THEATRE BY CATEY SULLIVAN

GO
WHAT TO DO
EDITED BY TOMI OBARO
THEATRE 123 DANCE 125 MUSIC 125 ART & DESIGN 128
MUSEUMS 129 BEST OF THE REST 129
THEATRE
BY CATEY SULLIVAN
COMEDIES
BUYER AND CELLAR
5/6–6/15 Michael Urie stars in this imaginary tale
about Barbra Streisand’s basement. The hilarious
story provides a rare glimpse into the luxe life of the
woman with a voice like buttah. $35–$75. Broadway
Playhouse, 175 E Chestnut. broadwayinchicago.com,
buyerandcellar.com
LOST IN YONKERS
5/2–6/8 Neil Simon’s Pulitzer-winning comedy has
emotional heft as well as witty quips, and Northlight
has a killer cast lined up to deliver both the humor
and the heart. Devon de Mayo directs an ensemble that includes Anne Fogarty, Timothy Edward
Kane, and Erik Hellman in the 1942-set coming-ofage story about growing up in a fractious Yonkers
family. $27–$75. Northlight Theatre, 9501 N Skokie,
Skokie. northlight.org
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Through 5/3 Beware of faeries bearing love-in-idleness!
The mischief-making herb can make you fall in love
with an ass. So it goes in the enchanted woods of
King Oberon and Queen Titania, where imps make
fools of mortals as mismatched lovers frolic in folly.
$10–$25. Piccolo Theatre at the Main Street Metra
Station, 600 Main, Evanston. piccolotheatre.com
MIRACLE ON SOUTH DIVISION STREET
5/1–6/1 What to do when the kids aren’t interested in
maintaining the family’s long-standing 20-foot-tall
shrine to the Blessed Mother? In Tom Dudzick’s
Christmastime comedy, that’s the quandary bedeviling Clara, a devout Catholic mom whose children
have stopped going to Mass, started dating Jews,
and are generally expressing a pointed lack of interest in the Madonna statue erected in honor of
a 1940s sighting of Jesus’s mother in the familyowned barbershop. As he did in the commercial
hit Over the Tavern, Dudzick mixes hilarity with
holiness in this story set in working-class Buffalo.
$40–$44. Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge, Munster,
Ind. theatreatthecenter.com
TWO TWENTY-SEVEN
5/29–7/20 A busybody housewife takes center stage in
Christine Houston’s 18-character play about a tenement bustling with neighborly intrigue, ladies’ men,
newlyweds, rebellious teenagers, femme fatales,
and gossips. $30. eta Creative Arts Foundation, 7558
South Chicago. etacreativearts.org
PHOTOGRAPH: AP Photo/Josh Anderson
DRAMAS
THE DANCE OF DEATH
Through 7/20 Long before Edward Albee wrote Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, August Strindberg
HOW WE PICK THE EVENTS These listings are not advertisements.
They are a selective guide to arts events recommended by Chicago’s
culture critics.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Details of listings can change at the last
minute. Please call ahead to confirm.
penned this story of a long-married couple seemingly intent on eviscerating each other right
down to their very bone marrow. The weapons
of choice in this venomous masterpiece? Words.
And here those words come from an adaptation by
Conor McPherson (Shining City, Dublin Carol), an
Irish playwright who knows a thing or two about
the linguistically whirling humor that informs
Strindberg’s portrait of a marriage on the brink
of an abyss. $35–$70. Writers Theatre, 664 Vernon,
Glencoe. writerstheatre.org
THE DOLL’S HOUSE PROJECT: IBSEN IS DEAD
5/10–6/8 Chicago playwright Calamity West sets Ibsen’s
seminal drama about gender, class, and lies in 1989
Germany, just as the Berlin Wall is about to fall. $12–
$20. Interrobang Theatre Project at the Athenaeum,
2936 N Southport. interrobangtheatre.org
EAT YOUR HEART OUT
5/22–31 A young Jewish couple try to adopt, a single
mom navigates online dating, and a bulimic teenager wishes her best friend was something more in
Courtney Baron’s bittersweet, wickedly funny drama about relationships. $20–$30. Rivendell Theatre,
5779 N Ridge. rivendelltheatre.org
FAULT LINES
5/9–6/1 A longtime collaborator with the theatre
troupe Chicago Mammals (and a licensed massage therapist), Dennis Frymire branches out
with Broken Road Theatre, helming Rebecca
Louise Miller’s troubling tale of a 12-year-old
girl’s abduction and murder (based on the 1993
case of Polly Klaas) and the impact the crime
has on three close friends. $15. Broken Road
Theatre at the Den Theatre, 1333 N Milwaukee.
brokenroadtheatre.com
GOOD BOYS AND TRUE
Through 5/3 A seemingly upstanding young prep school
student gets ensnared in a scandal. Cody Estle directs Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s disquieting drama
about privilege, power, and exploitation. $15–$36.
Raven Theatre, 6157 N Clark. raventheatre.com
THE GREAT GOD PAN
Through 5/11 Amy Herzog draws the title of her play
from an Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem about
a powerful god who plucks a lushly growing reed
from a river, hollows it out, and begins playing it
like a flute. This becomes a chilling metaphor in the
context of Herzog’s story of a successful young man
whose world is upended when he learns he might
have been the victim of an incestuous sexual assault
that he doesn’t remember. Director Kimberly Senior
confronts the audience with the mysteries of memory and how the past—even a supposedly forgotten
past—can irrevocably shape the future. $25–$40.
Next Theatre, 927 Noyes, Evanston. nexttheatre.org
KEY TO SYMBOLS
c child friendly
critic’s pick: most anticipated
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Wanda Jackson 126
HENRY V
Through 6/15 British director Christopher Luscombe
makes his Chicago debut with Shakespeare’s
gorgeous adventure of a rowdy, hard-drinking
young rogue who finds his way out of the pub and
onto the battlefield with one of the most moving monologues in the English language. $48–
$78. Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 800 E Grand.
chicagoshakes.com
IN THE GARDEN: A DARWINIAN LOVE STORY
Through 6/15 Before he changed the world with The
Origin of Species, Charles Darwin had an unlikely
romantic liaison with Emma Wedgwood, a deeply
devout Christian tormented by the belief that her
beloved would be denied salvation. Chicago playwright Sara Gmitter delves into the love story
between two fiercely independent, ideologically
opposed individuals. Jessica Thebus directs. $30–
$70. Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N Michigan. looking
glasstheatre.org
JACOB
5/7–6/15 Actor-director Timothy Gregory adapts the
biblical saga of Jacob, whose lifelong rivalry with
his brother and fisticuffs with an angel make up a
good chunk of the book of Genesis. Gregory moves
the action from BC to a modern-day luxury highrise in Chicago. $25–$32.50. Provision Theater, 1001
W Roosevelt. provisiontheater.org
LAY ME DOWN SOFTLY
Through 5/25 Assorted freaks, fortunetellers, box-
ers, trainers, fixers, and ringmasters compose the
scruffy traveling road show at the big bruised heart
of Billy Roche’s evocative tale of rural Ireland in
the 1960s. $12–$30. Seanachai Theatre at the Den
Theatre, 1333 N Milwaukee. seanachai.org
LOOK BACK IN ANGER
5/14–6/15 John Osbourne’s 1956 drama spurred a
movement of playwrights bringing bold, gutsy naturalism to the stage, thoroughly shocking a world
accustomed to escapist fare. Jonathan Berry directs the sexually explosive story about a relationship triangle centering on a cruel young man of
working-class roots, his upper-class wife, the wife’s
bombshell best friend, and the savage, raging dissatisfaction that torments all three. $25–$35. Redtwist
Theatre, 1044 W Bryn Mawr. redtwist.org
MAN AND SUPERMAN
Through 5/19 Now in its 20th year, ShawChicago keeps
the hits coming, this time with a staged reading of
the playwright’s subversive retelling of the Don
Juan legend. In this version, a bevy of women relentlessly chase the legendary playboy. Director
Robert Scogin has pared the piece down a bit
(at full length, Man and Superman runs over five
hours), but abridgement or not, expect sharp wit
and plenty of thought-provoking passages. $15–$30.
