Autumn 2014 digital edition

Clef N tes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

The

Guide

Your blueprint to Chicago's new fine arts calendar, packed with our picks for the 'Best of the Best' performances and exhibitions in the 2014-2015 season.

10

Questions for Steppenwolf Theatre's Francis Guinan

Transgalactic Journey The Adler Planetarium gets downright theatrical in its latest tour of the cosmos.

Autumn 2014

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Meet the international dream team that will design Chicago's new Lucas Museum.

The

A transcendent new drama by the celebrated author of The Seafarer, Shining City and The Weir.

Night Alive

BY CONOR McPH E R SON DIRECTED BY H E N RY WISHCAM PE R THROUGH NOVEMBER 16, 2014

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Contents Autumn 2014

36 CNCJA

FEATURES

12 I Dream a Team

We introduce you to the international dream team tapped by George Lucas to design his new Museum of Narrative Arts on Chicago's Museum Campus, and give you a glimpse of the area's storied architectural beginnings.

16 Drawing From the Collective

Boyd Harris and Layne Manzer, two entrepreneurial stage actors from the Windy City, strike out on their own with a brand new theater company that is anything but your typical Chicago itinerant live stage group. Cole Theatre takes on the city's bustling theater scene this fall with a new production of Ecstasy by film director and playwright Mike Leigh.

18 Culinary Cred On the Cover: Jessica Wolfrum of River North Dance Chicago in "Renatus" by choreographer Nejla Yatkin. (photo by Cheryll Mann).

Above: (Clockwise from top) Katherine Keberlein as Violet, Mike Nussbaum as Colonel, Eric Slater as Daniel, Guy Massey as Footnote and Catherine Combs as Beauty in Noah Haidle's Smokefall at Goodman Theatre, 2013.

Smokefall will get its remount at Goodman Theatre this fall and is listed among our editors' picks for 'Best of the Best' in the new season of the Guide (photo by Liz Lauren).

Chicago has officially arrived as a global culinary force, having been selected to host the 2015 James Beard Foundation Awards—the veritable "Olympics" of the culinary world. We look at some of the chefs that lend credence to the notion that we have the credentials to warrant such an honor.

24 The Guide

We roll out our annual Guide to the new fine arts season in Chicagoland, jam packed with our editors' picks for 'Best of the Best' concerts, productions and exhibitions in the new 2014-2015 season.

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Clef N tes

There's an old saying that goes, "If you don't like the weather in Chicago, wait fifteen minutes. It'll change." And that's one of the things that make Chicago Chicago: change.

Change can be a very exciting element, if done right. It entices and it surprises. And if you’re open to it, change inspires.

And what inspires more than the Chicago arts and culture scene? It’s pretty powerful stuff. Afresh with new works, new artists, new energy for exploration, Chicago’s new arts calendar always inspires the kind of excitement and energy that builds bridges and community, and the possibilities that spur young talent on to become the icons of culture for which our city is so well known.

Our Autumn Issue is all about the exciting new energy that fills Chicago’s arts and culture calendar each and every year. Like many seasons before it, 2014-2015 is chock full of new, enticing beginnings. Take, for instance, Cole Theatre—the city's newest theater company launched by Chicago actors Layne Manzer and Boyd Harris. With nary a day to let the ink to dry on their plans, they've used the new season to launch right into their first ambitious production, Ecstasy by playwright Mike Leigh.

We had a chance to pick the pair's brains this summer about the exciting new creative making its first waves on Chicago’s bustling theater scene this fall.

And we preview the fall production of the Chicago’s own Visceral Dance.

Celebrating their sophomore season this year, founder and artistic director Nick Pupillo knows quite a few things about seasons of change. Emily Groch sat down with Nick and got some intriguing insights into his choreography, his company’s challenges and the trajectory his ambitious Visceral Dance Center is on since its launch last year.

And, of course, there’s our annual Guide to the New Season of Chicago fine arts.

We had quite a time narrowing down the area’s incredible arts calendar into our annual 'Best of the Best' recommendations for the season. But we have, and let me tell you, there are some unbelievable performances and exhibits on tap for the new season. And we’ve got them all right here.

That’s one thing I can say that doesn’t change from season to season in Chicago, incredibly vibrant arts and culture; and thank God for that. After all, its that brilliant cultural life bubbling to the surface each year that helps us deal with the day-to-day here in the city, including the weather.

But then again, if you don’t like the weather in Chicago…

Photo by James thew

Photo by Kipling Swehla Photography

From the Publisher’s Desk

Happy autumn, Chicago!

Sincerely, D. Webb Publisher

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Chicagoland Journal for the Arts Autumn 2014

Publisher D. Webb

Editorial Editor in Chief

Patrick M. Curran II

Associate Editors Fred Cummings Scott Elam Christopher Hopper

Editorial Support Rachel Cullen

Staff Writers and Contributors Kathryn Bacasmot Raymond Benson David Berner Don Fujiwara Emily Groch Laura Kinter Michael McNeil Leslie Price Donna Robertson

Art & Design Art Director

Carl Benjamin Smith

Contributing Photographers Colin Lyons Bob Briskey

Graphics & Design Chelsea Davis Angela Chang

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Adam McKinney Adam.McKinney@ClefNotesJournal.com Jason Montgomery Jason.Montgomery@ClefNotesJournal.com Subscriptions Clef Notes is published quarterly (March, June, September and December) each year. An annual subscription to the magazine may be purchased by mailing a check or money order for $18 to Clef Notes Publishing, Inc., 5815 N. Sheridan Road, Suite 1107, Chicago, IL 60660. Bulk rates are also available. Credit card purchases may be secured online at ClefNotesJournal.com or by calling 773.741.5502. © 2014 Clef Notes Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the USA.

Contents Autumn 2014

10 CNCJA

DEPARTMENTS

10 Luminary: Grammy-Winner Paula Cole

Fred Cummings goes one-on-one with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Paula Cole on the heels of her 6th solo album, Raven. She'll bring her unique brand of poetic song and undeniable authenticity to Chicago's City Winery this fall.

20 Curator's Corner: Transgalactic Journey

The Adler Planetarium turns drama into learning with its latest dynamic tour of the cosmos, Destination Solar System. Utilizing a stage actor as a tour guide and the state of the art Grainger Sky Theatre as its stage, the new show takes visitors to the very corners of the universe in an up-close-and-personal experience they'll hardly soon forget.

62 10 Questions: For Francis Guinan

Our Raymond Benson poses 10 key questions that help us get familiar with the acclaimed Steppenwolf ensemble member as he prepares to star in the company's fall production, The Night Alive.

68 Shall We Dance?: Visceral Engagement Above: Grammy Award-winning singer -songwriter Paula Cole live in performance (photo courtesy of Ms. Cole).

Chicago choreographer Nick Pupillo's Visceral Dance Theatre is ready to launch into its sophomore season with a brand new fall production. Emily Groch sat down with the artistic director this summer and learned just what it took to launch a new dance company while managing an already busy dance studio and an enterprising dance center all in on breath...and then come back for more.

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Letters from our readers...

chatter room

Photo by Jody Shapiro

Indie Film Appreciation

Burt’s Bees co-founder, Burt Shavitz, in front of his old home known as “the camp.” Shavitz is the subject of the film, Burt's Buzz, shown at the Gene Siskel Film Center this simmer.

I have to say thank you for the story you published on the Gene Siskel Film Center's summer season. I was able to get out and enjoy a few films from their Black Harvest Film Festival, which was an amazing experience I wasn't readily aware could be had in downtown Chicago....

The fact that independent films find a home there at the center is such a huge bonus for me as I am a big fan of such film projects.

Not only am I a new fan of the center, I'm a new fan of (Clef Notes).

Karen Porter Streeterville - Chicago

I was so very glad to see Clef Notes branch out to the subject of indie film in your (Summer 2014) issue! The article highlighted some of the films from the (Gene Siskel Film Center's) summer programming, but more importantly, the fact that many of the films in the center's extensive series are so indie that they don't even have distributors.

Up and coming filmmakers need a institutions like the center to provide the support and visibility they crave. Independent film making is an expensive pursuit and an important medium I don't think gets the attention it deserves. Kudos for sharing.

Gary Silver Winnetka, IL

Elgin Arts Appreciation

Photo by Masataka Suemitsu

There was a cute little interview with Elgin Symphony conductor Andrew Grams in your summer issue that was quite complimentary. I notice you usually don't do a lot on local regional symphonies. So I was surprised to see two whole pages devoted to the interview. It was really nice to see.

Elgin Symphony conductor Andrew Grams.

The Elgin Symphony is really a great little orchestra and many of its members do or have performed with the CSO, so high caliber it is. I know there are only so many pages you can devote to local semi-professional or even amateur ensembles, but these little hard-working groups are really on par with many of the professional orchestras of cities throughout the country.

I'd love to see profiles on more of the smaller (and less well funded) groups in the area.

Evelyn Moore Elgin, IL

Readers may submit letters to Feedback, Clef Notes Publishing, Inc. 5815 N. Sheridan Road, Suite 1107, Chicago, IL 60660 or via E-mail to Scuttlebutt@ClefNotesJournal.com.

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No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the express written consent of the publisher. Clef Notes Publishing makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the magazine’s content.

However, we cannot be held responsible for any consequence arising from errors or omissions.

OVER 270 YEARS IN THE MAKING North American debut of one of Italy’s most venerable opera companies

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Autumn 2014CNCJA•7

Out and About

O

n June 16, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) celebrated Gala 2014 at its home on Navy Pier, raising nearly $1.2 million for Chicago Shakespeare in Urban Communities. Three hundred and fifty of Chicago’s civic, corporate and cultural leaders attended the event benefiting CST’s civic engagement and education initiatives, including the popular citywide summer tradition Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks and Team Shakespeare education programs. The evening culminated in the presentation of the fourth annual Spirit of Shakespeare Awards to this year’s Civic Honoree, The Boeing Company and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith and his wife Denise, and Artistic Honoree, Chicago theater legend Mike Nussbaum. After a three-course gourmet dinner and the special presentations, attendees were treated to musical performances by Broadway actresses Allison Semmes (Book of Mormon, Motown the Musical) and Susan Moniz (Grease!).

Nancy Huser, Spirit of Shakespeare Award Civic Honoree Denise Smith and CST Board Member Stephanie Pope. Photo by Michael Litchfield.

From Left: Robert and Ann Livingston, Charlene and Bill Tomazin, CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, Robin and Steve Soloman and CST Executive Director Chriss Henderson. Photo by Patrick Fahrner.

From left: Walter Skowronski, CST Director of Institutional Advancement, Brook Flanagan, Judy Skowronsky and CST Executive Director Chriss Henderson. Photo by Michael Litchfield.

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From Left: Deborah Liverett with CST Board Members Eric Q. Strictland and Ava Youngblood. Photo by Michael Litchfield.

CST Board Member Patrick Richard Daley and Tara Flocco. Patrick by Patrick Fahrner.

From left: Reeve Byron Waud and his wife Melissa Waud and CST Board Member Marilynn Thoma and her husband, Carl Thoma. Phto by Michael Litchfield.

