A/C

Call for Artists: "Chicago Week" from GB and Wall Blank

2009-07-06T17:42:38Z

Chicago visual artists are invited to submit their work to a competition sponsored by Gapers Block and the Rockford-based arts purveyor Wall Blank.

The four winning artists will be featured on Gapers Block, and their work will be offered as prints for sale on Wall Blank during "Chicago Week" in August 2009.

Works in any visual medium or dimension will be accepted. The only criteria are that the work be by Chicago-area artists and their finished work be available at the minimum dimensions of 8"x12" at 300dpi.

Proceeds from sales are contingent on print price and number of sales and will consequently be discussed with winning entrants after selection. No cost will be borne by the artists.

Submissions should be emailed to SubmitArt@gapersblock.com with the subject "Chicago Week Entry" by July 31, 2009 with the following elements:

* One jpg of the work that is 1000 pixels wide on its longest dimension
* Title (if applicable)
* Name
* Address
* Email address
* Website (if applicable)
* Phone number
* A statement about the piece

The statement is open ended. It can be anything from a traditional statement to a fiction narrative to a description of your process.

Artists may submit up to three pieces for consideration.

Questions about the competition should be emailed to David Schalliol at dcs@gapersblock.com.

Website Helps Working Actors Find Auditions

2009-07-06T14:22:06Z

It is hard enough to break into the acting scene without having to deal with searching for and deciphering audition requests. Now Chicago actors and actresses are getting some help from TheatreInChicago.com and its new Auditions Page. A comprehensive list provides Equity and Non-equity theater and film auditions throughout Chicago, making it easy for actors to find job opportunities.

The Auditions Page is updated frequently, and each listing shows all the information actors need such as audition material, time commitment, locations, play and character summary, and who to contact. Right now there are auditions separated into Equity, Non-equity, Dance, and Film, but another section for technicians, directors, etc. will be debuted soon. On top of auditions and job postings, there will be a Resources Page available to locate head-shot photographers, acting classes, and various other networking tools.

No sign-up or registration is necessary to use this web page, so actors can start using it today. For further questions, inquiries, or suggestions, please email auditions@theatreinchicago.com.

Friday Flickr Feature

2009-07-03T16:16:09Z

Watercolor by Vaughnda Johnson. Join the A/C Flickr Pool!

Public Enemies, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, The Girl from Monaco and Herb & Dorothy

2009-07-03T05:53:18Z

Public Enemies

Although the trailers for Michael Mann's latest slice of magnificence emphasize the more action-oriented scenes from his film about the latter days of bank robber and cultural icon John Dillinger, in truth the strength of Public Enemies is not entirely in those moments. There are certainly a handful of bank robberies and moments where law enforcement corner Dillinger and his gang that feature some ferocious gunplay, but it's what happens between the scenes of bullets flying that impressed me the most and helps this become one of the greatest films about the birth of modern day crime and crime-fighting that I've ever seen.

Public Enemies also serves as a much-needed reminder that Johnny Depp gained his reputation as one of the greatest actors living today by actually acting and not simply creating real-life cartoon characters with pale skin, funny makeup and wigs. With Mann's guidance, Depp breathes life and soul into a man who has served a lengthy prison sentence and learned much while behind bars about military-style bank heists and what's important to him. Depp doesn't play Dillinger as overly tough or as some ridiculously suave ladies man. His flaws and qualities aren't nearly as easy to spot immediately, but Depp does a fantastic job of parceling out personality details about John Dillinger in a way that we grow eager to discover more as the film goes on.

Before seeing Public Enemies, I felt certain that the love story aspect of Dillinger's story would interfere with the story I really cared about. Quite to the contrary, Dillinger's whirlwind relationship with Billie Frechette (La Vie en Rose Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard) was the fuel that propelled his engine. And while Dillinger didn't have a great love for planning too far into his future, it's clear that part of Billie's impact on his life was getting him to consider getting out of the bank-robbing business for good after one big score with the help of cohort Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi). Cotillard's beauty comes on like a second sun — she's such a natural vision, but beyond the ever-present smile, she gives us a Billie that loves so deeply that she pays an awful price for remaining faithful and loyal to her Johnny. In the end Cotillard might be the finest thing about this film.

But all this talk of love doesn't sound like much of an action movie, does it? Mann's fluid HD cameras glide through the heists and over the shoulders of the robbers so effortlessly that you feel like one of the gang. Sometimes Mann puts the cameras so close to people's faces, you can almost smell the sweat when a character senses that something is about to go wrong or at least not entirely right. Watching the Dillinger gang pull off a crime is like watching a great movie about a Special Forces unit begin a covert mission — they move in for the quick strike, every man with his assignment, and move out before the cops can arrive and assess the situation. There's a bit of gunfire, but only enough to cause the right amount of chaos to escape behind. If a skirmish actually does break out with the law, Mann changes gears and shoots the scene like a war movie, hiding behind any protective cover while bullets explode around the actors and the camera. The camera peeks out from behind walls and cars to find out who's shooting, then retreats as soon as fire is returned. The gunplay is a far cry from the sleek, almost-choreographed battles in Mann's Heat. Don't believe for a second this is a Depression-era version of that awesome movie. Public Enemies is a product of the times it is portraying, and Mann's vision of Chicago and the surrounding areas that Dillinger called home are not particularly glamorous (or even recognizable much of the time), but they do feel damned accurate.

On the other side of the law is J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup, complete with a radio- and Movietone News-ready voice) and his newly formed FBI, which was allowed to do something no law-enforcement organization was able to do — chase criminals who crossed state lines, as well as compile and analyze evidence in ways that had never been done before. It was Hoover that both created the moniker of "Public Enemy Number One" and assigned Dillinger the title. I was truly intrigued by the birth of procedural investigative methods, and the man who used these new techniques most effectively was Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), who made his career by capturing or killing the most notorious bandits in the land. As the film opens, we see Purvis personally kill Pretty Boy Floyd (an almost unrecognizable cameo by Channing Tatum). In many ways, the shift Purvis makes is as interesting as the character study treatment given to Dillinger. In order to capture Dillinger, Purvis had to call in a much rougher and more experienced set of agents from Texas (some Hoover was not in favor of) and employ methods of harassment and torture to gather evidence. It's clear that Purvis was a man who knew right from wrong, and Bale does an admirable job showing this slow chipping away at his character's conscience and beliefs. In many ways, he reminded me of Kevin Costner's Elliot Ness in The Untouchables who "became what he beheld" as he learned how to fight crime "the Chicago way."