ShawChicago at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts,
1016 N Dearborn. shawchicago.org
M. BUTTERFLY
5/8–6/8 Playwright David Henry Hwang’s fascinating,
Tony-winning reenvisioning of Puccini’s Madama
Butterfly weaves a web of love and deceit in the
relationship between a French civil servant and a
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Beijing opera star. Inspired by a true story, the affair between Song Liling and Rene Gallimard lasts
for decades with Gallimard never learning that his
ideal woman is actually a man. Charles Newell directs this tangle of sexual and international politics
featuring Nate Braga and Sean Fortunato as the
doomed lovers. $35–$65. Court Theatre, 5535 S Ellis.
courttheatre.org
MILL FIRE
Through 6/7 Veteran director Sandy Shinner immerses
the audience in 1978 Birmingham, where a Greek
chorus of widows provides the sorrowful bedrock
to Chicago native Sally Nemeth’s meditation on a
workplace tragedy. Stepping backward and forward
in time, Nemeth explores whether fully moving on
is ever possible in the face of great, irreplaceable
loss. $18. Shattered Globe Theatre at Theater Wit,
1229 W Belmont. shatteredglobe.org
ON HOLY GROUND
5/4–14 Playwright Stephanie Liss’s program of one-
acts begins with Daughter of My People, a monologue by a Zionist founding member of the Jewish
women’s volunteer organization Hadassah, who is
love with a younger man. The second piece in the
program, Jihad, is about two bereaved mothers—
one an Orthodox Jew, one a Palestinian Muslim
jihadist—who mourn the death of their daughters.
$20. Genesis Theatrical at the National Pastime
Theater at Preston Bradley Center, 941 W Lawrence.
genesistheatricals.com
RUINED
Through 5/25 Eclipse begins its season of works by Lynn
Nottage with the mesmerizing story of a brothel in
the Congo and the fiercely protective woman who
keeps a fragile peace between rebel and government
soldiers. Aaron Todd Douglas directs the riveting 2009 Pulitzer winner. $18–$28. Eclipse Theatre
at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N Southport.
eclipsetheatre.com
RUSSIAN TRANSPORT
Through 5/11 Break out the celebratory Stoli! Bulgarian-
born Steppenwolf ensemble member Yasen
Peyankov, an actor of no small talent, makes his debut
as a director with playwright Erika Sheffer’s dark,
twisting comedy about a Russian American family
in Brooklyn whose lives are upended by a humantrafficking uncle. $20–$78. Steppenwolf Upstairs
Theatre, 1650 N Halsted. steppenwolf.org
SAVIOUR?
Through 5/11 Esther Armah uncorks a powder keg of
race, class, and gender issues in her tale of a liberal white community activist who files a reverse
discrimination suit alleging he was passed over
for promotion in favor of a black woman. $30.
eta Creative Arts Foundation, 7558 S South Chicago.
etacreativearts.org
TYRANT
5/24–6/29 Formerly homeless citizens are trained to
work in the homes of the wealthy in this dystopian
Kathleen Akerly play about a couple hired to work
for a rich man and caught in a skein of questionable
morality. $20–$25. Sideshow Theatre at Theater Wit,
1229 W Belmont. sideshowtheatre.org
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
Through 5/18 Veteran actor (and Jeff committee mem-
ber) Ricardo Gutierrez helms a predominantly
Latino cast, featuring Sandra Marquez, in Arthur
Miller’s all-American tragedy of immigration, loyalty,
romance, and lust. $25. Richard Christiansen Theatre
at the Biograph, 2433 N Lincoln. victorygardens.org
THE WAY WEST
Through 6/8 Here’s reason for celebration: Steppenwolf
ensemble member Amy Morton is back in the director’s chair, directing a cast that includes her
boss—the formidable Steppenwolf artistic director
Martha Lavey. Morton takes on Mona Mansour’s
saga about a pair of squabbling sisters and their
bankrupt mother living in a rundown California
town. Interspersing her work with original
songs, Mansour explores what makes enterprising Americans tick and what their responsibilities
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are when it comes to matters of manifest destiny.
$20–$78. Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N
Halsted. steppenwolf.org
WIT
5/8–6/8 Cancer and literature—and the unlikely con-
nections between the two—inform Margaret Edson’s
Pulitzer-winning, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting story of Vivian Bearing, a literature professor
coping with stage 4 ovarian cancer. Interspersing
her thoughts about the disease with the metaphysical poetry of John Donne (“Death Be Not Proud”),
Dr. Bearing demonstrates the potentially heartbreaking danger of valuing knowledge over kindness and
science over humanity. $10–$20. AstonRep at Raven
Theatre, 6157 N Clark. astonrep.com
ily embroiled in wars both personal and political,
this Juno puts a musical spin on O’Casey’s seminal
Irish tragicomedy. Nick Bowling directs a cast led
by Marya Grandy as the steely, besieged matriarch
trying to transcend the troubles. $22–$48. TimeLine
Theatre, 615 W Wellington. timelinetheatre.com
MAMMA MIA!
5/13–18 The music of Swedish crooners ABBA re-
MUSICALS
turns in the perpetually touring, unashamedly
frothy jukebox musical about a spirited hotel
owner in Greece who finds herself entertaining
three former lovers on the eve of her daughter’s
wedding. If you are a sucker for ABBA’s peppy
harmonies, you’ll be humming along way before
the sparkly “Waterloo” finale. $18–$85. Broadway
in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W
Randolph. broadwayinchicago .com
5/29–7/12 Jeff Award–winning ingénue Callie Johnson
Through 7/13 As jukebox musicals go, this one’s a hoot,
CARRIE
(Drury Lane’s Next to Normal, Porchlight’s Pal Joey)
plays Carrie White, the misunderstood telekenetic
teen (with a truly scary mother) who unleashes the
ultimate revenge on her high school’s mean girls
during a blazingly unforgettable prom. Christopher
Pazdernik directs Lawrence D. Cohen (book),
Michael Gore (music), and Dean Pitchford’s (lyrics)
adaptation of Stephen King’s coming-of-age classic.
$15–$40. Bailiwick Chicago at the Victory Gardens
Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N Lincoln.
bailiwickchicago.com
DAYS LIKE TODAY
5/6–7/13 Writers Theatre continues its tradition of
intimate musicals with this collaboration between
composer/lyricist Alan Schmuckler and playwright Laura Eason. Michael Halberstam directs
the tale of Tessa, a woman whose pledge to live
romance-free gets complicated when a handsome
stranger shows up. Completing the artistic team:
choreographer Tommy Rapley and musical director Doug Peck. With that quartet at the helm, this
new musical has some seriously exciting potential.
$35–$70. Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Ct, Glencoe.
writerstheatre.org
HAIR
5/6–6/29 Hippies, activists, freaks, and beatniks gather
in Greenwich Village in this rock musical about the
raucous counterculture of the late 1960s, by James
Rado and Gerome Ragni (book and lyrics) and composer Galt MacDermot. $30–$53. American Theater
Company, 1909 W Byron. atcweb.org
HANG YOUR HAT AT MISTER KELLY’S
Through 5/17 Jarrin Davis’s new musical revue turns
the microphone on Chicago’s old-school jazz
scene as seen and heard through the eyes and ears
of a bellhop and a cook working at Mister Kelly’s,
a Rush Street jazz club that was well-known from
1954 through 1975 (sadly, it’s now the site of a steak
house). Listen for selections from the club’s heyday, when Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Muddy
Waters, Sarah Vaughan, and many others made Mr.