Since 1931 ... Artistry in FUR

I

n June, more than 325 guests celebrated the beginning of the summer party season at Chicago Botanic Garden's annual Summer Dinner Dance. The elegant black-tie soiree began with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres served on the Esplanade, followed by an intimate dinner dance in a regal pavilion. One of the most anticipated social events on the North Shore, the 2014 Summer Dinner Dance raised $425,000 for the Garden’s science and education programs.

Pattern Play

Photos by Robert Kusel

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Dan Goldman, Shana Ellis, Bettina Slusar and Peter Ellis, all of Chicago.

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Co-Chairs of the 2014 Summer Dance were Mr. and Mrs. Peter B. Foreman (Ginny) of Chicago, Tillman, Mr. and Mrs. David R. Casper (Jane ) of Northbrook, and Mr. and Mrs. Steven J. Gavin (Cassie) of Winnetka.

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Luminary

Singer/Songwriter Paula Cole

By FRED CUMMINGS

A

As soon as you think you know Grammy-winner (and 7-time Grammy-nominee) Paula Cole, she goes and changes it all up. Having released six solo albums over her 18 year career, one would think you could find a genre you could pin her down to.

She’s performed with icons in every category on the musical map from Peter Gabriel to Dolly Parton and her songs have been covered by legends from Herbie Hancock to Annie Lennox. Yet, she continues to crash every boundary you put before her. Most notably known within the folk scene, she’s dabbled in electronica and reveled in her first love, jazz.

She’s the only woman in history to solely produce and receive the Best Producer Grammy nomination for her release, This Fire.

And even though she’s clearly really good at it, breaking boundaries is not what makes her such a singular artist. It's that poet that lies deep inside her soul that takes every opportunity, no matter the genre or the platform, to spill out with such authenticity that it melts every heart in the room.

I had a chance to ask Cole a few questions about that amazing career of hers. And I found that that authenticity and sincerity that everyone always talks about, it’s the real McCoy. What were your musical influences, growing up in Rockport, Massachusetts?

My primary musical influence was my family. My father was fantastic; he played (and still plays) several instruments: upright and electric bass, guitar, banjo, piano, harmonica, even mouth harp and nose flute and handbone. He could just hear the chords and had wonderful rhythm. He knows so many American folk songs and great jazz standards. I learned (from him) that music was to be self-made, and most importantly, fun.

How impactful was being raised in such a musical and artistic environment to your decision to pursue music as a career?

Well, my father was the heart of joy regarding music. And then my mother had a wonderful ear, too. Everyone had some musical ability and it was de rigeur to provide one's own healing and enjoyment by sitting down and expressing. I heard stories about other family members in older times—the women of my earlier generations were totally discouraged (from playing) professionally for fear of bringing shame to the family.

Females were to not go on tour or play music with men (for shame! for shame!). They were expected to be servants and make babies and make a nice house—meh. My great grandmother Charlotte never fulfilled her potential and so I had a cross to bear with all those unfulfilled dreams extending into my psyche. I still do it for so many who can't.

So tell me about what it was like opening up for Peter Gabriel that first time in 1993?

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It was early November…I flew to Mannheim, Germany, had one rehearsal with the demi-god himself and then was flung in front of 16,000 people on two stages. I rehearsed with "Don't Give Up”—it was terrifying and electrifying and totally wonderful. I was ready. I was truly a fan, with the humblest spirit of support for his beautiful music and band. The band and Peter, himself, could see and hear that I was in it for the love of the music, that I was more than capable, and it was fairly easy from that point onward. It was a deep learning lesson from a master, a kind and inventive man with a boy's twinkle-in-the-eye. Ultimately, after many concerts performed in the capacity of background vocalist, I yearned for my own career.

One of the hallmarks of your work over the past 18 years has been the searing poetic voice you bring to your music. Many artists struggle with the freedom in communicating poetically. Where does your freedom and poetic voice come from?

How does one define where one's freedom comes from? That is the beauty of music—the mystery, the God-given soul of it. I think I need it badly—singing, writing has been my redemption and salvation. It is the universal language. I feel so fortunate to feel this beautiful feeling within music, even if it's fleeting. One must be humble. One must continue learning. Musical greatness comes from reverence and humility.

You have been broadening your artistic focus in recent years with projects delving into contemporary pop, electronica and even making your way back to your origins in jazz. How has that been artistically for you?

For the record, I love real instruments played by real musicians. I love single-take performances, even when someone is flat or sharp. I love the life and the imperfection of live performance. Jazz? - I started there. I wanted desperately to be a female Chet Baker; to improvise effortlessly in the chords as he did. Of course, it was so effort-ful for me. But he and other greats were my beacons.

I've had two jazz record label deal offers and I've turned them both down.

Neither felt right. One of these days I'll make that album. In the meantime I'll sing a standard live, and I've recorded standards with other artists on their albums. But my focus, while I'm still fairly healthy and kicking, is to honor the original songwriting that comes through me. I need to record it for posterity. I hate labels and despise compartmentalizing music.

I listen borderlessly across music styles. Music diversity equals psychological/musical health to me: Ella Fitzgerald to Bill Withers to Kate Bush to Miles and Peter Gabriel and Emmy Lou and Dolly and Neil Young and so on...

If I'm burnt on more modern music, I'll listen to acoustic, traditional West African music, like Oumou Sangaré from Mali.

It's important to be diverse in one's listening lest we become boorish and brainless demographic targets for advertising.

Cole’s most recent album, Raven, was a return of sorts as well, but back to her origins of musical storytelling. In it, she seems to pull inspiration from some incredibly emotional places. You can take the journey when Cole plays City Winery October 26 this fall.

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Photo courtesy of Paula Cole

I DREAM A TEAM

of world class architects to build a new museum of narrative arts As part of the global team that will design the home of the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Chicago’s illustrious Studio Gang Architects will apply their visionary talents to craft the landscape and connecting bridge for the new site—the newest addition to Chicago’s internationally renowned Museum Campus.

MacAurthor Fellow and Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang knows a thing or three about out-of-the-box creativity and her prowess in cultivating stunning landscapes and engaging public spaces is renowned. With its stunning 14-acre habitat project, Nature Boardwalk of Lincoln Park Zoo, and its 4-year transformation of Northerly Island’s airport runway into an oasis of greenery—where the Lucas Museum will stand, after all— Gang’s collective is a no-brainer as the perfect team for the project.

George Lucas’ selection of Beijing-based MAD Architects to helm the creative plan of the museum itself speaks to a distinct vision for innovative design, which is no surprise; we are talking about George Lucas, after all. It also, however speaks to a desire to integrate the urban space of the museum’s home with the natural landscape that Gang will design, something for which MAD Architects is well known.

The final piece of the puzzle, Chicago-based VOA Associates, will serve as the lead architect for the project and will implement MAD’s designs. VOA, whose designs includes Roosevelt University’s 32-story vertical campus in downtown Chicago, understands well the nuances of iconic Chicago architecture.

This dream-team, of a sort, has caused a great deal of excitement for the newest member to Chicago’s illustrious Museum Campus. And the level of ingenuity that will bear out in their work on the project can be gleaned from the amazing work they’ve already accomplished.

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Aqua Tower – Chicago, IL Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang stands next to a model of the firm’s acclaimed Aqua Tower design. At 82 stories and over 1.9 million square feet, Aqua Tower— in Downtown Chicago—has snagged a slew of architectural hardware, including the 2008 American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture & Design. With a hotel, apartments, condominiums, parking, offices and one of Chicago’s largest green roofs, the multi-use tower demonstrates stunning architectural and technical achievements. Its outdoor terraces—which differ in shape from floor to floor based on criteria such as views, solar shading and dwelling size/type—create a strong connection to the outdoors and the city, and they form the tower’s distinctive appearance.

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Northerly Island - Chicago In 1997, Northerly Island was transformed from the lonely air strip of Meigs Field to the lush, scenic stretch of land it is today. Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang Architects are credited with realizing the original vision of Daniel H. Burnham in the project. Burnham envisioned a series of man-made islands spanning south from Grant Park to Jackson Park on Chicago’s south side. Today, the island boasts gorgeous indigenous wild prairie grasses, beautiful strolling paths, casual play areas, and a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline.

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Left: Architect Jeanne Gang, of Studio Gang Architects, stands next to a 3-D model of Aqua Tower in Chicago, one of her firm's most notable achievements; below: Chicago's Northerly Island, re-envisioned by Studio Gang Architects as if Daniel Burnham might have dreamt it with lush, verdant greens replacing the lonely airport strip it used to house. Photos courtesy of Studio Gang Architects.

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The House of Sweden Embassy Washington, D.C. The stunning 85,000 square foot House of Sweden Embassy, designed by Chicago's VOA Associates, incorporates elements and materials indigenous to Sweden, itself. The interior is laden with wooden floors, benches and soft-colored leather chairs that accentuate the unique exterior design. Outdoor terraces and gardens unify the building with a public path laid organically adjacent to the structure.

Absolute Towers 4 Mississauga, Ontario Dubbed the "Marilyn Monroe" Towers for its voluptuous curves, the twin-esque structures designed by China’s 3 Ordos Art and City MAD Architects were selected as the 2012 Museum - Ordos, “Best New Skyscraper” by architecture Inner Mongolia data mining firm Emporis. The curvaDesigned by China's MAD Architects, the Ordos Art and City Museum was first ceous towers, topping out at 574 feet envisioned in 2005 in the then-desert wil- and 518 feet respectively, were highlighted by an international panel of derness of Inner Mongolia as a museum architecture experts as "a superb for a yet unbuilt metropolis. A modern technical achievement (and) a museum in a region steeped in absolute refreshing change to the set tradition must meet at a crossroads for a community of centuries-old culture and an forms of high-rise routine." eye for the future. MAD achieved the best of both worlds in what would be the firm's first built museum project, captivating architects and the public the world over.

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Counter-clockwise from below: Architect and founder of MAD Architects Ma Yansong; Ordos Art and City Museum, Ordos, Inner Mongolia; Absolute Towers in Mississauga, Ontario Canada (photos courtesy of MAD Architects); The House of Sweden Embassy, Washington, D.C. (photo courtesy of VOA Associates).

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CAMPUS CLOUT

An artificial land mass on Lake Michigan, Northerly Island, as it's called, was the first of what was to be a series of artificial islands stretching south along Chicago's lake front. It sits at the heart of the city's internationally renowned Museum Campus, whose development has had its own illustrious architectural beginnings.

Adler Planetarium

Located at the northeast tip of Northerly Island at the shore of Lake Michigan, the Adler Planetarium was designed by architect Ernest Grunsfeld.

Grunsfeld’s grandson John Grunsfeld was a Chicago native and a former NASA astronaut. Each of the twelve corners of the landmark 1930s building is decorated by a bronze plaque, which represents a sign of the zodiac.

These plaques were crafted by famed sculptor Alfonso Iannelli.