One of Public Enemies' greatest assets is the presence of Stephen Lang, who plays one of Purvis' lead investigators, Charles Winstead, a cool-as-ice enforcer who reminds Purvis not only what the job at hand is but how best and most effectively to get it done. Lang has been one of the great character actors for decades, a man who dabbled in lead roles in his career in the stage, TV and movies, but for whatever reason is called upon to punctuate a production rather than lead it. He previously worked with Mann in Manhunter (he was the tabloid reporter set on fire by the Tooth Fairy), and has done devastating work in such films as Last Exit to Brooklyn, Tombstone, Mann's TV show "Crime Story," and he'll be featured in James Cameron's Avatar in December. Lang has a scene at the end of the film with Cotillard that will take your breath away with its simplicity and power. And the scene works because of Lang's steely delivery, tipped with just a hint of compassion. I hope to see him a great deal more as a result of this staggering performance.

Mann's script (credited to him, along with Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman, from the book by Bryan Burrough) finds a variety of ways to bring tension and suspense to a film whose ending we already know. The sequence surrounding the events at the Biograph Theatre is shot as only a master could shoot it, but Mann adds a little something to Dillinger's journey. While it is certainly exciting to watch the G-Men plot the capture of the nation's top criminal, it's also rather touching to see Dillinger wander through his final hours of life having no clue what lies ahead after a showing of Clark Gable in Manhattan Melodrama, a film based partly on his persona. When gangster Clark Gable tells William Powell that he'd rather be sentenced to death than rot in jail for life, we cut to a shot of Dillinger with a hint of a smile on his face. When he stares at the vision of loveliness that is Myra Loy, we find out just a little bit more about why he found Billie so appealing. That is the greatest thing about Public Enemies: it's ability to teach us about Dillinger and Purvis and Billie and many other characters without feeling the need to spell out every personality trait or emotion. We watch their behaviors and their reactions, and we are allowed to figure these people out on our own.

And then there are the bank robberies and jailbreaks, staged so flawlessly, and punctuated with explosive gunplay and unflinching violence. Mann controls the action and drama in Public Enemies like a master conductor in front of the largest, loudest orchestra ever assembled. With films like Thief, The Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, Collateral and to a lesser degree Miami Vice, you get a sense that Mann is one of the few directors who cares as much about breathing life into his characters — no matter how much screen time they get — and making even the mundane seem important, as he does about the film's money shots. It makes me a little sad that whatever this mature and masterful work makes at the box office, it probably won't be a fraction of what the new Transformers movie has had so far (I hope I'm wrong), but this is the world we live in, and I get that. I just hope that when the dust settles, people are still watching and contemplating films like Public Enemies years from now. Anything is possible. A guy can dream, can't he?

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

I have very little love for the first two Ice Age films. They seemed like dumbed-down, largely storyless endeavors aimed at making a lot of money because little kids are going to force their parents to take them to look at the pretty pictures. If you put a gun to my head and told me that I either had to tell you the plots of the first two Ice Age movies or my brains would be on the wall, you might as well call the cleaning crew right now because I haven't got a single memory of what happens in the first two installments. I know I like some of the actors who provide voices, including Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and Seann William Scott, but beyond that I've found these films dull, forgettable, and hardly worth your money. All of that said, the third Ice Age offering (this one subtitled Dawn of the Dinosaurs and presented in spectacular 3-D) has its moments and is the best of the three so far by a longshot, probably because of the change of location. Rather than simply existing on an ice-covered world (or a world of melting ice, as in the second film), our heroes spend about five minutes on familiar ground before journeying down a hole in the ice that leads to a land where dinosaurs still exist, thrive, and have apparently mutated into pretty cool, more dangerous dinosaurs (that thankfully don't speak). Even the flowers and plants in this strange land are dangerous.

And with this new adventure, we get a new group of voice actors for the ice world and the dino world (just to clarify, the dinosaurs don't talk, but there are a few wacky mammals that live among the dinos that do), including Jane Lynch, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and the splendid Simon Pegg as Buck, a eyepatch-wearing, dinosaur-hunting weasel who has been driven certifiably insane from existing in a place where he could be eaten at any moment. In a funny way, some of the main characters (Ray Romano and Queen Latifah as wooly mammoths and Leary as Diego the saber-toothed tiger) are made secondary by the presence of so many more interesting things than them. Latifah's Ellie is pregnant and about ready to drop. Diego feels squeezed out by the forthcoming baby mammoth, so he decides to strike out on his own. When Sid (Leguizamo) goes missing, the group reunites to find him down in the lost world beneath the ice.

Maybe I liked the film because the threat of danger seemed slightly more palpable than the other films, or maybe I just liked having Hader, Wiig and Pegg around to make this stale franchise seem a little fresher. I also like that the filmmakers didn't try to make the dinosaurs look entirely believable; they have the same exaggerated quality as the main characters. And the 3-D really does add to depth and much-needed dimension to the proceedings. Beyond that, there's not much so say. It certainly doesn't come close to approaching the creative genius of Up, but it appears that co-directors Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier are at least trying to do something resembling original, and I'll acknowledge the effort.

As with the previous films, Leguizamo stands out among the regulars; there's something about his possibly retarded Sid that just makes me laugh. The scene where he tries to milk a male water buffalo: priceless. I'm in no way trying to imply that Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a perfect film — far from it. I'm just saying that if you somehow accidentally find yourself sitting in a theater that is playing it, you might actually get a few laughs out of the experience. And the kids at my screening certainly seemed to dig it about 50 times more than they did the last Eddie Murphy movie. What I'm really trying to say is go see Up again, but if you can't find a theater still playing it and you absolutely need to see a 3-D CG-animated film, you could probably choke this one down without dying.

The Girl from Monaco

One of the lighter offerings from the Gene Siskel Film Center's European Union Film Festival earlier this year is now being released on a limited basis around the country. Although The Girl from Monaco may come across as silly fluff, there's a slightly darker lining around the edges that eventually takes over the film about a highly successful French attorney (Fabrice Luchini) who is called upon travel to Monaco to defend a high-profile client (the legendary Stéphane Audran) in a murder case. The case seems difficult to win, but Luchini specializes in tough cases. Still, the nature of the case and the players involved necessitate that the attorney have a bodyguard (the fantastic Roschdy Zem from Days of Glory) with him at all times. The attorney marvels at the way the bodyguard can get women to sleep with him with very little effort of conversation. Sure, the bodyguard is more handsome and younger, but he tries to advise the middle-aged attorney as best he can.

When Luchini meets a stunning TV weathergirl (newcomer Louise Bourgoin) and she seems to take an interest in him, the bodyguard steps in since he too had a relationship with her two years ago. The lawyer is so smitten with this gorgeous woman that he neglects his duties on the case and slowly begins to lose his dignity along the way as well. There's no getting around the fact that any man in his right mind would be unable to resist Bourgoin's beauty or charms (she's about 90 percent leg), so Luchini in his delicate state of feeling underwhelming as a lover or a companion is an easy target. The bodyguard sees that the woman is simply using Luchini's fame to further her own career, and he does what he can to step between them.