K’s the place to hang your hat. $20–$25. Three Cat
Productions at the Berger Park Coach House, 6205 N
Sheridan. threecatproductions.com
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT
REALLY TRYING
Through 6/1 Rob Lindley directs the workplace fable
of J. Pierrepont Finch, the quintessential corporate
go-getter who rises from window washer to power
player. Office politics, sex, greed, and general shenanigans make for terrific comedy, and, thanks
to the tunes of composer Frank Loesser, they
sound absolutely terrific. $30–$43.50. Porchlight
Music Theatre at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont.
porchlightmusictheatre.org
JUNO
Through 7/27 Joseph Stein (book) and Marc Blitzstein’s
(music and lyrics) adaptation of Sean O’Casey’s
Juno doesn’t shy away from the grim realities of
Civil War–torn 1920s Ireland. Set in a gritty Dublin
tenement, opening with fatal gunshots and then
following the struggles of an impoverished fam-
MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL
stuffed with tunes by Diana Ross, Michael Jackson,
Smokey Robinson, and myriad other artists who got
their starts in the Motor City under the savvy hand
of former featherweight boxer Berry Gordy. You’ll be
humming before the overture’s finished and long after
the final curtain drops. $30–$130. Broadway in Chicago
at the Oriental Theatre, 24 W Randolph. broadwayin
chicago.com
THE NEXT THING
5/1–6/7 This new musical from the Jeff Award–win-
ning duo of Signal Ensemble co-founder Ronan
Marra (book) and prolific actor-composer-author
Jon Steinhagen (music and lyrics) spans six years as
it explores the combustible relationship of two film
stars and the five movies they make together. It’s
ambitious for sure, but between them, Marra and
Steinhagen have track records impressive enough to
pull it off. $10–$20. Signal Ensemble, 1802 W Berenice.
signalensemble.com
ROAD SHOW
Through 5/4 Previously known as Bounce (and Wise
Guys and Gold), Stephen Sondheim’s episodic musical saga covers four decades and thousands of miles
as it follows brothers Addison and Wilson Mizner,
whose get-rich schemes range from the Alaskan
gold rush of the 1890s to the Florida real-estate
boom of the 1930s. The pedigree here is impeccable: Director Gary Griffin is (arguably) the country’s foremost Sondheim interpreter, and Sondheim
is, well, Sondheim. $40–$58. Chicago Shakespeare
Theater, 800 E Grand. chicagoshakes.com
RUNG
5/29–6/30 Matt Test’s new chamber opera promises a
mash-up of Frankenstein and Noah’s Ark in the story
of a hermit intent on creating a body for a disembodied voice. Although the creation fails, the attempt
makes for a tunefully original story. $15 or pay what
you can at the door. $12 in advance online. Curious
Theatre Branch at Prop Thtr, 3502 N Elston. curious
theatrebranch.com
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Through 5/18 The Lyric mounts the classic Rodgers and
Hammerstein musical with Chicago actor Billy Zane
(most famous for playing Rose’s malevolent husband
in Titanic) starring as Captain Von Trapp. $29–$159.
Civic Opera House, 20 N Wacker. lyricopera.org
THE WHITE SNAKE
5/3–6/8 Mary Zimmerman brings her singular sensibil-
ity of fantastic visuals and ingenious puppetry to an
ancient Chinese fable involving a serpent who transforms into a beautiful woman. $25–$86. Goodman
Albert Theatre, 170 N Dearborn. goodmantheatre.org
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Through 5/11 The iconic musical based on L. Frank
Baum’s children’s stories travels from a tornadoswept Kansas farmhouse to somewhere over the
rainbow, where witches will stop at nothing to obtain
a certain pair of ruby slippers as a fantastic foursome
of farm girl, talking scarecrow, scaredy-cat lion, and
tin man follow the yellow brick road to their dreams.
$18–$85. Broadway in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace
Theatre, 151 W Randolph. broadwayinchicago.com
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DANCE
BY CASSIE WALKER BURKE
BARYSHNIKOV PRODUCTIONS
5/15–18 The most popular dance figure in the world
may have retired from the ballet, but he hasn’t left
the spotlight. Here Mikhail Baryshnikov joins the
husband-and-wife directorial team of Paul Lazar
and Annie-B Parson, founders of New York City’s
Big Dance Theater, to revive two love stories by
Chekhov in a theatrical production that melds acting, movement, and video. $40–$50. Museum of
Contemporary Art, 220 E Chicago. mcachicago.org
BIRD LADY
5/30–6/1 The captivating real-life story of Vivian Maier,
a reclusive nanny who turned out to be a prolific
street photographer, has inspired several gallery
shows and a documentary since a trove of her work
was discovered in 2007. Now the quirky Wisconsin
choreographer Rebecca Salzer is getting in on the
action, crafting a multimedia-meets-dance biopic of
sorts based on Maier and her unsuspecting subjects.
$15–$18. Links Hall, 3111 N Western. linkshall.org
JOFFREY BALLET OF CHICAGO
Through 5/11 Under the guidance of the Joffrey’s far-
reaching artistic director Ashley Wheater, the city’s
premier ballet company debuts Romeo and Juliet,
newly reenvisioned by the Polish choreographer
Krzysztof Pastor, who originally created his piece
for the Scottish Ballet in 2008. $31–$152. Auditorium
Theatre, 50 E Congress Pkwy. joffrey.org
LUCKY PLUSH: THE QUEUE
PHOTOGRAPH: T. Charles Erickson
5/2–5/18 Yes, dance can be funny, and no Chicago
choreographer works that angle better than Julia
Rhoads, Lucky Plush’s guiding star. Last year, her
company’s collaboration with 500 Clown cofounder
Leslie Danzig poked fun at marriage and deservedly
sold out the new Links Hall; this time, Rhoads and
Danzig join forces to create a vaudeville-inspired
work that unfolds in a fictional airport. $15–$30.
Links Hall, 3111 N Western. luckyplush.com
SNOW WHITE
5/2–4 Partial nudity, acrobatics, and costuming by
Jean-Paul Gaultier: There’s not much more to say.
The French contemporary choreographer Angelin
Preljocaj spares no dramatic effect in his Snow
White, which features one of dance’s most challenging pas de deux, between a prince and Snow.
For the prim, there’s a no-nudity Sunday matinee.
$40–$95. Harris Theater, 205 E Randolph. harris
theaterchicago.org
MUSIC
BY GRAHAM MEYER,
TOMI OBARO, AND ERIN OSMON
CLASSICAL, NEW MUSIC, OPERA
BACH WEEK
5/2 at 7:30 The organist Margaret Martin and her hus-
band, Christopher, the CSO’s principal trumpet,
collaborate on a concerto based on Vivaldi. A violin
sonata, a cantata, and Brandenburg No. 6 complete
the program. 5/4 at 2:30 The festival closes with a missa
brevis, an orchestral suite, a cantata, and Katinka
Kleijn playing the unaccompanied Cello Suite No.
5. $10–$30 per concert, $20–$80 fest pass. Anderson
Chapel, North Park U, 5149 N Spaulding. bachweek.org
CHICAGO CHAMBER MUSICIANS
5/18–19 at 7:30 Leading up to Dvořák’s seminal A-Major
Piano Quintet, the small-ensemble experts of CCM
play two lesser-known pieces for ensembles more
smallish than small: Beethoven’s wind sextet (op.
