Overheard Illustrated Mon Jan 31 2011

Overheard Illustrated: "Must Know"

Sunday, January 30, Gallery Cafe, Wicker Park

— Mark Addison Smith

Art Sun Jan 30 2011

Walking at Linda Warren

Linda Warren's current show, Walking, consists of new paintings by Willie Kohler. Willie's approach to painting is a breath of fresh air from what you're bound to see at many galleries today. It is the ability to experience art that relies mostly on observation, both internal and external, to direct the viewer through an individual painting, as well as the entire body of work, that makes Walking so fresh and exciting. Willie's work breathes with nature that is not influenced by pop culture. Raw and overgrown, these paintings influence us and inspire meditation. They have the ability to transport us to familiar places we have never been and to show us what we only thought we saw.

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— MartinJon

Art Sat Jan 29 2011

Jim Nutt's Coming into Character at the MCA

Jim Nutt made a rare appearance yesterday at the preview of his much anticipated show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Coming into Character, which officially opens today. Though the Chicago artist does not currently reside in our city, his involvement in the off-beat Hairy Who group and the Imagism movement that can be seen as a quintessential milestone in Chicago art history, makes him a local treasure.

Coming into Character is an extensive collection that exemplifies his work's ability to be simultaneously stunning and grotesque. His acrylics on plexiglass are startlingly colorful and the extensive details of the often vulgar subjects pull the viewer in with a bizarre intensity. Severed limbs, skewed facial features, and unforgiving interpretations of genitalia may confuse some and offend others, but Nutt's ability to capture the senses cannot be denied.

Many of Nutt's pieces in Coming into Character are accompanied by the drawings that he experimented with before jumping into the final project. The ghosts of erased lines provide a fascinating glimpse into the experimental nature of Nutt's process.

Jim Nutt's Coming into Character runs through May 29 at the MCA.

— Britany Robinson

Column Fri Jan 28 2011

The Mechanic, The Rite & Nora's Will

The Mechanic

Some people refer to the Coen Brothers' True Grit as a remake, which isn't entirely wrong, but it's far from entirely correct. If you would like to do a side-by-side comparison of a film and its exceedingly faithful remake, you need look no further than Simon (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the pilot of "The Cape") West's remake of the Michael (Death Wish I, II & III) Winner directed, Charles Bronson-starring actioner about an stoic professional killer who takes a young man (in the original, it was Jan-Michael Vincent) as his protege after killing the young man's father. Other than West's slicker directing style and some newer, cooler weapons, there is very little different in the details of this remake, starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster as the killer/killer-in-training combo.

Statham's Arthur Bishop is a man of few words and even fewer personal connections. One of his only friendships is with Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland), the man who usually gives him his killing assignments and the occasional bit of advice. But when Harry's boss Dean (Tony Goldwyn, playing the villain a little too much by the book) tells Bishop to take out Harry, Bishop does so begrudgingly. Primarily out of guilt, Bishop befriends Harry's son Steve, who's aware of what his dad and Bishop did and wants to learn the tricks of the trade. Bishop tries to teach him to be stealthy and quick, but Steve has a lust for loud, messy and bloody. Foster excels in these kind of roles, where he gets to play a character who can be quiet and charming, then suddenly launch into a complete fucking maniac.

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— Steve Prokopy

Street Art Wed Jan 26 2011

Packing Tape as a Vehicle for Change

As awesome as Chicago is, we have our fair share of problems, from homelessness to gun violence. As much as many of us would like to ignore these problems, it is important that we don't. Luckily there are artists and activists who have taken it upon themselves to bring attention to these problems in creative, even playful ways, encouraging communities to take responsibility for them. One of these groups calls themselves Piñata Factory. Piñata Factory is an ongoing collaboration between Mike Bancroft, working with the youth he mentors in his organization Cooperative Image Group in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, and Bert Stabler, with the students he teaches at Bowen High School on the southeast side.

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— Kelly Reaves

Film Wed Jan 26 2011

Gold Bald Men and the Actors Who Love Them

The nominations for this year's Academy Awards, which air Sunday, February 27 on ABC, were announced yesterday--were any of your favorites among the nominees?

Whether you're a film buff or simply like a good old-fashioned debate, join Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips as he hosts "Gold Bald Men and the Actors Who Love Them," a panel discussion to review the slate of 2011 Oscar nominees and give predictions on who will take home the golden statuettes.

