Philadelphia entertainment highlights

Sunday

Metal and men By any measure, Michael Crichton was a remarkable man: an anthropologist, doctor, novelist, and filmmaker. His science fiction was distinctive, more in the line of Jules Verne or Edgar Rice Burroughs yarns than any space opera or monster tale, using technology realistically if skeptically. His first film, the dystopian 1973 thriller Westworld, about a vacation fantasy world populated by programmed robots designed for pleasure, should seem dated, but isn't. When the machines start to act in a way that baffles the scientists who run them, the results are deadly. (The film also contains a sly satire of movie fantasy, as Yul Brynner's gunslinger android is a ringer for his cowboy hero in The Magnificent Seven.) The film screens at 2 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville. Tickets are $8; $6 for seniors and students. Call 610-917-0223.

The good and the bad In Bruce Graham's historical drama Mr. Hart & Mr. Brown, a 1920s lawman in Nebraska (self-monikered after a movie cowboy hero) has his carefully constructed identity shaken when a mysterious antiques dealer from Baltimore shows up. The engrossing tale goes on at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday at People's Light & Theatre, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, and continues on a Tuesday-through-Sunday schedule to Aug. 19. Tickets are $25 to $45. Call 610-644-3500.

Love reigns Donizetti's Maria Padilla, though not as well-known as his other operas, has one of his most powerful scores. The Amici Opera Company performs the tale of a king's mistress who threatens to sacrifice all to win her beloved at 4 p.m. Sunday at Holmesburg United Methodist Church, 8118 Frankford Ave. Tickets are $25. Call 215-224-0257.

Monday

Actual size Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson performs his affecting folk-rock as the Tallest Man on Earth. The one-man band plays at 9 p.m. at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. Tickets are $25. 215-232-2100.

Tuesday

Smart pop After founding the art-punk group Throwing Muses as a teen a quarter-century ago, Kristin Hersh put together another band, the power trio 50FootWave, and has a solo career besides. Conclusion: She cannot be contained. Hersh plays her intricate, intense gems at 8 p.m. at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Tickets are $16. Call 215-222-1400.

Wednesday

Love and power One of Shakespeare's lesser-known plays, Cymbeline, is based on legends of Britain's Celtic kings. But while the story follows the themes of regal conflict and violence found in the histories, it also has some of the delights of his romances in a story of a princess who secretly marries for love, throwing her father's kingdom into chaos. The Classical Acting Academy production goes on at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, 2111 Sansom St., and continues on a Wednesday-through-

Sunday schedule to Aug. 19. Admission is free. Call 215-496-8001.

Thursday

Grinding it out Alt-metal greats System of a Down perform at 8 p.m. at the Susquehanna Center, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden. Tickets are $29.50 to $65. Call 800-745-3000.

Out in the country Flat-picking acoustic guitar virtuoso

Mark Cosgrove

plays with his bluegrass band Good Medicine at

Crossing Vineyards

, 1853 Wrightstown Rd., Washington Crossing, at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $15; bring a chair. Call 215-493-6500, Ext. 19.

It's a funny life Rupert Holmes' play Say Goodnight Gracie brings back the great comedian George Burns, who looks back on his 90 years in show business, from his impoverished childhood on New York's lower East Side to his struggles in vaudeville to his momentous meeting with his professional and romantic partner, Gracie Allen, to his second career as a solo star after her death. The one-man show goes on at Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol, at 3 and 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $35. Call 215-785-0100.

Dangerous lives The Awesome Fest film series presents the McManus Brothers' 2012 dramatic comedy Funeral Kings, about a couple of irreverent altar boys specializing in skipping school, evading responsibility, and seeking out what they can of the pleasures of adulthood, bringing them more trouble than they expected. The film screens at Race Street Pier, Race Street and North Columbus Boulevard, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Call 215-629-3200.