Fur

Fiery, intense and so sexy you could sweat, the production of David Ives' new Venus in Fur , a sensation when it ran Off-Broadway last year, opened in a remounted production Tuesday on Broadway. Much of the heat comes from a living generator, the actress Nina Arianda, who reprises the role she created downtown in the original production. There's a booster to this furnace - the Broadway actor and film star Hugh Dancy, who is essentially her prey. The two of them deliver performances that bubble, then explode, on the stage of Manhattan Theatre Club's Friedman Theatre.

The tiny hooks in the ceiling of John Conner's workshop near Kennett Square tell you what kind of winter this is going to be for him. The hooks are meant to hold drying animal skins. About two thirds of them are empty. Just two years ago, they would have supported neat rows of fox, raccoon and muskrat pelts stretched inside-out over wire frames. There would have been bundles of fur on the floor. Conner would already have sold his first shipment of pelts to his buyer. This year, only about 40 skins are hanging from the ceiling and, save for a few fox carcasses, the floor is bare.

GOT AN OLD fur coat lying around your house? Take it to Studio 54 1/2 in Old City and have it converted into a purse. For free. The catch is, you have to leave behind the rest of the coat, which will be made into hats, scarves and other items and sold. Studio 54 1/2 - Star Jones stopped by during last year's NBA All-Star game activities - specializes in nifty, one-of-a-kind pieces. It's at 54 1/2 N. 3rd St. Call 215-928-9250. More free stuff Thinking of marrying soon?

In Dorothy Storck's Jan. 7 column, "The emotional cost of mink," she states that because "animals don't have a future sense" it's appropriate to raise them on fur ranches even though the end result is death by gassing, drowning and electrocution. Ms. Storck believes that because human beings do have this "future sense" it places human beings "ahead" of other sentient beings and gives human beings the "right" to exploit the fur bearers. Hitler had the same belief about the Jews.

IT'S FUR SEASON, whether you wear the real deal or a fabulous faux. Ladies young to not-so-young are donning coats, collars and headbands to keep warm and fashionable. Wherever you stand on the real vs. faux continuum, there are choices galore. You'll find beautiful coats and accessories at Jacques Ferber, 1708 Walnut St., or go for something pre-owned at Ort Resale Shop, 29 S. 19th St. As long as the weather stays blustery, furs will be moving off the rack at a cheetah's pace.   Follow Reuben Harley on Twitter at @BigRubeHarley and at streetgazing.blogspot.com.

I own a fur coat. I'm not environmentally impaired, I'm cold. When I exercise with my friend Paula, I wear four layers plus gloves although she wants to take off her sweatshirt. Even in the summer I suffer from the cold in an air-conditioned room. If anyone deserves a fur, it's me. To the adage "You can never be too rich or too thin" I always add "or too warm. " I am heavily invested in heaters and undershirts. Wanna argue about animal rights versus my right to wear a fur coat?

Imagine you are an anti-fur activist. It's a sunny day sometime during the mid-1980s, and you're speaking at an outdoor press conference in downtown Toronto. Indignation flows assuredly through your polemic. Sure, grubby businessmen still peddle furs, and the gaudy rich still wear them, but they're an unsympathetic bunch and the fur industry is in a tailspin. The ambiguity and self-doubt that sap other movements of the left have left you unscathed. Unfortunately, you're about to meet Bob Stevenson.

Mary Jane and Robert J. Brown Sr. thought they were all prepared for last evening's wedding of Robert's son. The couple, who live in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had arranged the rental of 40 rooms for family and friends at the Holiday Inn on Street Road in Bensalem. To ward off the cold weather, Mary Jane Brown brought her full-length mink coat. The couple also brought some of their best jewelry, including Robert's 18-karat gold watch and Mary Jane's emerald-and-diamond earrings, so they would look just right at the rehearsal dinner and wedding in Northeast Philadelphia.

With all the hullabaloo over higher hemlines, a lot of less controversial trends are being overlooked in the New York fall collections, which swung into high gear Wednesday. Fur trims - real and fake - have turned up on just about every runway, ranging from the mink-lined cashmere coats at Carolyne Roehm's show to Marc Jacobs' shaggy fake-fur muffs and sweaters that resembled Astroturf. Even Adrienne Vittadini used a bit of Persian lamb - for toques and collars - which gave a romantic Dr. Zhivago-ish air to her little gray suits with black embroidered trim.

The fur coat industry is part of the world of high fashion and high society. The road to the pricey shops selling mink, sable and raccoon furs may as well be paved with gold. But the world of trendy salons pushing haute couture is just the glossy exterior. What lies beneath is far from glamorous. It is a fitting introduction to this other world to drive along the road leading to Tom and Harry Zander's animal pelt warehouse in West Deptford. It is a dirt road, not gold.