The Girl from Monaco sounds like a bad episode of "Three's Company," I realize, but there's a little more going on than hijinks. The more we learn about the bodyguard's past, the more we realize just how serious he takes his job and how far he's willing to go to protect his client. The lawyer falls further and further into a pathetic hole, knowing full well this woman is bad news but still allowing her to lead him by the scruff of his neck wherever she wants. Bourgoin is a force of nature (like a tsunami for men), and it's remarkable how her smiling, sweet face turns particularly nasty when she addresses the bodyguard when Luchini isn't around. The one thing she can't stand in the world is someone who sees her for what she is, and the bodyguard represents a threat to her future happiness.

Writer-director Anne Fontaine (Dry Cleaning, Nathalie..., How I Killed My Father) puts forth a strong effort in showing us the gradual transition each character makes from light to dark as the film progresses. I'm not sure I particularly liked or bought the ending of the film, but there's a certain poetic justice to the whole conclusion that most people will probably get on board with. And while the film doesn't enlighten us much on unhealthy relationships or overly exuberant employees, that's not really its intent. These are three mildly interesting characters (four if you include Audran) put in somewhat crazed circumstances and each asked to react without time for thought. The results are chaotic, somewhat shocking and unpredictable. This is still a minor effort from a consistent director, but if you find yourself in the mood for something a little French, this ought to quench your thirst. The film opens today at the Landmark Century Center Cinema.

Herb & Dorothy

If you were making art or owned an art gallery or were collecting art in New York City any time in the last 30-plus years, then odds were that you knew who Herb and Dorothy Vogel; you may have even known them personally. The Vogels were not ritzy, high-class, stuck-up art dealers looking for the next hot artist to buy low and sell high. They were art lovers who spent a portion of every paycheck on art that caught their eye. They only bought what they could afford, which often meant they were buying works from new artists, a great number of whom went on to become celebrated pop, minimalist, expressionist, and/or conceptual artists. They were by no means rich — Herb worked for the Post Office, while Dorothy worked as a librarian — and they had rules about works they purchased: they would only buy what they could afford, they would never sell a piece (they believed their collection needed to stay together), and the piece had to fit in their modest one-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment that somehow managed to hold literally thousands of pieces that would rotate from boxes to the walls and ceiling of the flat.

The Vogels' (both of whom are still very much alive) passion and eye for art is the true focus of this documentary from director Megumi Sasaki. Through interviews with many of the grateful artists (including Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Lynda Benglis and Lawrence Weiner), gallery owners and museum curators, we learn that Herb and Dorothy had essentially pieced together one of the finest collections of modern art in the world in their tiny apartment crawling with cats and made all the more crowded with fish tanks filled with turtles. The film more than fulfills your curiosity just who these people are and how they had such an eye for these pieces. In many cases Herb would purchase an artist's rough draft or discarded work sketch because it was all he could afford. The couple also formed lasting friendships with many of these artists that last until this day.

Herb & Dorothy's highly satisfying final act sees the Vogels donating their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. After turning down many lucrative offers from other museums to house their pieces, the Vogel's very strict criteria about where the collection should land is explored in fascinating detail. The story of the moving of the art could have been its own film, it's so amusing and laborious. After watching the film, I was desperate to meet this warm and caring couple who have almost never spent a day apart in nearly 50 years. They go from gallery opening to artist's studio to their jammed apartment (which they immediately began filling again with more art after the National Gallery relieved them of their collection) with a vigor that is enviable. I enjoyed every second I got to spend with these lovely people, and I loved watching how they educated themselves on art history and movements and turned into the toast of the art world. You don't have to know much about art to appreciate this terrific work; and if you feel that movies today are void of interesting characters, look no further. The plays opens at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Friday, July 3 at 6pm, Sunday, July 5 at 5:30pm, and Tuesday, July 7 at 6pm.

Blackbird Brings Raw Emotion to the Stage

2009-06-30T16:18:12Z

Love knows no age. But when a passionate affair occurs between a 12-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man, love is questioned. Blackbird, written by Scottish playwright David Harrower, is the story of two unlikely lovers reunited 15 years after their forbidden relationship. After six years in prison, Ray changed his name and moved to another area away from Una, the young girl with whom he became sexually involved. When she sees his picture in a magazine, she traces him to where he works. The two are confronted with old feelings, pain, and resentment about their past. The play raises questions and confusion about sexual abuse, as well as the dynamic relationship between these two tormented individuals.

Blackbird received immense praise after its premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2005, and it even won the 2007 Olivier Award, beating out competitors like Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll, and Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon. Now the play is coming to Chicago. And with it the return of Chicago native William Peterson. This is only the second theater production Peterson has done since leaving CSI:Crime Scene Investigation, and now he is joining director Dennis Zacek (The Old Man's Friend) to perform as the guilt-ridden character of Ray. Joining him on-stage as Una is Mattie Hawkinson, a talented actress with a long list of credits in Chicago, including The Snow Queen and Half and Half.

Previews of Blackbird will start this weekend, July 3, at Victory Gardens Theater, and run until July 12. Regular showtimes will begin July 13 and go until August 9. For more information about this play or other productions visit the Victory Gardens website.

24 Great Walks in Chicago: Interview with Author Max Grinnell

2009-06-29T05:00:00Z

Max Grinnell knows if there's one thing that makes a city great, it's its walkability. An urbanologist and Chicago historian (he literally wrote the book on Hyde Park), his latest book chronicles 24 of Chicago's greatest walking tours -- and it's not just for tourists. I asked him recently about how he chose the walks in his guide, how walkability can be measured, and what Chicago's greatest neighborhood is.

How did you go about selecting the routes that appear in these walking tours? What makes a "great walk"?

I knew I wanted to take people into some of the city's less well-known neighborhoods, and I wanted people to have a sense of the historical and architectural milieu in each place. More than a few travel books consist of the well-worn troika of "Buy This," "Eat Here," and "Go to Hackneyed Attraction That Everyone Else Has Already Seen And Buy The Same 'Made in China' Schwag I Could Find Back Home." Pretty formulaic stuff for the most part, and I can imagine that 100 gibbons punching away on laptops could come up with the same stuff, provided they had access to the Internet and strong coffee to stave off utter boredom. This I knew I could not do.

To answer your second question, a great walk is pedestrian-friendly, first and foremost. Two of America's greatest walkers, John Muir and Henry Thoreau, didn't have to contend with these details, as neither of them were big fans of cities. These days, a good sidewalk with relatively few concessions to strip malls (which don't belong in cities in the first place) and high-end condo owners who must have their cars close by at all times, is a must. Jane Jacobs, chronicler of the urban condition and contrarian spirit, always championed this in her books, and she liked to talk about the "ballet of the sidewalk."