Field Museum

Another example of the grand Beaux Arts design, The Shedd Aquarium is a prime symbol of Daniel Burnam’s imprint on Chicago’s rich architectural history and the Museum Campus' enduring legacy.

The Shedd Aquarium Society commissioned Graham, Anderson, Probst and White to design the aquarium. The chief architect was Burhnam associate Ernest Graham, and the aquarium would be his firm’s last Beaux Arts project.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the original building was that it was its storied 300 foot octagonal building covered in white Georgian marble. The bronze fixtures and clock in the building’s rotunda were created by the Sterling Bronze Company of New York, a premier design house of the early 1900s that rivaled even Tiffany Studios.

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The Field Museum, originally housed in the Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, was actually moved near Northerly Island in 1915. And though the plan for the museum’s design was crafted by the visionary urban planner and legendary architect Daniel Burnham, it was his associate William Peirce Anderson that was actually responsible for the famous neoclassical structure that is visited today by over 1.25 million people each year.

Based on the original Beaux Arts designs from the World Exposition

by Charles B. Atwood, the architectural style is undeniably inspired by the Erechtheum at Athens and other great Grecian and Roman designs.

Anderson was trained in architecture at Harvard and then at the L'ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris before joining Burnham & Graham in Chicago. Later, after Burnham left the company, Anderson became a named partner in Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, which became the largest architecture firm in the country and was responsible for the design of many of Chicago’s greatest landmarks, some of them landmarks we take for granted each day, including downtown’s Union Station and the Marshall Field & Company building on State Street.

Shedd Aquarium

Just south of the Field Museum lies Soldier Field, the stadium home for the Chicago Bears National Football Team. Plans for the stadium began in 1919, when architectural firm Holibird and Roche won a design competition to build the stadium as a memorial to American soldiers lost in combat.

The stadium was constructed by the South Park Commission (which later merged with other park commissions to become the Chicago Park District in 1934).

It was built in three stages between 1922 and 1939 at a total cost $13 million. It’s most notable design feature may be the 20-month renovation completed in 2003 that modernized the stadium and surrounding parkland for multi-purpose event use. Its modern design, contrasting from the original classical Roman structure, is likened to a space ship landing smack in the middle of the Museum Campus.

The new design did accomplish something significant, however.

In 2011, the stadium was awarded the status of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – Existing Building (LEED-EB) from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Soldier Field is the first North American stadium to receive the award of LEED-EB Certification and the first NFL stadium to receive this prestigious award.

Soldier Field

Clockwise from top: Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Soldier Field and Field Museum (photos courtesy of the City of Chicago).

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Drawing Collective the

Actors Boyd Harris and Layne Manzer strike out on their own with a brand new theater company that's taking on the city's bustling theater scene this fall with a new production of Ecstasy by film director and playwright Mike Leigh.

A

from

Acclaimed Chicago actors Boyd Harris and Layne Manzer recently took the leap of faith and founded a theater company in the Windy City.

Do we really need another one? you might ask.

“Everything about our company is atypical,” Harris, 33, answers, pointing out that the newlyformed Cole Theatre consists of exactly two members—Harris and Manzer, artistic director and managing director, respectively.

“And that doesn’t matter,” Manzer, also 33, adds. “The theater community of Chicago has become one big ensemble, anyway. Everyone 16•CNCJAAutumn 2014

By RAYMOND BENSON

works with everyone else in other companies; we’re all interconnected.”

In other words, the newly minted Cole Theatre will draw upon the city’s large and incestuous talent pool to mount its productions, from the cast to the crew. In fact, the company’s first show—Ecstasy, by internationallyfamous film director and playwright Mike Leigh—is already underway with an ensemble of actors from other companies, including—along with Harris and Manzer—Maura Kidwell, Michaela Petro, Lauren Pizzi, and Joel Reitsma. The director is Jeff Award-winner Shade Murray, who had been a member of Roadworks Productions—a company that first produced Ecstasy in Chicago in 1997 and took it to Los Angeles for a very successful run.

“The name ‘Cole’ is Greek for ‘people’s victory,” Manzer explains. “So our battle cry is ‘victory of the people.’” In other words, the mission for the itinerant theater company is to work with artists who have been active in the Chicago theater community for years.

Manzer grew up as a dairy farm kid in small-town Pierce, Nebraska. He worked cattle in a sports town, where there wasn’t much temperance toward the arts. “In fact, I wanted to be a priest at first,” he says, rolling his eyes. “But eventually I realized that someday I wanted a family, so that plan went out the window.”

As a child, most of Manzer’s exposure to acting was from television, naturally. “I remember watching Growing Pains—and there was an episode where they did a production of Our Town. That was a big influence on me. Then, in high school, I actually played George in a class production. I was a junior at the time, and Emily was played by a senior. She was mortified that she had to kiss a junior.”

Irreparably hooked, Manzer attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and earned a B.A. in theater. After working in his own company in Lincoln, he moved to Chicago in 2006. “I got on board with the company that ultimately became The Plagiarist, and I guess I made a name for myself around town as an actor and also as someone that was pretty good at the business side of theater management.” And then he met Boyd Harris in 2009 at The School at Steppenwolf summer program.

Harris was born and raised in Chicago, where he grew up on movies and going to the theater from an early age. His aunt, Moira Harris, is married to Gary Sinise, so young Harris had much exposure to Steppenwolf Theatre in its infancy. “I think I saw every production between ‘83 to ‘89,’” he says proudly. Despite this background, Harris didn’t study theater. He became involved in a variety of sports and then attended DePaul University, earning a B.A. in political science with a minor in French.

“Then I tried law school,” he says, rolling his eyes. “But I found that very depressing. There were no windows. And, I had an accident and broke my ankle. I was on crutches for a year, so I dropped out.” Harris became a personal trainer for a while, but his memories of the theater haunted him. “I kept thinking about acting, so I started taking classes at age 25.” After a fortuitous meeting with Steppenwolf’s casting director at the time, Erica Daniels, he received valuable advice and guidance. Since then, like Manzer, he has become a respected actor in the city.

The Cole Theatre was Harris’ brainchild. It began in 2012 when he filed the necessary papers to launch a non-profit 501c3 Equity company. “I wanted to create something and attract other likeminded artists.” With Manzer on board, the company was born and the entrepreneurs set about picking the material for a first production.

“I had a play in mind, but the set was too intense for a first show,” Harris insists. “So I started looking at other ensemble plays that were good character studies and sort of gritty—Chicago is known for grittiness in theater, right? Well, Ecstasy is one of the great British ensemble plays, and it’s about class struggles, which kind of fits our company’s mission—victory for the people—and it’s also got romance, some beautiful dark humor, and its message is relevant today.”

Manzer adds that they already have a “blackboard season,” in the planning stages.

“Since it can be expensive to buy the rights to existing plays, we’re probably going to concentrate on original works in the future. That said, nothing is set in stone.”

“Like I said,” Harris repeats, “everything about our company is atypical!”

Ecstasy runs from August 28 through September 28 at Old Town’s Red Orchid Theatre. Opposite page: Cole Theatre founders Boyd Harris and Layne Manzer; From top right: Layne Manzer (1); Cast of Ecstasy, the debut production of Cole Theatre running this fall at Red Orchid Theatre (2); Boyd Harris (3); Harris and Manzer in Ecstasy, playing at Red Orchid Theatre this fall (photos courtesy of Cole Theatre).

Autumn 2014CNCJA•17

The James Beard Foundation (JBF) announced this summer that the James Beard Foundation Awards Ceremony and gala reception will be held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 4, 2015. The event is momentous because it marks the first year the prestigious JBF Restaurant and Chef Awards Gala will be held outside of New York City. The news puts Chicago front and center of the culinary world. Make no bones about it.

Bagging what amounts to the culinary "Olympics" is a game-changer for Chicago’s international profile. But the news doesn't come as that big of a surprise.

There was, in fact, some indication that Chicago was squarely on the JBF radar.

In 2009, the James Beard Foundation took its award nominee breakfast on the road for the first time ever to Frontera Grill, owned by Chicago’s Rick Bayless.

And earlier this year, the 2014 event was held right here at JBF Award Winner Paul Kahan’s The Publican.

With all this love for Chicago chefs, you might want to take an opportunity to check out some of that Beard-winning cuisine we have right here. Here are a few Windy City luminaries to get you started.

Chicago's Culinary Cred

Chicago Restaurant (s)

James Beard Award(s)

Rick Bayless

• Frontera Grill • Topolobampo • XOCO

• • • • •

Stephanie Izard

• Girl and the Goat

• Best Chef: Great Lakes - 2013

Paul Kahan

• • • • • •

• Best Chef: Midwest - 2004 • Outstanding Chef – 2013

Carrie Nahabedian

• Naha

• Best Chef: Great Lakes - 2008

Jimmy Bannos Jr.

• The Purple Pig

• Rising Star Chef - 2014

18•CNCJAAutumn 2014

Blackbird Avec The Publican Big Star Publican Quality Meats Nico Osteria

Best American Chef: Midwest - 1991 National Chef of the Year - 1995 Humanitarian of the Year - 1998 Best American Chef: Midwest - 1991 Best Chef: Midwest - 2002

Photos courtesy of The James Beard Foiundation

Chef

Autumn 2014CNCJA•19

Transgalactic Journey The Adler Planetarium gets downright theatrical as it sets visitors off on a journey to the stars quite unlike any other it's unveiled before.

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I

By MICHAEL MCNEIL n what has to be the most dramatic planetarium show in this (or any other) cosmos, The Adler Planetarium has harnessed the sheer power of their high-tech Grainger Sky Theatre, along with a bit of theatrical finesse to pull off Destination Solar System, the latest in its slate of state of the art sky shows that place the viewer squarely in the midst of the galaxy in which we live. The twist? This show takes place in the year 2096. And that’s where it gets theatrical.

In stunningly vivid detail, Destination Solar System takes the viewer on an immersive and imaginative adventure, hundreds of millions of miles in the making, on a wildly adventurous tour the cosmos. Led by Jesse, an enthusiastic, knowledgeable—but inexperienced—tour guide, and Max, a highly advanced, fully integrated onboard computer, viewers of all ages get a chance to tour the hottest hot spots and the coldest, stormiest and most incredible sights in the Solar System because…well, that’s what they do in 2096.

And why not? Space tourism has been in the news for years now. Even now there are individuals lining up to ship off to colonize Mars on a private expedition that admits it may not return. So re-imagining the standard planetarium sky show experience in a more theatrical, immersive manner really is a great way to not only entertain but also educate.

“The Solar System is our cosmic backyard,” noted Michelle B. Larson, Ph.D., Adler

Photo courtesy of The Adler Planetarium

in these different worlds— which are real and exciting places.

SubbaRoa is director of the Space Visualization Lab that rendered much of what you see in the new show.

The journey experience begins at a futuristic spaceport in the Adler’s Clark Family Welcome Gallery. And the show starts before you even realize it. Passengers move through a space portal to enter the Grainger Sky Theater, board their “Space Express” ship and prepare for launch.

A surprisingly realistic vertical launch takes the ship through Earth’s atmosphere into orbit, where passengers get an awe-inspiring view of their home planet through the 35-foot viewing dome overhead. Then it’s off to the Moon to explore the site of the first lunar landing.

