Events Search – Agenda
Story Club
Open run: Thu 8 PM
773-929-3680Spoken Word/Poetry Slams/Open Mikes
An open mike for storytellers.
Free
Rising Up: Hale Woodruff's Murals at Talladega College
Through June 16Galleries
In 1938, Talladega College commissioned the Harlem Renaissance artist Hale Aspacio Woodruff to paint six murals to hang in a campus library. Three tell the story of the slave ship Amistad: an onboard mutiny, the trial of the captives, and their eventual return to Africa. Three more depict the Underground Railroad; the first day of student registration at Talladega, one of the country's first all-black colleges, in Alabama in 1867; and the building of Savery Library, the eventual home of Woodruff's work, in 1937. Woodruff's vibrant, large-scale murals were influenced by American regionalist style, a Mexican sojourn during which he apprenticed to Diego Rivera, and the cubism he studied in Paris. He returned from France in 1931 to chair the first art department for African-American students at Atlanta University; also in the 30s, Woodruff, who was born in Cairo, Illinois, painted murals for the Works Progress Administration. He went on to teach at Spelman College, Clark University, and at Talladega before joining the art faculty of New York University, where he taught until his retirement. In 2011, Atlanta's High Museum of Art collaborated with Talladega College on an extensive conservation project to prepare the murals for a multicity your, removing them from Savery Library for the first time. At the Chicago Cultural Center they'll hang alongside other, smaller paintings and prints from throughout Woodruff's career. —Janet Potter
LoganSquarist Fundraiser and Raffle
Sat., May 25, 6 p.m.Other Stuff
Enjoy local music, food, and arts vendors. Raffle prizes include gift certificates to Fleur, Chicago Diner, and New Wave Coffee.
Mavado
Thu., May 23, 9 p.m.International
For the past few years Mavado has been in the same predicament that’s afflicted so many other dancehall superstars: he’s practically a demigod in Jamaica, but barely anyone in the U.S. knows who he is. This is despite the fact that his American fan base consists not just of dancehall geeks but also of massive rap stars. Jay-Z and Drake are fans, Snoop and French Montana have both featured him as a guest on songs, and hip-hop kingmaker DJ Khaled has signed him to a record deal. But even given his lack of crossover in the States so far, Mavado could still break out here: his signature style is supersmooth, highly melodic, and unlikely to strike an audience already acclimated to Sean Paul as too exotic to handle. Then again, he seems to be doing just fine without us. —Miles Raymer DJ Ringo and One Blood open.
$35, $49.95 VIP
I Saw You
Open run: Wed 8 PM,Theater & Performance
Bruised Orange Theater Company's I Saw You is a charming theatrical interpretation of "I Saw You," "Matches," and "X-Matches" listings from the Reader. Performed in bars, each show features a rotating cast of three actors presenting ads published in the past year, the yearnings of their anonymous characters echoing the banter, flirting, and stares of the patrons. The material is naturally funny--"I backed up your toilet something fierce," "Do you like to churn butter?"--but the actors avoid the trap of easy "sexy" voices and imaginatively embellish the text with a wide range of accents and consistently surprising attitudes (shy to monstrous, robotic monotone to smarmy). —Ryan Hubbard
$5
3033
Open run: Sun 10:30 PMImprov/Sketch
A comedy supergroup consisting mainly of former members of People of Earth, 3033 creates some of the liveliest, most consistently solid improv around. Members Andy St. Clair and Alex Fendrich have been highlights of recent Second City E.T.C. shows; Rush Howell, a lawyer by day, is one of the scene's wittiest performers; and Bill Arnett and Danny Mora are personable comedians with off-beat senses of humor. Unlike most troupes at iO, 3033 doesn't stick with the Harold improv format. Instead, they play it loose, letting an audience suggestion and Jason Chin's playful music and light effects steer them. At a recent show the topic of gangs inspired a hilarious 70s-era game show. --Ryan Hubbard
$5
Cascade Drive-In
OngoingIllinois
When you go to a movie theater, there's a decent chance someone will sneeze and you'll contract a horrifying airborne monkey disease (or at least that's what I learned from Outbreak). Not a thing you have to worry about at the drive-in. Plus you can make out, it's BYOB, and it's under ten bucks for a double feature. $5-$9, $14/carload on Tuesday
Moth Story Slam
Tue., May 28, 8 p.m.Spoken Word/Poetry Slams/Open Mikes
Everyone's got a story to tell. But the folks behind the Moth Story Slam believe some people tell their stories better than others. Ten storytellers, chosen at random, will get a chance to spin their yarns for five minutes. A panel of judges, also chosen at random, will decide which one is the best. $8
Brass Spectacular
Sun., May 26, 6:30 p.m.Classical
Northwestern University's lauded brass program performs variations of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," Gabreli's "Canzon Primi Toni," and more.
80 Foots per Minute
Thu., May 23, 7:30 p.m.Theater & Performance
A little literary playfulness goes a long way for vocalist-musicians Emmy Bean, T-Roy Martin, and Chris Schoen, who, in their rapid-fire program of folksy musical arrangements, take on roles ranging from the pathetic oysters in Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" to Carl Sandburg reading his poem "Loam." Some songs indulge kitsch—like one that sets to music a Thomas Campion poem in which a single word ("love") has been replaced each time it appears by another ("Batman"). And though I'm generally inclined to dismiss offhand anything based on writings of the great poet Craigslist, "Past Saturday Night, Northerly Island," which adapts a missed connection into rondo form, struck me as weirdly hypnotic and catchy. The afternoon's shining ditty was "Riled Geese," inspired by Mary Oliver's poem of the same name, in which Bean does an absolutely bewitching scat-singing impression of a goose (a style susceptible to the very amusing coinage "goose scat"). —Jena Cutie
The Lake Effect
Through 5/26: Tue-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat-Sun 4 PMTheater & Performance
Playwright Rajiv Joseph is best known for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which was introduced to Chicago last winter by the Lookingglass Theatre Company. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2010, the play offers a dreamlike, absurd, yet morally and politically serious evocation of Dubya's Iraq war—narrated by the title cat, who's killed for biting off an American soldier's hand only to find himself walking the ruined streets of Baghdad as a ghost. Don't expect the same sort of experience from The Lake Effect, the Joseph script getting an uneven but involving world-premiere production now at Silk Road Rising. This one is a totally different animal. Continue reading >> $35
Congrats On Your Success
First Thursday of every monthStand-Up
Rebecca O'Neil hosts this BYOB comedy show that features local stand-ups and is, curiously enough, operated out of a used book store.
West Town Pup Crawl
Starts May 28. Tuesdays, 6 p.m. Continues through Sept. 3Other Stuff
A dog-friendly bar crawl, hosted by Chicago Canine Concierge. Each week, a different dog from a local shelter will be brought along to raise awareness for local shelters.
