Chicago Footlights Issue 3 October/November 2008 by Footlights.com

CELEBRATING THE ARTS FOR 20 YEARS October/November 2008

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Issue 3, October/November ‘08 Published by Marcus Promotions, Inc. The content of any article in this publication is based solely on the opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Marcus Promotions, Inc., Footlights, or its staff. The center program content is at the sole discretion of the performing arts group. Any errors, omissions, or inconsistencies are their responsibility. Inquiries or comments should be directed accordingly.

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Cover photo by tomjulio 4

page 6

CONTENTS SCENE & BE SEEN

Shop Talk: Here’s help in finding the perfect present by Jodie Jacobs

ARTS BRIEFS

ARTS SCENE Chicago’s Performing Arts Guide. A NOTE FROM THE LEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES

Dance: State of the Art in Chicago by Lucia Mauro

DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

cene & Be Seen FROM THE GREEN ROOM TO THE RED CARPET

Entertainment was a drag—much to the delight of partygoers—at Viva La Diva, the annual Hell in a Handbag benefit held at Mary’s Attic in Andersonville on Aug. 19. Photos by Jerry Nunn.

1) Annie Gloyn (left) and Trista Smith were raffle girls. 2) Linda Evans and Joan Collins, better known as Terry McCarthy (left) and Artistic Director David Cerda, read from the LEGENDS tour diary at the HIAH benefit.

Performances of four new musicals, lectures by guest artists and a gala opening benefit were some of the highlights of Theatre Building Chicago’s 31st Annual Stages Festival of New Musicals in August. Photos by Paul Grigonis. 3 3) Audience members mixed and mingled before performances. 4) A group of friends enjoy a preshow nosh.

The Griffin Theatre Company celebrated its 20th anniversary with a kick-off party and benefit at the Leadway Bar & Grill in the Bowmanville neighborhood of Chicago. Over 60 people attended the event that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. Entertainment was provided by the band The Eli Story with special musical appearances by several Griffin artists. Photos by Bill Massolia.

5) Paul Popp, Dina Connelly and Melissa Riemer

6) Ian Novak and Diane Aitken 7) Bill Morey (left) and Chris Tisone

Gnome Be Gone sculpture at The Artistic Gardener. Photo by Jodie Jacobs.

Forget what sociologists say. There really are two types of people–those born to shop and those who hate shopping. The former are eager to head out. Their mission is to find something special that will elicit applause, a hug or a big smile. The latter wait until the last minute in hopes a gift genie will appear who can read minds and solve problems. Fortunately, the Chicago area is rich with clever specialty shops with “genies” who enjoy matching people with presents and making shopping a treat for the giver. 6

Shop Talk Here’s help in finding the perfect present by Jodie Jacobs Now you’re cooking The hard part of shopping at The Olive Tap at 308 Old McHenry Road in Long Grove (888-642-5472) is buying a gift without also purchasing something to keep. Tasting cups sit next to taps of award-winning extra virgin olive oils and heavenly balsamics. “Taste this,” urges owner Rick Petrocelly. “It’s the new peach balsamic.” Recommending it for a fruit salad, he rattles off a recipe that will be in his on-line newsletter. “A splash of this and guests will think you are Julia Child reincarnated,” he says. Indeed, Petrocelly and his staff welcome the challenge of making the cook, hostess or gift giver look good. “We try to get a little information on the recipient. If the person is not a cook, we’ll help put together something easy to use but would blow guests away. If a foodie, we’ll put together something so the person can accomplish some exciting tastes,” he says. Customers can have their choices bottled, pick a gift basket and add dipping dishes and spices. Or they can choose a prepacked gift basket from $30 to $75. Custom baskets ordered by noon can be picked up later in the afternoon or shipped. People can also order online (www.theolivetap.com ). Garden variety While you’re waiting for that gift basket, shoppers can make the most of a Long Grove trip by checking out The Artistic Gardener at 248 Robert Parker Coffin Road (847-793-8970). The store, which opened the end of July, has been so busy that owners Rachel Perkal and husband Tobin Fraley are constantly reordering their stock of eye-catching ceramic fountains, handsome table centerpieces and whimsical Gnome Be Gone creatures. “The people who come to the store are looking for something unusual, something with character to it,” reports Perkal. “We have elements of art for outside and we bring elements of the outside into the home.” For instance, glass balls that glisten as they spin within metal spirals could be hung in a child’s room or outdoors. A glasstopped fancifully crafted, metal stand could be a birdbath or indoor side table. There are items for every budget ranging from $15 fragrant Mor gift soaps to $300 fountains. Items can be shipped. Scientific method Discover that finding items for youngsters can also be fun by turning to Chicago’s Museum Campus. Look for gifts for budding astronomers at the Adler Planetarium, for young oceanographers at the Shedd Aquarium and for just about anyone of any age at 7

the Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive (312-665-7693). “We love to inspire kids here,” declares Field Museum Stores Manager Jeri Webb. “Children of all ages like dinosaurs,” she says, pointing to replicas and dig kits for junior paleontologists. Also popular, are Mysteries of Egypt dig kits for future archeologists that come with tool sets, encased artifacts, field book and finishing paint kit. “It’s a good activity and once done, youngsters can put the items on a shelf to display,” she explains. “Who knows how many kids are inspired to go on to be scientists?” In the spectacular category, The Field has a five-foot-tall $600 giraffe and a lifesized $750 lion. Other ideas include Native American jewelry, multicultural beading and weaving kits, a Mayan Temple building set and a Watch-a-Bug magnifying glass. For shopping ease, The Field has 1,000 items online (www.fieldmuseum.org). Refreshing solutions People who want to give something memorable but haven’t a clue about the recipient’s interests should consider champagne, according to Wine Discount Center owner Peter Schwarzbach. His stores, located in Barrington (311 E. Main St., 847-277-0033), Chicago (1826 N. Elston Ave., 773-489-3454), Forest Park (7714 W. Madison, 708-366-2500) and Highland Park (1350 Old Skokie Road, 847-831-1049), feature below retail prices and a knowledgeable staff. “First, I would ask if the person getting the gift is a regular wine drinker or not,” Schwarzbach says. “If not, I would start with something that has universal appeal – champagne. Just about everyone will drink champagne or celebrate with champagne.” For under $50, he suggests Billecart-Salmon at $40 and Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin at $35. High end, he likes Henriot Cuvee des Enchanteleurs at $110 and Dom Perignon at $125. “For a person who knows wines or wants something different we have great wines in limited production that even a knowledgeable person might not know,” Schwarzbach says. He suggests stopping by their stores between noon 8

and 4 p.m. Saturdays when they offer free tastings of wines that have just arrived. The store also ships and takes online orders (www.winediscountcenter.com).

Gifts from Rick Petrocelly's The Olive Tap are always in good taste. Photo by Jodie Jacobs.

Champagne's a winning gift according to Wine Discount Center owner Peter Schwarzbach. Photo by Jodie Jacobs.

Curtains! People who attend plays often have friends and relatives with similar interests. Show tickets make great gifts but sometimes the problem is matching schedule with seat availability. A great alternative is Play Money. Sold in $25 certificates by the League of Chicago Theatres (312-554-9800), Play Money can be traded for tickets at the box offices of about 70 theatres. Holiday gifts tend to be around $100, according to Nancy Weber, director of operations for the League of Chicago Theatres. “It’s a lot of fun to give. We get a lot of repeat customers. It’s also a great corporate year-end gift,” Weber says. Best of all, Play Money can be purchased at two Hot Tix locations (72 E. Randolph St. and 163 E. Pearson) while “doing” Chicago’s holiday scene or online (www.chicagoplays.com). ■

Arts Briefs By Jonathan Abarbanel

More up-to-date news online at footlights.com Political Agendas In a run-up to the November 4th presidential election, a number of Chicago-area theaters are staging shows with political stories and themes, ranging from DUCK FOR PRESIDENT, a world premiere children’s musical at Lifeline Theatre (Oct. 11-Nov. 30), to the tastefully titled THIS COUNTRY’S F$***D! OR GOD D**N, AMERICA (our asterisks!), offered by sketch comedy troupe Schadenfreude at the Lakeshore Theater (Oct. 18 and 25). Some other shows in the political stew include Writers’ Theatre‘s revival of NIXON’S NIXON (with original actors Larry Yando and William Brown, through Oct. 19); Theater Oobleck‘s ELECTION SHOW 2008: THE TROJAN CANDIDATE at the Neo-Futurarium (Oct. 3Nov. 3); the world premiere of LAND OF THE FREE, by Mark Burns, presented by Babes With Blades at the Viaduct Theater (through Oct. 26); and RAUCOUS CAUCUS: THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS, an improvised election complete with YouTube ads, presented by Giant Hammer at Annoyance Productions (Sundays only through Nov. 2).

