Don’t-miss picks for April 27 through May 2, 2017
1 The Frunchroom
Reading:For the second year, the Frunchroom—a portmanteau of “front” and “room” colored by the Chicago accent—brings together artists, writers, and performers for a South Side reading series. The schedule includes policy writer Daniel Kay Hertz, Cook County commissioner Bridget Gainer, and Huffington Post reporter Kim Bellware. Catch the second and last night on Thursday.
4/27 at 7:30 p.m. Beverly Woods Restaurant & Banquet. thefrunchroom.com
2 Chicago Cocktail Social
Party:The fourth installment of this boozy gathering features prominent Chicago bartenders and mixologists crafting custom drinks, plus live music and good eats.
4/27 at 6:30 p.m. $55–$65. Galleria Marchetti. greencurtainevents.com
3 Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto
Classical:Partly because of his unorthodoxy and partly because he refuses to record anymore, Radu Lupu draws breathless devotees to his performances. Here, he plays Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
4/27–29. Symphony Center. $36–$157. cso.org
4 David Lynch: A Complete Retrospective
Film:Take a deep dive into the uncanny world of director David Lynch with this retrospective, featuring such classics as Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, and The Elephant Man.
4/27–5/4. $12. Music Box Theatre. musicboxtheatre.com
5 Firelei Báez: Vessels of Genealogies
Art:Beneath the hypercolorful, swirling patterns of Firelei Báez’s paintings are stories of Caribbean culture. For her first solo show in Chicago, the Dominican artist celebrates the gorgeous fashion, tattoos, and hairstyles that define contemporary Afro-Latina femininity.
FREE 4/27–8/6. DePaul Art Museum. museums.depaul.edu
6 My Fair Lady
Theater:Will the rain in Spain stay mainly on the plain? Will Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle finally get to dance all night? Will linguistics tyrant Henry Higgins change his mind about the perils of a woman in his life? And most important, will the delightful drunk Alfred Doolittle make it to the church on time? Robert Carsen directs Lyric’s revival of Lerner and Loewe’s musical.
4/28–5/21. $22–$199. Civic Opera House. lyricopera.org
7 Chicago Humanities Festival Springfest
Lectures:The Chicago Humanities Festival’s spring schedule kicks off this week, with talks by Sheryl Sandberg, Caitlyn Jenner, tidying guru Marie Kondo, and University of Chicago Law School professor Geoffrey Stone. Keep an eye out through May and June for appearances by essayist Roxane Gay and novelist Arundhati Roy.
4/28–6/23. $10–$38. Various locations. chicagohumanities.org
8 Augusta Read Thomas
New Music:The indefatigable composer churns out another world premiere: Chi, a string piece for Spektral Quartet, named for the animating life force in Eastern philosophy. The program also includes her recent Resounding Earth, for Third Coast Percussion, and Selene, for the two ensembles together, a piece they played at 2016’s Ear Taxi Festival, which Thomas coorganized.
4/29 at 7:30 p.m. Free–$35. Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. rockefeller.uchicago.edu
9 Chicago Jazz Philharmonic
Jazz:See “Orbert Davis on Inventing a Genre of Jazz and Paying Tribute to the Greats.”
4/29 at 8 p.m. $28–$38. Governors State University. csjazzfestival.org
10 The Chicago One-Minute Play Festival: Nevertheless, We Persisted
Theater:With a nod to Elizabeth Warren, this year’s Chicago One-Minute Play Festival features dozens of 60-second plays by female artists over the course of two nights.
5/2–3 at 8 p.m. $18–$20. The Den Theatre. thedentheatre.com