71) for two clarinets, two bassoons, and two horns,
and Josef Rheinberger’s Nonet, a Romantic piece
for wind quintet plus strings (one each), composed
by a favorite son of Liechtenstein. $10–$45. 5/18:
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern U, 50 Arts
Circle, Evanston. 5/19: Gottlieb Hall, Merit School of
Music, 38 S Peoria. chicagochambermusic.org
CHICAGO COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA
5/10 at 8 Chicago’s new-music orchestra presents
the concert Deep Listening, named after the
listen-always philosophy of the contemporary composer Pauline Oliveros, whose Four Meditations for
Orchestra headlines the program. Marita Bolles’s
piece In Due Time, an homage to Oliveros, premieres.
$8–$15. St James Cathedral, 65 E Huron. chicago
composersorchestra.org
FREE!
CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER
5/4 at 3 The prolific local composer Marcos Balter
is turning 40, and the Loops and Variations series throws him a concert/party, which includes
the premiere of a new quartet of his, written for
the new-music supergroup of Ryan Muncy (saxophone), Claire Chase (flute), Nadia Sirota (viola),
and Rebekah Heller (bassoon). 5/5 at 12:15 Chicago
Chamber Musicians play works by the contemporary composers David Sampson, Brian Prechtl,
and Stacy Garrop. 5/7 at 12:15 Soheil Nasseri, piano.
5/12 at 12:15 The vocal collective Vox 3 and Access
Contemporary Music present Fellow Citizens, a
program of socially engaged new music. 5/14 at 12:15
Gregory Maytan, violin, and Nicole Lee, piano. 5/18
at 3 Chinese Fine Arts Society. 5/19 at 12:15 Spanish music from International Chamber Artists. 5/21 at 12:15
Alexander Schimpf, piano. 5/28 at 12:15 Euclid String
Quartet. 78 E Washington. chicagoculturalcenter.org
CHICAGO OPERA THEATER
5/31–6/8 In a pairing that Andreas Mitisek, COT’s gen-
eral director, originated in his other gig with Long
Beach Opera, the thrifty company leaves its usual
home at the Harris Theater for a double bill of operas
composed in 1943 in the shadow of Nazi Germany.
Victor Ullmann and Peter Kien’s The Emperor of
Atlantis darkly satirizes the Nazi regime and philosophy, a brazen move that sent its creators to
Auschwitz. The Clever One, a comic fairy tale by Carl
Orff, the composer of Carmina Burana, offers a stark
contrast in the second half. $23–$125. Merle Reskin
Theatre, 60 E Balbo. chicagooperatheater.org
CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
5/11 at 7:30 Scott Speck leads a tuneful program, in-
cluding Verdi’s overture to his opera La forza
del Destino. The young-and-looks-it violinist
Benjamin Beilman, already a collaborator with the
Stellar Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
in his early twenties plays Mendelssohn’s popular
violin concerto with the stellar Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center. And, in a synergistic bit
of programming, the CPO excerpts Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet, which the orchestra will have
just played for the Joffrey that afternoon. $25–$75.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern U, 50 Arts
Circle, Evanston. chicagophilharmonic.org
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
5/1 at 8, 5/2 at 1:30, 5/3 at 8 The pianist Paul Lewis banged
out all five Beethoven piano concertos in one season
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of the BBC Proms a few years back. Here, Christoph
von Dohnányi asks him for only one, No. 3.
Lutosławski’s Musique funèbre and Tchaikovsky’s
Pathétique Symphony round out the program. $45–
$265. FREE! 5/3 at 2 In a Saturday matinee installment
of the All-Access Chamber series, CSO strings present the second of Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” quartets and Tchaikovsky’s lush Souvenir de Florence. It
was fully booked at presstime, but you can call the
box office to check for returned tickets. 5/8–10 at 8 To
two classics of the classical era—Haydn’s D Major
Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s First Symphony—
the conductor Bernard Labadie, head of the baroque/classical specialists Les Violons du Roy,
adds works by the more obscure Joseph Martin
Kraus and Henri-Joseph Rigel. $32–$246. 5/10 at 11
a.m. and 12:45 p.m. The CSO’s Family Matinee series
joins forces with Lookingglass Theatre Company
to present Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade to audiences ages five and up. $6–$57. 5/14 at 6:30 A rare singlecomposer program spotlights Richard Strauss,
through his works Serenade No. 7, Oboe Concerto,
and the searching, stunning string-orchestra piece
Metamorphosen. Afterwork Masterworks concerts are shorter than most, have no intermission,
and cap off with a wine reception. $33–$96. 5/15 at
8, 5/16 at 1:30, 5/17 at 8 For the standard-length version
of the all-Strauss program, the esteemed conductor Vladimir Jurowski adds the affecting Four Last
Songs, sung by the soprano Dorothea Röschmann.
$32–$217. 5/22–24 at 8 The enterprising conductor Jaap
van Zweden organized a minifestival called Truth
to Power, exploring the music of the Russian composers Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich,
as well as the Briton Benjamin Britten, a conscientious objector during World War II, when “pacifist” was almost a dirty word. The first of four CSO
programs under Van Zweden’s baton juxtaposes
music from Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, including
the frequently excerpted Four Sea Interludes, with
Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony. $32–$217. 5/29 at 8,
5/30 at 1:30 Van Zweden’s second Truth telling touches
on all three figures, featuring Prokofiev’s SymphonyConcerto, with Alisa Weilerstein playing the cello
part; Britten’s folk-song suite A Time There Was; and
Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony. $27–$210. 5/31 at 8,
6/3 at 7:30 Again running the Power brokers gamut in
the third program, Van Zweden leads Shostakovich’s
Five Fragments, Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, and
Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem, a commission from
the Japanese that was rejected because of its call for
peace in early 1941. $27–$214. Symphony Center, 220
S Michigan. cso.org
FREQUENCY
5/4 at 8:30 The quirkily constituted Gillespie Chamber
Quartet—cello, flute, clarinet, saxophone. . 5/7 at 9:30
Kotoka Suzuki. $10. 5/8 at 7:30 The violist Nadia Sirota
visits, hopefully with another rock star from New
York’s indie-classical scene. 5/18 at 8:30 Fifth House
Ensemble presents Luna de Cuernos, a new show
in its signature narrative/chamber music style. The
story adapts a Puerto Rican folktale to incorporate
threads from Chicagoans’ true stories. $12–$15. 5/25
at 8:30 Dal Niente presents works by the French composer Raphaël Cendo, a proponent of “saturated music” that displays excess in material, energy, and timbre. The group premieres a new work for a 10-piece
ensemble, and Cendo will attend, traveling from
Europe. $10. Constellation, 3111 N Western. constellation-chicago.com
MUSICNOW
5/5 at 7 The CSO’s new-music series closes its sea-
son with the 2012 Pulitzer finalist The Companion
Guide to Rome, a string trio by Andrew Norman;
a cello solo titled Fits + Starts by Anna Clyne that
includes choreography; and Oscar Bettison’s Livre
des Sauvages. Uncharacteristically for MusicNow,
not one of these is a premiere. $25. Harris Theater,
205 E Randolph. cso.org/musicnow
MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE
5/18–19 at 7:30 Nicholas Kraemer, MOB’s principal
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guest conductor, leads a baroque program headlined by Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks.
The strings will also play a symphony by C.P.E.
Bach, who just had his 300th birthday in March.
