Mann Center for the Performing Arts

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts presents a diverse range of programming in a beautiful park setting. The organization was awarded Center support for 2014's Philadelphia Freedom Festival, inspired by 19th-century African American civil rights pioneer Octavius Catto, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act's passage. The project's centerpiece was the world premiere of a 20-minute work by noted composer and Pew Fellow Uri Caine. In 2015, the Mann received Center support for a multidisciplinary interpretation of Igor Stravinsky's composition for the 1910 ballet The Firebird, featuring The Philadelphia Orchestra, Grammy Award-winning South African vocal ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and larger-than-life puppets by Janni Younge of South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company. A 2018 Center grant has supported the Mann’s co-commissioning and presentation of The Deep Blue Sea, an evening-length work from the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company exploring the relationship between the individual and the larger community and bringing 100 professional and local amateur performers to the Mann’s outdoor stage.