Joining Phillips at "Gold Bald Men and the Actors Who Love Them," also part of Trib Nation, and under the Chicago Tribune's community outreach initiative, is a group of other film experts including The Onion A.V. Club's Tasha Robinson and Nathan Rabin and Filmspotting's Matty Robinson and Adam Kempenaar. The panel discussion will also include clips from the film nominees, with audience members getting to witness the experts as they give their insight on "all things Oscar."

"Gold Bald Men and the Actors Who Love Them" will be held at the Chicago Theatre Downstairs, 175 N. State St., at 8pm (doors open at 7:30pm). Tickets are $15 (includes one drink coupon) and can be purchased by online or by calling 312-222-3348. A "meet and mingle" reception follows the discussion.

— LaShawn Williams

Dance Tue Jan 25 2011

A Major Win for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

This morning, local favorites Hubbard Street Dance Chicago were awarded a 2011 Joyce Foundation award in Dance, the only 2011 Chicago-based awardee. The award includes a prize of $50,000 in support of a multi-year collaboration with choreographer Alonzo King and San Francisco-based LINES Ballet. Both dance companies plan on performing a new work by King in Chicago, the first in the city in more than a decade.

In anticipation of the collaboration, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago pushes forward later this year with a performance of Following the Subtle Current Upstream, a work choreographed by King. Part of the 2011 Summer Series at Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the performances begin May 19.

— Britt Julious

Art Tue Jan 25 2011

An Exhibition of "Take Away" Work

Independent curator and creative administrator Karly Wildenhaus' latest exhibition explores an object's meaning and place in contemporary art long after its initial exhibition. In Twice Removed: A Survey of Take Away Work, artwork initially available as free and in unlimited or large-run exhibitions is displayed in the local artist book shop Golden Age. Featuring work by artists such as local luminaries Aspen Mays and Jason Lazarus, as well as Jeremy Deller, Bruce Nauman, and Rivane Neuenschwander, Twice Removed examines the "post-exhibition" life of take away work when exhibited in a new and conceptually different space.

Twice Removed: A Survey of Take Away Work opens this Friday, January 28 at 6 pm at Golden Age, located at 119 North Peoria #2D.

— Britt Julious

Film Tue Jan 25 2011

The Guest at Central Park West: An Interview With John Marshall Jones

John Marshall Jones is certainly one busy actor; through a myriad of roles in television and film, he has engaged audiences for years with characters that are consistently diverse and that portray positive images. Here, the Northwestern University alumnus and founder of Mastering the Audition, talks about his award-winning project, The Guest at Central Park West.

In addition to Northwestern, your Chicago roots also include Second City. Talk about that experience and your transition when you decided to head for Hollywood.

Second City was notorious for only having one black person at a time--I was "the black guy" there from 1985 to1987; in fact, I used to tell people they didn't have to remember my name--just ask for "the black guy."

That must have added a lot to your experience, then.

It was an incredible training ground. You had to learn how to defend yourself against other comics who were all looking for a way to position themselves at the top. A lot of times, the humor was very racial, so you had to learn how to defend yourself without getting offended that that was all they could come up with. Again, it was a tremendous training ground for learning how to do the kind of comedy done in sitcoms. When I walked out of there, getting a job in Hollywood was no problem because I was already trained. I have a lot of fond memories--it was tough, but in the end, it was fair.

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— LaShawn Williams / Comments (1)

Overheard Illustrated Mon Jan 24 2011

Overheard Illustrated: "Zero Degrees"

Friday, January 21, West Loop

— Mark Addison Smith

Comedy Sat Jan 22 2011

Batterymouth Packs a Punch

Chicago is a comedy Mecca, so it can be difficult to decipher what shows, out of the vast sea of options, are deserving of your precious time and money. Allow me to make it a little easier for you: go see Batterymouth.

The duo's new show, Batterymouth: It Burns, opened last night and is running every Friday until February 18. Inspired by a single suggestion, partners Zack Whittington (also of sketch group Long Pork) and Dave Urlakis (of ComedySportz, Best Church of God) proceed to create a long-form improv riff, a single scene demonstrating the nuances of a relationship between two people. The beauty part is that as the audience learns about these two newly-minted characters on the stage, Whittington and Urlakis are learning about them for the first time too. Great improv requires a lot of attention to detail on the part of the performers, and these two don't seem to miss a beat. The result will vary drastically from week to week, but is sure to be fascinating and beautiful every time. Oh, and funny, too.