$27–$75. 5/18: North Shore Center for the Performing
Arts, 9501 Skokie, Skokie. 5/19: Harris Theater, 205 E
Randolph. baroque.org
performance, after the release of her long-awaited
sophomore album, She. $26. City Winery, 1200 W
Randolph. citywinery.com/chicago
5/18 at 2:30 International in stature, local in residency,
5/9 at 7:30 Lest you think the Empress of Soul has lost
NORTON BUILDING CONCERT SERIES
the pianist Jorge Federico Osorio touches everything
with elegance. Here he’ll play Mozart, Chopin, and
Brahms. Call for availability. nortonconcerts.com
REMBRANDT CHAMBER PLAYERS
5/21–22 at 7:30 After clearing its collective throat with a
Mozart duo, Rembrandt takes on Fauré’s “La Bonne
Chanson” for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble and John Adams’s early minimalist string septet
Shaker Loops. $10–$35. 5/21: Logan Center, U of C,
915 E 60th. 5/22: Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago,
Evanston. rembrandtchamberplayers.org
SPEKTRAL QUARTET
5/10 at 8 The vibrant string quartet assembles a show
called Counterpoint, setting Bach’s Art of Fugue
against Shulamit Ran’s Bach Shards and movements
from Ligeti, late Beethoven, and Chicago’s own
Marcos Balter, plus a premiere by David Reminick.
Free–$10. Fulton Recital Hall, U of C, 5845 S Ellis. 5/14 at
7:30 The Spektral fetes its new Latin American music
CD, From This Point Forward, a collaboration with
Julien Labro, an accordion virtuoso. $15–$20. City
Winery, 1200 W Randolph. spektralquartet.com
SYMPHONY CENTER
5/4 at 3 The Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky warms up
BOOKER T. JONES
5/4 at 8 The legendary Hammond B3 performer plays
as part of the Chicago Movies and Music Festival.
$40. City Winery, 1200 W Randolph. cimmfest.org
GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE TEMPTATIONS REVIEW
her voice with age, watch her live performance on
The Arsenio Hall Show of “I Who Have Nothing”
(an admittedly lackluster song), from her latest album, Another Journey. The 69-year-old sings and
moves like a woman half her age. She performs
nothing but the hits tonight. $39.50–$90. Chicago
Theatre, 175 N State. thechicagotheatre.com
WANDA JACKSON
5/3 at 8 It doesn’t get much better than a good oldfashioned jamboree with the Queen of Rockabilly,
whose unique sex-kittenesque holler and fringecovered costumes inspired a host of imitators.
Her versions of singles such as “Funnel of Love”
and “Let’s Have a Party” and originals such as
“Fujiyama Mama” are a standing, charming reminder of the rowdy side of youth culture in the
1950s and early ’60s. $17–$35. SPACE. 1245 Chicago,
Evanston. evanstonspace.com
TELEVISION
5/8 at 8:30 The quartet, one of the best acts to emerge
from the late-’70s experimental-punk scene in
NYC, reunite for an infrequent tour. $25. Metro.
3730 N Clark. metrochicago.com
with Franck and Prokofiev and then moves to his specialty, Rachmaninoff, in the form of the second book
of Preludes, op. 32. $20–$78. 5/11 at 3 Get used to seeing
a lot of the baritone Eric Owens around town. Besides
his two CSO appearances next season and his upcoming star turn as Porgy for Lyric this fall, he’s here this
month to sing Schubert lieder, along with the sensitive
soprano Susanna Phillips. $55–$99. 5/18 at 3 Emanuel
Ax commissioned contemporary composers to write
Brahms-inspired chamber works, and he plays them
alongside Brahms. The project gives the Ax to solo
piano works by Missy Mazzoli and the Australian
composer Brett Dean, sandwiching them between
Brahms’s earliest and latest solo piano compositions.
$28–$92. Symphony Center, 220 S Michigan. cso.org
FOLK, COUNTRY, WORLD
5/2 at 7:30 The Shanghai Quartet, one of the world’s top
STEEP CANYON RANGERS
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESENTS
string quartets, plays Haydn, Krzysztof Penderecki,
the Chinese American composer Zhou Long, and
Verdi. $5–$35. Mandel Hall, U of C, 1131 E 57th. FREE!
5/9, 16 at 7:30 Top chamber musicians, including Eighth
Blackbird and the Pacifica Quartet, play new works
by U. of C. doctoral students. 5/9: Logan Center, U
of C, 915 E 60th. 5/16: Ganz Hall, Roosevelt U, 430 S
Michigan. chicagopresents.uchicago.edu
WHEATON COLLEGE
5/3 at 7:30 The pianist Charlie Albright seems close to
a tipping point. Either his technical prowess, sense
of fun, and resemblance to Joseph Gordon-Levitt
will propel him to the next level or his youth will
cease to be a selling point and he’ll fade out. Good
thing he’s got an economics degree from Harvard.
$40–$45. Edman Chapel, Wheaton College, 418 N
Chase, Wheaton. wheaton.edu/ticketoffice
WILLIAM FERRIS CHORALE
5/3 at 7:30, 5/4 at 3 For spring, the always well-
programmed chamber choir presents Benjamin
Britten’s Five Flower Songs with Vincent Persichetti’s
Flower Songs, on texts by E.E. Cummings. Recited
poetry forms intermezzos. $15–$20. 5/3: Madonna
della Strada Chapel, Loyola U, 1032 W Sheridan. 5/4:
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 203 S Kensington, La
Grange. williamferrischorale.org
CLASSIC ROCK, SOUL, BLUES
ALICE SMITH
5/2 at 8 The chronically underrated R&B, jazz, and
soft-rock artist reprises last summer’s City Winery
ANGEL OLSEN
5/4 at 8 The new record from former Bonnie “Prince”
Billy backup singer Angel Olsen, Burn Your Fire for
No Witness, raises her profile from quirky neo-folk
songbird to certified indie-rock star. $14. Lincoln
Hall, 2424 N Lincoln. lincolnhallchicago.com
THE MILK CARTON KIDS
5/8–9 The obvious reference points for Kenneth
Pattengale and Joey Ryan’s folk offerings are another
pair of duos: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and
Simon & Garfunkel. While that’s a lot to live up to, the
vintage-guitar strummers manage to pull off a sincere
and respectful nod to their influences without being
overly precious about it. $20–$22. Old Town School of
Folk Music, 4544 N Lincoln. oldtownschool.org
5/18 at 8 The Grammy-winning bluegrass quintet re-
prise their Old Town School of Folk Music act at City
Winery. $25–$40. City Winery, 1200 W Randolph. city
winery.com/chicago
JAZZ
CASSANDRA WILSON
5/4 at 6 and 8:30 Wilson caused a sensation with her nowclassic 1994 Blue Note debut, Blue Light ’til Dawn, a
defiantly unclassifiable hodgepodge of blues, jazz,
and R&B sung in her signature alto. She performs
from the seminal album during this one-night-only
event. $30–$65. SPACE, 1245 Chicago, Evanston.
evanstonspace.com
CONSTELLATION
5/2 at 9:30 Danny Fox Trio. The avant-garde New
York piano trio likes heavily rhythmic, propulsive original compositions. $10. 5/3 at 9:30 Rosetta
Trio. Formed by Memphis-born bassist and composer Stephan Crump in 2005, this all-strings trio
finds beauty in quiet, intricate arrangements. $12.
5/17 at 9:30 Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey Duo.
Saxophone and drums. $10. 5/29 at 9:30 Nat Baldwin.