Cities' two greatest assets (and challenges) are density and diversity. I have to say that any walk in a city must put these things together in equal measure. For example, I love places like River North (which I believe is now referred to "RiNo," which makes me laugh), where you might have an old-school single-residential occupancy hotel like the Tokyo Hotel on Ohio Street within a Big Mac toss to the oddly compelling Rock n' Roll McDonalds, a slew of big-box chain restaurants (which shall remain nameless), art galleries, and so on. Density and diversity come together in River North, and in all kinds of funky ways.

What's a great walk you had to leave out of this book?

I had wanted to do a walking tour of Chicago's former synagogues and old blues haunts that have since been "shuttered" (this phrase is not mine, but I'm borrowing it from the Sun-Times. They like to talk things being "shuttered," rather than just closed, out of business, etc.). But if people are interested, they should drop me a line, and maybe we can all meet up and make it happen.

Tell me -- some of these walks are geared toward out-of-towners. But is there a great walk in a typically tourist location you think makes a great walk for locals, too?

I'm going to throw my hat in the ring with either my "Lions, Miro, Chagall: Sculpture in the Loop" tour or the "Transit Architecture in the Loop" walk from the book. Both of them point out some interesting gems that most of us with a harried lifestyle might never get to check out. I mean, there's a fantastic Louise Nevelson sculpture at Madison and Wells and I imagine thousands of people walk by everyday without giving it a second (or first) glance. And the Quincy Station in the Loop is a tremendous structure, and they even have period advertisements for hoop skirts on the platform!

Can you recommend a great walk -- with food and culture and booze included -- where Chicagoans can take their out-of-town friends, something a little off the beaten path?

Whew, a tall order. Let me get something going here. Take the Red Line up to Bryn Mawr Avenue before the sun sets so you can walk a few blocks to the east to see the fabulous Living 2007 mural underneath Lake Shore Drive. After the mural, you'll be hungry, so wander back west on Bryn Mawr to That Little Mexican Café at Bryn Mawr and Kenmore. Start things off with some table-side guacamole, and move on from there. After this, walk back west to Broadway and make a turn south. You'll walk south about eight blocks, passing some funky strip malls with various Asian goods, and you'll find yourself at the corner of Lawrence and Broadway. Cross the street over to the Green Mill and sit around to hear some jazz. I'll put my money on Patricia Barber (Monday nights) or Alan Gresik's Swing Shift Orchestra (Thursday nights).

Anything you learned while writing this book -- a fact, a place, etc. -- that astounded you? Or, at least, surprised you?

In two words: Albany Park. I've taken my students from the University of Chicago there for years, but this neighborhood is truly a microcosm of the future of cities in the United States. There's no majority ethnic group in the community, and it's such an interesting blend of Central American, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Korean culture. I didn't really know it well enough until I started working on this book, and it is a place that all Chicagoans and visitors should visit.

Any new places you found while preparing this book that you now frequent?

Jerry's Sandwiches is a place that I wish I had known about before. Great beer list and fantastic eats.

What do you think is the most walkable single street in Chicago?

In terms of aesthetic appeal, I'm going to put my hat in the ring for two streets that are close to my heart: Fullerton Parkway between Clark Street and Halsted Avenue, and Hyde Park Boulevard between 53rd Street and 56th Street. During the spring and summer they have amazing trees on either side and homes that telegraph the high-toned residential architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The least walkable?

The least walkable street in my opinion is Western Avenue. Too many businesses dedicated to cars and car maintenance, and it always feels dreary to me. Not a good walking street in the least!

What part of the city do you think most Chicagoans take for granted? What's just above our heads, or under our noses, that we don't notice -- maybe something that's profiled in this book, maybe not?

The Loop, the Loop, the Loop. The Loop is always surprising me, and in terms of sumptuous and provocative architecture, it's a brilliant spot. It could be the punch-card like façade of the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Facility or the mosaics inside the Marquette Building. Every year, the Loop seems to get a bit more of a 24-7 feel, which is a most positive development.

More information about Max's writings and latest book, 24 Walks in Chicago, can be found at www.theurbanologist.com.

About the Author

Katherine Raz is a freelance writer and the Community Manager for a non-profit arts organization. She's trekked all over Chicago in search of thrift store and estate sale bargains, and writes BackGarage, a blog about stylish apartment living on a garage sale budget. A two fisted-drinker and Chicago resident for over a decade, she lives in Ravenswood with her fiancee, Jem, and loves the Chicago Bears.

Review of 500 Clown and the Elephant Deal

2009-06-28T17:15:24Z

It doesn't take much to imagine a play date. Everyone has at least one in their memory.
Depending on where you lived or who was present, several elements might be guaranteed: dress-up, singing, cops and robbers, changing the rules halfway into the game and little regard for tomorrow.

500 Clown and the Elephant Deal, loosely based on Bertolt Brecht's Man is Man, seems also to be based on one of these play dates gone just slightly wrong.

The closest I can get to a storyline is this: Madame Barker is the main act. Her crew, the audience, everyone buys into that mostly because they need her and she needs them. Madame Barker is there to entertain you, the audience.

Like any Queen Bee scenario, Madame Barker has her crew (who sometimes double as backup dancers), who are devoted wholeheartedly to their spectacular leader. They do everything from seating audience members in just the right location to see her, to frantically criss-crossing the stage to locate her chair or mic stand, to climbing scaffolding to maneuver the spotlight on the star: Madame Barker, quite naturally.

The DIY burlesque show's charm is the characters' lack of finesse. Madame Barker is no professional, and the show is certainly low-budget: characters periodically interact with the sound and lighting crews, and they are genuinely excited about each scene's success.

The overall "storyline" is about as linear as any kid-created game. Characters change roles mid-scene (maybe an audience member, or maybe an ex-lover). Bad guys turn into good guys. Good guys take control over the mic and order the rest of the cast (and audience) around.

However, by the end, certain scenarios have become reality. At least one person dies and several, including the Queen Bee, end up alone.

Molly Brennan's performance as the fabulously crass Madame Barker ranges from aggressive in "My Love is Coming to town to Kick Your Ass" to a sweet and tender duet with onstage songwriter John Fournier.

The show, which begins as a one-woman performances, progresses in a way that allows each character to rotate into their spotlight, displaying a glimpse of their needs, fears and goals.

Audiences will understand that the follow-the-leader Cheetah, played by Matt Hawkins, is quite sad; the devoted Viola, played by Jessica Hudson, is actually bursting with sexual appeal; the dopey Bruce, played by Adrian Danzig, is actually quite mad; and the dark Shank, played by Paul Kalina, will not be told what or who he is.

The cast's performance is impressive if only for the show's physical demands. Actors scale walls, struggle with a rope and pulley system, run in the aisles and display an outpouring of physical strength.

Watching Elephant Deal is not unlike watching kids figure things out for themselves from social cues and trial and error. The difference on this stage, however, is you see much deeper into these characters and, depending on which kid you were growing up, can connect in quite completely in a unique way.

