Events Search
Boobs and Goombas: A Super Mario Burlesque
Open run: Fri 7:30 PM. Also 2/15-2/29: Wed 9 PMTheater & Performance
Burlesque inspired by video games, written and directed by MsPixy. $20
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
Studs Terkel's 100
Wed., May 16, 5:30 p.m.Literary Events
Join artists, historians, activists, writers, and reporters as they celebrate the 100th birthday of Pulitzer Prize winner, Chicago citizen, and jack-of-all-trades, the late Studs Terkel. Just one of several commemorative events happening across the city during May and June, this "birthday party" will include speeches about the writer's influence, as well as an audio presentation by independent radio producer Heather Radke. —Jamie Keiles
Alison Bechdel
Wed., May 16, 7:30 p.m.
773-769-9299Literary Events
Cartoonist Bechdel presents Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama, the sequel to her graphic memoir Fun Home. "Refreshments will be served."
free with book purchase, $7 companion tickets
Damien Jurado, JBM
Wed., May 16, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
On the new Maraqopa (Secretly Canadian), Damien Jurado continues his collaboration with producer Richard Swift, and right from the opening track, "Nothing Is the News," I'm glad to see them back. The song is like nothing I've heard from Jurado—it's got elements of psych and classic rock, with heady Santana–like solo jamming and a trippy fog of organ and vocal nah-nah-nah-nahs—but at the same time, you can hear how it grew out of 2010's Saint Bartlett, the singer-songwriter's first collabo with Swift. Like its predecessor, Maraqopa plays with Jurado's folk-rock palette, loosening the tightly wound hooks and broadening the sound—yes, extra coats of reverb usually help when you're going for bigger and grander, but the two of them also add a new layer of peculiarity and even more somberness (if you can imagine) by experimenting with noise and nontraditional melody. "Life Away From the Garden" uses a children's backing chorus to create a spooky echo to Jurado's lead vocal, and "Working Titles"—which includes the great lyric "In the end you're a fool like the journalist, who turns what you sing into business"—is practically soul, right down to the rich backups and swaggering drumbeat. I was already all the way on board with Jurado after 2008's pop-skewing Caught in the Trees, but Saint Bartlett and Maraqopa have made me curious to see where he (and Swift) go next. —Kevin Warwick JBM opens.
$14
Lunch Talks @ CAF
Wed., May 16, 12:15 p.m.Lectures
Studio Gang design team member Jeana D'Augustino Ripple addresses the question: Garden in the Machine: How Does Your (City in a) Garden Grow?
Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Gene Pokorny
Wed., May 16, 6:30 p.m.Classical
Jaap van Zweden, conductor (Beethoven, Shostakovich).
Charles Wheelan
Wed., May 16, 6 p.m.Literary Events
Wheelan (Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science) presents 10 1/2 Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said.
100 Years of Studs Terkel
Wed., May 16, 6:30 p.m.Literary Events
Artworks by Studs Terkel go on display at this 100th birthday exhibition. $15/$10 for members
Kevin Gosztola
Wed., May 16, 7 p.m.Literary Events
Journalist Kevin Gosztola signs Truth and Consequences: The U.S. vs. Bradley Manning (coauthored with Greg Mitchell).