Pig (Heather Currie) and Cow (Christina Hall) cheer for their favorite candidate at Lifeline Theatre.

Chicago Authors Booked For 89 years, the Best Plays Theater Yearbook has been the most respected annual anthology of new plays produced in New York, although many may have begun their production lives elsewhere. The 89th edition, BEST PLAYS OF 2007-2008, will include two multiple award-winning works that traveled directly from Chicago to New York with their casts and directors intact. The two are the Broadway hit AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY by Tracy Letts, originally produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and the OffBroadway hit ADDING MACHINE by Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt, originally produced by the Next Theatre Company. The three Chicago authors (alas, Loewith has moved to Washington, D.C.) share the book with David Henry Hwang, Sir Tom Stoppard, Conor McPherson and Horton Foote among others, which ain’t too shabby. Full details about Best Plays can be found at www.bestplays.org. Joel Hatch as Mr. Zero and Amy Warren as Daisy Devore in Next Theatre Company's ADDING MACHINE. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Tunes for ‘toons Chicago-based producer Stuart Oken and his Elephant Eye Theatrical have a hot new show in development, a musical version of THE ADDAMS FAMILY. To create it, Oken has engaged writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and composer Andrew Lippa. Brickman (who has a long film resume) and Elice wrote JERSEY BOYS while Broadway composer Lippa is best-known for THE WILD PARTY.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY is not a stage version of either the TV sitcom or the feature film of the same name. Oken and the authors have gone back to the original source, the delightfully bizarre cartoons of the late Charles Addams. No production date has been set.

Andra Velis Simon

Simon goes to School Congratulations to Andra Velis Simon. After a decade in Chicago working in arts administration by day and musical directing by night, she has landed a full-time position at Columbia College Chicago as musical director for the school’s large and busy Theater Department. She’ll continue her freelance work as an Off-Loop musical director and as a private vocal coach and pianist.

Everything’s up to Date The monthly Chicago theater schedule always includes a healthy proportion of classics, whether Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen or Shaw. And such classics sometimes inspire not merely novel interpretations, but entirely new plays derived from the original, and often wildly different in tone. Consider THE U. N. INSPECTOR at Next Theatre Company (through Oct. 12), a modern geo-political updating of Nicolai Gogol’s 1836 Russian satire, THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR. At City Lit Theater Company, a great Shakespearian murder mystery collides with a great mystery writer in DASHIELL HAMLET (through Oct. 26), coauthored and directed by Mike Nussbaum. And who would consider Henrik Ibsen’s dark dramas as a source for comedy? Well, Jeff Whitty, that’s who, half of the team that created the musical AVENUE Q. Whitty’s play, THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF HEDDA GABLER, is being presented by Dog & Pony Theatre Co. at the Viaduct (through Oct. 26). In the Ibsen original, Hedda shoots herself.

Mark Pracht (left) and Geoff Rice in DASHIELL HAMLET at City Lit Theater Company. Photo by Johnny Knight.

Deanna Dunagan in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

COUNTY Tours Country It’s not enough that Tracy Letts won the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Plans also have been laid for a film version, to be produced by Jean Doumanian (long associated with the films of Woody Allen) and Steve Traxler, president of Chicago-based Jam Theatricals, who brought the Steppenwolf production to Broadway. AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY will conclude its Broadway run in January and then tour the country. Meanwhile, the original cast will reassemble in November to perform the play at London’s Royal National Theatre. 10

Stagestruck by Myrna Petlicki David Cerda felt like a movie star when he made his stage debut as the Captain in a fifth grade staging of HMS PINAFORE. Karin McKie was so thrilled to be in a second grade production of SIR KEVIN OF DEVON that she can still recite her lines. There was a foreshadowing of Nick Sandys’ combined careers in acting and fight choreography during his first time onstage as a first grader. Under his costume, Sandys wore a cowboy outfit, complete with a gun tucked beneath the back of his belt—and he was playing Joseph in a play about the Holy Family. The five actors we interviewed all knew the first time they appeared on stage that it wouldn’t be the last. They sometimes took winding paths to their acting careers but all share a strong drive to be onstage.

Read their stories at footlights.com.