500 Clown's mission is to use action-based performance to tell long-form dramatic stories. At the heart of what the non-profit company does is to get the audience to be an active player in a spontaneous moment.

500 Clown and the Elephant Deal is playing at Steppenwolfe Upstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Wednesday through Saturday until July 11.

Friday Flickr Feature

2009-06-26T16:36:18Z

A fire hydrant made of canned goods on display at the Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago. Captured by swanksalot.

Chances Dances Offers Funds to Fierce Artists

2009-06-25T18:07:32Z

Are you an artist who identifies yourself (or your work) as LGBTIQ? Ever wish for some grant money to put toward your projects? Chances Dances, the popular monthly dance party that seeks to brings together the varied LGBTIQ communities of Chicago and create a safe space for all gender expressions, could grant you this wish--in the form of $500. The Critical Fierceness Grant provides financial assistance to queer artists in order to foster "personal exploration, community development and radical change through art." The application is available here, and be sure to apply soon! The deadline is June 30.

Catch Chances Dances on the third Monday of the month at the Subterranean (2011 W. North Ave.), as well as the spin-off dance party, Off Chances, on the second Tuesday of the month at Danny's (1959 W. Dickens Ave.).

Email chances.dances[at]gmail.com for more information.

The Room, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Whatever Works, Cheri, Jerichow, Break-Up Date and A Wink and a Smile

2009-06-25T06:17:26Z

Before we dive into this week's offerings, I wanted to tell you about a little movie that you've probably never heard of (or only heard about in whispered tones in dark alleys) that is finally, after six long years of playing almost non-stop in a Los Angeles theater, making its way to a screen in Chicago. The film is called The Room, and that's really all you need to know about it, other than it's playing at midnight shows at the Music Box Theatre June 26 and 27, and July 24 and 25.

I get mad when I see critics attempt to review or even summarize The Room because it's impossible to capture in words just how truly bad this movie from writer-director-producer-star Tommy Wiseau is. I love that Chicago audiences will finally get a chance to watch this movie, one that needs to be seen in the comfort and safety of a crowd. The film is simply too dangerous to watch alone at home. That being said, the only thing greater than The Room as a theatrical event are the extras on the DVD release, which features an interview with Wiseau that is beyond hilarious. Free promo DVDs will be given out to the first 50 people at each Music Box performance.

Wiseau himself has taken to calling the film a dark comedy, which is a load of crap. I firmly believe he thought he was making high drama when he spent what I'm hearing is millions of dollars making this movie. But don't take my word for it. This film has a celebrity endorsement from none other than Paul Rudd, who first brought the film to my attention a couple years ago. More recently, Rudd's I Love You, Man director John Hamburg told me, "I've been in Paul's bedroom. He has a little table next to his side of the bed, and the only thing on that table is a copy of The Room." There you have it. If someone told me today that The Room was an elaborate hoax, made deliberately bad to make people laugh, I'd almost believe it, but not quite. There are things in this film that you just couldn't make this bad on purpose. See it and then see it again. You've been warned and encouraged; the rest is up to you. All else opening this week pales in comparison, but here it is anyway.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I got home after watching the new Transformers film a little dazed, with a mild headache, ears ringing, slight vertigo, and a low-level depression knowing that a generation of moviegoers (perhaps even two generations) would watch Michael Bay's latest offering and consider it... impressive, groundbreaking? Who knows? But the film's complete and utter dismissal of anything resembling a cohesive story or even two-dimensional character building is what disturbed me most. And while I could be like many, and simply sit here and type a succession of expletive-punctuated statements about Bay's abilities as a filmmaker or the utter contempt he has for his audience's ability to appreciate a well-conceived plot, that's not what I'm going to do here. I'm simply going to walk through what I liked and what I did not, and hope that I don't let my emotions and my throbbing headache get the best of me.

I did something last weekend that I rarely do before going into a sequel — I went back and watched the original. I did this because I literally could not remember a single thing about the first Transformers movie. I also went back to reread my review of the film, and I was surprised by how accepting I was of large portions of what I saw two years ago. But I realized while watching Revenge of the Fallen that many of the elements I appreciated about the first film still hold true. The one thing I will always give Bay credit for is showing us something we have never seen before, and this film has about 5,000 such moments. Seriously, if I'd had the ability to turn off the audio on this film, I might have done just that, because the special effects are often pretty mind-blowing. From the tiniest insect-size robot to the enormous, pyramid-destroying Decepticon made up of about a dozen different construction vehicles, Bay literally hurls new robot after new robot at us to the point where we barely get a glance at the Transformer characters from the previous film.

Bay stages battle sequences the way a three-year-old plays with Legos. He dumps everything out at once in one loud crash, and just starts snapping pieces together and tossing them into each other. I'll admit, there is something mildly awe-inspiring about watching that much money get hurled around the screen. And much like a child at play, things get loud, there's a lot of screaming, and shit gets destroyed. I could go through all of the terrible plot decisions, confusing story elements that never really get cleared up, but there just isn't the time and I don't have the inclination. OK, maybe one thing — if the Decepticons can make themselves look human (as one robot who visits Sam at college does), why don't they all just do that? Wouldn't that make their job of infiltrating and destroying humans so much easier? Here's another question, Do any of the woman in Michael Bay's universe own skirts that go below the upper thigh other than Sam Witwicky's mom (which still doesn't stop her from being the butt of some pretty overt sexual humor)?

As much fun as it is driving a semi through the plot holes of a Michael Bay movie, that's not really reviewing the film. But it is part of the movie-going experience of seeing Revenge of the Fallen. So much of the film and the decisions the characters make seem counterintuitive. For example, why would there be dumb robots? For all of the discussion and sensitivity displayed about the home-bots, Mudflap and Skids (both voiced by a white voice actor named Tom Kenny, best known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants), nothing will quite prepare you for just how patently offensive these characters are. And I understand that all the Autobots pick up human characteristics and voices from watching our media, but what the hell were these bug-eyed, gold-toothed, illiterate robots observing, an Al Jolson movie? The filmmakers decided to bring back John Turturro for this second go-round, so we don't really need additional comic relief in a film like this.

What else do you really need to know? Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are back as now-established couple Sam and Mikaela. Sam is off to college, leaving Mikaela to work in her auto-body shop with her dad (now released from prison and largely dialogue free). The Autobots have incorporated themselves nicely with a special branch of the military that seeks out Decepticons and kills them. So all is right in the world until an ancient race of Transformers who visited earth thousands of years ago and were frozen deep in the ice are set free. Then there's some crap about Decepticons who still exist on the rapidly crumbling home planet of the Transformers. Then it turns out that some of the exhibits at the Air and Space Museum in D.C. are actually Transformers, but having just seen the Night at the Museum Sequel (and having grown up in the D.C. area), it's very clearly not the real museum. Then there's the old British Decepticon who it turns out has switched sides; then there's the Decepticon named The Fallen (voiced by Tony Todd) who's even more evil than Megatron (still voiced by Hugo Weaving). Then Sam gets a secret robot language imprinted on his brain. Then they end up destroying pyramids in Egypt. Got all that? Now explain it to me, please.

