Soprano Nicole Cabell
MORE CABELL The soprano Nicole Cabell onstage at Lyric (left) and as featured in
our 2010 class of Chicago’s most eligible singles. Find out how to nominate someone
for this year’s crew below.

THE FIVE

Don’t-miss picks for Wed 03.09.11 through Tue 03.15.11:

1

opera Carmen
You know the drill—gypsy seduces man; gypsy stomps on man’s heart; man seeks revenge—but you might not know that the stunning local soprano Nicole Cabell sings the part of Micaëla this month at Lyric. Surely, though, you remember that Nicole was one of Chicago’s most eligible singles of 2010. And we know you wouldn’t forget that Friday 3/11 is the deadline to nominate someone for this year’s singles crew—right? Just checking.
GO: Carmen: 3/12–27. $33–$234; limited seats remain. Lyric Opera at Civic Opera House, Madison and Wacker. lyricopera.org

2

theatre Orlando
No need to be afraid of Virginia Woolf’s century-hopping story of a man who turns into a woman as s/he trundles through decades of English history. Amy J. Carle steps into the transgender shoes of this adaptation by the Wilmette native and Pulitzer finalist Sarah Ruhl (Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Clean House), with Ruhl’s longtime collaborator Jessica Thebus directing.
GO: Previews 3/10–18; $30–$40. Run continues through 4/10; $40–$60. Court Theatre, 5535 S Ellis. courttheatre.org

ALSO THIS WEEK: The Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham—aka Amadeus’s Salieri—stars as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, 3/15–27 at Bank of America Theatre.

3

concerts Maps & Atlases
If, like us, you’re bummed that Elephant 6’s Holiday Surprise Tour stop Tuesday at Lincoln Hall is sold out, console yourself with this local indie-pop band, whose deft African-folk touches put Vampire Weekend to shame.
GO: 3/11 at 10. $14. Lincoln Hall, 2424 N Lincoln. lincolnhallchicago.com

ALSO THIS WEEK: Or catch a big band roundup when the Hideout hosts a South by Southwest sendoff on 3/12 for local groups (Joan of Arc, Waco Brothers) headed to Austin.

4

dance Luna Negra Dance Theater
With the Spanish import Gustavo Ramirez Sansano now firmly ensconced at this Chicago troupe’s helm, a stark and striking aesthetic has taken hold; think Nederlands Dans Theater—and hold that thought. This performance features a remount of Sansano’s Flabbergast, a witty commentary on the immigrant’s quest for a homeland, plus two North American premieres: Luis Eduardo Sayago Alonso’s Solo una Vez, a meditation on the search for one’s soul mate set to Latin American boleros; and Naked Ape, by Sansano’s countryman and like-minded choreographer, the Nederlands Dans Theater ensemble member Fernando Hernando Magadan.
GO: 3/12 at 8. $25–$65. Harris Theater, 205 E Randolph. harristheaterchicago.org

5

classical Fanfare for an Uncommon Woman
It’s Joan Harris’s birthday—yep, as in Harris Theater—but you get the gift. This gala features one seriously all-star lineup of performances from the likes of the soprano Renée Fleming, the violinist Pinchas Zukerman, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and more, with David Axelrod and Bill Kurtis tackling the James Franco/Anne Hathaway roles.
GO: 3/9 at 5:30. $75–$150. Harris Theater, 205 E Randolph. harristheaterchicago.org

ALSO THIS WEEK: The International Tchaikovsky Competition winner Barry Douglas lead his ensemble of enthusiastic musicians, Camerata Ireland, in a Mozart-heavy bill 3/12 at Dominican U.

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND

Organist Dennis Scott
Dennis Scott

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know locals (a.k.a. people we like): Dennis Scott, the longtime house organist for the Music Box.

“Most weekends, I play intermission music between shows, but I love accompanying silent films. That’s when the organ really is featured. This week, for Broken Blossoms [D.W. Griffith’s 1919 film starring Lillian Gish], I’ll be doing my own score. The themes I come up with can be played in any number of ways, depending on what’s going on onscreen at the time. That’s part of what the theatre organ was designed to do—play all different styles. That’s probably why a lot of musicians hated organs in the 1930s. Organs were designed to replace orchestras.

“So, on Friday, I’ll be working at home, going over the movie. I have a screening room in my basement with an organ, a projection system, and a seven-foot screen. It’s like being in a theatre. On Saturday, after Broken Blossoms, I’m going to lunch with a group of friends at Cullen’s, which is a couple of doors from the theatre. I usually eat one meal there on weekends, in between intermissions. I’ll stick around to play Saturday evening. I’ll also play Sunday afternoon, but I’m leaving Sunday evening open. Sometimes, for fun, I’ll go see a movie at another theatre.”

GO: Broken Blossoms screens 3/12 at noon as part of Saturday Silent Cinema 2011 at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport. Tickets run $8 to $10. Scott also plays Saturday night and Sunday afternoon; see musicboxtheatre.com for showtimes.

FREEBIES OF THE WEEK

film Cleopatra
Sure, you could Netflix it, but unless you’ve got a trove of ancient Egyptian artifacts scattered around your living room, you can’t beat this setting for authentic atmosphere: Be there when the Oriental Institute presents part 1 of the 1963 film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison, and Richard Burton; part 2 screens on 3/20, with the A&E documentary of the same name following on 3/27.
GO: 3/13, 20, 27 at 2. Oriental Institute, U of C, 1155 E 58th. oi.uchicago.edu

galleries Steve Schapiro at Catherine Edelman
The documentary photographer Steve Schapiro was on the ground in Selma with MLK, traveled with a campaigning Robert Kennedy, and captured the highs and lows of Haight-Ashbury. As the still photographer for Taxi Driver and The Godfather, his unforgettable images of a young De Niro and an aging Brando, on view here, defined the following decade in very different ways. Don’t miss this chance to see the original photos. And yeah. We’re talkin’ to you.
GO: Opening reception with Schapiro: 3/11 from 5 to 7; artist talk in the gallery: 3/12 at noon. Exhibition continues through 4/30. Catherine Edelman Gallery, 300 W Superior. edelmangallery.com

 

Photograph: (LEFT) Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago; (RIGHT) Erika Dufour