What to do and see at C2E2
Now in its fourth year, the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo—code name: C2E2—rockets back to McCormick Place this weekend, April 26–28. In addition to a large roster of comics pros, the celebrity guest list includes plenty of television celebs (including actors from The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones), a few literary figures (R.L. Stine, who haunted your middle-school dreams with Goosebumps) and comedian Patton Oswalt. Intermixed all weekend, of course, are plenty of costumed attendants roaming the halls and five sessions of geektastic speed dating (including one round specifically for gay fans). We combed through three days of programming to find highlights.
The House Theatre of Chicago's 2013–14 season
The House Theatre of Chicago is going retro with its 12th season slate, with new mountings of the previously seen The Nutcracker, Rose and the Rime and Dorian, along with one new show, The Crownless King, the second installment in Chris Mathews and Nathan Allen's fantasy trilogy.
The Crownless King opens the season (August 30–October 20), continuing where last fall's The Iron Stag King, Part One left off, with Allen directing. It's followed by the now perennial Nutcracker (November 8–December 29), Jake Minton and Phillip Klapperich's idiosyncratic take on E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale.
In the new year, the House revisits Rose and the Rime (January 17–March 9), Mathews, Allen and Minton's wintry fairy tale first seen in 2009; Allen directs. The season closes with a remount of Dorian (May 9–June 22), a dance-theater take on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray by House company members Rapley and Ben Lobpries that was first staged in 2006 at the now defunct Bailiwick Repertory Theatre. That production was one of Time Out's top ten plays of that year; Rapley once again helms the piece. All four shows will be performed at the Chopin Theatre. House company member Dennis Watkins's The Magic Parlour also continues its open run at the Palmer House Hilton.
Victory Gardens Theater announces resident companies
Victory Gardens Theater has revealed its new roommates. Bailiwick Chicago, Rasaka Theatre Company, Sideshow Theatre Company and Teatro Vista will mount their 2013–14 seasons at the Biograph as the inaugural class of VG's previously announced Resident Theater Program.
Each of the four theaters will serve a multi-year residency. "Our ultimate objective is to position Victory Gardens, with its location in the heart of Lincoln Park at the crossroads of a major transportation hub, as a premier cultural performing arts center," Victory Gardens artistic director Chay Yew said in announcing the lineup. "By gathering these diverse theaters under one roof, Chicago residents can more fully engage with all of the city's communities throughout the year." The new resident theaters are expected to announce their seasons individually in the coming weeks.
Best weekend events in Chicago
FRIDAY
C2E2: Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo Anime addicts, comic-book fans and video-game junkies, rejoice: The granddaddy of comic expos is back, and a slew of authors, celebs, costume contests and screenings awaits. Adam West (of course), Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt and Audrey Niffenegger are among those scheduled to make appearances. McCormick Place. Fri 10am–10pm; Sat 10am–10pm; Sun 10am–5pm. $25–$65.
Chicago Anarchist Film Fest You might think it antithetical for a bunch of anarchists to organize anything, let alone a film festival, but this is the 13th go-round of the city's anarcho-cinema event. The three evenings of shorts, documentaries and animations have been broken up by theme: sabotage, wild cat strikes again and nine lives. After the final screening on Sunday, the fest migrates to Township in Logan Square for (what else?) a punk-rock karaoke wrap party. Meztli Cultural Organization. Fri, Sat 7pm; Sun 4pm. $5–$10 donation.
Ghostface Killah + Adrian Younge's Venice Dawn Wu-Tang's Iron Man has not lost an ounce of his lyrical skill-set, continually spewing poetically formless, detail-dense, quasi-fantasy tails of the urban game. His moody, chopsocky latest, Twelve Reasons to Die, is a collaboration with producer Adrian Younge, who opens the night with his '60s-inspired soul project, Venice Dawn, a cross of Italian soundtracks and French chanson—you know, the stuff of Quentin Tarantino's dreams. Abbey Pub. 9pm. $20–$25.