Look, I don't need a film to make 100 percent sense to me for me to enjoy myself watching it. But when a film like Revenge of the Fallen does everything in its power to create as much noise as it can to push you away from the screen, how am I supposed to get engaged in a film like that? The truth is, I've always appreciated Michael Bay's ability to direct large-scale, complicated action sequences, but this is the film that finally defeated him. The sequences just don't make any goddamned sense a lot of the time. There are too many characters, and, yes, I'll say it, a lot of these robots look alike, so sometimes I can't even tell who I'm supposed to be rooting for. As I mentioned earlier, the special effects in this film are seamless, while being almost impossible to appreciate fully. This was the absolutely most frustrating part of watching this movie. I could tell something cool was going on behind all the dust and spare parts, but I'll be damned if I could pass a test on what I was seeing or hearing.

Look, I'm neither a Michael Bay apologist nor a knee-jerk hater. I admired some of what he accomplished in the first Transformers effort, and was utterly turned off by most of what was going on in Revenge of the Fallen. The entire experience watching this film was like witnessing a filmmaker dare his audience to try to understand or even like his movie. I'm not the sort of person who can turn off my brain entirely or lower my expectation in advance of any movie, but Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen really made me wish I could have done either. This isn't the worst film I've seen this year, or even this summer, but it's the one that tries the hardest and still manages to fail so completely.

Whatever Works

The story goes that more than 30 years ago, Woody Allen wrote the script that became Whatever Works for Zero Mostel to star in. Motel died in 1977, so Allen put the script aside. When the most recent writers' strike loomed last year, Allen took the script, updated it, and made it his latest film starring the great Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") as one of the least likable men on the planet, Boris Yellnikoff. Everyone is assuming that Boris/Larry is a stand-in for Allen, a mistake a lot of critics and fans have made over the years. But the truth is Allen would never have played a character as cruel toward and judgmental of others; if anything, he would have turned that loathing against himself. But Boris is a certifiable genius, making everyone else he comes into contact with a microbe, a worm, an imbecile, and he has no problem letting them know that he feels this way about them.

Putting aside the brilliance of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (which to me was a perfect blend of comedy and drama), Whatever Works is one of Allen's most consistently funny films in years, but it might be difficult for some to recognize that with David's often venomous diatribes against humanity (sometimes aimed at young children or at those in his life who care about him most). When a barely legal young woman from the South named Melodie St. Ann Celestine (The Wrestler's Evan Rachel Wood) enters his life seeking shelter and food after roaming the streets of New York, Boris naturally rejects the very notion of her, but her unbridled optimism and sunny nature gets the best of him. Boris is also intrigued by her unformed and uninformed feelings and philosophies, and he's more than happy to school her on his doom-and-gloom window to the world.

I've always had generally positive feelings about Wood as an actress, but between The Wrestler and Whatever Works, she's transformed into a performer whose work I will actually anticipate from this point forward. When she enters the story, you assume she's going to be a one-note Southern ditz, but there's a wonderful, subtle metamorphosis going on here that is pretty special. Melodie begins to quote Boris to others without truly understanding all of what his theories mean, and when she spouts off about "We're all going to die, so what's the point?", it doesn't ring true.

Patricia Clarkson enters the story as Marietta, Melodie's Bible-thumping mother, who is appalled to find out that her daughter has taken up with this much older man. Once again, Allen surprises us in his script by making Marietta's adventures in the big city perhaps even a bit more interesting than her daughter's. Eventually Melodie's father (Ed Begley Jr.) comes searching for his ladies as well, and eventually Melodie's connection to Boris changes in ways she does not anticipate. I don't want to ruin all of the surprises in Whatever Works (and there are quite a few), but throught it all, Larry David barrels through all of the new-age nonsense and the Up with People attitudes to deliver a character that is quite different than the one he plays on "Curb," while maintaining what it is I've always loved about the guy — he delivers every line like it's the unmistakeable, undeniable truth. Although he doesn't do it often (and that's a good thing), occasionally Boris addresses the audience directly — he even makes mention of the fact that there's an audience in a theater watching him, people who paid good money to hear him tell his life story. The other characters around him see him talking to someone, but they don't see an audience. Boris' reason for this? Because he's the only one who sees the big picture. I guess in that sense, I do see the relationship between Boris and Allen.

Whatever Works is yet another example of Allen coaxing out a romance between an older man and younger girl, a theme that I thought he maybe had gotten all the mileage he could have years ago, but this story feels fresh thanks to its Pygmalion/My Fair Lady twist (despite the fact that Boris says right off the bat that his story is not like those; he's both wrong and right). But the simple truth is, the film made me laugh a great deal, and about as much as it made me think about a variety of subjects, including the impossible art of letting go and how there is almost without a doubt someone for everyone. I've heard Whatever Works described as "classic" Woody Allen, and I respectfully disagree. There's a maturity and intelligence in this movie that I'm not sure Allen could have pulled off when he'd originally intended on making it. If my chronology is correct, this film would have been his follow-up to Annie Hall, and I'm by no means saying that lovely work is lacking either of these qualities. But I firmly believe that Whatever Works could only have been successfully written by a much older man than Allen was in the mid- to late 1970s. I can't remember when something that showcased a character so uncomfortable in the world still felt like comfort food to me. This is great stuff. The film opens Friday at the Landmark Century Center Cinema.

Cheri

There are few filmmakers I can count on to deliver a film I will inevitably like or love that rival Britain's Stephen Frears. Going back to My Beautiful Laundrette and continuing through such marvels as The Grifters, High Fidelity, The Snapper, Dirty Pretty Things and The Queen, Frears is so consistent and reliable that he was bound to disappoint me to a degree sooner or later. His latest work, Cheri, based on the scandalous books by Colette and adapted by Christopher Hampton (who adapted Atonement and Dangerous Liaisons, which Frears also directed), is something of a misstep if only because the titular male leading character (or at least the actor who portrays him, Rupert Friend) is such an obnoxious, annoying fop that I had an impossible time believing that anyone as refined and lovely as the aging courtesan Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer) would ever fall for this colossal douche.

Set during the Belle Epoque era in Paris, Cheri is set in a world where courtesans were able to make enough money in their prime from rich clients that they could retire at a respectable age and live the rest of their lives comfortably. Lea is at such an age and time in her life when an old friend and fellow woman of ill repute, Charlotte Peloux (Kathy Bates), recruits her to teach her lazy, sometimes cruel son, nicknamed Cheri (Friend), a thing or two about women. Quite unintentionally, Lea and Cheri fall in love and spend several years essentially living together in unwedded bliss. Suddenly Bates' swoops in once again to alert Lea that the relationship must end so that her son may marry a nice girl from a disgustingly rich family. But neither Cheri nor Lea are quite ready to give the relationship up, which leads to countless complications.

