Christ Church Neighborhood House

04/17/2025

Coming up next month!

Please join us for our annual spring showcase!

04/10/2025

Great write up for one of the amazing events at Christ Church Neighborhood House recently!

Broad Street Review, Philadelphia Dance Projects

Philadelphia Dance Projects’ Dance Up Close 2025 series kicked off with Jumper Cables and Seeds and Sounds , showcasing interdisciplinary collaborations…

01/28/2025

Meet Our Staff: Zack Biro
Executive Director

Zack (he/him) says he first fell in love with history at age 6 running through Gettysburg National Military Park. “It mostly started as a way to let out some little kid energy while my parents were visiting my older brother at college, but with each passing year the stories of the past continued to grip me and I couldn’t get enough. Soon my weekends were full of trips to museums and looping documentaries were always on the living-room TV.”

Zack continued his adventures in history at Lehigh University where he received a BA in History and Religion Studies and later an MA in History. Learning about the power of historical narratives and how they inform our collective identity was not only fascinating, it was clear to him how important they were to creating inclusive and impactful communities. Zack started his career volunteering as a weekend tour guide at his local historical society where he first learned about how history is communicated in museum and community spaces. From there Zack says he was lucky enough to experience work in different historical and non-profit settings including Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, Congressional Cemetery, Moravian Historical Society, Moravian Church Archives, Science History Institute, Mitzvah Circle Foundation, and most recently as the Executive Director at Historic Sugartown.

In 2015, Zack first encountered Christ Church when he worked around the corner at the Science History Institute. “I was enamored with the history of the Church and Burial Ground but what hooked me was the wonderful community of parishioners and history enthusiasts that held Christ Church as a special place. It is truly an honor that nearly a decade later I have the opportunity to join the Christ Church Preservation Trust team! I’m excited to work with our amazing staff as we highlight unheard voices, share our history with the Philadelphia and national community in innovative and creative ways, preserve our physical spaces for future generations, and continue to grow Christ Church as a vibrant community space.”

01/24/2025

Meet Our Staff: Ryan Rebel
Rentals & Production Manager

Ryan Rebel (he/they) is the Rentals & Production Manager at Christ Church Neighborhood House. He is a Barrymore-winning Theatre Director, Producer, Production Manager, Dramaturg, and Performer. Most recently, he directed the award-winning COMET with Upstream Performance Collaborative, and Production Managed the PEW-funded historical performance project On Buried Ground with Christ Church. Ryan has a passion for cultivating the art ideas of his collaborators. His own creative work is invested in pushing multimedia boundaries to explore the contradictions of modernity.

01/16/2025

From one of our educators at Christ Church:

Have you ever felt ugly? Like you’re cursed by the critical gaze of humanity? Well, what if a sexy voice spoke to you from behind a big door promising your wildest dream.. your most desperate fantasy of validation… a chance to finally belong. You just might decide to come inside too. This is the story of one ugly girl who chose to believe in an impossible promise, and had her insides and outsides rearranged by a cast of crabs for it. But what’s next to become after achieving perfect 10 status? Find out in this rock and roll musical ladled with heavy doses of body horror and crab vocab. Here is the door, come inside..side..side..side…

Show reservations can be made on Eventbrite: https://crabsmusical.eventbrite.com

Suggested donation of $15 will be accepted at the door. Cash or card.

12/30/2024

Neighborhood House has served populations in need and the immediate Old City community since opening its doors in 1915. Today, Neighborhood House is a performance venue and gathering place through which Christ Church Preservation Trust supports arts programming and cross-disciplinary performing artists through subsidized rehearsal and performance rentals.

Your donations help keep these rates low so that artists can continue to imagine new and experimental works in our ADA-accessible theater and throughout the broader historic Christ Church campus.

To give, visit https://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_665c3bdc-fe6b-11ee-8cee-0a3287177f03&WidgetId=467968

12/23/2024

The Christ Church Preservation Trust exists because of supporters like you. Your generosity sustains us and allows us to continue our nation building mission to honor our common history and foundations.

To give today, visit https://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_665c3bdc-fe6b-11ee-8cee-0a3287177f03&WidgetId=467968

12/23/2024

Please note the holiday hours for Christ Church and the Burial Ground! Pop-up hours may be available in the Burial Ground during January and February based on weather and staff availability. Please check our website and social media for updates, or directly contact Matthew Havens at [email protected]

12/23/2024

12/05/2024

• • • • • •
In 2024 at the Trust:

We hosted 23 Farmer’s Markets so far this year that welcome neighbors and visitors to support local businesses and celebrate our community.

We hosted over 40 productions as part of the Philly Fringe Festival that brought over 5,000 people to the Neighborhood House.

We completed critical restoration work including the restoration of three sets of the exterior doors to Christ Church made possible by a grant from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The work completed by Historic Conservation Collection focused on the meticulous repair of damaged and missing along with the restoration of all of the historic hardware, including hinges, k***s, and locking mechanisms.

All made possible by supporters like you! To donate, visit the .

11/14/2024

Visiting Philadelphia? Add Christ Church and Christ Church Burial Ground to your list of places to see.

Open daily, 11am - 5pm.

09/26/2024

Thank you to everyone who joined us for On Buried Ground, and the incredible team that made this piece possible! Photos by Daniel Madoff.

CAST
Rhonda Moore
Arianna Polite
Anna Scattoni
Cory Seals
Song Tucker
Hannah Brock
Naimah Simone Murray
Nashani W-Johnson

PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Nia Benjamin
Choreographer: Shayla-Vie Jenkins
Playwright: Rayne
Stage Manager: Tania "T" Saiz Perez
Lighting Design: Tuçe Yasak
Sound Design: Sam Crawford
Costume Design: Martha Chamberlain
Set Design: Matthew Shalzi
Performance Voiceover: Adam Howard
Production Manager/Master Electrician: Julia Franco
Marketing Manager: Grayce Carson
Lighting Assistant: Su Güzey
Costume Assistant: Hayley Newell
Project Director: Hannah Opdenaker
Project Manager: Amanda Kijak Publicist: Carrie Gorn
Archive Team: Carol Smith, Jill Rawnsley, and Allan Hasbrouck
Additional Research Support: Ainsley Wynn Eakins and Jubilee Marshall

09/24/2024

"History comes alive through this production, and I have found myself looking for more information about this time period, and of these individuals who I met through the show. Through this impactful production, audiences are challenged to come face to face with our shared history, and we leave changed. I can only thank the creative team for this stunning performance, and invitation to learn."

We deep dive into the offbeat, oddball, and often brilliant world of Philadelphia’s independent theatre scene