07/20/07
Letts Takes a Turn
Tracy Letts's new play, August: Osage County, is burning up the stage at Steppenwolf. Those who've seen it and are hungry for more-or those looking for a more affordable introduction-can opt for Cop Show, a TV pilot from Letts and one of Chicago's best-known improvisers, David Pasquesi. The episode screens Friday as part of this weekend's first-ever Chicago Comedy TV Pilot Competition, a contest that aims to inject some life into that pool of unimaginative drek known as TV sitcoms (we're talking to you, Two and a Half Men). The competition screens 12 pilots total, with programs at 8:45 and 10:30 p.m. Friday the 20th and...
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07/13/07
Time Is So Outdated
Time and space? Bah, humbug. Teatime at Golgotha isn't inhibited by such pesky constraints. A mixture of three intertwining, century-spanning stories inspired by Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, Edgar Allen Poe's Al Aaraaf, and the 22nd Psalm, Teatime covers the death of the star chart–pioneer Tycho Brahe, the crucifixion of Christ, and the killing of a modern-day dog. Co-produced by Prop Thtr and Found Objects Thtr, Teatime is part of the New Play 2007 Festival, which, in past years, has launched such successful works as Hizzoner, the long-running play about the first Mayor Daley. The show opens Friday the 13th at Prop Thtr (3502 N....
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07/06/07
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's . . . Super Tapper!
Move over, Green Lantern. Stick to your spinning, Wonder Woman. DC Comics heroes may have impressive powers, but not a one of them can tap dance (at least, none that we know of). Meet Hourglass, a superheroine who uses her exceptional tapping prowess to fight villains, including Killjoy, Dance Macabre, and the Conductor, in The Hourglass in the Stop-Time Chronicles. Brainchild of Chicago Tap Theatre artistic director Mark Yonally and comic book artist Andrew Pepoy (The Simpsons, Batman), The Hourglass combines a capella tap with music from female-fronted bands including Siouxsie and the Banshees. The show opens Friday the 6th and runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through the...
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06/29/07
Everybody Was Kung Fu Dancing
Fusion is an overused buzzword these days, with inconsistent results. But here's a combo that actually works: The troupe Chicago Dance Crash pairs Shaolin kung fu with contemporary moves. Imagine the athleticism of contemporary dance and the energy of a kung-fu flick-without any bad dubbing. The troupe's current production, Tiger Prawn: The Mountain Mover, tells the story of a girl who learns the secrets of the world on her journey to becoming a martial arts master. The show opens Friday, June 29th, and runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., through July 15th at Storefront Theater (66 E. Randolph St.; 312-742-8497). Tickets...
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06/22/07
The Indies and the It Crowd
Film freaks get the best of both worlds this week: new movies from emerging filmmakers, and star-studded premières and parties-all part of the five-night Gen Art Chicago Film Festival, Tuesday the 26th through Saturday the 30th. Celeb-sighting opportunities begin with the fest's opening night, when Heather Graham (Boogie Nights, Swingers) attends the première of Broken, in which she portrays a Los Angeles waitress, at Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave.); an after-party follows at The Notebaert Nature Museum (2430 N. Cannon Dr.). Then, Friday the 29th, Alan Cumming (The Anniversary Party, Circle of Friends) hits town for the...
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06/15/07
More Fun Than Lit Theory
Leave Jacques Derrida to the grad students; local troupe 500 Clown Theater presents two new shows that-gasp-make literary deconstruction fun (not to mention destructive). Both Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Shakespeare's Macbeth get the Clown treatment, a blend of improv and vaudevillian physicality. In 500 Clown Frankenstein, three clowns tackle the issue of social isolation, re-creating Frankenstein's lab, then destroying it. In 500 Clown MacBeth, three clowns compete viciously for the title role-yep, you guessed it-destroying everything, stage included, in the process. Both shows play at Steppenwolf...
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06/08/07
The Hunt Club
Remember the scavenger hunts of your childhood? Running door to door, desperately trying to find that elusive pipe cleaner? Great fun, but frowned upon after a certain age. Thanks to Urban Dare, a small-scale Amazing Race of sorts, you can relive that youthful pastime-or, at least, enjoy a slightly more grown-up version. Urban Dare's setup combines traditional scavenger-hunt elements with trivia questions, modern technology, and well, dares.
Here's how it works: teams of two solve clues to locate checkpoints around the city. At each stop, participants take a digital photo or perform a dare to earn a passport stamp before moving on. (A sample question from a Washington, D.C., version of the race, "Who was the...
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