If you've seen Batterymouth before, you may remember them as a trio. But when member Mark Walkley left to pursue a graduate degree, Whittington and Urlakis retooled their format. Their hard work has clearly paid off; It Burns is a testament to the men's emotional and physical mastery of their comedic art form.

Batterymouth: It Burns is directed by E.J. Scott. It runs Fridays at 7:30 p.m. through February 18 at Second City's deMatt Theater, Piper's Alley, 1616 N. Wells. Tickets are $12 and can be ordered by calling (312) 337-3992 or by visiting secondcity.com, and are available at the deMaat Theatre's box office.

— Marissa Flaxbart

Gallery Sat Jan 22 2011

Heads on Poles

The current show that is up at Western Exhibitions was created from a simple call to artists by Paul Nudd and Scott Wolniak, who requested "Heads on Poles". What they got is exactly what you might expect them to have gotten, a few politically driven works, a number that had environmental overtones and some just fun, off the wall pieces. Making your way through the gallery presents a pretty interesting problem. As we all know, we are not supposed to touch the art even if we want to, it is hard not to be reminded that if these were actually dismembered heads on poles, that the same rule would most likely apply.

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— MartinJon

Theater Fri Jan 21 2011

Wildclaw Theater's Carmilla Steams up the DCA's Storefront Theater

What's sexier than lesbian vampires? Wildclaw Theater has certainly capitalized on the steamy aspects of J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla in their adaptation of the story, re-worked by Aly Renee Greaves. The plethora of cleavage, gore, double entendres and good old-fashioned camp is pretty much what this play has going for it. Audience members looking for subtle drama and narrative buildup will likely leave disappointed, but those who go to the play hoping to be suffocated by fog machines and splashed with fake blood, a la the Shamu show at Sea World, will be thrilled.

Carmilla, a gothic novel first published in 1872, predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years. It tells the story of a young English woman (Laura, played by Brittany Burch) living in a remote castle in Eastern Europe, in an area that is becoming plagued by mysterious deaths.

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— Kelly Reaves

Feature Fri Jan 21 2011

Strike a Pose: Chicago's Thriving Underground Ball Scene

This story was submitted by Rachel Rabbit White. All photos by Edmund X. White.

It's a snowy December night on the South Side and the ballroom has filled up quickly. There are guys in tailored suits, girls in red-heeled Louboutins. There are pop-gothy capes and futuristic glasses. The crowd is gathered around a catwalk -- and everyone is young, black and queer.

This is a ball. An underground LGBTQ contest where participants compete by "walking" -- showing off themed outfits and voguing -- a stylized house dance that continues to evolve. They are competing for trophies and the hope to become "legendary" -- famous not only in Chicago but the entire community, which now spans the globe. Balls found fame with Paris is Burning, a documentary about the New York scene, but Chicago's had its own ball circuit for as long as New York -- one that has its own trends, culture and history. And as the Internet popularizes the community, Chicago is seeing another wave in the resurgence of balls.

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— A/C / Comments (5)

Column Fri Jan 21 2011

The Company Men, The Way Back, Barney's Version, William S. Burroughs: A Man Within & Great Directors

The Company Men

I know several critical thinkers who really dislike this movie, and I'm baffled as to why this is the case. I'm not saying that writer-director John Wells first time out as a filmmaker (he's made a comfortable living writing and producing shows like "E.R.," "The West Wing," and the new Showtime dark comedy "Shameless") is the finest example of high drama around in this awards season, but I actually found it a fairly accurate portrayal of the current corporate culture that has led to layoff that have nothing to do with merit and everything to do with the bottom line. If two highly skilled and qualified people are making more money than two underperforming but lesser paid employees, guess which two get the axe. It's short sighted behavior, but it's also exactly what's happening, and I thought the movie captured this trend rather nicely.