How he became an actor instead of an English teacher is a mystery to Nick Sandys, who plays Dr. Jekyll in Northlight Theatre's DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, through Oct. 26. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Monkey Business

Explore Space

Barrel of Monkeys, which creates plays for adults and children from the personal stories of at-risk youth, began its 11th season in September with a new management line-up, with Luke Hatton named artistic director. An eight-year Barrel of Monkeys (BOM) veteran, Hatton is a Northwestern University theater grad who worked his way up the troupe’s ranks as a performer, lead teacher, director and artistic associate. He succeeds founding artistic director Halena Kays who’s begun work on an MFA at the University of Texas, Austin. Also, after three years as production stage manager for BOM’s signature Monday night show THAT’S WEIRD, GRANDMA, Maggie Fullilove-Nugent has been named part-time company manager. She’ll retain her posts as production manager for The Hypocrites and North Park University Theatre. FYI: THAT’S WEIRD, GRANDMA is based on stories from children, but that doesn’t mean they all are stories for children, which is one reason the show is presented for adult audiences. In 11 years, Barrel of Monkeys has presented over 450 stories and musical numbers. The show is performed at the Neo-Futurarium.

Michael Govier (L to R), Dixie Uffelman and Donnell Williams in Barrel of Monkeys’ long-running hit, THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA. Photo by Scott Cooper.

Sequels Hit the Stage We reopen the curtain on some classic shows by Lawrence Bommer Movies indulge in sequels all the time: MEN IN BLACK begat a second coming, ROCKY was the gift that kept on giving whether you wanted to open it or not, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE has become “ending improbable,” and only now is HARRY POTTER finally heading toward its last spell. Theater classics should be just as hard to let go of as cinematic ones. Why can’t we know that Maria enters a convent after Tony dies to finally put closure to her WEST SIDE STORY? Can a GREYER GARDENS be far away? Is there a JERSEY MEN in the future? Daring to exploit the future for a shamelessly exploitive sequel, Footlights finishes the plot for the plays we love. JERSEY BOYS (L to R) Michael Ingersoll, Jarrod Spector, Drew Gehling and Bryan McElroy at Bank of America Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

See footlights.com to learn what’s next for Glinda, Simba, ABBA and others.

Psssst! Ya’ wanna’ rent a theater? The Windy City’s newest performance space, Stage 33 Chicago, has opened at 3657 N. Kedzie, just North of Addison. Definitely a studio theater, the street level storefront is a 25-seat black box theater fully equipped with lighting and sound technical capacities. It offers flexible seating configurations, front lobby, dressing rooms and control booth ideal for small scale productions, staged readings, auditions or workshops. A full week costs $525, but rates break down to as little at $10/hour for rehearsals. Info: Stage33Chicago.org. The new venue—which will have the brandnew Sandhill Theatre Company as its resident troupe—now is the third theater clustered in the burgeoning Elston/Kedzie corridor, which was pioneered five years ago by Prop Thtr Group. 11

Columbia College Chicago the South Loop’s gateway to the arts…. Columbia College Chicago is the largest arts and media college in the nation and one of Chicago’s foremost presenters of arts programming—offering hundreds of dance, music and theater performances, as well as film screenings, readings, gallery exhibits and public lectures to more than 300,000 patrons each year.

WWW.COLUM.EDU/CALENDAR

B AN AFS H EH S AYYAD W IT H N A M A H & Z A R B A N G , B Y A N D R E E L B I N G

SELECTED EVENTS: SPECIAL EVENTS

DANCE

and the Beats go on … a multi-disciplinary exploration of Beat culture (see Galleries) www.colum.edu/beats (through Nov.)

Namah (Oct. 16-18), Trisha Brown (Oct. 23-25)

GALLERIES Jack Kerouac: On the Road, an exhibition of the iconic manuscript scroll (through Nov.) Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Dave Anderson, and Robert Frank at the Museum of Contemporary Photography (through Nov. 1) Talk the Walk: A Curatorial Tour of Columbia’s Exhibition Spaces (Oct. 16)

LECTURES Conversations in the Arts: The Founders Lectures with Jonathan Kozol (Oct. 20) THEATER Landscape of the Body (Oct. 15-26) LITERARY Creative Nonfiction Week (Oct. 20-23) MUSIC PianoForte Series at Sherwood Conservatory (every Friday)

