Looking for something fun to do around town this weekend and beyond? Read on, and stay safe!
FRI 5/6
At 7 PM tonight, the Block Museum (40 Arts Circle, on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus) hosts Looking at Listening, an evening of audiovisual experiments by and about women in film and sound. The program includes four short documentaries: Sam Green’s A film about listening, Hacer una diagonal con la musica by UK director Aura Satz, Sophia Feuer’s Space Lady, and Emily Eddy’s Amour Pour Une Femme. As the museum explains, “These four films extend the inquiries into the legacy of women in electronic music beyond the figures most often highlighted while experimenting with the audiovisual presentation of archival material, and proposing new ways of relating the history of music and musical practice.” Those ideas are also explored by electronic musician Natalie Chami in a live performance also scheduled for this evening’s program. Chami will join Eddy and Feuer for a panel discussion moderated by guest curator Jennifer Smart. This event is free and open to everyone, but registration is required. (MC)
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble opens Art.Heals, a new performance and visual arts exhibition presented as part of their 20th-anniversary retrospective. Music, dance, theater, poetry, and multimedia all are on tap with the goal to “help heal and connect after the effects of the global pandemic over the last two years.” Among the featured work is Anatomy, a durational solo installation by Drew Lewis of House of DOV that deals with “working through and breathing with trauma caused by dance training”; CDE’s own Letters of Healing by artistic director Ellyzabeth Adler, based on her own experiences with healing from domestic violence (it was originally commissioned by Between Friends, a social service agency focused on domestic violence); Re/Dance Group’s Tiny Memories, a dance work centered on storytelling; and Lani T. Montreal’s play Panther in the Sky, presented by CIRCAPintig, about mothers facing the deaths of their sons in street violence. The event begins tonight at 7:30 PM at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster; it continues next Friday and Saturday, 5/13-5/14, at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $20; for reservations and information, see danztheatre.org. (KR)
Visceral Dance Chicago celebrates its new home in Avondale (3121 N. Rockwell) with TAKE, a three-weekend presentation of a full-length contemporary dance piece by artistic director Nick Pupillo meditating on the journey from darkness to light. This weekend TAKE is scheduled for tonight and Saturday at 8 PM, next weekend it also runs Friday and Saturday at 8 PM with the addition of Sunday at 2 PM, and then Thu-Sat 5/19-5/21 at 8 PM, Sun 5/22 at 2 PM. Tickets are $40-$60 and available at visceraldance.com. There is also a special benefit performance on Thu 5/12 at 7 PM; hors d’oeuvres, open bar and wine pull, and an after party with the Visceral dancers and directors are included for $150. (KR)
SAT 5/7
The We Won’t Go Back rally is scheduled for noon today at Federal Plaza (Dearborn and Adams) to defend abortion rights and amplify the voices of the people and organizations that know that #AbortionisHealthcare. The rally is co-sponsored and was put together by a slew of local organizations including Chicago NOW, the Clinic Vest Project, the Illinois Single Payer Coalition, the National Council of Jewish Women, and She Votes Illinois. You can find more information about today’s speak out and the organizers at this Facebook event page. (SCJ)
Today is the first day of a two-part workshop on becoming an abortion doula (if you’re new to the doula concept, check out this 2021 article by Reader contributor Adam M. Rhodes). Led by Chicago Women’s Health Center, this fully online course is designed to empower people to offer informed comfort and support to those who have decided to terminate their pregnancies. Part one, which goes from 2-5 PM, will cover a history of abortions and reproductive justice, as well as what happens during an abortion. Part two, which is happening from 5-8 PM on Mon 5/9, will focus on grief and providing trauma-informed care and comfort. While the training costs $80, sliding scale options are available. To schedule a sliding-scale payment, reach out to the health center’s education and outreach director, Scout Bratt, at sb@chicagowomenshealthcenter.com. Otherwise, you can register through the health center’s website. (MC)
At 7:30 PM, legendary camp filmmaker John Waters will be discussing his new book Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance at UIC’s Dorin Forum (725 W. Roosevelt). Liarmouth is “a delirious road trip of riotous revenge” told in Waters’ signature style where desperate, depraved women are the real heroes. This is presented as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival, so it’s free to members. Everyone else? Tickets run from $42-$52 and include a copy of his new book, which you can have signed after the event. (MC)
SUN 5/8
Did you know Jackson Park (6401 S. Stony Island) is full of cherry blossom trees? Cherry blossoms are a symbol of many things: the arrival of spring, a sense of renewal, and life’s inherently fleeting quality. Their buds open slowly, then last about two weeks before the petals fall. If you’re quick, you can bask in the final days of this year’s cherry blossoms before they’re lost to time’s cycle; check out the Chicago Park District’s website for more information. (MC)
As a former boss of mine once announced, “Happy Mothers Day, if applicable!” There’s plenty of brunches, sip ‘n’ paints, and flower shops around today to help you celebrate the special matriarch in your life, but if you’re in the Logan Square area from noon to 5 PM you can check out an array of vendors at four different bar locations: Revolution Brewing (2323 N. Milwaukee), Navigator Taproom (2211 N. Milwaukee), Pilot Project Brewing (2140 N. Milwaukee), and Chicago Distilling Company (2359 N. Milwaukee). The venues are joining together as map points for today’s Logan Square Makers Market and Bar Hop, featuring local sellers that offer a variety of handmade goods. Take your mom shopping. (SCJ)