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— Steve Prokopy

Review Thu Jan 20 2011

Review: As You Like It @ Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Disguised as the young man Ganymede, Rosalind (Kate Fry, center) listens to Orlando (Matt Schwader) unwittingly proclaim his love for her as Celia (Chaon Cross) looks on in amusement, in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's As You Like It. Photo credit: Liz Lauren

There's something about hearing lines of dialogue spoken out loud for the first time that I've seen in print a thousand times that gives me a direct sense of connection to the past. Before last Saturday's performance, I'd never seen Shakespeare's As You Like It, but I'd heard this line countless times: "All the world's a stage." Hearing it come from an actor standing less than twenty feet from me on an actual stage (Ross Lehman in the role of Jaques) made me realize how clever the line really is, and how little the English language has changed since the 1600's.

The piece is filled with all the cross-dressing and mistaken identities that you'd expect in a Shakespeare comedy, and is amazing to watch unfold on the intimate stage of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which is modelled after the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre. The set design is both spare and sufficient, and everything from the lighting to the fight choreography lets you know that you're in professional hands. Every inch of the theater space is used, including the aisles and the overhangs; this is no sleepy performance, the action moves in fast and sometimes unexpected directions, the actors so close to the audience that at times I could have reached out and touched them.

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— J.H. Palmer

Film Thu Jan 20 2011

Chicago Premiere of Strongman at Facets Cinémathèque

Trailer for Strongman, directed by Zachary Levy

Starting one week from Friday, Facets Cinémathèque will be showing Strongman, the winner of the Slamdance Best Documentary prize and an Official Selection from SXSW. The full blurb, filmmaker quotes and showtimes are after the jump.

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— David Schalliol

Review Wed Jan 19 2011

Review: Mascot @ The Prop Theater

Mascot, a one-act, one-man play running at the Prop Theater for the next four Saturdays, is the creation of writer Chris Bower of Ray's Tap Reading Series in collaboration with Found Objects Theater Group. In it, actor Matt Test draws us into the interior life of a man whose greatest passion is football, and who has become estranged from his wife and son. The action takes place in the man's living room, represented by a sparsely decorated set consisting of an armchair, a TV, and a metal clothes rack dominated by the presence of a soiled bear mascot costume.

In the man's darkly comic monologue we learn about his wife, his son, and the circumstances that led to the restraining order that keeps him from watching his son's high school football games. At times the set goes dark, sending the audience even deeper into the man's mind as he becomes a disembodied voice not only estranged from his family, but from the audience's sight.

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— J.H. Palmer

Dance Tue Jan 18 2011

Pilobolus Dance Theatre

The Pilobolus Dance Theatre celebrates its 40th year with a debut performance at the Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph, Chicago. This highly athletic and acrobatic dance troupe, world-renowned for its unique and creative form of modern dance, will perform as part of the theater's Teen Arts Exploration Project.

Pilobolus' program will consist of diverse performances that include one of its first works, Walklyndon, a dance with slapstick and other physical humor, and The Transformation, a piece created in collaboration with "SpongeBob SquarePants" head writer, Steven Banks.

Also included in the program is the revival of Duet, a classic work dealing with "intimacy" and "misunderstanding." This performance of Duet is the first in almost a decade and was reinstated to celebrate the company's 40th anniversary.

You can see the Pilobolus Dance Theatre during its limited run on Friday, Jan. 28 and Saturday, Jan. 29 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $25-$55 and are on sale at the Harris Theater box office and online. Contact 312-334-7777 for more information.

— LaShawn Williams / Comments (1)

Television Mon Jan 17 2011

"Mike and Molly" Back With More Close-But-No-Cigar Chicago References

CBS sitcom "Mike & Molly" is just one of a slew of current TV shows set in Chicago ("The Good Wife," "The Chicago Code," "Shameless"), but its references to the Windy City aren't always spot-on. Tonight's episode managed to successfully suggest that the characters head to a Bulls game, correctly painting the Bulls-Celtics matchup as unmissable. They manage to refrain from easy details like mentioning the UC, D Rose or Benny the Bull by name -- lazy, sure, but not fallacious. The writers make it almost to the end and then tragedy strikes: after the game, the guys rejoice in the fact the the Bulls won and scored over 100 points, earning everyone in the crowd a free...chalupa? Real Bulls fans know the prize is actually a free Big Mac. 

My guess: the writers thought "chalupa" sounded funnier than "burger." And rightly so. 