As much as I loathed Friend's performance, I was impressed with what Pfeiffer achieves. She manages to be radiant, without being afraid to show us the cracks (both physical and emotional) on her face. She knows that she's getting to the age where Cheri might stop loving her because she's simply too old and society would shun him for remaining with her. While it was hardly unusual at the time for older courtesans to take up with much younger men, Cheri's station in life would be compromised by looking like a fool. Watching her emotional journey in this film is the only reason to pay money to see it. Pfeiffer is still a viable, vivacious, talented actress, and it is my most sincere wish that she find some quality roles to sink her teeth into. This is certainly a step in the right direction, especially since her last couple of efforts went right to video or she's be demoted to supporting roles in such films as Stardust, Hairspray and White Oleander. Those aren't terrible movies, but she deserves so much better. I realize it's a broken record heard often that actresses over 40 have a tough time getting work, and while I don't know if any actress can have the kind of career that, say, Meryl Streep does, I'd hate to see Pfeiffer vanish from the scene. I for one still very much enough looking at her, and her highly sexual and sensual performance in Cheri is exactly the kind of proof I've needed to make my point. She's pretty damn flawless here, and the quality of her work makes it easier to ignore the idiot playing her leading man. The film opens Friday at the Landmark Century Center Cinema.

Jerichow

This film from Germany features one of those great stories that starts out like a solid slice-of-life tale and turns into a complex and layered works that gets so deep under your skin that it makes you edgy and weirdly uncomfortable at how intimate things get. That's a good thing, by the way. Jerichow, named after the small, impoverished town where it takes place, follows a former solider named Thomas (Speed Racer's Benno Furmann) whose mother has just died. Rather than sell her place, he wants to hold onto it and renovate it himself. But after using what little money his mother left him to pay off his debts, he's left with nothing. After fruitlessly searching for a job through an employment agency, Thomas meets a Turkish man named Ali (Hilmi Sozer), who owns a chain of small snack bars throughout the region. Ali has lost his driver's license, so he hires Thomas to drive him on his daily rounds, visiting each store location to replenish supplies, collect money and receipts, and see who's ripping him off. With Thomas' soldiering skills, Ali has unknowingly hired himself a grateful bodyguard as well, and the two settle into a nice routine and become friends.

Ali's attractive wife Laura (Nina Hoss) is fairly cold toward Thomas at first, but soon he begins to realize that she is a deeply unhappy woman who Ali is suspicious of and cruel toward. During the course of the film, the dynamic among the three changes gradually, almost so slowly you don't notice this, and then without warning, Laura and Thomas are kissing on the beach after Ali has wandered away drunk. This small but significant event sets off a chain reaction of emotions and goings on that generate a genuine sense of suspense and anxiety. When Thomas drops Ali off on what is supposed to be a quick trip to Turkey, we see Ali head into the airport but the double back and catch a cab. Where is he going? Thomas and Laura seize the opportunity to hump like rabbits, and Laura details her life story and how she ended up with Ali and why she can never leave him. Yes, folks, this tricky little film becomes a modern film noir by the end, and I loved it for that.

As careful and the new couple are in their schemes, naturally there is one flaw that gives them away. But nothing quite prepared me for how this sharp and smart film concludes. It's sudden and completely unexpected. Writer-director Christian Petzold (Yella) manages to keep a lid on his plot's twists and turns with much more style and grace than most directors would have. He seems to relish in letting developments slowly trickle to the audience rather than pack the film with one explosive surprise after another. We're never quite sure who we can trust in this film, outside of Thomas, whom we're pretty sure is being taken on a ride by somebody, or perhaps two somebodies. Make an effort to track down and see Jerichow. It's a great burst of strong storytelling from a filmmaker who is coming into his own as a visionary. That's always a good and exciting thing. The movie opens Friday at the Music Box Theatre.

Break-Up, Date

This fun, insightful and endlessly amusing documentary on the world of modern dating manages to gather a fairly eclectic group of Chicago-area singles (most in their 20s and 30s) who share their stories of dating, rejection, and the endless and often painful search for someone to spend all or a significant chunk of your life with. While clearly the age of online dating is upon us, the film isn't entirely about coupling in the electronic age, despite the fact that one published expert on the subject does liken the pick-and-choose nature of dating in the 21st century to buying a pair of shoes. While managing to stay fairly neutral on the subject himself, director Collin Souter does present a group of players who range a great deal in their approach to finding the perfect man or woman. Some are experts at playing the game and following "the rules," while others seem to prefer (or at least they say they do) casual hanging out with someone for months or years on end until a more serious and committed contender makes an appearance.

Break-Up, Date covers familiar ground like speed dating, blind dates, casual sex, and web sites that match you with your "perfect" mate, but Souter also uncovers some less traditional paths such as Dating for Nerds, which actually looks like a great way to meet people whether you want to date them or not, and the hug-fest Cuddle Party, which looks something strikingly similar to my worst nightmare in a pair of flannel pajamas. The film never gets too serious, nor does it explore just how immensely lonely people get when they can't quite seem to conform to society's expectations of pairing up with someone. But this isn't that movie. The film features students, creative types, mothers and sons, strong independent women, professionals, and even WGN Radio's Nick Digilio, who provides what might be my favorite date story involving taking a woman to see David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers as what he refers to (regrettably) as "some asshole test" on his part. Film geeks will understand perfectly; my go to test film for years was Dawn of the Dead.

The film has enough people of depth to make you really learn something from their experience whether you are single or otherwise occupied, but more than anything, Break-Up, Date makes you want to know what has happened to these folks since the cameras stopped rolling. Hell, there's at least one woman in this film that I would have pursued without a second thought were I single today. It's easy enough to get people to talk about themselves — and sure enough, listening to people chronicle their own dating histories made me think about my own way more than I had in years — but it's quite another thing to pull together an interesting film that isn't afraid to laugh at its subjects while still respecting their pain. For reasons I can't quite explain, this film cheered me up and gave me a small amount of hope for our future. Break-Up, Date opens Friday for a weeklong run at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Director Collin Souter will be present for audience discussion at the 8:15pm show on Saturday.

A Wink and a Smile

This new documentary about the modern burlesque phenomenon isn't attempting to be an all-inclusive history lesson about the practice as much as it is a look at how a group of women in Seattle are using the practice to bring out the confidence, sensuality and creativity in their own personalities. For many of these women, these elements have remained long buried in themselves, and it took a six-week course at the Academy of Burlesque taught by one Miss Indigo Blue (assisted by Shanghai Pearl) to coax the wilder side out.