Arts Scene

D A N C E | M U S I C | M U S I C A L | O P E R A | T H E AT E R | VA R I E T Y COMEDYSPORTZ OF CHICAGO Ongoing Chicago’s No. 1 interactive improv experience. ComedySportz Theatre 929 W. Belmont Ave. 773-549-8080 comedysportzchicago.com LATE NITE CATECHISM Ongoing Join the class in this interactive comedy, now in its 15th year, as Sister teaches her own brand of religious logic. Quade Entertainment Royal George Theatre Center 1641 N. Halsted St. 312-988-9000 theroyalgeorgetheatre.com DUDU FISHER: JERUSALEM October 25, 2008 The star of Broadway’s LES MISERABLES returns to Centre East with his biggest show yet—a multimedia musical celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary. Centre East North Shore Center for the Performing

Arts in Skokie 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie 847-673-6300 centreeast.org BEAUTY ON THE VINE October 25-November 23, 2008 From mixed-race identities to extreme plastic surgery, this modern fable explores the power of the human face in Lindsay Lohan America. Backstage Theatre Co. Raven Theatre Studio 6157 N. Clark St. 800-838-3006 backstagetheatre company.org THE THUGS October 25-December 14, 2008 A dark comedy by Adam Bock about mysterious happenings at a big law firm. When a group of temps tries to discover the secrets, they realize they would rather believe in rumors than face dangerous realities. Profiles Theatre 4147 N. Broadway 773-549-1815 profilestheatre.org

For up-to-date event listings, visit footlights.com 13

USE YOUR IMAGINATION by Myrna Petlicki You don’t need expensive special effects to send chills running down an audience member’s spine. A carefully-crafted, effectively staged thriller can achieve that result through language, lighting and sound. That’s director Dante Orfei’s plan for THE WOMAN IN BLACK, opening October 24 at Jedlicka Performing Arts Center.

DEFENDING THE CAVEMAN November 1, 2008 With hysterical observations into contemporary feminism and masculine sensitivity, show mines the themes in relationships that go straight through the funny bone and the heart. Centre East North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie 847-673-6300 centreeast.org SKOKIE VALLEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA November 2, 2008 Program includes works by Brahms, Beethoven and Dvorak. North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie 847-673-6300 svso.org

Dante Orfei, director of THE WOMAN IN BLACK, shows that lighting can be spooky. Photo by Eddie Sugarman.

Orfei, artistic director of the theater, saw the show in London in 1989. He describes Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel as “a very well written piece that uses the theater to create something that’s really going on in the audience member’s mind.” He notes that the script includes a warning from the playwright “not to show too much.” THE WOMAN IN BLACK is about a middle-aged man who rents a theater and hires a professional actor to reenact an event that happened to him several years earlier. He hopes that will exorcise the specter that haunts him. Orfei sees the show as “an acting tour de force. It all hinges upon the believability of the actors. It’s more in what you don’t see but what you imagine than what you do see.” It is no accident that the production brackets Halloween. Orfei says, “That’s the perfect time to do a ghost story.” Jedlicka Performing Arts Center’s production of THE WOMAN IN BLACK runs October 24-November 8 at 3801 S. Central Ave., Cicero. For tickets and information, call 708-656-1800 or visit www.jpactheatre.com. 14

SOMEONE WHO’LL WATCH OVER ME November 3-December 7, 2008 A fascinating psychological journey of three men held captive in a foreign land. Piven Theatre 927 Noyes St., Evanston 847-866-8049 piventheatre.org THE GOOD WOMAN OF SETZUAN November 6-16, 2008 When a humble prostitute shares her meager home with three gods searching for a “good person,” they reward her with enough money to open a small shop. The people of the city take advantage of her compassion and generosity, forcing her to adopt the guise of a ruthless male cousin. Loyola University Theatre Kathleen Mullady Memorial Theatre 1125 W. Loyola Ave. 773-508-3847 luc.edu/theatre RADIO MACBETH November 6-December 7, 2008 Late at night in the guts of an abandoned theater, a company of actors gathers to rehearse Shakespeare’s MACBETH. They soon realize that they are not alone. Court Theatre 5535 S. Ellis Ave. 773-753-4472 courttheatre.org

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS November 7-23, 2008 A nerdy flower shop employee thinks a fast growing plant is his ticket out of Skid Row and to a dream life with his coworker Audrey, but the plant’s voracious and unusual appetite is Seymour’s undoing. North Shore Theater of Wilmette 3000 Glenview Road, Wilmette 847-256-9686 northshoretheater.org

PLANT MANAGEMENT by Myrna Petlicki Audrey II is undergoing a sex change in the North Shore Theater of Wilmette’s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, November 7-23. Director Ty Perry is adding his unique take on the bloodthirsty plant that brings fame to nerdy floral shop clerk Seymour in the Alan Menken and Howard Ashman musical.

