Welcome back to Chicago's weekly culture roundup, a quick and dirty guide to what's opening, closing, and buzzing in local arts each week. Note that this isn't a curated event list like Chicago's in-print Go Listings or weekly Chicago Guide—just a roundup of what's coming, going, and breaking throughout the city. Got a tip, quibble, or sweet nothing? Let us know in the comment section.
News
Bill Murray's Christmas special is coming to Netflix
The Wilmette native's tag-team with Sofia Coppola and Mitch Glazer, A Very Murray Christmas, will toast old-timey variety shows and feature cameos by George Clooney, Amy Poehler, Michael Cera, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Rashida Jones, Miley Cyrus, and more.
American Theatre Company Artistic Director PJ Paparelli has died
The 40-year-old theater artist died tragically last week in a car accident while vacationing in Scotland. His latest production The Project(s), which he co-wrote with Joshua Jaeger and directed, runs at through June 21 at ATC. Chicago remembers him here.
The Joyce Foundation gives $2.56 million to arts organizations
The local non-profit donated $2.56 million in toto last week to theaters, museums, and other arts organizations as part of a new initiative to create jobs for people of color in the arts. The grantees: Black Ensemble Theater, Chicago Sinfonietta, the Goodman, the National Museum of Mexican Art, Hyde Park Art Center, the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, Old Town School of Folk Music, Teatro Vista, Victory Gardens, and Court Theatre.
Chance the Rapper shares a new homemade track
As promises to drop his new album Surf continue to go unfulfilled, Chance the Rapper has shared another new home-studio cut, "Hiatus." Stream that below.
Sicko Mobb drops its second mixtape in two months
In the wake of Super Saiyan Vol. 2 last month, West-Side hip-hop duo Sicko Mobb has released released yet another sunnily auto-tuned mixtape, Mulah. Stream the whole thing here.
Opening
Open Now: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's 18th century epistolary novel. Raven Theatre (6157 N. Clark)
Open Now: Lunacy!: Jackalope asks if America really landed on the moon. Jackalope at Broadway Armory Park (5917 N.Broadway)
Open Now: The December Man: Colleen Murphy's Governor General's Award–winning drama. Mary Archie Theatre at Angel Island (731 W. Sheridan)
Open Now: The Project(s), a documentary play about Chicago's history of public housing. American Theatre Company (1909 W. Byron)
Open Now: Another Kind of Love: An ex-punker comes home to honor her former-rockstar mother and connect with her soon-to-be rockstar niece. Chopin Theatre (1543 W. Division)
Open Now: The White Road, in which Ernest Shackleton's quest across the Antarctic leaves his crew marooned. Irish Theatre of Chicago at the Den Theatre (1333 N. Milwaukee)
Open Now: Inana: An Iraqi museum curator and his bride salvage relics on the eve of the U.S.'s invasion of Baghdad. Kimberly Senior directs. TimeLine Theatre (615 W. Wellington)
Open Now: Three Sisters: The Hypocrites’ Geoff Button takes on Chekhov. The Hypocrites at the Den Theatre (1333 N. Milwaukee)
Open Now: Between You, Me & the Lampshade, in which a single mother houses an undocumented immigrant in her South-Texas trailer. Teatro Vista at Victory Gardens (2433 N. Lincoln)
Open Now: Lady Windermere's Fan: Oscar Wilde's high-society satire. Dead Writers Theatre at Stage 773 (1225 W. Belmont)
Open Now: Original Voices, a third-annual group show featuring artists working in new and underexposed media. Ken Saunders Gallery (230 W. Superior)
Open Now: The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by the unerring Kimberly Senior. Writers Theatre at Books on Vernon (664 Vernon, Glencoe)
Open Now: Game of Thongs: A Game of Thrones Burlesque. Breasteros. Yep. Gorilla Tango Theatre (1919 N. Milwaukee)
Closing
May 29: The Chicago 77, the Poetry Foundation's 77-line love poem to Chicago featuring a found object or text from each of the city's community areas. The Poetry Foundation (61 W. Superior)
May 29: Refractions: This 5,000 square-foot warehouse exhibit's closing reception features jazz by Josh Abrams, Dave Rempis, and Avreeayl Ra. Silent Funny (4106 W. Chicago)
May 29: New Paintings by Janis Pozzi-Johnson. Perimeter Gallery (210 W. Superior)
May 29: Urban Collages by local Sandra Holubow. MLG Gallery (833 W. Chicago)
May 30: The Power of Prom, a musical comedy set in the perennially spoofable '80s high school. The Annoyance Theatre (851 W. Belmont)
May 30: Drawn Below: 42-and-a-half feet of graphite on cotton mat board by Anne Lindberg. Carrie Secrist Gallery (835 W. Washington)
May 30: I Will Be Your Guide for This Session, a show exploring group therapy through performance. Aspect/Ratio (119 N. Peoria)
May 30: Interval & Ratio: Sculpture by John Fraser. Zolla/Lieberman Gallery (325 W. Huron)
May 30: Beyond the Soviet Union: Paintings and mixed media by Vadir Katznelson. Zolla/Lieberman Gallery (325 W. Huron)
May 30: Nobody Knows My Name: Abigail Deville takes on black stars in an installation of consumer-culture's detritus. Monique Meloche Gallery (2154 W. Division)
May 30: Point of View: Ink by Irena Siwek. DreamBox Gallery (2415 W. North)
May 30: Zeus: Work by famed London graffiti artist Dean "Zeus" Colman. Vertical Gallery (1016 N. Western)
May 31: Ghost Gardens, in which a down-on-its-luck family in dystopian Detroit nurses a baby into an ailing rust belt. Pegasus Theatre at Chicago Dramatists (1105 W. Chicago)
May 31: Thinking Caps, in which the Internet has been replaced by telepathy-inducing headsets. Strangeloop Theatre at the Charnell House (3421 W. Fullerton)
May 31: Burnishing the Night: Baroque and contemporary Mezzotint engravings from the Art Institute's collection. The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S. Michigan)