Performing Arts Search
Living Large in a Mini Kind of Way
Through 6/17: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 and 6 PM,Theater & Performance
Unable to make ends meet, a young undocumented worker goes to extraordinary and ethically questionable lengths to build a life in the U.S.—possibly at the expense of someone who knows her situation better than she thinks. Diane Rodriguez's immigration parable juxtaposes those who crave the ambiguous American Dream with those who've already achieved it, toting up the costs in crushing debt, self-doubt, and the constant need to keep up appearances. Rodriguez uses dance, a sense of quirk, and a fanciful candy-colored set by Brian Sidney Bembridge to turn a polarizing, exhausting national debate into something digestible and even a little fun. —Dan Jakes $12-$40
Candle
Tue., May 29, 7 p.m.Theater & Performance
A married couple invite another man into their home to help invigorate their day-to-day. Part of the International Voices Project.
Renegade Princess
Through 5/30: Fri-Sat, 7 PMTheater & Performance
Fairy tales are deconstructed in Ann Marie Houghtailing's one-person show. $20
Wildcard
Through 5/30: Wed 7:30 PMImprov/Sketch
Vegetable Demon performs sketches after a local improv team. $5
Day Drinking and Sleep Eating
Through 5/31: Thu 8 PM,
773-327-5252Improv/Sketch
Booze, boobs, and broads, oh my! This latest offering from all-female parody burlesque troupe Off Off Broadzway is sloppy, R-rated fun. The cast of six—with stage monikers like Ricki Dickyouless and Brie Tarde—sing a bit, improvise a lot, and love to heckle the audience. A guy with the misfortune to be named Peter got his fair share on the night I attended. The cast offers to "funny you till you can't walk right" and does just that with songs like "Long Sex Is Overrated" and "Sluts for Sale." Kelly Bolton is the perfect mix of crude and charming as MC Andy Drogynous and Jill Valentine keeps her "lady pimp" swagger throughout as Dolly Natrix. —Marissa Oberlander $18
Eat to the Beat
Thu., May 31, 12 p.m.Dance
Nine to fivers can enjoy this performance on their lunch break.
Now and at the Hour
Thu., May 31, 7:30 p.m.Theater & Performance
A magician recounts his experiences growing up with a schizophrenic father. $15
Pilot Season
Through 5/31: Thu 10:30 PMImprov/Sketch
Two staged versions of prospective TV sitcoms.
Space Invasion
Fri., June 1, 10 p.m.Theater & Performance
A sci-fi-themed burlesque show with metal music accompaniment. $20-$40
The Late Live Show
Through 6/2: Sat midnightImprov/Sketch
A born host and a hell of an ad-libber, comedian Joe Kwaczala shares Conan O'Brien’s design aesthetics and list-based sketch segments, he's got an Andy Richter-esque sidekick (Joe McAdam)—and he's even been exiled from his first professional home, just like Coco. After getting the boot from a Second City studio space last summer, Kwaczala has reconvened his talk show at Stage 773's cozy cabaret theater. Though its sketches top out at merely decent, The Late Live Show provides an often-hilarious platform for unconventional local celebrities and bands. This is late-night geekery worth staying up for. —Dan Jakes $5
White Trash Wedding and a Funeral
Through 6/2: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PMTheater & Performance
In honor of their 20th season the folks at Factory Theater are reviving three of their greatest comedy hits, starting with this 1995 lowbrow extravaganza. The high-octane, unapologetically scatological saga of Earl the septic tank king and his homicidal guttersnipe bride, Connie, boasts fashion-free costumes by Rachel Sypniewski, IQ-lowering head-banger sound design by Chas Vrba, and 65 minutes of nearly nonstop piss, shit, cum, puke, dick, and pussy jokes—including two sublimely revolting semen sight gags that playwrights Mike Beyer and Bill Havle have added to their original script. Director Scott "not a typo" OKen runs the show at such a reckless, unvaried pace that the 11 characters sometimes come across as an undifferentiated mass of vulgar screaming, but the whirlwind of tasteless effrontery is as bracing and gleeful as it was 17 years ago. —Justin Hayford $20
Celebrating Our Legacy
Sat., June 2, 7:30 p.m.Dance
Hip-hop dance inspired by current events, including the shooting of Trayvon Martin. $10-$20
Henry V
Through 6/2: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 2 PM,Theater & Performance
Henry V is the Shakespeare play that starts with a famous speech in which "Chorus" asks us audience members to use our imaginations and turn the "wooden O" of the theater into a battlefield. For a moment at the beginning of this Promethean Theatre Ensemble production I thought director Brian Pastor had decided to take that speech as a challenge and give us the whole of Henry's bloody campaign against the French in a stripped-down, black-box format. Well, he does, kind of. But in lieu of elaborate sets and costumes, Pastor takes a bunch of photographic images depicting 20th-century wars and projects them on an upstage wall in a steady stream. Some of the images are fascinating, some are disturbing. But their overall effect is to reduce the play rather than to make it resonate. It becomes little more than an equation: past war = modern ones. Still, there are a few sharp moments, especially when Catherine Gillespie is onstage as Princess Katherine of France. —Tony Adler $12-$22
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