Weekend Picks: Start off 2016 with some Broadway faves

Start 2016 (and the First Friday season) in style at the Barnes Foundation with French and Klezmer music by the Ken Ulansey Ensemble and singer Ruth Naomi Floyd, a lecture on founder Albert C. Barnes and his colleague Violette de Mazia, a last chance to see the ironwork exhibitions "Strength and Splendor" and "Ellen Harvey: Metal Painting," and, of course, that great, idiosyncratically displayed collection. It's at the Fairmount gem, 2025 Ben Franklin Parkway. Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets: $25. Information: 215-278-7200 or barnesfoundation.org.

Given the current political climate, it's hard to escape the feeling that Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a contemporary commentary, despite its 1950s Red Scare roots and Salem Witch Trials subject. The 1996 film adaptation of the play examining irrational fears and hysteria, with a screenplay by Miller and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, screens at the Peace Center of Delaware County, 1001 Old Sproul Road, Springfield. Time: 7 p.m. Admission is free. Information: 610-544-1818.

The first collaboration between composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice (though it followed Jesus Christ Superstar in public performance) the 1970 rock epicJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat goes on at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St. Times: 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $45 to $95. Information: 215-893-1999.

The sensational actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth, winner of Tonys and Emmys, performs standards and Broadway hits with the Philadelphia Orchestra at at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets. Times: 8 p.m. Tickets: $45. Information: 215-893-1999.

Pianist Claire Huangci, who got her start as a prodigy at Settlement Music School, plays a recital of works by Bach, Schubert, and Chopin at the German Society, 611 Spring Garden St. Time: 3 p.m. Tickets: $20. Information: 215-627-2332.