Timothy McKenna, who won praise for reducing violence at Furness High School in South Philadelphia, has been named president of Central High, the city's oldest public school and one of its most prestigious. The selection is a coup for Central, which sought a replacement for Sheldon S. Pavel, who in his 28 years of leading the school embodied its ethic of hard work and high expectations. "I think [McKenna] has done an absolutely wonderful job at Furness. I think he has worked with his staff and his students to improve his school significantly," said Pavel, who will retire in July.

JERSEY SHORE, Pa. - A Central Pennsylvania couple found a very unusual critter in their backyard - a purple squirrel. Percy Emert said he and his wife, Connie, have cagelike traps in their yard to keep squirrels away from bird feeders. Percy Emert then releases the squirrels into the woods. On Sunday, he recalled, "my wife said, 'You're not going to believe it, but I saw a purple squirrel in the yard.' So I put out a trap with a couple of peanuts inside. " Before long, the squirrel came back and found itself trapped.

IT'S FUR SEASON, whether you wear the real deal or a fabulous faux. Ladies young to not-so-young are donning coats, collars and headbands to keep warm and fashionable. Wherever you stand on the real vs. faux continuum, there are choices galore. You'll find beautiful coats and accessories at Jacques Ferber, 1708 Walnut St., or go for something pre-owned at Ort Resale Shop, 29 S. 19th St. As long as the weather stays blustery, furs will be moving off the rack at a cheetah's pace.   Follow Reuben Harley on Twitter at @BigRubeHarley and at streetgazing.blogspot.com.

THE DOCUMENT arrived at my doorstep over the weekend in a plain white envelope. This was going to be big. It was: Former school superintendent Arlene Ackerman's Christmas list. I knew it was going to be a good Xmas for former Queen Arlene. A very good one. First she engineered a $905,000 buyout from her job, which has to make one wonder why the Occupy Philadelphians, instead of camping out outside City Hall to party hearty, did not occupy her house. Then last week she applied to for unemployment benefits of $573 a week.

Sharif Smith made sure the ceremony was immediately preceded by a celebration. At the north end of the South Philly Super Site on Wednesday, Smith burrowed 1 yard for the decisive touchdown, then combined with Bor Bor Kessley to make the seal-the-deal tackle as Horace Furness topped Prep Charter, 20-14, in overtime, in the teams' first holiday meeting. Minutes later in the same locale, with coaches and current/former teammates enjoying every moment, Smith's No. 1 jersey (the white version)

On the night when his No. 1 football jersey was retired, Sharif Smith scored all of Furness' three touchdowns and ended his career by helping the Falcons claim the South Philly Bowl with a 20-14 overtime win against visiting Prep Charter on Wednesday. Smith, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior who is the school's all-time leading rusher, scored on runs of 1 and 22 yards in regulation and added a 3-yarder in overtime. The Furness defense then stopped Prep Charter's possession in overtime and preserved the nonleague win. Mastbaum 16, University City 14 - Frank Quiles scored on a 7-yard run with 7 minutes, 21 seconds remaining as the Panthers (3-9)

On the night when his No. 1 football jersey was retired, Sharif Smith scored all of Furness' three touchdowns and ended his career by helping the Falcons claim the South Philly Bowl with a 20-14 overtime win against visiting Prep Charter on Wednesday. Smith, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior who is the school's all-time leading rusher, scored on runs of 1 and 22 yards in regulation and added a 3-yarder in overtime. The Furness defense then stopped Prep Charter's possession in overtime and preserved the nonleague win. Mastbaum 16, University City 14 - Frank Quiles scored on a 7-yard run with 7 minutes, 21 seconds remaining as the Panthers (3-9)

Fiery, intense and so sexy you could sweat, the production of David Ives' new Venus in Fur , a sensation when it ran Off-Broadway last year, opened in a remounted production Tuesday on Broadway. Much of the heat comes from a living generator, the actress Nina Arianda, who reprises the role she created downtown in the original production. There's a booster to this furnace - the Broadway actor and film star Hugh Dancy, who is essentially her prey. The two of them deliver performances that bubble, then explode, on the stage of Manhattan Theatre Club's Friedman Theatre.

JOAN AND STEPHEN Dydak experienced quite the shock while watching Game No. 3 in Central High's 2008 junior varsity football season. Their son, Ryan, had been a slot receiver to that juncture. A second-teamer, at that. And in youth ball, he'd served exclusively as a lineman. Now, he was playing quarterback. "I didn't even tell them about the switch," Ryan said yesterday. "They were proud of me, but shocked. They were asking me afterward, 'Why are you at quarterback? How'd that happen?