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and thus an appropriate time for TimeLine Theatre to present the local premiere of Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady, inspired by the story of Afong Moy, the first known Chinese woman to set foot on American soil in 1834. Brought to the U.S. by merchants eager to profit off her “exotic” identity by literally putting her on display, Moy met President Andrew Jackson and was indeed the first Chinese person many Americans encountered, at least through the press descriptions of her; she disappeared from the official record after 1850. Suh’s play, directed by Helen Young, gives Moy a voice of her own—particularly important as hate crimes against Asians in the U.S. are on the rise. (A recent study by LAAUNCH—Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change—revealed that “an increasing percentage of Americans in 2022 are questioning the loyalty of Asian Americans and blaming Asian Americans for the COVID-19 epidemic.”) It opens in previews today at 2 PM and continues through 6/18 at Theater Wit (1229 W. Belmont); tickets are $25-$57 at 773-281-8463 or timelinetheatre.com. (KR)
MON 5/9
Chef Angelina Bastidas, formerly of AMK Kitchen Bar and BIN 36, takes a turn behind the wheel at Monday Night Foodball tonight; Reader senior writer Mike Sula reminds us that we might also know her work in the cooking with cannabis space or from her turn on Top Chef. For MNF, Bastidas created a menu heavy with Dominican flavors. Pre-ordering is available (and encouraged!) as always, but limited walk-ins will be accepted starting at 5 PM. It all goes down at the Kedzie Inn (4100 N. Kedzie); check out Sula’s column this week for more information. (SCJ)
There are choices to be made tonight if you’re itching to see some live music! Reader senior writer Leor Galil wrote about Chicago art-rock band Moritat here, in advance of their free concert at Empty Bottle this evening, where they will be joined by the bands Courtesy and Imelda Marcos (note to those frightened by an excess of shoes: it’s the band Imelda Marcos, not the former first lady of the Philippines). It starts at 8:30 PM and is open for those 21 and over; RSVP here so the venue can keep track of their head count. And freelancer Joshua Minsoo Kim told us about the pop music of Brooklyn-based Helado Negro; advance tickets are available for the Helado Negro appearance tonight at Thalia Hall, which will also start at 8:30 PM (Slauson Malone 1 is opening). This show is for those 17 and up. (SCJ)
TUE 5/10
The community-building group Chicago Creative Collaborators joins tonight with Chicago Drink and Draw Social Club to get Bridgeport some coloring pages with Marz & Draw at Marz Community Brewing’s Iron Street Taproom (3630 S. Iron). Artists and non-artists are both welcome to assemble at the brewery and try out coloring and activity pages and free arcade games. The bar will be open so you can purchase beverages, and the organizers encourage you to bring your own coloring and drawing supplies. It happens from 6-10 PM. (SCJ)
Underscore Theatre opens a world premiere musical, Notes & Letters, featuring book, music and lyrics by Annabelle Lee Revak and based on letters her great-great-grandfather, Joe Loula, sent home to his family in Prague in 1917 after immigrating to Chicago. In Revak’s telling, Joe finds work at the Williams Piano Shop and befriends the owner, his girlfriend, and a female composer. The four are inseparable, until World War I hits America, too. Originally slated to open in spring of 2020, the show finally takes the stage at the Richard Christiansen Theater upstairs at the Victory Gardens Biograph (2433 N. Lincoln); Leah Geis directs, with music direction by Anna Wegener and choreography by Ebrin R. Stanley. Tonight and tomorrow’s preview performances are at 7:30 PM and tickets are $25; the press opening is Thu 5/12, and the show runs through 5/28 (Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM, with additional shows Wed 5/25, 7:30 PM, and Sat 5/28, 2 PM). Tickets for the general run are $32, with discounts for students, seniors, military/first responders, and industry available. See underscoretheatre.org for reservations and information. (KR)
WED 5/11
From 1904 until 1967, summertime meant making a trek to Roscoe Village to catch a thrill at the Riverview Amusement Park. So what happened to this place? Why’d it close? That’s the question at the heart of this virtual tour, led by Leyla Royale of the offbeat history-tour troupe Effing Chicago. Royale, a local tour guide of 11 years, will take online viewers through both what made this park so special and so unsafe. The tour kicks off at 7 PM via Facebook live on the Effing Chicago Facebook page. (MC)
Calling all karaoke queers! From 7-9 PM, there will be karaoke on the back patio of Kale My Name (3300 W. Montrose) aimed at the LGBTQ+ community. This week’s vibe is straight from the 90s so dust off your knowledge of all the era’s MTV hits. Queer karaoke happens here twice a month, so if you can’t make it tonight (or aren’t feeling the 90s theme), check out the organizers’ Instagram to stay in the loop. (MC)
THU 5/12
Logan Square Preservation (LSP) is hosting its monthly meet-up tonight at Pilot Project Brewing (2140 N. Milwaukee). From 6-9 PM, neighborhood residents are invited to learn about Pilot Project as an example of adaptive reuse of space. Pilot Project’s owners will give a presentation on transforming the building from a generic 1980s commercial space to a brewery and hangout spot. There will also be LSP members on hand to answer preservation-related questions about the neighborhood, such as how zoning works and what’s happening with the Congress Theater. If you register in advance, you’ll get 15% off your food or drink order while you attend the event. (MC)
Last week’s Gossip Wolf column recommended that you check out “underground pop sensation” Ivy Hollivana tonight, as she plays a bill that includes Cam Stacey and headliners Trdml at the Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western). If you’re intrigued, advance tickets are still available for purchase, and the concert begins at 8:30 PM (the venue is open to those 21+). (SCJ)
The post Mothers, John Waters, and karaoke appeared first on Chicago Reader.