Through the heart of the Solar System to the depths of Valles Marineris—a canyon that stretches one-fifth of the way around Mars—visitors continue their immersive journey through the Asteroid Belt making stops at Jupiter and Saturn with Jesse and Max navigating them through the whole experience.

Nothing is really left to chance in this dynamic live encounter. And that’s because it takes the scientific experience of universal exploration (something typically done only through powerfully imagery) and imbues it with memorable live theater that pulls you right into the process.

The interactive “live tour” element the show personalizes the whole experience for the viewer. And it does so in such a way as to create a channel through which viewers are better able to digest (and, yes, even retain) the knowledge presented, taking you far beyond the standard plug and play museum encounter. As SubbaRoa put it, in Destination Solar System, “…we’re not just presenting science, (we’re) inviting you inside the experience.”

You can get inside the experience of Destination Solar System daily at the Adler Planetarium on Chicago’s Museum Campus, just south of the Loop. Admission is included in the Museum’s All Access Pass. For more information, visit adlerplanetarium.org.

Planetarium president and CEO. “And we shake up what seems familiar by taking you to exciting and wild places right next door. This show explores our celestial neighborhood in a visual and entertaining way that is fun, scientifically accurate and sure to be memorable.”

And because it’s the Adler it’s not just a show. Presented live by a trained actor in the role of “Jesse,” Destination Solar System features world-class simulations relying upon scientific data from current planetary space missions. With breathtaking visuals—many never seen before—Grainger Sky Theater technology enables visitors to explore space as if they were actually there. In Destination Solar System, instead of audiences being relegated to passive observers, they become active explorers immersed in their own personal space journey.

As Adler astronomer Mark SubbaRoa, Ph.D. pointed out, now is the perfect time to get theatrical about space exploration. “We are in a golden age of planetary science right now,” said SubbaRao. “There has been an incredible amount of exploration and discovery in the Solar System over the past several years, and we’ve developed new visualizations of the latest scientific data to immerse audiences

Above: With Destination Solar System, guests get an up-close-and-personal look at the hot spots and solar flares of our galaxy's sun, all in a theatrical experience that includes a futuristic tour guide and a talking shipboard artificial intelligence.

Autumn 2014CNCJA•21

Around Town

Who?: Chicago's Avid Art Lovers and Collectors What?: EXPO Chicago 2014 Where? Navy Pier's Festival Hall When? September 18-21, 2014 How?: Visit expochicago.com 22•CNCJAAutumn 2014 22•CNCJAAutumn 2014

Photo by Jim Newberry Photo by Cheri Eisenberg

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Under the leadership of Tony Karman, president and director of Expo Chicago, the popular four-day art exposition features works exhibited by over 125 leading international galleries.

Drawing upon the city’s sophisticated, art-loving community, Expo Chicago also offers a slate of wildly varied programming that includes the popular Dialogues, a year-long program of symposia and artistic discourse, heightening Chicago’s art buying profile and deepening the knowledge base of its avid (and growing) collectors.

It all kicks off with Vernissage, the opening night preview on September 18, benefiting the Museum of Contemporary Art. and it's capped by Expo Art Week, a weeklong celebration of Chicago arts and culture with performances by a line up of Chicago's diverse cultural institutions.

Autumn 2014CNCJA•23

Guide The

Chicago's only season-long GUIDE to the new arts and culture schedule with our picks for the 'Best of the Best' in the new 20142015 season.

• Music - 24 • Theater - 36 • Dance - 42

• Art - 46 • Museums - 50

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By FRED CUMMINGS

Orchestral

Season after season, the city of Chicago sees a stunning array of world class symphonic performances.

Chicago Symphony Center (cso.org) leads the pack consistently spearheading an astounding schedule of world renowned concert artists performing the most engaging and probing programming. Add to that the superlative musicianship and technical aplomb of the CSO musicians and an artistic giant like conductor Riccardo Muti and you’ve got a undeniable recipe for some of the most magical musical experiences of any new season. The simple fact is that few orchestras around the world, let alone the region, can carry off the caliber of programming and performances that the CSO offers. But what we have seen in recent years is a delightful spurt of emerging orchestral ensembles cropping up in Chicago’s cultural landscape through adventurous concert venues like Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

The new 2014-2015 Chicago fine arts calendar has all of the artistic enormity we’ve come to expect of the CSO and the enchanting diversity of visiting orchestras that Chicago venues cull to create a sparkling season of orchestral music.

Maestro Muti’s programming for the CSO’s new season offers a spotlight on two venerable Russian composers, juxtaposing the symphonic works of Tchaikovsky and Scriabin and exploring the contrasts between these two iconic musical minds whose common heritage did not limit their distinctive compositional styles.

Muti has long been a passionate champion of Scriabin’s music and he's demonstrated a dedication to performing not only his most famous works, but also scores that may be less recognizable to audiences today. Tchiakovsky, whether right or wrong, serves as a vivid nationalistic barometer for listeners who will nodoubt recognize many of the works programmed in this

intriguing examination. The lines Maestro Muti draws this season with these pairings will cause doubtless enlightenment for audiences in the new artistic year.

Another season-long focus for the Maestro is a look at French composers that traverses two centuries of Gallic culture from Berlioz to Boulez (who turns 90 this season). And a delightful threeweek festival in May entitled Reveries and Passions, led by EsaPekka Salonen, promises to intrigue with a distinct emphasis on 20th century French dramatic and operatic works.

But Muti and the CSO resort to the tried and true in Symphony Center’s orchestral season debut with Chicago Symphony Chorus in a performance of Beethoven’s resplendent 9th Symphony.

With soloists soprano Camilla Nylund, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, tenor Christopher Ventris and bass-baritone Eric Owens in tow, the concert promises to serve as apt foundation for an intellectually stimulating and emotionally satisfying Symphony Center season (September 18, 20, 21, 23).

The CSO will perform a wonderful pairing this fall with Magnus Lindberg’s haunting Chorale, a reconception of a cantata by J. S. Bach, and Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, performed by pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Closing the well-rounded program will be Shostakovich’s profound Symphony No. 8 (October 18).

Celebrated visiting conductors and orchestral ensembles are always, always, always a part of a typical Symphony Center season. This fall, guest conductor Pablo HerasCasado will help mark the year-long celebration of one of the city’s most beloved musical allies, French composer and

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Mu Right: Chicago Symphony Orcherstra conductor and music director Riccardo Muti (photo by Todd Rosenberg).

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MUSIC work, his Symphony No. 1 (Winter Daydreams). The symphony offers a revealing look into Tchaikovsky’s initial struggles with the organic symphonic form. Yet it is considered one of his most substantive. Muti also welcomes titan pianist Yefim Bronfman with his trademark lush lyricism for Brahms’ poignant Piano Concerto No. 2. The pull and push of Brahms’ intensely emotionally concerto propelled by two forces like Bronfman and Muti’s CSO make this a must-see concert for any lover of the concerto form (January 15, 16, 17, 2015).

Just a week later, Maestro Muti leads the CSO and Chorus in a robust all-Russian program that includes Prokofiev’s lovely cantata, Alexander Nevsky, and Scriabin’s ambitious six-movement Symphony No. 1, with soloists mezzo-soprano Alisa Kolosova and tenor Sergey Skorokhodov, in his CSO debut.

The CSO and Chorus will perform the same works in their New York Carnegie Hall residency this season (January 22, 23, 24 and February 1, 2015).

Chicago audiences are very familiar with conductor Jaap van Zweden. His CSO residencies are popular and prolific. This season he is joined by the eminent German baritone Matthias Goerne in a selection of songs

by Schubert and Richard Strauss.

The program, which will also be performed at a run-out concert in Lincoln, NE on February 6, concludes with Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 5 (February 5, 7, 8, 2015).

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance has cemented itself in its 11 years in Chicago’s Millennium Park as a paramount world-class arts venue in a city that has spent a century cementing its own reputation as a world arts metropolis. And the Harris’ 2014-2015 season further advances the theater’s reputation with a broad spectrum of music performances that seem to represent the most ambitious offerings to date.

Next February, one of Mexico’s most esteemed classical music ensembles, the award-winning Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México (National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico)—led by Maestro Enrique Bátiz—celebrates the rich history of its home country in its Chicago debut.

The concert, co-presented by the Harris Theater and the National Museum of Mexican Art, offers a riveting program featuring Granados' Three Spanish Dances, the Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez and de Falla’s enchanting Night’s in the Gardens of Spain. The orchestra will be joined by Alfonso Moreno—one of the greatest interpreters known to the world of classical guitar—and piano soloist Irina Chistiakova. Bátiz is a former guest with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and principal guest conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (February 27, 2015).

Rich textures of French and Dutch repertoire will be

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conductor Piere Boulez, who celebrates his 90th birthday in 2015.

HerasCasdo will conduct the CSO in performances that include Boulez’s imaginative and texturally ground-breaking Figures-DoublesPrisme. The work, composed more than a half-century ago, serves as a watershed achievement for the Boulez in its innovative treatment of orchestral instrumentation. Also on the program is "Ibéria" from Debussy’s Images, and Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott. This concert offers Chicagoans a chance to see the young piano phenom make her CSO debut (November 12, 13, 14, 15).

One of the highlights of the 2014–2015 Harris Theater Presents (harristheaterchicago.org) season, Teatro Regio Torino of Turin, Italy, launches its first-ever North American tour here in Chicago at the Harris Theater with a rare concert production of Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell. Rossini’s grand opera has not been heard in Chicago since 1986, when the Lithuanian Opera Company of Chicago last performed it.

Teatro Regio Torino’s four-stop tour—with performances in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Toronto, and New York’s Carnegie Hall—marks the first time an Italian opera house will tour a work in concert form in North America. The Chicago production will feature soprano Angela Meade as Matilde, tenor John Osborn as Arnoldo, and baritone Fabio Capitanucci in the title role of Guglielmo Tell.(December 3).

Bringing a bold program of works with him, Carlos Miguel Prieto is known for thrilling orchestral audiences. He’ll certainly do nothing short of that in his return to the CSO podium this season conducting Prokofiev’s Suite from Lieutenant Kijé, James MacMillan’s Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (featuring CSO Principal Percussion Cynthia Yeh), Revueltas’ Sensemayá and the charmingly folkloric Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra (December 18, 19, 20).

Maestro Muti returns to the CSO podium at the start of the new year to conduct Tchaikovsky’s first large-scale

music

usi Clockwise from top: Conductor Pablo Herras (photo by Cassada); conductor Jaap van Zweden (photo by Marcco Borggreve); conductor Prieto Carlos (photo by Miguel); Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Teatro Regio Torino of Turin, Italy (photo courtesy of Teatro Regio Torino).

Autumn 2014CNCJA•25

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Guide The

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the order of the day when the high-spirited Yannick Nézet-Séguin, making his Chicago debut, conducts the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in Musique pour l’esprit en deuil (Music for the Spirit in Mourning) by Rudolf Escher, a Dutch composer with French sympathies who worked with Pierre Boulez.

