• Trans Form

A year ago, I wrote about transgender performance artist Rebecca Kling when she appeared in Charged Bodies, an evening of solo works at Links Hall. Kling presented an excerpt from Trans Form, then a work-in-progress. "I got involved with this project because I'd been looking for a way to access queer identity," she said. "Transitioning [from male to female] is a very gradual process, [and] trying to process the gender transition through solo performance made a lot of sense to me."

Gays to Daley: Privatize Us!

In the face of Chicago's $350 million budget deficit, the 'gay community' announced today that they are willing to let Mayor Daley privatize them.

"I would be delighted to be privately owned!" exclaimed Lakeview resident, R.L. Dinkley, a dental assistant and gay submissive, "To know that I'm helping to keep flowers planted along Lake Shore Drive in summer or decorate Michigan Ave at Christmas would be really meaningful."

"Mayor Daley has often praised the gay community as dynamic civic leaders. It just stands to reason that he would want to harness the power inside them, like corn," said 53rd Ward Alderman, Ed Bus.

In recent days, the Mayor's Office floated a trial balloon about the concept. In responding to concerns about future revenues, an official at the City of Chicago stated that the GLBT community was "a fabulous untapped resource; unlike parking meters and lakefront parkland, we have yet to bulldoze or sell them to a foreign company in the wee hours of the night."

Ultimately, the unified Chicago GLBT's recognize Mayor Daley's strong, passionate support for the community and want to do their part in these difficult economic times.

Allies have also expressed support. Gold Coast heterosexual couple, John and Linda Bachman, suspect their five-year-old daughter is very, very lesbian, and would be happy to privatize her if it means they can afford their property tax.

Critics argue that gays are traditionally high maintenance and will ultimately end up costing the city.

And sure enough, the alerted were in evidence on the second floor of the mall: more than one camera crew, and a bunch of civilians looking around with an air of expectation. Led, probably, by agent provocateurs in their midst, they'd begun to form a ring around what would turn out to be the performance area.

At 2 PM, a pair of beautiful young people met in the middle of the ring and started dancing a sort of 50s modified jitterbug to "Do You Believe in Magic." Other beautiful kids joined them (severely depleting the beauty in the audience), and by the time they switched to robotic synchrony there was a mob on the dance floor, as anti-advertised.

Chicago is one of more than 120 cities represented in this audience-development effort involving more than 700 theaters coast to coast. The participating local theaters: Barrel of Monkeys, Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, Chicago Shakespeare, ComedySportz, Halcyon, Light Opera Works, Next, Noble Fool, Northlight, Pegasus Players, Prop, Second City, Steppenwolf, Strawdog, the Theatre School at DePaul University, Tympanic, Victory Gardens, and Vitalist. Tickets will be available beginning October 1 for select performances at these theaters, beginning with The Marvelous Wonderettes at Northlight September 30 and ending with Chicago Shakespeare's Richard III on October 23.

For up-to-date local listings, go here.

Fondly Do We Hope. . .Fervently Do We Pray will be performed again Sat 9/19, 8 PM, Ravinia Festival, pavilion, Green Bay and Lake Cook Rds., Highland Park, 847-266-5100,ravinia.org, $25-$65, lawn $10.