Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Monday, February 17
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony makes its world debut tonight at the Rosemont Theatre. The symphony, performed by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, takes music from various video games, including Final Fantasy, Battlefield 1942 and Sonic the Hedgehog. Screens over the orchestra will show video from the games as their music is being played. If that sounds like a fun evening for you, tickets are now available at Ticketmaster. The event happens tonight at 8:00 PM. Rosemont Theatre: 5400 North River Road, Rosemont.
Neo-Futurist alums Steve Mosqueda, Sean Benjamin and Diana Slickman present the latest iteration of the long-running play Drinking and Writing, an exploration on the connection between literary greatness and drinking yourself under the table. The play will be performed through July 1 mostly on Saturday evenings; check the Drinking and Writing Website for a complete schedule and to purchase tickets. This evening's performance happens at the Hopleaf Bar (5148 N. Clark) at 7:00 PM. Also coming up: a Memorial Day pub crawl ("The Pub Crawl To Cure A Hangover") and the second annual Drinking and Writing Festival on Saturday, June 10.
Links Hall presents a symposium, Suspended Spaces: In between Performer and Public, City and Self, as a part of Sara Wookey's residency. Panelists will muse about indentity, space, and urban consciousness. This free event starts at 2pm, at Links Hall (3435 N Sheffield). For more information, call 773-281-0824 or visit the website.
Based in LA and Amsterdam, choreographer Sara Wookey presents two geographically oriented perforamances, Love's Geography: Revisited and Walking LA tonight at 8pm. At Links Hall (3435 N Sheffield). Tickets are $10-15. For more information, call 773-281-0824 or visit the website.
The Washington Park Advisory Council and the University of Chicago are jointly sponsoring a free walking tour of James T. Farrell's Chicago. James T. Farrell was a critically acclaimed Chicago author, who is best known for his Studs Lonigan trilogy of novels. The walking tour begins at 10am from the Washington Park Field House located at 5531 S. Martin Luther King Dr., and it will be led by local history and literature experts Cecilia Butler, John Lillig, and Ellen Skerrett. This event is free, and participants will be given a special 20% off discount at 57th Street Books for all book titles mentioned during the tour. Call 773-834-3929 for more information.
Part of the Treasures from the Library of Congress series, this 1949 war movie screens at 5:30 PM. Gregory Peck stars. $9, or $5 if you belong to the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State. For more information, call 312-846-2600 or visit the website.
As part of the Treasures from the Library of Congress series, Gregory Lukow, chief of the Library of Congress' Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, presents a selection of one-reel comedies (featuring Bugs Bunny, Frank Sinatra, and others) from the Motion Picture Conservation Center in Dayton, Ohio. 3 PM. $9, or $5 if you belong to the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State. For more information, call 312-846-2600 or visit the website.
Take your pick of either The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Monty Python and the Holy Grail at midnight at the venerable Music Box Theatre, 3733 North Southport Ave. $9.25. Call (773) 871-6604.