— Marissa Flaxbart / Comments (2)

Overheard Illustrated Mon Jan 17 2011

Overheard Illustrated: "Lazy Electricity"

Saturday, January 15, Museum of Science and Industry

— Mark Addison Smith / Comments (1)

Feature Fri Jan 14 2011

Laugh Quest: A Week at Chicago's Comedy Open Mics

This story was submitted by Emerson Dameron. Photos by Erin Nekervis.

"It would be pretty cool if mermaids were real, because I could stop fucking all these manatees."
-Kevin Hogan

Schubas
3159 N. Southport
773-525-2508
First Sundays of the month, 8pm sign-up, 9:30 show

"You're not funny," says the skinny, lisping frat spud. He breaks into my birth control joke. This guy is not a comedian. Normally, open-mic comedians love "civilians," real audience members who show up just to watch. Civilians are few, and they're a better litmus test for material, for many complex reasons, than fellow comedians.

But this drunken asswipe has been antagonizing us all night. I first noticed him downstairs, after I signed up and during the long wait before showtime. His voice carried as he shouted at his friends about "bitches." Now, he's breaking into everyone's set and refusing to leave or shut up.

And after he breaks into mine, everyone else finally wants blood. Another group of civilians lays into him about his striped shirt and wallet chain. He offers a fist bump, as though it's all good and we're all buddies. His fist bump is declined. Another comedian tells him to go choke himself. It is now the heckler versus everyone else in the room. I've lost the room's attention. My set is totaled.

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— A/C / Comments (1)

Column Fri Jan 14 2011

The Dilemma, The Green Hornet, Another Year, The Illusionist & Marwencol

The Dilemma

It's always a frustrating thing when a film is promoted one way, when the true nature of the work is something quite different. The most recent example of that might be James L. Brooks' How Do You Know, which is a quite worthy film about three 30-somethings going through transitions in their lives that are leaving their futures with more question marks than any of them thought imaginable. And now we also have the Ron Howard-directed The Dilemma, starring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James.

On the surface (and according to all forms of advertising for the film), the movie seems to be a comedy about a Ronny (Vaughn), who owns a car-design business with his oldest friend Nick (James), and finds out that Nick's wife, Geneva (Winona Ryder), is cheating. While Ronny has no doubt in his mind that Nick needs to be told about the infidelity, he questions the timing of the news delivery. The pair are on the brink of signing the biggest deal of their professional career, and Ronny is afraid that breaking the news will wreck Nick's ability to finish the project. Ronny confronts Geneva with his knowledge, and she promises to be the one to tell Nick, but not without revealing a few things about the marriage that shock Ronny right out of his belief that the two have the perfect relationship, one that he has modeled his relationship with long-term girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly) after. In the end, Geneva chickens out, leaving the burden of telling and proving the affair all on Ronny.

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— Steve Prokopy

Comedy Thu Jan 13 2011

Nose Complaint at Sketchfest

The last days of Sketchfest are dwindling down and it's now or never if you want to catch any of the remaining groups at the Festival. Clever sketch groups are in abundance at Sketchfest, but a surefire pick is Sunday's Nose Complaint show. Nose Complaint consists of two best friends, Dave Caro and Nicholas Schaefer, directed and choreographed by David Montgomery, in a show that dives right into the fun and exciting world that revolves around their friendship. A departure from standard sketch comedy fare, Nose Complaint features a grand finale that would be fitting for even a Vegas stage.

Nose Complaint is playing Sunday, January 16th at 4 p.m. in the North Theater at Stage 773 (1225 W. Belmont). Tickets can be purchased online or over the phone at 773.327.5252 for $12.

— Dyan Flores

Performance Thu Jan 13 2011

Brotherhood Chorale: Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

The Music Institute of Chicago (MIC), one of the most well-known community music schools in the nation, welcomes Brotherhood Chorale for its 7th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. Led by conductor Brian C. Rice, this 180-member, all male choir from Chicago will perform in a jazz and gospel concert in honor of the legendary Civil Rights leader.

Accompanying Brotherhood Chorale this year are accomplished youth violinists and cousins, Ade Williams and Mira Williams, who are also recipients of this year's William Warfield Memorial Scholarship Fund, a program that provides financial assistance to minority students who belong to MIC.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration will be held Sunday, Jan. 16, at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Admission is free, with all contributions benefiting the William Warfield Memorial Scholarship Fund. For more information visit musicinst.org or call 847.905.1500 ext. 108.