DANCE CHICAGO 2008 November 7-30, 2008 Over 130 companies perform 300 works, representing every genre of dance from ballroom to stepping in festival’s 14th spectacular season. Athenaeum Theatre 2936 N. Southport Ave. 312-902-1500 dancechicago.com THINK BIG! November 10, 2008 Group conducted an Internet poll to determine the classical works that changed the rules. Concert includes top two vote getters plus music of Ravel, Copland and Respighi. Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center 220 S.Michigan Ave. 312-236-3681, ext. 2 chicagosinfonietta.org BARE SOUNDZ WITH SAVION GLOVER November 11, 2008 Using tap as song, Glover merges acoustical vibrations in a musical mosaic hosting sounds that explore jazz, Caribbean beats and other contemporary musical genres. North Central College Pfeiffer Hall 310 E. Benton, Naperville 630-637-SHOW northcentralcollege.edu/show GREY GARDENS November 12-December 21, 2008 Midwest premiere of hilarious and heartbreaking Tony Award-winning musical. Audiences rub elbows with Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter,“Little Edie,” Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ most scandalous relatives. Northlight Theatre 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie 847-673-6300 northlight.org

Traditionally, when Seymour’s evergrowing plant speaks, it has a deep masculine voice. Perry has cast a woman as the voice of Audrey II. “There’s a sexual tension between Seymour and Audrey II, I think,” Perry explains. “I want to highlight that. Also, it sets up the animosity between Audrey I and Audrey II,” Audrey I being the co-worker Seymour loves. Perry lauds the musical as “a great tribute to the 1950s B movie.” He adds that a director’s challenge is “striking the right tone and balance—giving that B movie feel and keeping it honest without making it descend into camp.” Producer Nicole Rohr says, “You can’t bring little little kids, but it’s definitely a show that kids and adults can enjoy together. The music is catchy, there’s so much humor on levels that the kids can appreciate and also for the adults. And it will highlight the talent of the North Shore.” North Shore Theater of Wilmette’s production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS runs November 7-23 at 3000 Glenview Road, Wilmette. For tickets and information, call 847-256-9686 or see www.northshoretheater.org.

WELL November 13-December 14, 2008 Lisa Kron puts herself onstage in this quirky memoir about her mother’s fight for racial integration and healthy communities in Lansing, Michigan. Kron’s account is deconstructed by her own mother. Next Theatre Company Noyes Cultural Arts Center 927 Noyes St., Evanston 847-475-1875, ext. 2 nexttheatre.org HOLES November 14-December 18, 2008 Fourteen-year-old Stanley Yelnats is convicted for a crime he didn’t commit and sentenced to Camp Green Lake, where nothing is green and no lake is in sight in stage adaptation of Louis Sachar’s novel. Adventure Stage Chicago Vittum Theater 1012 N. Noble St. 773-342-4141 adventurestage.org GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDS November 14, 2008-February 1, 2009 A gold-digging chorus girl, accompanied by her best friend, seeks romance aboard ship and in Paris during the 1920s in this funfilled musical featuring such songs as “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Circle Theatre 7300 W. Madison St., Forest Park 708-771-0700 circle-theatre.org SUSIE ESSMAN November 15, 2008 Centre East debut by comic who has played the hilarious foulmouthed Susie on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” for six seasons. Centre East North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie 847-673-6300 centreeast.org SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION November 17-December 20, 2008 No subject is left untouched in this comic, fast-paced and affecting piece that examines the threads of chance that link one person to another.