Having worked with some of the most buzzedabout indie-rock bands of the past few years—
Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear,
and Pillar and Tongues—the avant-garde multiinstrumentalist strikes out on his own. $10. 5/30 at
9:30 Rempis/Abrams/Ra Trio. Dave Rempis, Joshua
Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra team up for a night of free
improvisation—possibly to be made into an album
Frida Kahlo 129
later this year. $8. Constellation, 3111 N Western.
constellation-chicago.com
ROCK, POP, HIP-HOP
5/6–17 Back for its second year, this fest celebrates the
electro-funk act seems to have its tongue planted
firmly in its cheek, the pair is actually quite cerebral
(singer-guitarist David Macklovitch has a doctorate in French literature from Columbia University
and adjuncts at Barnard College). The duo’s music
knowledge runs as categorically deep as that of the
geekiest of record nerds. This tour is in support of
the new LP White Women. $30. Lincoln Hall, 2424
N Lincoln. lincolnhallchicago.com
art: Frida Kahlo, La venadita (little deer), 1946. Private collection/Banco de México Diego Rivera
Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/MCA
ISRAELI JAZZ AND WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL
contributions of such jazz stalwarts as clarinetist Anat
Cohen and singer Keren Ann with performances
by them and other Israeli artists. Free–$68. Various
locations. embassies.gov.il/chicago/culturalnews/jazz/
pages/israeli jazz and world music festival 2014.aspx
JAZZ SHOWCASE
5/1–4 Cyrus Chestnut Trio. The Maryland pianist
performs with his trio. $25–$45. 5/8–11 Judy Roberts
Quartet. The always-welcome ex-Chicagoan pianist and singer teams up with her saxophonist husband, Greg Fishman for beautiful interpretations
of standards sung in her wizened alto. $25–$45.
5/22–25 Eric Reed Trio. The Monk-loving pianist tries
gospel on for size with his latest record, Reflections
of a Grateful Heart, featuring his takes on stalwarts like “I Love The Lord” and “’Tis So Sweet”.
$20–$40. 5/29–31 Adam Larson Quintet. The young
saxophonist—he released his sophomore album
Overdue Ovation last September—teams up with assured veterans such as Dana Hall for this three-day
residency. $20–$35. Jazz Showcase, 806 S Plymouth.
jazzshowcase.com
TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON
5/2 at 8 In an unorthodox move, the longtime jazz
drummer and music professor at Berklee College of
Music invites friends such as gospel and folk singer
Lizz Wright, saxophonist Tia Fuller, and trumpeter
Ingrid Jensen, among others, to perform sections
of her 2011 album, The Mosaic Project. $24–$75.
Symphony Center, 220 S Michigan. cso.org
CHROMEO
5/5 at 8 Though the hilarious yet infectious Canadian
CONOR OBERST
5/29–30 The mind behind emo band Bright Eyes re-
leases his first solo album in two years, Upside Down
Mountain. $36. Metro, 3730 N Clark. metrochicago.com
FOSTER THE PEOPLE
5/16 at 8 Its 2011 song “Pumped Up Kicks” was a sur-
prise 2012 summer hit, but since then the group’s
been under the radar, working on its latest album,
Supermodel, which they will perform from here.
$39.50. Riviera Theatre, 4746 N Racine. jamusa.com
is a deeper dive into the band’s increasing interest
in analog electronics and soundtrack work. It’s refreshing to see a band evolve from the dated sonic
references to which it historically kowtowed. $25.
Vic Theatre, 3145 N Sheffield. jamusa.com
NEKO CASE
5/13 at 7:30 Twangy Canadian siren Neko Case, a for-
mer Chicago resident, has managed—with aplomb—
to weather the rise and fall of the alt-country wave,
having dropped one of her best records to date just
last year: The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight,
the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You. $35. Chicago
Theatre. 175 N State. jamusa.com
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
5/5–9 While it’s true that laser-focused frontman Josh
Homme’s testosterone-fueled gang of aging rabblerousers might never top the Dave Grohl–assisted
2002 stoner opus Songs for the Deaf, that doesn’t
mean that they’re not a solid bet for a killer rawk
show. $39.50. Aragon Ballroom, 1106 W Lawrence.
aragon.com
TECH N9NE
the pop singer has emerged largely unscathed,
making the sort of ambient pop music that has garnered support from the likes of both Kanye West
and Miley Cyrus. $45. Aragon Ballroom, 1106 W
Lawrence. ticketmaster.com
5/6 at 67 For more than 20 years, the motor-mouth indie
rapper from Kansas City has made a living spitting
rapid-fire verses and sporting elaborate masks in live
concert. Now he celebrates his long hustle with the
70-city Independent Grind tour, amid rumors that a
new album will be released later this year. $35. House
of Blues, 329 N Dearborn. houseofblues.com
5/16 at 8 Scottish post-rock royalty Mogwai tour be-
5/13 at 9 The beloved Baltimore duo return in sup-
LANA DEL REY
5/16 at 8 Once the indie blogosphere’s lightning rod,
MOGWAI
hind its eighth studio album, Rave Tapes, the band’s
second for Sub Pop, with whom it signed after parting ways with longtime label Matador. The album
WYE OAK
port of Shriek, the 2014 follow-up to 2011’s excellent Civilian, which inverts the pair’s normal band
duties. Here, frontwoman Jenn Wasner ditches her
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electric guitar to play bass, and band mate Andy
Stack trades in his drums for keyboards. $18–$20.
Metro, 3730 N Clark. metrochicago.com
YASIIN BEY
5/18 at 8 One of the most well-known faces of so-called
socially conscious hip-hop, the rapper formerly
known as Mos Def hasn’t released a solo album in a
while, opting instead to protest the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and do one-off features
with artists such as Robert Glasper. But if you want
to relive the glory days of classic joints like “Ms. Fat
Booty,” this concert is for you. $36. Metro, 3730 N
Clark. metrochicago.com
YG
5/7 at 7:30 The West Coast MC’s cachet really rocketed
into high gear thanks to his debut studio album and
gangster-rap instant classic My Krazy Life. $23–$75.
Metro, 3730 N Clark. metrochicago.com
ART & DESIGN
BY JASON FOUMBERG
GALLERIES
BERT GREEN FINE ART
5/3–6/21 Rebecca Gray Smith. It took this veteran
Chicago artist 25 years to complete a suite of etchings made in response to the AIDS crisis. They are,
as expected, dense with mourning and melancholic
imagery. Also showing: Jennifer Mills, for whom
gags and comic novelties such as fake barf and rubber chickens are stock-in-trade. She duplicates them
until they seem (more) absurd. 8 S Michigan. bgfa.us
CHICAGO ARTISTS COALITION
5/2–22 Oliverio Rodriguez and Jovencio de la Paz.
Using the costumes, objects, and relationships in
the underground world of gay fetishism, the two
friends create textiles and photographs, finding
significance and sometimes humor in that scene.
217 N Carpenter. chicagoartistscoalition.org
COMFORT STATION
5/3–6/1 Jessica Taylor Caponigro. The Chicago artist
has been known to use unusual materials, such as
fog machines, soap, artificial plants, and gold leaf,
in her sculptures. She debuts a new large sculptural work and creates a painting directly on the
windows of this eccentric Logan Square venue.
Also showing: Justin Petertil, whose installation
takes place in the trees around the gallery. 2579 N
Milwaukee. comfortstationlogansquare.org
DOCUMENT
Through 5/31 Thomas Roach. The emerging photogra-
pher presents moving images from his television
screen as droopy, warped pictures. The fact that
Roach will scan whatever’s on—from sitcoms to
local news—hints at his postmodern intention to
make art reflect the banality of modern entertainment. His intriguing works, however, beg viewers to pause and look deeply. 845 W Washington.
documentspace.org
ELMHURST ART MUSEUM
Lifeloggers: Chronicling the Everyday.
Fanatic record keeping of daily activities is one
way to pass the time. Lifeloggers includes 13 contemporary artists who track their routines and
behaviors using maps, diagrams, and image collections. 150 Cottage Hill. elmhurstartmuseum.org
5/11–8/17
FIRECAT PROJECTS
Through 5/17 Vaughn Wascovich: The Cleveland Project.
