What's happening on the arts scene – on stage, in museums and at fairs and festivals
With more than 200 theater companies in Metropolitan Chicago there’s no lack of choices in all price ranges, genres and locations. Here is a small sampling of a half-dozen shows that will be in area theaters this fall. Of course you know that ‘Hamilton,’ the mega Tony-Award winning rap musical, opens Sept. 27. But it’s an open run so you might want to check availability later in the year or 2017.
Continue reading “Theater: Fall shows to put on the calendar”
If you drive over to north suburban Lake Forest between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Labor Day you can catch the second day of one of the best outdoor art shows in the Chicago area. It’s the 62nd Annual Art Fair on the Square.
Even though it is sponsored the locally run Deer Path Art League, its high quality of artists and reputation for patrons who seriously shop has attracted fine artists from across the country.
You will see really exceptional paintings and sculptures plus good jewelry, wood and glass items.
The fair fills the suburb’s Market Square, a historic downtown area with a European flavor that is on the west side of the Union Pacific train tracks.
For more information visit Deerpath Art League
You’ve heard of outdoor art installations where objects are wrapped but imagine one that requires precise rototilling.
If you fly over Richardson Farm in Spring Grove, IL you see images of the Starship Enterprise, Spock, Captain Kirk and planetary objects. Or drive there to walk the rototilled trails that define the images. There is also a tower to climb to see the images. They are on a 33-acre cornfield about an hour northwest of Chicago west of Fox Lake.
Continue reading “Art: An art installation of a different kind”
RECOMMENDED
To appreciate ‘How to Succeed in Business,’ now at Marriott Theatre, you have to go back in time to the 1950s when shirtwaist and little jacket dresses were in and large companies had a typing pool of secretaries who dreamed of marrying their boss.
Based on Shepherd Mead’s 1952 satirical book but adapted in 1961 into a Frank Loesser musical with book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, the show is dated. The boss is just as likely to be female.
The second part of Mead’s title is ‘The Dastard’s Guide to Fame and Fortune.” If you haven’t seen the 1967 movie starring Robert Morse, the book’s full title is a clue that the show reveals how some businesses hire and promote employees, back then and, horrors, even now.
Continue reading “Review: ‘How to Succeed in Business’ is both dated and current”
Instead of fighting Labor Day traffic, the place to be this weekend is downtown Chicago at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and across Michigan Avenue at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Continue reading “Music: Hear Orbert Davis’ Soul Migration at the 38th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival”
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
‘Kinky Boots,’ a high-kicking, Tony Award winning musical by Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper, is back in Chicago for only a week. And it’s back better than ever.
As Charlie Price of Price and Son, a failing Northhampton, England men’s shoe company, Adam Kaplan is very convincing as a son who does not want to work in the family business. He moves to London with fiancé Nicola, beautifully sung and interpreted by Broadway and film actress Ellen Marlow. There, Charlie tries to help drag-queen/cabaret star Lola who was being bothered by thugs.
Continue reading “Review: High energy ‘Kinky Boots’ still delivers ‘just be’ message”
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Light Opera Works’ “Mame” moves from one terrific scene to the next with never a let-up of charm, clever dialogue or fun.
The musical opens in New York with a terrific Roaring 20s party that begs the question of how can it hold on to such a high note. Well, it is beautifully choreographed by Clayton Cross and insightfully directed by Rudy Hogenmiller.
Continue reading “Review: “Life is a banquet” with Nancy Hays as Mame”
Families can go to the Lake County Discovery Museum in Lakewood Forest Preserve through August. Admission is free. The museum closes September 1, 2016.
The popular hands-on Mall of History and other Discovery Museum exhibits won’t be seen by the public again until the end of 2017 when the museum reopens in Libertyville and has an admission fee.
On Sept. 9, “Stars of Lyric Opera at Milllennium Park” showcases arias from Carmen, Eugene Onegin, The Magic Flute and Lucia di Lammermoor for a taste of the Lyric Opera’s 2016-17 season plus other operatic numbers by Mozart, Verdi, Gounod, Tchaikovsky and Wagner.
Five days later, on Sept. 14, the “Third Annual Fifth Star Awards” honors blues musician Buddy Guy, The Second City improv theater, actress/Black Ensemble Theater founder Jackie Taylor, photographer Victor Skrebneski and National Museum of Mexican Art founder Carlos Tortolero.
Continue reading “Upcoming: Two spectacular free events at Millennium Park in September”
Ravinia Festival was jammed inside the pavilion and out on the lawn last Saturday, but with Tony Bennett caressing the “mic” backed by his outstanding jazz/pop quartet, the atmosphere was nightclub intimate.
Continue reading “Music: Tony Bennett still going strong at 90”