Also on the program, Ravel’s jazz-inspired Piano Concerto in G Major with soloist Hélène Grimaud.

Topping the lustrous program will be Prokofiev’s popular Symphony No. 5 (February 20, 2015).

No orchestral season in Chicago would be complete without a CSO program of Mozart. In February, Maestro Muti leads Mozart’s final epic work—the Requiem—on a brilliant program that opens with pianist Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist in the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 24.

Mozart's Requiem features soprano Rosa Feola, mezzo-soprano Alisa Kolosova, tenor Saimir Pirgu, and bass Michele Pertusi (February 1921, and 24, 2015).

The CSO’s spring concert featuring Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra will give audiences a unique opportunity to hear the orchestra’s associate concertmaster Stephanie Jeong and assistant principal Cello Kenneth Olsen in action with pianist Jonathan Biss. The program, conducted by Maestro Muti, will also include Ligeti’s Lontano and Tchaikovsky’s infectious Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian) (March 5-7, 2015).

Acclaimed Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit returns to the CSO in the spring to conduct a ravishing all-French program as part of the orchestra’s 2014-2015 French composers project. The program includes Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole, D’Indy’s Symphony on a French Mountain Air and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe, Suite No. 2. Well known for his interpretations of French 20th Century music, Dutoit will also be joined by pianist Louis Lortie in one of Cesar Franck’s highest compositional achievements, the Symphonic Variations (March 12, 14, and 17, 2015).

And if that isn’t rich enough, Dutoit returns to conduct a second allFrench program featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the CSO’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, who performs Édouard Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor. Other works on the program include Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales and Saint-Saëns’ La muse et le poète, with Ma and CSO Concertmaster Robert Chen as soloists (March 19-21, 2015).

If no season of Chicago symphonic music is complete without Mozart, no season with Mozart in Chicago is complete without pianist master Mozart pianist Mitsuko Uchida’s annual appearance with the

CSO. Uchida leads two of the composer’s most splendid concerti from the piano—Nos. 6 and 26 (Coronation)—and is joined by German soprano Dorothea Röschmann in Schumann’s lush song cycle Frauenliebe und -leben (April 2-4, 2015).

In April 2015, beloved former principal conductor Bernard Haitink will make his return to the CSO podium to lead the orchestra in Gustav Mahler’s tonally progressive Symphony No. 7, a work known for its power and transformative tonal play (April 9-11, and 14, 2015).

The annual three-week festival— Reveries and Passions—makes its way into the CSO's new season in May conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Salonen’s programs emphasize 20th-century operatic and theatrical works drawn together by themes of beauty, fantasy and the darkness of the night.

Ravel’s lyric one-act opera, L’enfant et les sortilèges, features the CSO debut of French soprano Chloé Briot in the role of the Child.

Debussy’s cantata La damoiselle élue (The Blessed Damsel) and Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Suite) open the program (May 7-9, and 15, 2015) Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the featured soloist with the CSO next spring in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, as well as in Messiaen’s iconic Turangalîla-symphonie. The rich program is capped

by CSO Principal Flute Mathieu Dufour in a performance of a short solo work, Debussy’s Syrinx (May 21-23, 2015).

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Opera

In a time when opera is struggling to find its audience in many arts havens, Chicago enjoys a lavish, luxuriant array of opera performances every season. From world class productions of time honored works to dazzlingly innovative presentations of younger, little known gems in the repertoire infused with ingenuity and vision, we are simply spoiled with the choices of opera in the Windy City.

This season presents so much the more when Lyric Opera of Chicago launches into its 60th season and Chicago Opera Theatre (COT) launching its second full season with Andreas Mitisek at the helm.

Summer 2014CNCJA•31 Since taking the reins of Chicago’s most innovative opera company in 2012, Mitisek has lent his considerable talents to COT productions as

Clockwise from top left: Pianist Hélène Grimaud (photo by Mat Hennek); pianist Mitsuko Uchida (photo courtesy of Ms. Uchida); conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen (photo

by Todd Rosenberg); pianist Louis Lortie (photo courtesy of Mr. Lorte).

Summer 2014CNCJA•49

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conductor, stage director and even production designer for the company's productions of Maria de Buenos Aires and The Fall of the House of Usher.

This fall, Chicago Opera Theater (chicagooperatheater. org) presents the Chicago premiere of Ernest Bloch's powerful Macbeth. This stiring work follows the torments that Macbeth and his Lady experience as they fall prey to a spiral of ambition and murder. Doomed by his own guilt, Macbeth is slain by a man "not born of a woman."

Bloch's forceful and striking score provides a remarkable expressive soundscape for a bone-chilling thriller, where "fair is foul and foul is fair."

Lyric Opera of Chicago (lyricopera.org) launches a sparkling new season with what general director Anthony Freud dubs the company’s “calling-card” opera, Don Giovanni.

And what better way to celebrate 60 years in Chicago than Mozart’s “perfect” opera about the most legendary lothario in all of the genre?

Freud has assembled an incredibly gifted team to bring Don Giovanni to life, tapping the charismatic Mariusz Kwiecien to sing the title role, Sir Andrew Davis to conduct Mozart’s complex, layered score, and Goodman Theatre’s (and Chicago’s) preeminent stage director, Robert Falls, to direct. It simply doesn’t get any better than this, folks.

Lyric’s Don Giovanni is, in my opinion, the production of the season, and not to be missed (September 27 and 30; October 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 24 and 29).

Later in the fall, Lyric Opera brings together the superlative Renée Fleming with Sir Andrew Davis in a revival of Richard Strauss's final opera, Capriccio. Strauss subtitled his final opera, "A Conversation Piece for Music." It is, in fact, one of the most captivatingly sophisticated works in the entire repertoire. And in it, one of the most basic conflicts in the nature of opera itself is debated: which merits more worth, the text or the music?

The production will be staged by Metropolitan Opera veteran Peter McClintock, with sets by the late Mauro Pagano, costumes and interior decor by Robert Perdziola, lighting by Duane Schuler, and choreography by American ballet master Val Caniparoli (October 6, 9, 12, 15, 22, 25, and 28).

In Lyric’s Opera’s fall production, Giuseppi Verdi’s Ill Trovatore, you have, "one of the most melodically engaging and dramatically barnstorming of all romantic Italian operas. Il Trovatore is full of vocal showpieces,” Freud noted in his announcement of Lyric Opera’s new season. “Finding the demonic energy that drives the piece is the central musical and theatrical challenge.” Lyric will meet that challenge and then some with a bold David McVicar production that takes Ill Trovatore to visionary heights. With Asher Fisch leading

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From top: Baritone Mariusz Kwiecien (photo by Ken Howard); conductor Asher Fisch (photo courtesy of Maestro FIsch).

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Riccardo Muti conducts Beethoven’s Ninth, Mozart’s Requiem and the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Summer 2014CNCJA•29 RICCARDO MUTI Music Director SYMPHONY CENTER PRESENTS CSO.ORG/CYO

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Autumn 2014CNCJA•27

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a dream team cast that includes Stephanie Blythe, Amber Wagner and the Chicago favorite, Andrei Silvestrelli (and his cavernous low bass), Il Trovatore is sure to be one of the hit productions of the season.(October 27, November 5, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 29).

The new year will bring a new Lyric production of Giacomo Puccini’s perennial audience favorite, Tosca. The fiery melodrama will make its return to Lyric Opera for two series of performances. And the new production will give audiences a chance to see hot new conductor Dmitri Jurowski along with two of opera’s brightest young sopranos: Tatiana Serjan in her Lyric Opera debut (who, you may remember, made quite an impression earlier this year in her appearance with the CSO that was nothing short of spectacular); and Hui He (who herself made quite an impression in her own Lyric Opera debut two seasons ago in Aida) (January 24, 27, and 30; February 2, 5, and 27; and March 3, 8, 11, and 14, 2015).

Of Lyric’s final opera of the season, the company premiere of Miecyslaw Weinberg’s The Passenger, Anthony Freud noted, "It's rare to 'discover' a prolific and important composer whose works were politically suppressed for decades, and to be able to share his most significant contribution with our audience in a brilliant production.” Created by David Pountney, this production promises to be an unforgettable experience for Civic Opera House audiences.

Chicago Opera Theater’s spring production of Ricky Ian Gordon’s A Coffin in Egypt tells the haunting tale of memory and murder, racism and recrimination. The work, written for legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, is based on a play by Horton Foote. The story revolves around von Stade’s role, 90-year-old grand dame Myrtle Bledsoe living in Egypt, Texas. Having outlived all her family and friends, Bledsoe confronts a life of missed opportunities, broken dreams, and a family of miscreants. The Huffington Post described von Stade’s performance of Myrtle as “transcendent and powerful” (April 25 and 29; May 1 and 3, 2015).

Solo and Chamber Music Concerts

In 2000, Chicago’s very own Orion Ensemble (orionensemble. org) was awarded the prestigious Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and in the opening concert of its 22nd season, these elite musicians will bear out the true meaning of that award with a program called Stepping Out, a concert showcasing an intriguing blend of Romantic-era chamber music favorites and classical-jazz fusion pieces. The concert, part of their season-long exploration of works by Chicago-based composers, will spotlight works by jazz saxophonist and arranger Jim Gailloretto (September 28; October 1 28•CNCJAAutumn 2014

and 5) .

The Washington Post called the award-winning chamber orchestra of gifted young African-American and Latino string players, Sphinx Virtuosi, an ensemble of “immeasurable power, unwavering command and soulful beauty.” And they’ll make the Windy City a stop on their 2014 Americana tour this fall. In an October Harris Theater Eat + Drink to the Beat program, the ensemble will honor American composers and the centennial of the Star Spangled Banner with a new commission by Sphinx composer in residence Jessie Montgomery. Her new work, Banner!, is a jubilant celebration of the iconic American patriotic piece. The Sphinx Virtuosi has long garnered critical acclaim for its regular performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall and for its diverse range of classical repertoire (October 22).

In November, Israeli pianist and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient Inon Barnatan will make his Chicago solo recital debut at The Harris.

Appointed by the New York Philharmonic as its first Artist-in-Association in 2013, Barnatan has been lauded around the world for his trademark sensitivity, both in concert and for his critically acclaimed recordings of works by Beethoven and Schubert. Considered a musical prodigy at the age of 3, Barnatan made his orchestral debut just 8 years later and is a veteran guest artist of such orchestras as Cleveland, Houston, Philadelphia and San Francisco Symphony (November 3).

Just a few weeks after his Chicago solo debut, Barnatan will join other Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center artists at Harris Theater in a lovely chamber music program featuring the timeless Trout Quintet.

Schubert’s iconic and mystifyingly beautiful work is paired with other Romantic gems, including Dvořák’s Nocture for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Bass (1870, rev. 1875) and Chusson’s Trio in G minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 3 (1881). Other instrumentalist heavyweights on the program include violinist Ani Kavafian and cellist Gary Hoffman (November 17, 2014).

