Paul Oakley Stovall and Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad directs Paul Oakley Stovall’s Immediate Family, which opens 6/2 at
Goodman Theatre.

THE FIVE

Don’t-miss picks for Wed 5.30.12 through Tue 6.5.12:

1

theatre Immediate Family
Not only does the Chicago native Paul Oakley Stovall sing, dance, and act, but he writes plays, too. This weekend at Goodman, the quadruple-threat presents the local debut of a dramedy that hits close to home—Hyde Park, to be exact, where a family’s delicate equilibrium is rocked by long-closeted secrets. After Saturday’s opening-night performance, Stovall sticks around for an audience talkback with the Tony-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, who directs the limited run.
GO: Previews 6/2–8; $20–$39. Goodman Theatre, 170 N Dearborn. goodmantheatre.org
2

dance Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
The dancers don’t get off easy during Hubbard’s summer series. The company’s premiere of the dance physicist William Forsythe’s 1993 Quintett features uncompromising, nonstop movements that are so complex they appear to have been directed from HTML. It’s an endurance test—but it pays off.
GO: 5/31 at 7:30, 6/1 and 6/2 at 8, 6/3 at 3. $25–$94. Harris Theater, 205 E Randolph. hubbardstreetdance.com
3

film Chicago Underground Film Festival
This fest shines a light on indie and experimental shorts, docs, and features, many of which are otherwise un-seeable. And speaking of the un-seeable: The week-long series kicks off Thursday with The Fourth Dimension, a three-part film by a trio of directors, Harmony Korine included, who individually attempt to show that otherwise invisible place where space and time meet.
GO: 5/31–6/7. Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State. Schedule, prices: cuff.org
4

jazz Jason Moran
This Friday, the jazz pianist and 2010 MacArthur Fellow honors, reinterprets, and casts anew the legacy of Fats Waller, a pioneer of the “stride” piano style. He’s backed by a band of jazz contemporaries including the bassist Tarus Mateen and the drummer Nasheet Waits.
GO: 6/1 at 8. $21–$72. Symphony Center, 120 S Michigan. cso.org
5

festivals Hop Juice Festival
The formula for this fest, presented by Two Brothers Brewing Company, is wonderfully simple: Local brews plus bands—including The Jayhawks on Saturday—equals fun.
GO: 6/1–2. Fri 5–11, Sat 12–11. $5. Two Brothers Roundhouse. 205 N Broadway, Aurora. hopjuicefestival.com

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND

Sara Chapman
Sara Chapman

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know locals—a.k.a. people we like: Sara Chapman, the executive director for Media Burn, a Chicago-based independent film and video archive, which also happens to hold the world’s largest collection of Studs Terkel-related moving pictures. On 6/2 at the Chicago History Museum, Media Burn presents part one of its Studs Terkel Film & Video Festival, with footage ranging from segments of the Studs’s Place series to clips of the legendary interviewer as an interviewee.

I typically spend my weekend seeing as many movies as possible. This Friday, Doc Films at the University of Chicago is showing Inglourious Basterds, which is the last screening of its [spring 2012] Quentin Tarantino series. I hadn’t seen a lot of his movies since high school, and it’s been a great opportunity to revisit a director who really is as good as his great reputation.

Most of the day Saturday, I’ll be working at the Studs Terkel Film & Video Festival. The first screening, At Home With Studs, is at 10 a.m., and it’s original footage of him with the director [and Media Burn’s founder] Tom Weinberg. Studs is chatting, drinking, and talking about baseball, so it’s an opportunity to feel like you’re really hanging out with him.

On Sunday, I’ll head to the Chicago Underground Film Festival. It’s hard to anticipate what will be good there—most of the directors aren’t famous. But it’s worth checking out whatever movies they’re showing because there won’t be another chance to see a lot of them.

FREEBIE OF THE WEEK

gardens World Environment Day
WGN’s sky-watcher Tom Skilling predicts morning clouds will give way to pleasant skies this Saturday, when he’ll be a guest of honor at this eco-themed bash, hosted by Chicago Botanic Garden. The festivities include sustainable gardening demos, the dedication of the new Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden, and a talk during which a panel of experts—Skilling included—discuss the relationship of Chicago’s weather with its environment.
GO: 6/2. Open 7 am–9 pm. Parking $7–$20. Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook, Glencoe. chicagobotanic.org

 

Photography: (STOVALL) STEFAN BLOMQUIST; (RASHAD) CHARLES NORFLEET/PR PHOTOS; (CHAPMAN) ERIC KRAMER