The Ohio-born photographer captures Cleveland’s
majestic 19th-century bridges using large-format
pinhole cameras—an intentionally old-fashioned
method. The resulting gritty images are a perfect
marriage of form and subject matter. Consider the
show a kind of homecoming for Wascovich, who
lived here nearly a dozen years ago before defecting
to eastern Texas. 2124 N Damen. firecatprojects.org
ties. Once the region was supported by mining industry jobs, but now over a quarter of its residents
live below the poverty line. Eich’s photos attest to
human suffering but also survival. Roosevelt U, 18 S
Michigan. roosevelt.edu/gagegallery
HYDE PARK ART CENTER
Through 5/18 Samantha Hill: Topographical Depictions
of the Bronzeville Renaissance. Black culture
flourished in the South Side neighborhood of
Bronzeville from the 1920s through the 1950s,
giving rise to important new forms of music,
art, literature, and activism. Artist-in-residence
Samantha Hill maps this cultural renaissance on
the Art Center’s walls, using oral histories, photos,
artifacts, and an interactive component that invites
viewers to participate in the story. 5020 S Cornell.
hydeparkart.org
JEAN ALBANO GALLERY
5/2–6/21 Zack Wirsum: White Lies and Silver Spoons. Too
much is never enough in the canvases of this emerging local painter who leaves no corner untouched and
no color unused in his immersive, highly detailed artworks. In Wirsum’s second solo show at the gallery, he
delves deep into myths and their narrative structures.
215 W Superior. jeanalbanogallery.com
JOHALLA PROJECTS
5/9–6/15 Ron Ewert: If I Had My Life to Live Over, I’d
Live Over a Delicatessen. Is it OK if a painting makes
you laugh? “Winging It,” from 2012, was created
by the artist and his friends wiping their hands on
a painting after eating chicken wings. Ewert offers
other serious painting jokes in his latest solo show.
1821 W Hubbard. johallaprojects.com
PEREGRINEPROGRAM
5/4–25 Clue: The Great Museum Caper? Matt Morris
exhibits a modified version of the classic board
game, taking viewers on a journey through his
personal archive of bargain-basement pop-culture
ephemera, failed paintings from art history, and
campy gay adventures. Conceptual leaps abound.
3311 W Carroll. peregrineprogram.com
PROSPECTUS ART GALLERY
Through 5/4 Carlos Barberena. Printmaking takes deep
skill, and this self-taught Nicaraguan artist has it.
In the highly detailed style of master printmakers
Dürer and Posada, Barberena tells a political story
with horror and humor. His linocuts poke fun at
the demise of Western capitalism. 1210 W 18th.
prospectusartgallery.wordpress.com
ROOTS & CULTURE
5/3–4 8th Annual Spring Fundraiser. An excellent
way to score some inexpensive local contemporary art, this annual auction also supports one of
the city’s leading voices in new experimental art
exhibitions. Food, drink, and fashion make this a
memorable evening. 1034 N Milwaukee. rootsand
culturecac.org
RUSSELL BOWMAN ART ADVISORY
Through 5/31 Pearlstein at 90. The NYC painter turns
90 this year, and there’s no stopping him. Known
for his highly skilled portraits of nudes with
glossy flesh and hidden faces in domestic settings,
Pearlstein could be the American Lucian Freud. 311
W Superior. bowmanart.com
65GRAND
5/23–6/28 Mara Baker. The first law of thermodynamics—
energy cannot be created or destroyed—could apply to
Baker’s paintings, which are neither new nor old, but
both at the same time. She collects bits and shards of
found materials to assemble colorful and elegant abstraction constructions. 1369 W Grand. 65grand.com
3433
5/10–6/1 Alex Valentine: Busman’s Holiday. At this
GAGE GALLERY
experimental storefront gallery, the digital-media
artist shows new collages that complicate graphic
design concepts. 3433 N Kedvale. 3433kedvale.org
ing in the snow, a fire burning in a trash can—these
are just a few of the striking images that photographer Matt Eich took during a three-year project
documenting southeastern Ohio and its communi-
Through 5/31 Scott Wolniak. The artist paints plaster
tablets and then scratches designs onto their surfaces. Pairing them with subtly detailed graphite
drawings of pebbles and wildflowers, Wolniak in-
Through 5/10 Matt Eich: Carry Me Ohio. A zebra stand-
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VALERIE CARBERRY GALLERY
vents new ways to manifest beauty. 875 N Michigan.
valeriecarberry.com
WESTERN EXHIBITIONS
Through 6/6 Ryan Travis Christian. For the past several
months, those lucky enough to discover the Western
Exhibitions building’s alley (between Peoria and
Green Streets) have seen the ongoing collaborative
mural by Christian and friends (including new additions by Cody Hudson and Jose Lerma). For his second solo exhibition inside the gallery, Christian continues to dazzle with his zigzagging brand of stark
black-and-white graphite drawings.
MUSEUMS & INSTITUTIONS
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
5/14–10/5 Nairy Baghramian: French Curve. The mini-
malist sculptress debuts a large-scale artwork for
the museum’s Modern Wing rooftop series. Born
in Iran but based in Berlin, Baghramian makes relaxed abstract objects. Through 5/11 Christopher Wool.
The Chicago-born painter—whose stencil paintings with such slogans as “Sell the House, Sell the
Car, Sell the Kids” made him famous in the ’80s
NYC art scene—gets an overdue career retrospective. Through 5/18 Christopher Williams: The Production
Line of Happiness. Revitalizing the tradition of pop
art, Williams parodies consumer culture by photographing realistic fakes of advertising, fashion, and
photojournalistic imagery. 111 S Michigan. artic.edu
ARTS CLUB OF CHICAGO
Through 5/17 Émilie Charmy. This artist had a successful
career during her lifetime but never became a household name in the United States. The retrospective
brings to light Charmy’s portraits, nudes, and still
lifes, painted alongside some of her generation’s best,
including Matisse. 201 E Ontario. artsclubchicago.org
CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER
Through 5/4 Thirty-Five Years of Public Art. This display
celebrates the gains of the Percent-for-Art Ordinance,
which funds new public art for every new public
building. Through 5/25 Mecca Flat Blues. A microcosm of
Chicago’s class struggles, the storied preservation battle around a massive apartment building (called Mecca
Apartments) gets an exhibition. 78 E Washington.
cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca.html
DEPAUL ART MUSEUM
Through 6/22 From Heart to Hand: African American Quilts
from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Geometric
abstraction isn’t just for European modernists, as seen
in this exhibit of African American quilts sent from
the Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama.
Though primarily functional art, the textiles reveal
complex formal constructions and subtle civil rights
themes. 935 W Fullerton. museums.depaul.edu
GRAHAM FOUNDATION
5/1–7/26 Everything Loose Will Land. “Tip the world
over and everything loose will land in Los Angeles,”
said architect Frank Lloyd Wright. This exhibition
examines the famed Los Angeles modern architecture of the 1970s, when dwellings were defined by
their dreamy looseness. More than 100 drawings exemplify L.A.’s cutting-edge residential architecture
scene. 4 W Burton. grahamfoundation.org
HYDE PARK ART CENTER
Through 8/3 John Preus: The Beast. A former fabrica-
tor for Theaster Gates, Preus skins the leather from
found upholstered furniture and uses it to create
a structure in the shape of a giant beast. 5020 S
Cornell. hydeparkart.org
ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM
Through 8/15 Focus 4. The series presents four solo exhi-
bitions in the museum’s Thompson Center galleries.
This round includes four painters: Barbara Aubin,
Guy Benson, Julia Haw, and Thom Whalen. They
are longtime artists with major bodies of work, but
the standout may be Haw, whose powerful portraits
express everything from womanhood to mortality.
