Performing Arts Search
4 Days Late: #SHOW
Through 6/15: Saturdays, 10 PMImprov/Sketch
Includes improv with a few dance moves, following the overarching theme of technology. $15
Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls
5/30-6/16: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PMTheater & Performance
Naomi Iizuka's comedy features a young group of characters searching for a place while faced with career and location changes while uncovering questions about the nature of the world they live in. $10-$20
The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience
Open run: Mon 8:30 PMImprov/Sketch
A monologist tells personal stories that inspire the improv. $12
Asylum Sundays
Open run: Sun 7 PM
708-932-0652Spoken Word/Poetry Slams/Open Mikes, Open Mikes and Jams
Poetry and performances with live band accompaniment by Verzatile. Includes networking.
$10
Autobahn
Through 6/14: Fri 7:30 PMTheater & Performance
Seven short plays focusing on "deception, disconnection, and dissatisfaction" will each take place in the same setting: the front seat of a car. $10-15
Baby Wants Candy: The Rock Musical
Open run: Fri 10:30 PMImprov/Sketch
Baby Wants Candy--a tight troupe now famous for its improvised musicals--began in 1997 as one of the dozens of ImprovOlympic teams formed every year. Somehow they've avoided the usual dissolution of such groups. More impressive, they've never experienced the artistic conservatism that paralyzes improvisers eager to "do it right"--and reap the reward, presumably, of a career in NYC or LA. Instead the troupe has become the very model of smart, physical, quick-thinking, and just plain silly long-form improvisers; they still play well together and manage to entertain. Inspired by the improbable suggestion "So this is it" at the show I saw, nine actors (backed by the five-member Yes Band) improvised a complicated, hilarious, tongue-in-cheek tale of three partnerships on the rocks--two marriages and a professional relationship--and the narrator who helps bring the couples back together. --Jack Helbig $15
The Bachelors
Wed 5/29, 7 PMTheater & Performance
The staged reading tells the story of two men in the 30s that form a relationship and a life together, based on the original staging by David Zak. $10
The Ballad of Little Duck
5/30-6/23: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 7 PM; no show Fri 6/21 (773) 552-8616Theater & Performance
Directed by Rachel Martindale, a man who loses his girlfriend and child must relive his past and seek redemption. Mature audiences only. $17-$20
Bally Hoo
Open run: Fri 7 PMTheater & Performance
The supper-club floor shows in vintage movies always look like such elegant fun, with Adolphe Menjou sitting ringside in his tux while spunky chorines tap and a smiling tenor croons. I've wondered why something like that couldn't happen now. The people behind Untitled obviously wondered the same thing, and have revived the concept in Bally Hoo. Still, the night I saw this 90-minute, "1930s-style" production, it was more a promising work in progress than a fantasy come true. Richard Strimner had the right voice, style, and application of pomade for his role as emcee; the seven-piece band was clean if not hot; and the four-member chorus line hit their stride doing a cute number about exercise. But the details were often off. Anachronistic belly-dance and musical-saw acts wrecked the mood. The contemporary look of the musicians created dissonance. And while she had some alluring moves, stripper Lady Jack was occasionally betrayed by her costuming. I hope Untitled tightens things up, because this could be delightful. Reader food critic Mike Sula has commented on the dining experience. —Tony Adler $25, food and drink not included, reservations required
Bare Knuckle Comedy
Second Wednesday of every month, 7 p.m.Improv/Sketch
Local standup and improv groups perform. Kevin White and Jack Ritchie host.
Barnum
Through 6/16: Wed 7:30 PM, Thu 2 and 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PMTheater & Performance
A musical that follows the life of circus master P.T. Barnum. $25-$59
Beast Women
Through 6/1: Sat 10:30 PMTheater & Performance
A multigenre show that highlights the performance talents of Chicago women. $20
Beaten
Through 8/11: Thu 7:30 PM, Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 5 PMTheater & Performance
Three generations of women struggle to save each other from abuse. Suggested donation of $32
Best Musical!
Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.Improv/Sketch
At the top of this highly entertaining show from Porchlight Music Theatre, cast members ad-lib five songs based on titles suggested by the audience. Then we vote for our favorite, and the winner serves as the foundation for a wholly improvised, hour-long musical comedy. On the night I saw the show, the winning number, "When Todd Met Michael," inspired Nativity My Way, an LGBT retelling of Christ's birth involving a carpenter and the burly gym owner he miraculously impregnates. It was hilarious, blasphemous, and heartwarming in equal measure. The charming, whip-smart cast are accompanied on piano by the show's creator and musical director, Matthew Loren Cohen, who churns out one catchy tune after another. —Zac Thompson
$10-$15
Big Love
Through 5/25: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 4 PMTheater & Performance
This young couple walked by me as I headed up the street after seeing Charles Mee's Big Love at Strawdog Theatre. They were probably in their late teens, early 20s. The boy put the girl in a headlock and kissed the part in her hair. She laughed, but in a fakey, uncertain way, like she hadn't quite decided whether she should be pissed or pleased. Still, when he let go, she stuck with him. And there you have it: the paradoxical, not to say creepy, glory of love. A headlock and a kiss. Big Love draws wisdom from that paradox. An oddball yet deadly serious update on Aeschylus's The Suppliants, it tells the tale of 50 (yes, 50) Greek sisters whose father has promised them in marriage to their 50 male cousins. Rather than go through with the wedding, the sisters commandeer a yacht and head for Italy, where—still in their bridal gowns—they ask asylum of wealthy Piero. Soon enough, the 50 cousins show up at Piero's estate as well. What follows is a comic, tragic, utterly terrific battle that makes The Taming of the Shrew look like the kid's stuff it essentially is. Matt Hawkins's staging is also terrific. The precisely choreographed cast of 30 (yes, 30) play for keeps—especially those in featured roles, such as the fierce Michaela Petro, the convincingly dangerous Shane Kenyon, the girly-girlish Sarah Goeden, and Stacy Stoltz and John Ferrick as gender warriors who find themselves caught behind enemy lines. Paul Fagen and Cheryl Roy float through in delightful character roles, and Mike Mroch's apparently simple set discloses its value as the show goes along. All in all, this Big Love is a marvel of big ensemble work in a tiny space. —Tony Adler $28
