better.

I also got a Reed, which was a turkey sandwich with avocado, maybe bacon, and a harissa mayo.

- That sounds good.

- [Shirley] It was good, except the second you took a bite, because of that chew- - Yeah.

- [Shirley] Everything went shot out, shot out the back.

- Oh, no.

- Harissa mayo everywhere.

- Oh, no.

- And then we had no napkins.

- Oh, no.

- So it was real messy.

"Check, Please!

Philly" returns on October 16th at 7:30 PM right here on TV12.

And that is our show.

Have a good night, everyone.

(upbeat music)