During the course of the film, we watch the ladies piece together choreography, costumes and make-up choices into a routine and a character that will debut on stage in front of an audience. The prospect of being semi-nude in front of strangers and loved ones is terrifying for each woman, but there's an anticipation in each one that the class and the final event will be the final step toward something their lives have been lacking for far too long. Director Deirdre Timmons goes back and forth between the rehearsals of the amateurs and watching routines from some of Seattle's best-known burlesque performers. And Miss Indigo Blue is a great instructor to both her students and to us about the various types of burlesque performers. It's a fascinating world that is brought into the light, and Timmons and her subjects do an admirable job distinguishing this art form from simply stripping.

I found myself far more interested in watching the women in the class slowly pull together their routines, and their lives in the process. In essence this is a 10-person character study, and each woman has a story to tell. I was particularly curious about the pupils who led fairly mundane lives, and were just looking for a lightning bolt of excitement in their world before they got much older or lost their nerve. The film offers up a few unexpected twists — first and foremost when one student drops out for a pretty disappointing reason — but even without those developments, the film is an excellent profile of world that exits just off the radar.

A Wink and a Smile opens for a weeklong run at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Following the Friday screening, director Deirdre Timmons and Chicago's own burlesque queen Michelle L'amour will preside over the first public performance of Studio L'amour's latest graduating class. Performers making their debut on the Gene Siskel Film Center stage include: Kami Oh!, Ivy Fabulous, Vicky Sin, Elisa Purls, ZsaZsa Galore, Lana Bijou and Lime Rickey. A very special performance by L'amour herself rounds out the program. I honestly don't know how you can afford to miss this.

West Loop Gallery Tours

2009-06-24T22:08:58Z

The Art Dealers Association of Chicago, composed of fine art dealerships ranging from the antique to the avant-garde, has added a second round of gallerys to their weekly Saturday tours in River North. Beginning July 18th and taking place every 6-8 weeks, the ADAC will take groups through the burgeoning West Loop art community. Stops on the tour include Peter Miller Gallery, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Carrie Secrist Gallery, and McCormick Gallery. For more information about the new West Loop tour and their longstanding River North tours, see the ADAC website.

Photo of Kim Keever's "Wildflowers," from the Carrie Secrist Gallery website. Click on image for spectacular full-size version.

Sunshineface

2009-06-24T16:59:12Z

One of the bittersweet realities of the Chicago comedy scene is that there are constantly performers leaving Chicago looking for their big break. The usual path of migration typically involves a move out to LA or New York to find work, but for Devin Keast it meant moving to Michigan to become a hockey announcer. Though Keast may have spent most of his time at the mic talking about slapshots and penalties, his comedic background did not go to waste. This past season he wrote Sunshineface, his second attempt at a solo show. He will tour the show around the country, with stops at the Philadelphia and Kansas City Fringe Festivals, but his first stop is at The Playground this Friday, June 26, at 10 pm.

The Playrground is located at 3209 N. Halsted and tickets are $10. Reservations can be made online or by calling 773-871-3793.

Let's Go Crazy with KTF

2009-06-24T13:15:53Z

Chicago's Dance Crash troupe has been wowing audiences and critics alike for the past year, even going as far as to garner the reader's choice award for best dance company in the Reader's Best of Chicago 2009. This week in celebration of Pride Week, KTF is stepping up at the Lakeshore Theater after their blow-out closing performance in for an all-Prince purple revolution. Crash Dance's competitions feature every style of dance, from breaking to ballet, which can only help bring out the madness in style Prince has in his catalog. Renowned Chicago breaker Torsion headlines the dance tribute to the funky man himself.

Chicago Dance Crash continues their late night dance series at the Lakeshore Theatre (3175 N. Broadway). The one-night only show is Friday, June 26th at 10:30 pm. Tickets are $10, and VIP tickets are $15. However, KTF is giving away a pair of tickets to their Friday night show for Gapers Block readers! ~~Email contests@gapersblock.com with "KTF" in the subject line~~. One winner will be selected at random by Thursday, June 24 at 5 pm. Good luck! UPDATE: Congratulations to Megan, our winner!

Indie Film Love at the Gen Art Film Festival

2009-06-23T01:40:38Z

Film festivals can be intimidating, even for a seasoned filmophile. There's the stars, the crowds, the fear of not knowing enough to fit in with the "cool kids." Gen Art Chicago makes the concept of a film festival a little less intimidating with it's yearly Gen Art Film Festival. Gen Art is hosting it's third annual screening series at local film houses known for premiering the nation's best in independent cinema. The film festival and Gen Art are known for bringing unique independent art and films to Chicago, coupling bigger name features with short films to expose a mass audience to emerging filmmakers. This year's line-up includes the sure to be summer hit (500) Days of Summer as well as three other up and coming feature movies.
Each screening also has an after-party, hosted at some of the city's hottest bars and clubs. With tickets for the screenings and after parties for only $20 per screening, it's easy to feel glamorous without the price tag attached it to. The festival starts Tuesday, June 23rd and runs until Saturday, June 27th. A full listing for the Gen Art Film Festival can be seen after the jump.

OPENING NIGHT: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
The Music Box Theatre (3733 N Southport Ave.)
Short: The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon
Directed by: Richard Gale

Feature: (500) Days of Summer
Directed by: Marc Webb
Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Geoffrey Arend, Chloe Grace Moritz, Matthew Gray Gubler, Clark Gregg, Rachel Boston, and Minka Kelly

After Party, 10pm - 12 am
Bon V (1100 W. Randolph St.)

Thursday, June 25, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
AMC Piper's Alley (1608 N Wells St.)
Short: Chief
Directed by: Brett Wagner

Feature: Mercy
Directed by: Patrick Hoelk
Starring: Scott Caan, Wendy Glenn, Troy Garity, Erika Christensen, Alexie Gilmore, John Boyd with Dylan McDermott and James Caan

After Party, 10pm to 12am
Theatro Lounge (858 W. Lake St.)

Friday, June 26, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
AMC Piper's Alley (1608 N Wells St.)
Short: Glock
Directed by: Thomas Everett Scott

Feature: Patriotville
Directed by: Talmage Cooley
Starring: Justin Long, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Corddry, Keir O'Donnell and Missi Pyle

After Party, 10pm to midnight
Crescendo (222 W. Ontario St.)

CLOSING NIGHT: Saturday, June 27, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
AMC Piper's Alley (1608 N Wells St.)
Short: Short Term 12
Directed by: Destin Cretton

Feature: Shrink
Directed by: Jonas Pate
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Robert Loggia, Pell James, Keke Palmer, Griffin Dunne, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Dallas Roberts, Gore Vidal, Laura Ramsey, Mark Webber, Jesse Plemons, Joel Gretsch

After Party from 10pm to 12am
Loft Six Ten (1332 N. Milwaukee Ave.)

Friday Flickr Feature

2009-06-19T14:06:03Z

This photo was taken by sierraromeo at the Empty Bottle during a recent Viva Voce set.