100 W Randolph. museum.state.il.us.
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
Through 6/15 Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward
Gorey. A nationally touring exhibition of artwork by
everyone’s favorite gothic grandpa makes a stop in
Chicago (where he was born and raised). Artifacts
from Gorey’s notoriously hermitic life are included
alongside drawings and printed ephemera from
his long career illustrating children’s books. 820 N
Michigan. luc.edu/luma
Modern Vintage
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MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
5/3–10/5 Unbound: Contemporary Art After Frida Kahlo.
The MCA gave Frida Kahlo her first U.S. solo exhibition in 1978. Now it pays homage to the surrealist
Mexican painter with this group exhibition, showing her wild creativity and her progressive politics
through the work of dozens of contemporary artists. Through 5/18 William J. O’Brien. Organized like a
poem, the multimedia artist’s first survey exhibition
demonstrates his prodigious output in both drawing
and ceramics. Through 8/3 Isa Genzken: Retrospective.
Influential German sculptor Isa Genzken gets her
due with a career-spanning survey. For more than 30
years she has deconstructed American consumerism
with colorful, kitschy pieces. Open Tue 10–8, Wed–
Sun 10–6. Free (kids under 13) to $12; free Tue for Ill
residents. 220 E Chicago. mcachicago.org
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM
Through 5/23 Hoarding, Amassing, and Excess and
Looting, Hoarding, Collecting . . . You are what you
own. This truism works for hoarders as well as museums. Two concurrent exhibits explore the particularities of collecting objects and the fraught histories behind acquiring those treasures. 116 Altgeld
Hall, Northern Ill U, DeKalb. niu.edu/artmuseum
RENAISSANCE SOCIETY
Through 6/29 Christina Mackie. Don’t call Mackie’s
sculptures abstract. The London artist wants viewers to invent personal narratives based on her unusual collections of pieces, which have included
everything from hippos to housewares. Given the
Renaissance Society’s mandate to show highly
experimental artwork, Mackie’s newest installation will likely be wonder inducing. 5811 S Ellis.
renaissancesociety.org
SMART MUSEUM OF ART
Through 6/22 Imaging/Imagining: The Body as Art. Can a
medical doctor dissect a nude portrait? This exhibition,
organized by two doctors at the University of Chicago,
proposes that art can be diagnostically revealing. 5550 S
Greenwood. smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
MUSEUMS
BY TOMI OBARO
ART & DESIGN
See “Art & Design: Museums.”
HISTORY & CULTURE
CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM
Opened 4/5 Railroaders. In 1942, the U.S. Office of War
Information commissioned Ukrainian photographer Jack Delano to capture the work of railroad
men. See more than 60 of his now-iconic black-andwhite photos. Through 5/11 Ebony Fashion Fair. View
dazzling designer garments from the archives of
the famed traveling fashion show on custom-made
mannequins. Mon–Sat 9:30–4:30, Sun 12–5. $12–$14.
1601 N Clark. chicagohistory.org
SCIENCE, NATURE, KIDS
ADLER PLANETARIUM
Through 4/1 Cosmic Wonder. The latest show in the
spacious Grainger Sky Theater lets visitors gawk at
jaw-dropping shots of the Crab Nebula and Orion.
Mon–Fri 9:30–4, Sat–Sun 9:30–4:30. General admission $8–$12. Packages $18–$28. 1300 S Lake Shore.
adlerplanetarium.org c
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
Opened 4/10 THINK. This exhibit celebrates various
scientific breakthroughs of the last 40 years. Through
5/4 Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives. Look
through more than 300 drawings, scripts, and costumes from the icon’s films. Timed-entry tickets required, $7–$9, not including general admission. Through
9/1 Earth Explorers. Kids will love the opportunity
to learn about different ecosystems in this handson exhibit, where they can experience living in the
tundra, the rainforest, and the ocean. Timed-entry
tickets required, $7–$9, not including general admission. Open daily 9:30–4. $11–$18 ( free for kids under
3). 5700 S Lake Shore. msichicago.org c
BEST OF THE REST
BY TOMI OBARO
FESTIVALS, PARADES, PARTIES
CHICAGO MOVIES AND MUSIC FESTIVAL
5/1–4 Touting itself as a sort of SXSW in the Midwest,
this three-day fest features musical performances by
Yo La Tengo and veteran organist Booker T. Jones,
plus the Chicago premiere of the Sundance film
Memphis. For prices and locations: cimmfest.org
CINCO DE MAYO FESTIVAL
5/2–4 Little Village throws a fiesta that includes live
music, dance, and festival rides. Free. West 26th at
Kostner. littlevillagechamber.org/cinco-de-mayo
DO DIVISION
5/30–6/1 One of the first and best street festivals of
the season, Do Division boasts a sidewalk art sale,
live music acts, and a fashion show. $5. Division and
Hoyne. do-divisionstreetfest.com
MANIFEST
5/16 at noon In a stroke of serendipity, Chance the Rapper
played a free show at Manifest last year just as he was
becoming the rapper of the moment. So who knows
which act might break out at this Columbia College
shindig featuring student art showcases, food trucks,
and, of course, live music. Free. Columbia College, 600
S Michigan. colum.edu/manifest
MEMORIAL DAY PARADE
5/24 at noon Following a wreath-laying ceremony for
fallen soldiers, the city turns out in support of the
troops. Free. State and Lake. cityofchicago.org
DUSABLE MUSEUM OF AFRICAN
AMERICAN HISTORY
COMEDY
MODERN VINTAGE CHICAGO SPRING EXPO & SALE
with varying degrees of success talk about their
struggles in this three-hour long video. (You don’t
have to stay for the whole thing.) Tue–Sat 10–5, Sun
12–5. Free–$10. 740 E 56th Pl. dusablemuseum.org
5/21–22 In his Modern Love tour, the Parks and
Recreation star takes up the quandaries of romance in
the technology-ridden 21st century. $35–$45. Chicago
Theatre, 175 N State. thechicagotheatre.com
of Mad Men with this trip to the vintage expo, featuring clothes and estate jewelry of all brands. $8–$30.
Plumbers Hall, 1340 W Washington. randolphstreet
market.com/modernvintagechicago/
Through 9/7 Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893
one-night-only experience. $35.75–$39.75. Chicago
Theatre, 175 N State. thechicagotheatre.com
Through 5/18 Question Bridge: Black Males. Black men
PHOTOGRAPH: courtesy of vendor
free (kids 3–11) to $20; all-access passes $21–$31. 1400
S Lake Shore. fieldmuseum.org c
FIELD MUSEUM
World’s Fair. Rare artifacts from the famous fair.
Through 9/30 Before the Dinosaurs: Tracking the Reptiles
of Pangaea. Learn how to read fossils for clues about
the animals that roamed the earth long before humans came along. Through 1/4/15 The Machine Inside:
Biomechanics. Get the inside scoop on the bodily
functions of both humans and animals at this kidfriendly exhibit. Open daily 9–5. General admission
AZIZ ANSARI
PATTON OSWALT
5/31 at 8 The affable Everyman comes to town for a
GARDENS, PARKS, ZOOS
LINCOLN PARK ZOO
5/2–4 You might as well celebrate the seventh season
SAIC FASHION 2014
5/2 at 5:30 Check out the trends of 2030 at the School
of the Art Institute’s annual spring fashion event.
(For $40, you can attend the dress rehearsal at 9
a.m. or the day shows at noon and 3 p.m). $500.
Millennium Park, 201 E Randolph. saicfashion.org
5/4 at 9 Cinco de Mayo Piñata Party. Make a piñata and
then watch the zoo animals—from tigers to meerkats—destroy premade ones. Zoo faculty do this for
enrichment purposes. $13. 2001 N Clark. lpzoo.org
M AY
2014
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