10 classical concerts to see this May
Eighth Blackbird with Shara Worden, Bryce Dessner and Nico Muhly
Save that tax refund, because May is going to be lousy with brilliant live music. Bridging the Apr/May divide are local heroes Eighth Blackbird alongside My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden, the National's Bryce Dessner and composition/piano paragon Nico Muhly. Other than Philip Glass's Two Pages (1968), the program is comprised entirely of music written in the past five years, including works by Tristan Perich, Steve Mackey, David Lang, Muhly, Dessner and Worden. We are especially curious to hear a world premiere original by 8bb pianist Lisa Kaplan, scored for piano four hands. Museum of Contemporary Art. May 1 (and Apr 30) at 7:30pm. $28, members $22.
5 things to do today: Thursday, April 25
NIGHTLIFE
Pearson Sound U.K. game-changer Pearson Sound (a.k.a. Ramadanman) fills the room with his progressively techy house-not-house and stripped-down low-end sounds, as widely heard in his high-profile remix of Radiohead's "Morning Mr Magpie." Smart Bar. 10pm. $15, advance $10, before midnight $12, students or before midnight with R.S.V.P. $5.
ART & DESIGN
Laydeez Do Comics Chicago In the immortal words of the Beastie Boys, "Hey ladies in the place, I'm callin' out to ya!" (So, yeah, not their most inventive lyric.) Anyway, this installment of Laydeez Do Comics Chicago, a monthly comics salon that originated in London, features Chi-based cartoonist Jeffrey Brown (Clumsy, Vader's Little Princess). No, he's not a lady comics artist, but he's friends with some. Close enough. Quimbys. 7pm. Free.
COMEDY
We're All in This Room Together The e.t.c.'s 36th revue is a breezy and carefree charmer and features outstanding energy and performances from a mostly new cast. We loved it. The Second City e.t.c. Thu 8pm; Fri 8pm, 11pm; Sat 8pm, 11pm; Sun 7pm. $23–$28.
MUSIC
Johnny Marr What took the legendary guitarist 49 years to release his debut solo album, The Messenger? Well, he's been rather busy, initially with the Smiths, of course, and more recently as a gun-for-hire in the Cribs and Modest Mouse. Alone, he has a surprisingly lovely voice and a penchant for sturdy Britpop. Naturally, his gift for arpeggiated chords and melancholic jangle remain. Any Anglophilic '90s nostalgist should drool. Metro. 8pm. $30.
THEATER
Dawn, Quixote Director Blake Montgomery and his cast use a familiar Building Stage tactic in their devised adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’s 17th-century epic (which closes April 27): The ensemble members perform as a collective, sharing and trading roles with a fluid flair. In this case, the three male and three female actors’ baseline personas are iterations of Don Quixote, clad in roughly matching black pantaloons, gray wigs and bushy fake beards and projecting a gung-ho sense of purpose while strumming ukuleles. The cheeky, spaghetti-Western–flavored retelling can feel a bit thin and more than a little repetitious. Yet Montgomery and company’s climactic confrontation with Cervantes’s decisive conclusion plays a moving metatheatrical card. Building Stage. 8pm. $25–$30, kids and students $15–$20.
Casting announced for Mary Zimmerman's The Jungle Book at Goodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre has completed casting for Mary Zimmerman's new adaptation of The Jungle Book, headed by ten-year-old Akash Chopri as Mowgli. Other lead actors include Usman Ally as panther Bagheera; Anjali Bhimani as Raksha, the Mother Wolf; André DeShields as orangutan King Louie; Kevin Carolan as Baloo the bear; Thomas Derrah as the snake, Kaa; and Larry Yando as the crafty tiger Shere Khan. The ensemble cast also includes Glory Curda, Jeremy Duvall, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Monique Haley, Nehal Joshi, Ed Kross, Govind Kumar, Alka Nayyar, Geoff Packard, Timothy Wilson and Victor Wisehart.