— LaShawn Williams

Art Wed Jan 12 2011

A Celebration of Satire

A delightful celebration of subversion is going up at Northwestern University's Block Museum, with a public opening reception tomorrow (Thursday) at 5pm. Two complementary exhibitions are opening: Thomas Rowlandson: Pleasures and Pursuits in Georgian England, and The Satirical Edge in Contemporary Prints and Graphics.

The former includes 71 drawings, watercolors, prints, and books by Thomas Rowlandson, a popular English satirist who applied his masterful drawing skills and keen sense of humor to colorful, detailed, and sometimes bawdy depictions of everyday life in and around London during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These works offer an entryway into the social and political life of Georgian England. Rowlandson specialized in capturing the follies and foibles on display in his native city during a time of remarkable population growth and social change, as members of differing classes clumsily mixed and mingled for the first time. Click here for a slideshow preview. (Flash)

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— Kelly Reaves

Photography Tue Jan 11 2011

Fear into Fire: Reclaiming Black Male Identity Through the Art of Tattooing

Tattooing--a practice that is deviant to some; to others, however, it is classified as a form of art that is integral to culture and identity in society. For black men, especially entertainers and athletes of the hip-hop generation, tattooing, or "ink," is almost ritualistic, and is used by many as the ultimate form of self-expression and individuality.

To showcase this ideology, Columbia College Chicago presents Fear into Fire: Reclaiming Black Male Identity Through the Art of Tattooing, a photography exhibit that explores black men and tattoos. Curated by alumna Nicole Harrison and featuring artists including Jabari Zuberi and Shasta Bady, the exhibit centers on "the meanings and connections of the body and the tattoo" and seeks to explain "the body as an alternative space where masculinity and identity formation can occur" as it relates to black men.

Fear into Fire: Reclaiming Black Male Identity Through the Art of Tattooing will be displayed from January 24 through March 2 at Columbia College Chicago's Arcade Gallery, 618 S. Michigan Ave., Second Floor; gallery hours are 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, February 3. This exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Mark Porter, 312-369-6643, or mporter@colum.edu.

— LaShawn Williams

Art Mon Jan 10 2011

Heather Hancock: Imagining Mind

For her latest solo exhibition, local artist Heather Hancock created three mixed media works addressing the "constructed nature of the cognitive moment." Materials such as glass, paint, and 24 karat gold smalti are used to create unified experiences born out of the sensations of the emotional and physical world.

In many of her works, Hancock incorporates and emphasizes the power of glass as a material to literally reflect and figuratively channel meaning for the viewer. For Imagining Mind, Hancock uses the glass to explore ideas of focused attention, narrative, and the autobiographical self.

Imagining Mind runs through February 10 at the Montgomery Ward Gallery as part of the UIC Student Center East, 750 South Halsted.

— Britt Julious / Comments (1)

Overheard Illustrated Mon Jan 10 2011

Overheard Illustrated: "From Michigan"

Friday, January 7, Red Line to Jackson

— Mark Addison Smith

Theater Mon Jan 10 2011

DIY Theater Comes to Logan Square's Beloved DIY Music Venue

Baltimore-based theater group, The Missoula Oblongata, is bringing their newest play, Clamlump, to Ball Hall on Monday, Feb. 14. The description of the play is pretty mindboggling except for the bit about it being set "deep in the hollows of a boarded up stadium," but if you check out TMO's website I think you will be convinced to go whether or not you understand what you're going for. The play will feature a live score performed by Travis Sehorn and an opening act by ventriloquist, April Camlin. BYOP(illow) to sit on. Click here to visit the Facebook event page, or here to visit The Missoula Oblongata's website. Ball Hall's address is secret because the city will try to get their hands into the venue's (empty) pockets if they are given the opportunity. If you wanna go, you've gotta find out where it is for yourself. You can thank the city for that. Admission will most likely require a small donation, but has not yet been specified.

— Kelly Reaves

Performance Sun Jan 09 2011

Show Your Face!

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) presents the Chicago debut of Betontanc & Umka.lv: Show Your Face!, a collaborative performance comprised of dance, theater and puppetry, with live music performed by Silence and Ugis Vitins.