Signal Ensemble Theatre Chopin Theatre 1541 W. Division St. 773-347-1350 signalensemble.com THE MAIDS November 18, 2008-April 5, 2009 Two women in service to a younger socialite pass their days in playacting. As the line between fantasy and reality disintegrates, their games take a deadly turn. Writers’ Theatre 664 Vernon Ave., Glencoe 847-242-6000 writerstheatre.org YOHEN November 20-23, 2008 A divorced Japanese woman and an African American GI fall in love in post-World War II Japan. After decades of struggle, they call an accepting Los Angeles suburb home, but their peaceful world is changing. Silk Road Theatre Project North Central College Meiley-Swallow Hall 31 S. Ellsworth St., Naperville 630-637-SHOW northcentralcollege.edu/show CHICAGO JAZZ ORCHESTRA: A TRIBUTE TO COUNT BASIE November 21, 2008 The Chicago Jazz Orchestra is one of the oldest jazz repertory orchestras in the country as well as Chicago’s oldest professional jazz orchestra. North Central College Wentz Concert Hall 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville 630-637-SHOW northcentralcollege.edu/show CAMERATA CHICAGO November 22, 2008 Ensemble is recognized as one of the finest young chamber orchestras in the world. Within a year of its debut, the group won a record contract with Centaur Records. North Central College Wentz Concert Hall 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville 630-637-SHOW northcentralcollege.edu/show

For up-to-date event listings, visit footlights.com 16

A NOTE FROM THE LEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES Try Something New Did you ever think about attending a performance at a theater company you had never been to before, then decided against it? Maybe you didn’t want to spend money in case the theater wasn’t a good fit for you. There is a risk-free solution to your problem. During the entire month of October in Chicago, you can see a production for free at a theater you have never previously attended thanks to Theatre Communication Group’s Free Night of Theater initiative. People from coast to coast will be sharing the same experience all month. Free Night of Theater was conceived in 2003 as a way to remove perceived barriers that have historically prevented audiences from attending theater. This year more than 700 theaters in 100 cities nationwide are participating in the fourth year of this audience development program. Some participating Chicago companies include: 16th Street Theater, Chicago Dramatists, Dog and Pony Theatre, Next Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Silk Road Theatre Project, Steppenwolf Theatre, and TimeLine Theatre. Online reservations for Chicago performances began Sept. 23 at www.freenightoftheater.net. Additional tickets will be released throughout the month of October. Check the website for availability and more information.

Half-Price Theater Tickets!

www.HotTix.org ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: The Loop Magnificent Mile The Chicago Tourism Center The Water Works Visitors Center 72 East Randolph Street 163 East Pearson Street at Michigan Hours: Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 AM - 6 PM; Sundays 11 AM - 4 PM; Closed Mondays

Hot Tix is a program of the League of Chicago Theatres.

ChicagoPlays.com

312.554.9800 17

Dance:

State of the Art in C Any way you look at it, the watchword is diversity by Lucia Mauro Classical story ballets, from GISELLE to THE NUTCRACKER, arrive at the Auditorium Theatre by way of the Kirov Ballet (Oct. 2-5) and the Joffrey Ballet (Dec. 18-28), respectively. But these chestnuts make up a small portion of the 2008-09 dance offerings. Overriding the wilis and snow queens are contemporary dance programs rooted in multitiered explorations of race, ethnicity, gender identity, social issues and the vast expanse of movement possibility. The fact that so many companies are taking audiences on challenging new paths proves dance’s ability to serve as a robust catalyst for dialogue at the same time it strives to entertain. This season showcases a large component of African and African-American artists, with a number of fascinating studies arising from Latin America, Iran, Israel, Japan and Russia. Many utilize the latest in technology via multimedia presentations and computer-manipulated sound. Others rely on the unadorned poetry of the body. Throughout, these artists make it clear how we as individuals are closely linked to the world at large. And rather than opting for romanticized folkloric romps, artists from other countries are devising highly modern ways of moving and speaking to our times while honoring their past. Let’s take a peek at some of their provocative programs. Race is on The month of October in particular is jam-packed with racially charged performances. Links Hall, a Lakeview-based space for independent experimental artists, will devote most of the month (Oct. 3-26) to STUDIES N BLACK, a dance-music showcase curated by Brooklyn performance artist Baraka de Soleil in which he plans to delve into “the mystique of blackness” and what that means in today’s world. Emerging choreographer Margaret Morris premieres I AM ANOTHER YOURSELF, a rigorous dance-theater duet in which the characters can be sisters, lovers, rivals and reflections of each other. The festival also offers Monstah Black & The Sonic Leroy, who bring falsetto vocals, digitized beats and a man in perhaps the highest stiletto heels to the stage. They create an Electro Afro Punk Funk sound and dance performance that explores gender ambiguity and racial assumptions. More Links Hall dancers, musicians and performance-poets will challenge stereotypes and create forums for debate throughout the month. Color commentary Artists of color continue to examine the effects of the African Diaspora, the spreading out of African people across the globe, and how they have merged the rhythms of their new homes with tradition to create unique music and dance forms. One such vivid blending is the North American debut of Barbatuques, a boundary-defying Brazilian percussive-dance troupe, which will perform as part of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s fall program at the Harris Theater (Nov. 28-30). They literally use their bodies as instruments. Afro-Brazilian chants complement ferocious body drumming and meticulously stomping feet. West Africa is the geographic location for three upcoming events, the first being Cie Heddy Maalem’s reinterpretation of Igor Stravinsky’s seismic 1913 score for Vaslav Nijinsky’s famed ritualistic ballet, LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS (THE RITE OF SPRING), at 18

