Slowdown
BY DAY
Saturday, April 30 2005
Chocolate 101 - Chocolate Tasting
Chef Uzma Sharif, of Love in Disguise Chocolate, joins Kitchen Chicago, 4664 N. Manor, to give a class on the wonders of chocolate. From 3-4:30pm she will explore how the sweet stuff is made, the differences between types of chocolate and will lead a chocolate tasting. It's a chocolate extravaganza! The class is $25 per person, 30 people max, so get your reservations in soon. Call 630-292-2196 or email loveindisguisechocolate[at]yahoo.com.
Charles Blackstone @ Quimby's
Tonight, Charles Blackstone reads at Quimby's, 1854 W. North Ave., from his book The Week You Weren't Here. The book centers on a writer preparing to leave Chicago while analyzing and deconstructing all of his past loves. Blackstone, a teacher of short and long form prose at the University of Chicago's Graham School of General Studies, has received comparisons to Proust and the book has been described as "a poignant and wry portrait of a young writer closing in on the last of his undergraduate days." So that's got to be a good thing. (Not that I've read Proust.) Catch the free reading at 7pm; call 773-342-0910 for more information.
Tapas ala Teatro Vista
Teatro Vista, featuring emerging and established Latino playwrights, is holding a free play reading series at Cafe Mestizo, 2133 S. Ashland Ave. Participants are encouraged to come and eat while discussing the night's play with the director. The feedback received during these dinners will help the theater determine which plays to produce in the near future. Today's plays are Rosa de Dos Aromas by Emilio Carballeido and director Laura Crotte at 2pm, Cry of the Bronx by Migdalia Cruz and director Anthony Moseley at 4pm, and Massacre by Jose Rivera and director Chuck Smith. Seating is limited for the readings, so RSVP by calling 312-494-5767.
Too Much Light Kids!
The Neo-Futurists present "Too Much Light Kids!", a family-friendly version of their long-running late-night show Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. GB's Alejandra Valera reviewed the show when it ran last December; read the review here. Appropriate for ages 6 and up, "Too Much Light Kids!" happens at 2:00 PM on Saturday afternoons through June 25 at the Neo-Futurarium. Admission: kids get in for $1-6 ($1 x the roll of a six-sided die), adults get in for $8-13 ($7 + the roll of a six-sided die). Group rates available; call (773) 878-4557 for details. Neo-Futurarium: 5153 N. Ashland (at Foster). General show details: (773) 275-5255.
Eoin Colfer @ Barbara's
These days, any children's adventure book is compared to Harry Potter. In same ways, the Artemis Fowl series deserves the comparison, rife with fairies, leprecons, and trolls that invade the human world. But, in every other way, Eoin Colfer's stories are so much better. Where else do you get a sympathetic anti-hero who is an evil, masterminded, child genius? Colfer appears today at Barbara's Bookstore UIC, 1218 S. Halsted, 11am, to sign copies of the latest in his series The Opal Deception. Call 312-413-2665 for more information.
Red Rover Series inaugural event
The Red Rover Series of "readings that play with reading" holds its inaugural event tonight. Experiment #1, as they're billing it, is "a reading that is a 3-act play" featuring Chicago writers Luba Halicki, Marcy Henry, and Sheryl Ridenour. 7pm at SpareRoom, 2416 W. North Ave, with a suggested donation of $3.