The show, part of MCA's "Global Stage" series and written and directed by Matjaž Pograjc, is a multimedia performance featuring Latvian puppet theater company Umka.lv and Betontanc ("Concrete Dance"), a dance theater company from Slovenia. The story centers on the concept of courage, and stars a nameless, faceless person--a toddler "onesie" made into a puppet--who encounters people like himself, who are either boldly unafraid to change the world or who are, on the other hand, too afraid to change it.

The performance also showcases both group members as integral creators of and active participants in the play, who used movement and puppets made from a variety of household items to make the story come alive.

Betontanc & Umka.lv: Show Your Face! runs January 14-16 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, at 7:30pm Friday and Saturday, January 14 and 15, and 3pm, Sunday, January 16. Tickets are $22-$28 and can be purchased online or at the box office. For more information, contact 312-397-4010.

— LaShawn Williams

Improv Fri Jan 07 2011

It Gets Better

One of the greatest things about Chicago is the abundance of comedic talent that you're likely to find on any one of the city's stages. One of the saddest things about Chicago is the abundance of comedic talent that migrates to the coasts looking for bigger fish to fry. That is where the internet comes in handy. When Chicago ex-pats do great things that are captured on YouTube, the glory of technology makes it possible for us to keep tabs on them.

Second City alum Rebecca Drysdale has recorded her own contribution to the "It Gets Better" project, a slammin' dance track that's funny, vulgar, and encouraging all at the same time. It combines hopeful honesty with filthy lyrics and hip hop dancing, which is always a winning combination.

— Dyan Flores

Column Fri Jan 07 2011

Blue Valentine, Country Strong, Season of the Witch & My Uncle

Blue Valentine

The first feature film in a very long time from director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance (Brother Tied) is an emotion typhoon that manifests the bulk of its power from juxtaposing two very distinct timelines in the lives of Dean and Cindy (Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams), a young married couple whose disintegrating marriage is made all the more tragic with constant reminders of how happy and carefree they were in their initial courtship. Blue Valentine crushes our hearts effortlessly that to the two incredible performances at its core.

The film is filled with secrets, passion, rage, tension, and a collection of moments that reveal how far the couple has drifted apart in only six years. In the present day, Dean and Cindy decide to take a night away from their daughter and got to a hotel with "theme" rooms, in a pathetic attempt to rekindle the romance. An attempt to seduce his wife in the shower is shut down fast by Cindy, and in the next scene (set six years prior) we see Dean put on the same moves with Cindy with more favorable results (you may have heard about the scene in question, which almost earned the film an NC-17 rating). Cianfrance subtly repeats this idea of having scenes mirror each other, proving how much the couple are in love in the earlier moments, and showing how fractured they've become today. It's the equivalent of having a thread of molten metal strung directly through your heart.

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— Steve Prokopy

Feature Thu Jan 06 2011

Getting the Right Angle on Vivian Maier

By now you may have heard about Vivian Maier, the secretive North Side nanny with a French accent and bad manners whose astonishingly prolific habit of taking really good photographs has earned her posthumous fame. Her story was featured in Chicago Magazine, on "Chicago Tonight," the Suntimes and dozens of blogs just in the past two weeks. Since her death in April 2009, her work has been exhibited around the world, with an exhibition opening at the Cultural Center this Friday.

Maier is not the only one getting famous off her photographs, though, because the story of their discovery is almost as exciting as the photographs themselves. According to legend, a young real estate agent and third-generation flea market seller named John Maloof stumbled across a box of Maier's negatives at an estate auction at the RPN auction house in 2007, put in an absentee bid, and won it for $400 with the hope of using some of the images for a book he was putting together about Portage Park. After a swift run-through of his winnings, he found nothing he could use for the book, so he stashed them away for a few months. Later, when he was able to spend some quality time with the photos, he found himself captivated.

"I thought at first that my interest in her work was just an unusual obsession," he said. "People who were much bigger experts in the field told me that there was nothing unique about this work. Given that I was a real estate agent, I initially took them at their word."

One person Maloof was in contact with, however, shared his passion for the photos. And this is where the legend gets a little weird.

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— Kelly Reaves / Comments (4)

Theatre Wed Jan 05 2011

The Return of The Black Jew Dialogues

Actors Ron Jones and Larry Tish return to Chicago with the comedy The Black Jew Dialogues, in a one night only performance to kick off the show's 36-show Black History Month tour.