hicago

Namah's artistic director Banafsheh Sayyad will put her unique spin on dance at the Dance Center of Columbia College in October. Photo by Andre Elbing. 19

the Museum of Contemporary Art Theater (Oct. 17-19). Instead of the modernized tribal dances of a maiden being sacrificed in order for spring to arrive in pagan Russia, Maalem relocates the earth-shattering rhythms to the chaotic present-day city of Lagos, Nigeria, with 14 dancers from West Africa. After a three-year hiatus, DanceAfrica Chicago–a festival dedicated to the eclectic dance and music of the African continent, now sponsored by the DuSable Museum of African American History at the Harris Theater–returns with A WEST AFRICAN ODYSSEY (Oct. 31). And at the College of DuPage’s McAninch Arts Center, the Song and Dance Ensemble of West Africa mixes traditional West African melodies with influences from other countries, including reggae and Latininfused sounds (Nov. 2). Cultural tours The merging of cultures and movement traditions has been a lifelong pursuit for Iranian-born Banafsheh Sayyad, artistic director of Namah, a contemporary Iranian-American dance company making its local debut at the Dance Center of Columbia College (Oct. 16-18). The Los Angeles Times has described her choreography as “part whirling dervish, part flamenco,” encompassing Sayyad’s diverse influences. She takes the more decorative patterns of Persian dance and combines them with the sensual groundedness of flamenco rhythms and the spiritual release of trance-like spins. Also at the Dance Center, JAPAN DANCE NOW showcases three of the hottest emerging contemporary dance companies in Japan. One of them, Nibroll, marries pedestrian movement with athletic dancing in COFFEE, a work that relates caffeine to “inner explosions of aggressive behavior.” The multimedia Baby-Q juxtaposes technology against the physicality of the human body; and the all-female Sennichimae Blue Sky Dance Club injects dance theater with a pop sensibility. Fans of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will be familiar with Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, whose MINUS 16 has become the company’s unofficial finale. But Naharin is artistic 20

Left: Barbatuques will defy boundaries at the Harris Theater in November. Right: The Song and Dance Ensemble of West Africa comes to McAninch Arts Center on November 2.

director of Israel’s risk-taking Batsheva Dance Company (founded in 1964 by Martha Graham and the Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild), making a rare stop at the Auditorium Theatre (Feb. 7 and 8, 2009). The program serves as a ten-year overview of Naharin’s demanding, politically charged and oft-revisited and rearranged choreography. The Auditorium Theatre also hosts the return of the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg (May 14-17, 2009) and a new full-length ballet, EUGENE ONEGIN, by visionary Russian choreographer Boris Eifman. Rather than literally transport Alexander Pushkin’s tragic tale of the title self-absorbed–and self-created— aristocrat to the stage, Eifman deconstructs it as an allegory on love, rejection and lost chances–while pushing his dancers’ bodies to their extreme limits. Moving in other directions These are highlights of programs with an international scope. The upcoming season also overflows with a bold palette of impassioned and exhilarating movement from local and national companies. A sampling of that palette includes the Joffrey Ballet’s fall program, featuring a world premiere by former New York City Ballet dancer Edwaard Liang (Oct. 15-26), and the ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (April 1-5, 2009), at the Auditorium; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago performing shorter but more frequent runs at the Harris Theater (Oct. 9-12 and Dec. 3-7); along with Lar Lubovitch Dance Company (Nov. 22), as well as Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago presenting a grand tribute to late founder Gus Giordano–also at the Harris Theater (Oct. 24 and 25). ■

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