Wo r l d - r e n o w n e d violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter last appeared with the CSO in March 2013. It was a triumphant return after years of absence, Summerand 2014CNCJA•31 she’s back this season with her hand-picked chamber orchestra, Mutter Virtuosi, to perform a deliciously varied program com-

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2O14/2O15 CONCERT SERIES

ALBA CONSORT ANGELA HEWITT ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER AVI AVITAL BLUE HERON CONTEMPO DANISH STRING QUARTET DELFEAYO MARSALIS DENIS KOZHUKIN ISABELLE FAUST JASON MORAN JERUSALEM QUARTET PACIFICA QUARTET REGINA CARTER TAFELMUSIK THIRD COAST PERCUSSION

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prised of Sebastian Currier’s Ringtones—a work commissioned by the Anne-Sophie Mutter (ASM) Foundation—Mendelssohn’s Octet, and Vivaldi’s iconic The Four Seasons. Mutter’s eye to the future of classical music is ever on display with her namesake ensemble comprised of current and former scholarship students of the ASM Foundation (November 19).

Winner at the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin has emerged as a powerful and evocative soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He makes his Chicago debut this November in a heady recital program on the University of Chicago Presents (chicagopresents.uchicago.edu) series in Chicago’s Hyde Park featuring Sonatas by Haydn and Prokofiev. Kozhukhin is certainly one to watch.(November 17).

Three years ago, Chicago established a new holiday tradition with Soli Deo Gloria’s Chicago Bach Project, a performance of some of Bach’s most sublime sacred works during the Easter season in The Windy City.

And last season our newest holiday tradition was beautifully etched in stone with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s resplendent performance of the great master’s complete Brandenburg Concertos.

I’ve got to say, as a great lover of Bach, it’s really wonderful living in Chicago during the holidays.

Borrowed from CMS’s New York schedule, the festive annual performance—called a “holiday staple” by The New York Times—is not to be missed (December 18).

An afternoon of German and French songs, with works by Beethoven, Schubert, Fauré and Debussy is simply sheer delight in a city that’s ruled by solo recitals of pianistic titans from around the globe. Internationally acclaimed Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter has long been considered one of the finest singers of her generation, and she will perform with esteemed pianist Angela Hewitt at Mandel Hall on the University of Chicago Presents this season in what has to be one of the most anticipated vocal concerts of this year (January 11, 2015).

The CSO’s season-long survey of repertoire by Tchaikovsky and Scriabin will be underscored when pedagogue and Chopin master Garrick Ohlsson performs a Scriabin-focused piano recital at Symphony Center featuring Sonata No. 5, the White Mass Sonata, Désir, and other selected works by Sergei Rachmaninov. Scriabin’s kaleidoscopic works were influenced by his interest in mysticism, as well as his synesthesia.

The concert gives Chicago audiences already well familiar with Ohlsson’s acumen for Chopin an opportunity to hear the pianist illuminate two Russian masters (January 25, 2014).

The Pacifica Quartet has made an indelible mark on chamber music audiences throughout the globe with hefty programs that often pair profoundly important compositions of old masters with comparatively new luminaries in classical music. Lucky Chicagoans south of the city’s bustling downtown core get to hear this incredibly cosmopolitan University of Chicago Artists-in-Residence with regularity, and in January, they’ll hear a beautifully planned program of works by Puccini, Elliot Carter and Beethoven’s lovely Razumovsky Quartet No. 1 (January 25).

Violinist Isabelle Faust and pianist Alexander Melnikov are artists who enjoy big European concert hall careers. And next February, among their many collaborations, they will make their Chicago recital debut with a charming program that unveils their

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Clockwise from top left - opposite page: Tenor Brandon Jovanovich in The Passenger at Lyric Opera this season (photo by Terrence McCarthy); The award winning Sphinx Virtuosi (photo by Nan Melville); Israeli pianis Inon Barnatan (photo courtesy of Harris Theater for Music and Dance); acclaimed violonist Annie-Sofie Mutter (photo courtesy of Mutter Virtuosi); Members of Orion Ensemble ( photo by Cornelia Babbit).

MAGNIFICENT MUSIC 29 unique performances across seven series in beautiful venues on the University of Chicago campus.

Visit chicagopresents.uchicago.edu or call 773.702.ARTS.

The World’s Best Music, Close to Home.

Denis Kozhukhin, winner of the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Photo by Paul Marc Mitchell

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rich musicianship in the magnificent Franck Sonata. Described by The Guardian as, “ideal partners, wrestling with the musical dialogue with poise, imagination and freshness.” Faust and Melnikov will leverage their cohesive musical nexus in a University of Chicago Presents concert featuring works by Dvorák, Enescu and Tchaikovsky that will surely constitute one of the most memorable chamber concerts of the new season (February 6, 2015).

Finnish pianist and composer Olli Mustonen will return to the the Symphony Center's piano series with repertoire that mirrors the CSO’s pairing in 2014-2015 of Russian composers Tchaikovsky and Scriabin.

He’ll play the former’s Album for the Young, and the latter’s Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 17, along with Vers la flamme, Op. 72. Adding to an already rich and multi-dimensional program will be mazurkas by Chopin (and in Mustonen’s hands, these are a must-hear). For his finale, Mustonen will perform his own work, the Nordic-inspired JehkinIivana (February 22, 2015).

Having performed last season with legendary film score composer and conductor John Williams on CSO at the Movies, Gil Shaham will returns to Symphony Center for an intriguing and cerebral chamber music program, performing the complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by J. S. Bach, accompanied by projections of visual imagery

by David Michalek. Michalek is known for his innovative and interactive collaborations with artists and audiences, making for a oneof-a-kind visual and auditory experience this season (March 1, 2015).

Known for his probing intellect and astounding technique, András Schiff will make his return to Symphony Center to perform a sumptuous program of piano sonatas by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert on the SCP Piano series. The performance is part of Shiff’s Late Sonatas Project. Known for a towering talent for the music of Bach (including Gouldian mastery of the monumental Goldberg Variations) and his masterful examination of the complete Beethoven Sonatas, Schiff’s program next spring will prove to be one of the must-see piano recitals of the new concert calendar (March 8, 2015).

A longtime collaborator and close associate of Pierre Boulez, Pierre-Laurent Aimard will join forces with Yugoslav-born pianist Tamara Stefanovich in a celebration of the visionary composer’s 90th birthday. The concert will feature performances of Boulez’s major works for keyboard, including Sonatas I and II, Notations and Book II of his Structures for Two Pianos, a wildly innovative feat of visionary ingenuity in composition (March 15, 2015).

A consummate poet, American pianist Murray Perahia will return

to Symphony Center with his trademark precision and virtuosity in the spring. Perahia has long been know for his singular interpretations that bring fresh illumination to centuries old masterworks. Though his program is yet to be announced, his performance will no doubt be one of the momentous musical appearances of the season (March 22, 2015).

Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin will make his annual Symphony Center appearance with a program that pairs Beethoven’s heroic (Waldstein) Piano Sonata No. 21 with Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, along with selected Rachmaninoff Preludes from Op. 23 and Op. 32. Kissin possesses unimaginable technical prowess, but what’s more is his delicate sensitivity and the seemingly unending depth he brings to works within the musical cannon (April 19, 2015).

In May, world renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will make his return to Symphony Center’s chamber music series, this time joined by musicians of the CSO for a delightful program of French repertoire , as part of the CSO’s exploration of French music (May 17, 2015).

Chicago will get its first opportunity to hear the new Emerson String Quartet—now with newly appointed cellist Paul Watkins, marking the quartet’s first membership change in more than three decades. Watkins replaces former Quartet member and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center coartistic director David Finckel, one of today’s foremost classical cellists. Described by Fortune Magazine as “arguably the world’s best group of chamber musicians,” the quartet will perform alongside members of CMS in a co-commissioned project celebrating works by Mozart, Liebermann, and Tchaikovsky in the final performance of CMS’ expanded 2014–2015 season (May 20, 2014).

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Mus Clockwise from top left: Violinist Gil Shaham (photo courtesy of Mr. Shaham); Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center co-artistic directors David Finckel, cello) and Wu Han, piano (photo by Tristan Cook); the acclaimed Vienna Boys Choir (photo courtesy of the Vienna Boys Choir); pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard (photo by Marcco Borggreve).

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Choral

Always impeccably prepared, crisp, articulate and displaying generous musical depth, the well revered Lyric Opera Chorus typically finds itself overshadowed by world renowned soloists in major productions at Civic Opera House. But this fall, the chorus will give two special concerts that will feature the world-class ensemble performing operatic excerpts from Lyric’s 60th-anniversary season.

Led by Chorus Master Michael Black, the group will perform at Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church in downtown Chicago and Evanston’s Alice Millar Chapel. The rare glimpse at Lyric’s stellar chorus outside their supporting role at Civic Opera House will offer sneak peaks at several Lyric Summer 2014CNCJA•31 2014-2015 season works, including Anna Bolena, Tosca, Carousel, Die Fledermaus, and Fidelio.

“The Lyric Opera Chorus is one Summer 2014CNCJA•49

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of the best in the world,” noted Anthony Freud, Lyric’s general director.

“These special concerts highlight the ensemble’s incredible virtuosity, musicianship, and splendor, in two venues perfectly suited for choral performance.” Audiences will get a rare opportunity to hear soloists from the chorus perform during the one-of-a-kind concert event (September 12 and November 22).

An annual Thanksgiving-weekend delight, the Vienna Boys Choir will make their always anticipated return to Chicago for a joyful performance to herald the start of the holiday season. Founded more than 500 years ago, the beloved choir has worked with such musical luminaries as Mozart, Gluck and Bruckner, and it even once counted Franz Schubert as one of its singers. Today’s ensemble consists of choristers between the ages of 10 and 14 who tour throughout Europe, Asia and North America and perform more than 300 concerts in front of nearly half a million people each year (November 29).

Chicago-based chamber choir Bella Voce (bellavoce.org) focuses much of its aesthetic thrust on the historical context of the choral repertoire it explores. That focus will be on display in the choir’s spring concert examining the spiritual influence of German Romantic composers Johannes Brahms and Josef Rheinberger. A highlight of this highly contextual program includes Rheinberger's ornate and ravishing Cantus Missae for double chorus (April 25 and 26, 2015).

Chicago a Cappella (chicagoacappella.org) is one of the few outstanding choral creatives in the city that often drift outside the lines of traditional choral performance, adding to the richness of an already rich and varied genre. Next spring, the vocal ensemble will bring a dynamic a cappella take to the timeless classics of the Fab Five and the Beatle’s musical catalog. Acclaimed musician Paul Langford, known for his work in both classical and pop fields, will serve as guest music director in a thrilling concert celebrating the 75th birth year of John Lennon (April 10, 12, 17 and 18, 2015).

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This November Canada’s award-winning period instrument orchestra, Tafelmusik, will bring their acclaimed early music fusion of arts, science and culture, The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres, to the University of Chicago Presents series. The imaginative production weaves poetic narration, choreography and music by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel seamlessly in a multisensory concept unlike any other Summer 2014CNCJA•45 early music indulgence you’ll find (November 7).