Written and performed by both Jones and Tish, the show, comprised of sketch comedy, puppetry and improv, was featured on CNN and has received critical acclaim as well as commendations for its open and edgy dialogue about race and cultural awareness in society.

Catch the special Martin Luther King, Jr. performance of The Black Jew Dialogues on at 8pm, Saturday, Jan. 15, at the Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln. Tickets are $17.50-$25 and can be purchased online. For more information, visit the theater's website or call 773-404-7336.

— LaShawn Williams / Comments (1)

Art Tue Jan 04 2011

David Weinberg Gallery Final Exhibition

The final exhibition at Chicago's inimitable David Weinberg Gallery opens this Friday, January 7, from 5 - 8 pm. The salon-style exhibition, titled The Collective, features work by the gallery's 21 artists including Weinberg along with other local and national artists such as David Burdeny, Amanda Friedman, and Dylan Vitone. The complete list of participating artists is available at the gallery's website. The gallery also dedicated a significant amount of its time to creating free and educational programs for third through 12th grade students to foster greater discussion and insight into the Chicago arts community.

The Collective runs through February 18.

— Britt Julious

Art Mon Jan 03 2011

A Fire in My Belly

The Smart Museum joins other national museums' decision to screen late artist David Wojnarowicz' 1986-1987 video, A Fire in My Belly. An unfinished and contemplative tribute to the artist's friend Peter Hujar (who died of AIDS), the video was recently removed from the National Portrait Gallery's latest exhibition, Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. Despite the exhibition's aim to explore such themes as, "the role of sexual difference in depicting modern America," and how art reflects "society's evolving and changing attitudes toward sexuality, desire, and romantic attachment," museum officials pulled the work following protests from conservative politicians and a vocal religious group.

As part of its exhibition, the Smart Museum will screen the original 13-minute version of the film first edited by Wojnarowicz from 1986-1987, as well as an additional seven-minute chapter found in Wojnarowicz's collection. A Fire In My Belly opens tomorrow and runs through February 6. The Smart Museum is located at 5550 S. Greenwood.

— Britt Julious

Improv Mon Jan 03 2011

Chicago SketchFest

If laughter is on your agenda for the New Year, then you should definitely check out the Chicago SketchFest. Now in its 10th year, this funny festival, also the nation's largest of its kind, features the best in the world of sketch comedy with over 150 performances by over 100 comedy groups from all over the world.

For Brian Posen, Artistic Director of Stage773, this year's festival brings with it a lot of exciting changes--even though it has always been held at 1225 W. Belmont since its inception nine years ago, this time out marks the first year of the building's management under Stage773. "We are not going to have some of the restrictions that we had in earlier years," said Posen. "It's incredible to be doing the festival in our home, and we think both the performers and audience will experience some fun changes." In addition to a record-breaking number of performers this year, other changes include extra timeslots to accommodate the increase in the number of festival participants.

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— LaShawn Williams

Film Mon Jan 03 2011

GB Screening: Drive Angry 3D

Some of you may not have heard of this one, more than likely because it doesn't actually get released until the end of February, so we're getting quite the jump on this one. The film is called Drive Angry 3D. Here's my review, if you care to read it.

If it isn't clear from the review, I love me some Drive Angry 3D, starring Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, and the great William Fichtner. (And by the way, this film was SHOT IN 3D.) I'm pretty sure I would have loved this movie even without the 3D, but that extra dimension kind of sealed the deal for me. I was a big fan of director Patrick Lussier's My Bloody Valentine remake and I'm really happy they gave us Drive Angry 3D, which is loaded with muscle cars, explosions, the supernatural and excessive nudity. Seriously, if you don't like this movie, something might be broken inside of you.

So this screening of Drive Angry 3D is taking place Tuesday, Jan. 11 at the AMC River East theaters at 8pm. We've got the entire theater -- all 256 seats -- to ourselves. If you'd like to go, please email me at steve@steveatthemovies.com, give me your full name in the body of the email and whether or not you'd like to bring one confirmed guest. I'm closing up the RSVP hotline at noon on Friday, Jan. 7, so get on this.

And if you have friends who don't read Gapers Block who would like to go, send them to Ain't It Cool News to enter my contest. They'll probably get in.

— Steve Prokopy

Overheard Illustrated Mon Jan 03 2011

Overheard Illustrated: "Asparagus"

Saturday, Jan. 1, The Drake

— Mark Addison Smith