🚆 Is your route getting cut by SEPTA?

🚌 Will Someone Pick Up SEPTA’s Tab? Please?

SEPTA’s funding sources have been unsustainable through the years. Now state lawmakers have just two weeks to figure out how (and whether) to close its $213 million budget deficit. City Cast Philly host Trenae Nuri and executive producer Matt Katz fill us in on how cuts to close the budget hole could impact everyone's day-to-day lives in the southeast region of the state and what Pennsylvania lawmakers are saying about saving our city's public transit system. [📝 Hey Philly, 🎧 City Cast Philly]

⚖️ Detained by ICE? You Might Wind Up in Central PA

The Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, a privately run immigration detention center that was once a federal prison, takes most people who are arrested by ICE in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. But the facility has a history of abuses such as wrongful solitary confinement and denial of medical care. [Spotlight PA]

⚽ Is This an Omen for the World Cup?

The FIFA Club World Cup commences in Philly today, but excitement has been muted. Sales across the participating U.S. host cities have been slow, with plenty of seats still available. Tickets as low as $27 are up for grabs at the Linc. Immigration enforcement concerns are said to be influencing soccer fans’ attendance, which could be a bad sign for when Philly hosts the World Cup next year. [Axios]

🎨 New Statue To Commemorate Philly Trailblazer

One of the joys of this city is its public art, and we’ll soon be getting a new addition. The city plans to install a statue of Sadie T.M. Alexander, a civil rights activist and native Philadelphian. A public design presentation will be held tomorrow at 6 p.m. with the five finalist artists. See the designs, ask questions, and be sure to vote on your choice. [📝 Hey Philly, City of Philadelphia]

It’s no secret that Philly has an explosive arts scene. But it can be difficult to get your turn in the spotlight. So a new production company is helping to give playwrights a chance for their works to come to life.

Lemonade Stand is taking a do-it-yourself approach to its rough-around-the-edges production style.

“It's no frills, just show up and get the kind of thing that you need – in and out, quick and enjoyable,” said Lemonade Stand founder A.J. Bloomfield said. “And so it's low stakes. It's punchy, it's vibrant, it's just lemonade. It’s homemade.”

Bloomfield graduated just last spring from Drexel University with a degree in entertainment production and design. While it may seem ambitious to start a production company straight out of college, Bloomfield is no stranger to taking a leap of faith. Having originally studied mechanical and electrical engineering, Bloomfield took a step back and asked himself: “Well, what do I really want to focus on?”

Turns out it was stage production. Lemonade Stand’s origins are in a senior capstone project in which students had to produce a full-length play, taking it from page to stage with readings, workshops, and a weeklong run at Plays & Players Theatre near Rittenhouse Square.

“It made me realize just how many incredibly talented people are in Philly post-graduation, in this weird middle ground between collegiate theater and training for their actual careers,” Bloomfield said.

Bloomfield was inspired to help place talent in Philly’s arts community. He joked that it used to be that everyone graduated from the University of the Arts and then started their own theater company – but then the pandemic interrupted that trajectory and the University of the Arts closed. This upheaval underscored the need for a space like Lemonade stand.

“Being able to create that community and create opportunities for early career artists especially — and while you're doing that create some new work and say some new things and see some shows that no one's ever seen before — is definitely a privilege,” Bloomfield said.

So what kind of productions can you expect from Lemonade Stand? “It's not going to be as polished a finished product as you're going to get at these regional theaters, but you're going to get the new kids on the block coming and serving up something that they think is really cool and interesting,” he said.