One of Chicago’s best known early music ensembles, The Newberry Consort, will host luminary lutenist Paul

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new work, which was inspired by the art of Felix Nussbaum (1904-1944), a German-Jewish painter who perished in the Holocaust, was commissioned by a Music Accord, a global consortium of concert presenters. The Pacifica is in an advantageous position to provide an insightful reading of the work as its world and continental premieres have been placed carefully in their expert hands since Ran first penned the commission expressly for the ensemble.

Ran, artistic director for Contempo, the new music chamber ensemble at the University of Chicago, has been creator of some of the world’s most powerful new music since 1990, when she was handpicked by Daniel Berenboim as Composer-In-Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post she held for seven seasons (October 12).

Credited with contributing to a veritable “‘youthquake’ in the city’s new-music scene,” the “sonically spectacular” (Chicago Tribune) Third Coast Percussion will return to the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts in Hyde Park for another powerful performance this November. Their daring program will feature politically motivated works by three composers whose music makes powerful statements about today’s changing world. It includes John Cage’s Credo in US and Davd Little’s Haunt of Last Nightfall (November 1).

The Orion Ensemble’s second concert program of the new season, Rhapsody, will welcome guest violinist and violist Stephen Boe, pedagogue at the Music Institute of Chicago. The program features the world premiere of Sebastian Huydts' Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano. The concert, which includes Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins, Op. 56 and Iwan Müller's Quartet No. 1 in B-flat Major for Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Cello, sets a fine context for Huydts’ work as the composer is well known for seamlessly blending 20th Century innovations with Western traditions.

In Orion’s capable hands, this concert should prove to be a wonderful showcase of a promising new work (November 23, 30 and December 3).

Under Shulamit Ran’s direction, the University of Chicago’s Contempo new music collective curates the bold visions of some of today’s most innovative composers. The world premiere of American composer and Guggenheim Fellow John Eaton’s The End of It will highlight their winter

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O’Dette for what the ensemble calls an evening at an “Elizabethan blues club.”

The Consort will perform music for lute, soprano and a group of viols in a contrasting display of the melancholy and joy of English Renaissance composer John Dowland. The performance will offer a delightful opportunity to hear rarely performed works by immensely skilled early music specialists chiefly in their element (April 24, 2015).

In May, Baroque specialist Harry Bicket will return to the CSO to conduct a suite of lovely dances from Rameau’s opera Platée. Also on the program are Four "Preludes and Fugues" from J.S. Bach’s The WellTempered Clavier, as arranged by Igor Stravinsky, and Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3. Artistic director of The English Concert and chief conductor of Santa Fe Opera, Bicket is a renowned baroque interpreter and should offer delightfully fresh looks at these early works (April 30; May 1 and 2, 2015).

New Music

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Chicago is unique in the extent to which it welcomes new and experimental music. In fact, many a contemporary music staple got its start right here in Chicago arts incubator programs or as a result of a Chicago arts institution’s commission. One reason for the kind of fertile ground the city provides new works is the incredibly high caliber of artists here willing and able to explore new concepts, techniques and new works, setting new performance standards and unveiling new musical ideas and aesthetics for the city's eager audiences.

Like seasons before, the 2014-2015 fine arts season is fraught with intriguing and probing new works and commissions getting their world and U.S. premieres—offering Chicagoans the first glimpse today of what may very well become one of the great new works of the century a decade from now.

This fall, the University of Chicago’s Pacifica Quartet will give the U.S. premiere of Shulamit Ran’s Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory. The

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concert with resident artists Pacifica Quartet and eighth blackbird, along with other elite artists. The concert, which takes place in Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University, is one of many celebrating the program's 50th anniversary season (January 24, 2015).

This season, the beguiling genius of experimental multimedia artist Laurie Anderson will return to the Harris Theater for the third time since her Harris debut in 2008. Anderson will team with the legendary San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet for the first time in Landfall, a collection of works composed on hyper violin and adapted to the string quartet, inspired by the events of Hurricane Sandy. This avant-garde collaboration—co-commissioned by Stanford University’s performing arts presenter, Stanford Live—draws on Anderson’s experience during the storm with wry intelligence and ominous foreshadowing of one of the most devastating natural disasters in New York’s history. Anderson and Kronos Quartet’s magnificent dreamscape touches on the unpredictable bonds forged between strangers, and the power of hope in the face of adversity (March 17, 2015).

Symphony Center’s season culminates with the world premiere of a new CSO commission from wildly imaginative and remarkably prolific CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates. It's called Anthology of Fantastic Zoology, and it's based on the work of Argentine poet, shortstory writer and essayist Jorge Luis Borges. In his newest work, forwardthinking Bates will most certainly further his genre-blending penchant into technical innovation and visionary music (June 18-20, 2015).

usic Clockwise from top left - opposite page: Members of the world renowned chamber music ensemble Pacifica Quartet (photo by Saverio Truglia); acclaimed performance artist Laurie Anderson (photo by Susan Biddle); Third Coast Percussion (photo by Saverio Truglia).

Also On Our Radar Orchestral

Opera February • 9 through March 6 — Tannhäuser, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Solo & Chamber Music October • 5 — Gail Williams, Horn, Pickstaiger Hall, Northwestern University School of Music • 9 — Open Doors, eighth blackbird at MCA Stage, Museum of Contemporary Art • 16 — Haydn String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 62, No.3, Debussy String Quartet, Franck’s Piano Quintet, Takács Quartet with virtuoso French-Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin at Symphony Center March • 2 — Piano Quartets by Mahler, Schumann and Brahms, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Harris Theater • 6 — Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Symphony Center April • 10 — Granados, Elgar, Poulenc, Berg, Stravinsky - Anthony McGill, clarinet; Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Anna Polonsky, piano; and Orion Weiss, piano at University of Chicago Presents

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October • 19 and 20 — Mozart Requiem, Music of the Baroque at Harris Theater

December • 6 and 20 —Handel’s Messiah, Apollo Chorus of Chicago at Symphony Center and Harris Theater respectively

January • 18 and 19 — Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Chicago Sinfonietta at Harris Theater

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February • 26, 27, 28 and March 3 — Scriabin Symphony No. 2 and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) – Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Center April • 24 through 26 — Bruckner Symphony No. 8, Chicago Symphony Orchestra with guest conductor Semyon Bychkov at Symphony Center

April • 25 — Anna Thorvaldsdottir and the International Contemporary Ensemble at MCA Stage, Museum of Contemporary Art May • 21 and 22 — Wild Sound, Third Coast Percussion and Glenn Kotche at MCA Stage, Museum of Contemporary Art

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Folk, Americana and Bluegrass

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The ever growing folk music scene in Chicagoland continues to impress with some of the industry’s biggest and most endearing artists making their way through area venues with amazing regularity.

The new season looks like a warm and friendly crop of fan favorites from folk and Americana to bluegrass, along with an exciting mix of up-and-comers offering genre-bending and genre-blending performances in the most honest and authentic musical mode we know today. And that makes Chicago an ever richer bastion of music making and appreciation. Who’s going to argue with that?

With one foot in the field and the other in the factory, The SteelDrivers are a beacon, beaming their own version of "rhythm'n'bluegrass" far across the musical landscape. Highly regarded behind the scenes as songsmiths and session men, the SteelDrivers are finally stepping out. In their ten capable hands, backcountry high-lonesome collides with Delta soul, resulting in the freshest sound to emerge from Music City in recent memory. Country royalty Vince Gill describes their music as “Really soulful bluegrass, with great songs. An incredible combination.” You can indulge when they play the Old Town School of Folk Music (oldtownschool.org) this fall (September 5).

Since we last heard from Shawn Mullins, the Atlantabased singer/songwriter and bandleader has undergone a series of transformative experiences, leading to a second coming for the veteran artist. Evidence of Mullins’ newfound level of musical and lyrical ambition comes through with Light You Up (Vanguard Records). This captivating new song cycle will likely be viewed as a flat-out revelation even by Mullins’ most fervent fans. He’ll be in residence this fall (September 10) at City Winery (citywinery. com/Chicago) with young singer/songwriter Max Gomez fresh on the heels of Gomez’s very first album drop on the New West record label.

Twenty-three year old multi-Grammy-nomi nated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz lit up Chicago when she debuted at Old Town last season. The New England Conservatory grad bare-

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ly had time to watch the ink dry on her degree in Contemporary Improvisation before her third album, Build Me Up From Bones, was released. Now one of the hottest names on the circuit, Jarosz, is making a name for herself as a versatile artist whose depth and maturity simply defy her years. Build Me Up From Bones received two Grammy nominations and appeared on NPR's Top Ten Folk and Americana albums for 2013.

Dubbed by The New York Times, “One of acoustic music's finest talents,” Jarosz will be back at Old Town this fall (September 27) to once again captivate audiences with that signature nuance that rings of an old musical soul with so much to convey.

Raucous roots string wizards and Canadian Folk Music Award winners, The Sultans of String are serving up their spicy stew of Global roots, Gypsy jazz, Spanish flamenco, and Cuban rhythms at the Old Town School this season (October 8). UK’s Maverick Magazine called Sultans, "a joyful melting pot of folk, jazz, flamenco, and indeed anything else that takes their fancy...This is the sort of band and music that would rip up any festival in the country."

That's enough to make their October Old Town concert a whitehot ticket, to say the least.

These days, crooner Mason Jennings paints from a more varied palette than ever. For instance, in his most recent album, Minnesota, piano is featured more prominently than in any of his previous efforts. “The piano seemed to fit the emotional core of the album,” he explains. “I felt that it was important to begin and end the album with piano.” Mason played almost all of the instruments on the recording, the one exception being “Well Of Love,” a Perez Prado-esque number that features his friends in The Living Room—the side project of Jack Johnson drummer/percussionist Adam Topol. Jennings will perform songs from his heartfelt, romantic album at City Winery (October 10) in what will likely be one of the acoustic concerts of the season.

Rolling Stone describes Paula Cole as, “...an extraordinary songwriter with a gorgeous voice.” Entertainment Weekly calls her, "...a feisty poet with a soaring voice and a funky groove.” And Peter Gabriel called her, ”…an original voice both in what she is saying and how she is saying it.”

There’s not much more that needs to be said about the Grammy winner (and 7 time Grammy nominee) who’s released six solo albums spanning an amazing eighteen-year career. On October 26, she’ll bring that funky groove and authentic story-telling to City Winery with songs from her latest album, Raven, in what will be my personal favorite concert of the season. Anyone who loves honest story-telling in the packageSummer of a poetic and soul-stirring voice won't 2014CNCJA•31 mind the admonishment: Get out and hear this woman sing!

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Mu Clockwise from top left: Members of bluegrass band The SteelDrivers (photo by Mickey Dobo); Singer/songwriter Mason Jennings (photo courtesy of Mr. Jennings); multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Sarah Jarosz (photo by Scott Simon Tachi).

