YES, WE CAN: The documentary We Believe examines Cubs fans’ undying hope.

THE FIVE

Don’t-miss events for Wed 06.10.09 through Tue 06.16.09

1

farrago We Believe
This MLB-approved documentary, narrated by Chicago’s own Gary Sinise, attempts to make sense of Cubs fans’ boundless optimism—with insight from diehards including Dennis Franz, Jeff Garlin, Buddy Guy, Hugh Hefner, and Francis Cardinal George.
GO: June 12: 8 p.m. preparty at The Wit, 201 N State. $40. webelievepreparty.eventbrite.com. 10:30 p.m. film at the Chicago Theatre, 175 N State. $6-$25. thechicagotheatre.com
2

concerts Chicago Blues Festival*
Budget cuts have pared the fest down to three days, but there’s still plenty of good music to be found: Eddie C. Campbell plays lean, stinging guitar in the West Side tradition (Fri at 8:20); torrid soul singer Bettye LaVette puts a deeply personal spin on her wide-ranging repertoire (Sat at 8:20); and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings perform horn-drenched, old-school R & B with an authoritative command Amy Winehouse only dreams of (Sun at 8:30).
GO: June 12-14: 11-9:30. Free. Grant Park, Jackson and Columbus. chicagobluesfestival.us
3

theatre Strauss at Midnight
For 25 years, Theater Oobleck has operated without a director. Proudly. Rehearsals, members admit, often result in cacophony. And since the troupe only stages new work, there’s no way to know if this latest play—wherein a time-traveling tourist upsets the universe’s balance by wandering into The Odd Couple’s apartment—will result in sheer genius or utter absurdity. We’ll take our chances.
GO: June 11–July 19. $15 or pay what you can. Theater Oobleck at Storefront Theater, 66 E Randolph. dcatheater.org
4

dance Nederlands Dans Theater I
A rare Chicago performance presents a timely chance to check out this troupe—the new home come fall of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s outgoing artistic director, Jim Vincent. The company is known for its virtuosic choreography; keep an eye out for Paul Lightfoot and Sol León’s Shoot the Moon, in which three couples’ love lives play out in rotating rooms onstage.
GO: June 16, 17 at 7:30. $30-$89. Auditorium Theatre, 50 E Congress. ticketmaster.com
5

concerts Poppins: A Lovin’ Spoonful
The cast of Broadway in Chicago’s award-winning Mary Poppins (onstage through July 12 at Cadillac Palace Theatre) ditches its G-rated M.O. for a one-night-only cabaret concert benefiting About Face, Chicago’s premiere LGBT theatre. Expect a set list of love songs that would make Julie Andrews blush.
GO: June 15 at 7:30. $20 includes one drink. Sidetrack, 3349 N Halsted. aboutfacetheatre.com

*FREEBIES OF THE WEEK

Blues Fest is only the beginning; this week is jam-packed with goodies that don’t cost a cent. Chicago art-scene legends in their own right, Jim Nutt and Gladys Nilsson discuss Your Pal, Cliff, an exhibition of sculptures by their fellow Chicago Imagist H. C. “Cliff” Westermann on June 14 at the Smart. …  Break out the stinky cheese and pinot gris: Seven-time Gramophone award winner Stephen Hough launches this year’s Grant Park Music Festival with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 on June 10. … Music makes way for witty banter the following night, when Peter Sagal and the rest of the crew from NPR’s Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me take over Millennium Park for a live taping. … Last but not least, everyone’s favorite excuse to hoof it alfresco jumpstarts June 11: Summerdance features one hour of dance lessons followed by two hours of shimmying to live music four nights a week.

ET CETERA

Don’t forget: Tickets to Summer Lovin’, Chicago’s annual bash cosponsored by the Auxiliary Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and featuring our top 20 singles of 2009, are available now. The party, which benefits the hospital’s brain tumor research, takes over the MCA on Friday, June 19th.

 

PHOTOGRAPH: Courtesy of We Believe