Based on Rudyard Kipling's stories and the Walt Disney animated film, and with backing from Disney Theatrical Productions, Zimmerman's adaptation of The Jungle Book plays the Goodman June 21–August 4 before moving on to a fall run at Boston's Huntington Theatre Company. Music director Doug Peck has reorchestrated the Sherman Brothers' film score for a 12-member band that mixes jazz musicians with traditional Indian instrumentalists (hear a bit of "The Bare Necessities" in this video clip from an early music workshop). Tickets are on sale now.
Just for Laughs Chicago headliners announced
TBS Just for Laughs Chicago has revealed the first wave of headliners for the fifth annual comedy fest in June, to include the likes of Bill Maher, Seth Meyers, Bob Newhart and David Cross, all performing at the Chicago Theatre.
"David Cross and His Super Duper Pals"—pals remaining to be announced—hit State Street Thursday, June 13, just a few weeks after the new season of Arrested Devlopment pops up on Netflix. Meyers, SNL's "Weekend Update" anchor and head writer, shows up June 14 with The Daily Show's Al Madrigal and Chicago native Hannibal Buress. Stand-up legend Newhart, also a Chicago native as well as a Loyola alum, headlines Saturday, June 15, while HBO's Real Time host Maher is on the marquee for June 16.
Talent announced for other venues during the June 11–16 festival includes Anjelah Johnson, Nick Swardson and the cast of truTV's Impractical Jokers at the Vic, and John Hodgman, Dylan Moran and Maria Bamford at the Park West. (Bamford and Johnson are the sole women among the initial slate of 25 comedians, which is about par for the course for Just for Laughs headliners.) Tickets for the currently announced shows go on sale Saturday, April 27 at 10am; additional shows, taking place in a total of 15 venues, will be announced in coming weeks.
Taste of Chicago announces more headliners
What tunes pair well with fried balls of mac and cheese? To what degree can one bust a move in sandals after gorging on Rainbow Cones? These are the questions facing bookers of the Taste of Chicago.
Mayor Rahm has promised to recharge the stale festival. Already he has shortened the event, moved it from the 4th of July weekend and added food trucks for 2013.
So what about the bands? Until this morning, only fun. had been announced for the opening Wednesday, July 10. A rather large get, considering the trio has been ubiquitous on the airwaves over the last year. As for the rest of the headliners? Well, it's the typical mix of B-list poppers and a token rock icon.
Robin Thicke, hot off a funky viral NSFW video, follows Estelle on July 11. Led Zeppelin howler Robert Plant brings his global blues on July 12. Pleasant diva Jill Scott croons Saturday 13. Las Vegas' Killers disciples Neon Trees close the fest with their clean, hyper power-pop on Sunday evening.
Seats at the Petrillo Music Shell pavilion cost $25. As always, the lawn is free. Click here for more details.
5 things to do today: Wednesday, April 24
Aleksandar Hemon The award-winning Chicago author reads from his fantastic new essay collection, The Book of My Lives. Women and Children First. 7:30pm. Free.
AROUND TOWN
Anchee Min The author, whose New York Times best-selling memoir Red Azalea detailed her turbulent adolescence living in China during the Cultural Revolution, lectures. Loyola University. 7pm. Free.
NIGHTLIFE
Chicagoland Sexcon The annual sex convention hits the club with porn stars, sex-toy vendors, strippers and much more naughty stuff, plus DJs and booze—all making the usual night of clubbing look quite innocent. As a night out, it's not for those of Victorian disposition. The Castle. 9pm. Advance $25 at Chicagosexcon.com.
DANCE
Joffrey Ballet: "Othello" So much more likable then the boy king from Game of Thrones, this Joffrey production is nonetheless as powerful and passionate. "Othello" is a perfect vehicle for showcasing the company's dynamo dancers. The contemporary ballet contains jealousy, betrayal, forbidden love and a propulsive score by Oscar winner Elliot B. Goldenthal. Auditorium Theatre. Wed–Fri 7:30pm; Sat 2pm, 7:30pm; Sun 2pm. Through May 5. $31–$152.
COMEDY
The Tomkat Project Seven actors dazzle in the roles of more than 50 characters in Brandon Ogborn's exhilarating new comedy about celebrity culture where fact and fiction blur seamlessly. The Playground Theater. 8pm. $15.