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Celebrated jazz icon Herb Alpert, with wife and vocalist Lani Hall, will make a fall appearance (October 24) at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie (northshorecenter.org) performing a sophisticated concert program with a trio of artists. The concert includes a preview of the pair’s new upcoming album, In The Mood, set to be released this fall; songs from last year’s Grammy-winning album Steppin Out; a selection of Brazilian songs; and a Tijuana Brass Medley.

Discovered at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2006 by Quincy Jones, Cuban-born Alfredo Rodriguez is a young pianist of astonishing virtuosity and imagination. His Alfredo Rodriguez Trio will make a highly anticipated fall appearance on the University of Chicago Presents Jazz Series giving Chicago audiences an opportunity to witness a dazzling young ensemble that caused the Boston Herald to write, "So striking was the nearly two-hour performance that the audience briefly sat in stunned silence at its end before erupting into a roaring ovation" (November 14).

Joshua Redman's new album, Trios Live, was released earlier this year on Nonesuch Records. In a new four-star review, the Guardian calls it a "sax fan's dream of a live set." The album features four original tunes by Redman and interpretations of three additional standards all in traditional Redmanesque flair. One of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists to have emerged in the decade of the 1990s, Redman will bring his Joshua Redman Trio to City Winery this fall (November 11) performing songs from the already acclaimed project.

For the perfect night out, Singers Over Manhattan pairs popular jazz guitarist, singer, and bandleader John Pizzarelli with the multiple Gammy-nominated vocalist Jane Monheit in a romantically entertaining night of classic standards and duets.

Both true master interpreters of the Great American Songbook, this dynamic jazz duo is a slick mix of penache, charm and sophistication. A recent review from BroadwayWorld.com put it best, “With Monheit, you get a beautiful, theatrically supple voice–masterful and effortless in every jaw-dropping delivery; with Pizzarelli, you get a terrific jazz guitarist armed with incredible improv skills and a smile-inducing rapport with the audience that’s part stand-up comic routine, part head-boppin’ fun.”

After individual solo sets present favorite tunes from their own repertoire and latest albums, Pizzarelli and Monheit raise their voices together and capture hearts with a set of charming duets. Their witty stage banter and interpretation of standards take you back to the playful pairing of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald with songs like “Tonight You Belong to Me” (made popular by Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in the film, The Jerk); and George Gershwin’s “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” which became a YouTube sensation after the two sang it together on Ramsey Lewis’ PBS anthology series Legends of Jazz.

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Marking the 20th anniversary celebration of Symphony Center Presents (SCP) Jazz, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), a fixture on the SCP Jazz series since the group’s first appearance in 1998, return to Chicago in March (8).

The group will perform a purist’s set featuring works by jazz legends Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and Charles Mingus.

An SCP Jazz double bill next April (18) includes Mavis Staples, and acclaimed jazz violinist Regina Carter. Staples will perform music from her 2011 Grammy Award-winning album, You Are Not Alone, and its successor, One True Vine. Preeminent jazz violinist and MacArthur Fellow Regina Carter opens this concert with Southern Comfort, her exploration of her father’s past and the music of the southern states that is highlighted in her heavily lauded March 2014 release of the same name.

Jazz pianist and MacArthur “Genius” award recipient Jason Moran and internationally acclaimed, Chicago-based visual artist Theaster Gates premiere their new work, Looks of a Lot, in a Symphony Center Presents Jazz series concert next spring (May, 2015).

Influenced by Chicago stories from various eras, the project represents the second commission by Symphony Center Presents Jazz series and is also a part of the CSO’s Truth to Power Festival, offering an exploration of transformative music composed during some of the most challenging chapters of history.

Looks of a Lot is envisioned as a series of new blues compositions by Moran presented in the context of reimagined stage elements designed by Gates—who also participates as a vocalist in the performance. Moran’s regular musical partners, the Bandwagon Tarus Mateen (bass) and Nasheet Waits (drums), also join the concert, as well as Chicago jazz icon Ken Vandermark (saxophone) and Katie Ernst (bass, vocals).

And in the spring (April 24, 2015) the acclaimed jazz trumpeter Orbert Davis and his Chicago Jazz Philharmonic will present music with a worldwide perspective at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. The concert will feature guest artists Howard Levy, Eugene Friesen, and Glen Velez, performing together as Trio Globo. The performance will showcase the Grammy Award-winning artists melding “complex and rhythmic musical motifs with Asian and Indian musical overtones for an inventive new sound" (allmusic.com).

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From top: pianist Alfredo Rodriguez of the Alfredo Rodriguez Trio (photo courtesy of Chicago Symphony Center); Jazz trumpeter Orbert Davis, founder and music director of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic (photo courtesy of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic).

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Theat Guide The

Theater

Theater

As Bears fans gear up for football and baseball fans look forward to the post season (okay, so maybe not Chicago baseball fans), Chicago theater-goers head into the fall anticipating a delightful season of enticing offerings from the myriad of companies that call our city home. From traditional fare to new works, from tragedy to hilarity, from established theaters to quaint storefronts, Chicago is full of every kind of live theater imaginable. Choices abound for productions that probe and intrigue with works new and old making their way to area stages. Our selections for the ‘Best of the Best’ in Windy City theater should help clear the clutter and get you in the zone for a fabulous new season of Chicago theater.

Though the bigger companies have a long history and a solid audience base, they haven't stopped growing artistically in the new season. In fact, the Goodman Theatre's (goodmantheatre. org) 90th season includes a fantastic lineup of classics and new works. The season starts off with world premiere of The World of Extreme Happiness by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig (September 13 - October 12). Savage, tragic and desperately funny, The World of Extreme Happiness is a provocative examination of individuals struggling to shape their own destinies amid China's dizzying economic transformation. Other new and notable works featured in the Goodman's season include Chicago premieres of Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo's smartly funny Rapture, Blister, Burn (January 17 - February 22, 2015) and Regina Taylor's provocative stop. reset (May 23 - J une 21, 2015).

The Goodman is also producing two very different plays from two very different legendary American playwrights. Two Trains Running (March 7 - April 12, 2015) is the seventh of August Wilson's ten-part 20th Century Cycle and explores a time of extraordinary change and the ordinary people who get left behind. For something completely different, audiences can look forward to Christopher Durang's hilarious Tony

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By LESLIE PRICE

Award-winner Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a loving send up Chekov's greatest works (June 20 – July 26, 2015).

Steppenwolf Theatre Company (steppenwolf.org) has made a name for itself with season after season full of powerful new works, and 2014-2015 is no exception. Every show is either a Chicago, U.S. or world premiere. The season as a whole looks quite exciting with three shows standing out among a crowd of outstanding plays. The Night Alive—by Connor McPherson, who penned Shining City and The Seafarer—starts off the season. A deeply poetic drama about the complications that can arise from the kindness of strangers, The Night Alive promises to be a tour de force with ensemble member Francis Guinan in the lead as Tommy, who finds hope when he gives it to a destitute woman he rescues from a violent attack on the streets of Dublin.

Airline Highway is the latest work from acclaimed playwright Lisa D'Amour. A rag-tag collection of strippers, hustlers and philosophers come together in New Orleans to celebrate the life of Miss Ruby, an iconic burlesque performer who requested a funeral before she dies. Airline Highway is a boisterous and moving ode to the quirky outcasts that make life a tad more interesting (December 4, 2014 - February 8, 2015). Marie Antoinette (February 5 - May 10, 2015) will be a contemporary take on the iconic young queen and holds a mirror up to our own society, which very well might be entertaining itself to death. And Steppenwolf's season wraps up with the Chicago premiere of Grand Concourse. Fresh off a run at Playwright's Horizons, Grand Concourse possesses keen humor and startling compassion, and navigates the mystery of faith, the limits of forgiveness, and the pursuit of anything resembling joy (July 2 - August 30, 2015).

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) (chicagoshakes. com) is also featuring some new works this season, in addition to its well-respected productions of classics.

Since I Suppose is an interactive piece commissioned from Melbourne-based artists One Step at a Time Like This. Based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, it quite literally takes some of Chicago’s more adventurous audiences on an immersive journey through the streets of downtown Chicago. Incorporating Summer 2014CNCJA•31 screen-based digital technologies, the city locales and inhabitants, Since I Suppose creates a heightened reality that navigates places of power, prayer,

theater

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ter

and pleasure (August 28 - September 21).

CST also takes a look at French avant-garde playwright Eugène Ionesco and absurdist theater with a brief run of Ionesco Suite (October 15 - 19). Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota and his artistic collective take an unsullied look at the playwright's work imbibing characters through excerpts from seven plays, including The Lesson and The Bald Soprano. The production will prove this bit of historic theater as fresh as ever.

A season at Chicago Shakespeare Theater wouldn't be complete without Shakespeare himself, and theater-goers won't be disappointed with CST founder and artistic director Barbara Gaines’ take on King Lear (September 9-November 9). Lear features veteran Chicago actor Larry Yando in the title role. Yando is a perennial audience favorite for fans of Shakespeare. In Gaines’ reverent hands, this CSO production will not disappoint.

Other big names in Chicago theater have plenty of treats in store.

Court Theatre's (courttheatre.org) much anticipated adaptation of Native Son is being co-produced with the gritty American Blues Theatre. Richard Wright’s iconic novel about oppression, freedom, and justice will no doubt come to life on stage in this ground-breaking work by Chicago’s own Nambi E. Kelley (September 11 - October 12).

Lookingglass Theatre (lookingglasstheatre.org) is another powerhouse company offering a season of exciting options, including the Chicago premiere of Death Tax and the world premiere of a new adaptation of Moby Dick. Death Tax (September 2 - October 12) asks audiences, “How much would you pay to stay alive?” and ultimately delivers us—as the title might suggest—to the darkly comic intersection of America’s two inevitables. Lookingglass's Moby Dick (June 10 - July 8, 2015) reimagines the epic tale and is being produced in association with the Actors Gymnasium. Moby Dick is not to be missed, and the same goes for Lookingglass's re-mount of their signature production that takes audiences down the proverbial rabbit hole, Lookingglass Alice (November 12 - December 16). Circus-infused Alice is a marvel for all ages and a wonderfully exhilarating take on the classic child’s adventure first created by Lewis Carroll.

Lookingglass is hardly the only theater company re-mounting worthy production this season, however. The iconic Chicago production of the Neo-Futurists' Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind also deserves a second look (neofuturists.org). Its first performance was on December 2, 1988, and it's been going strong ever since. The show famously tackles 30 plays in 60 minutes, changing between 2 and 12 of the scripts each weekend. It's been a staple of Chicago theater for decades, but when was the last time you saw it? Doesn't matter.; it's always a new show. (Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. & Sundays at 7:00 p.m.). The production is long-running for a reason. Go and see it!

Chicago’s window to the Great White Way, Broadway In Chicago

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Clockwise from top left - opposite page: K. Todd Freeman stars in Airline Highway at Steppenwolf (photo by Michael Brosilow); J. Nicole Brooks in Death Tax at Lookingglass Theatre (photo courtesy of Lookingglass Theatre); Larry Yondo as the titular character in Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's King Lear (photo by Jeff Sciorintino); actress/playwright Regina Taylor (photo courtesy of Goodman Theatre).

Catherine Combs as Beauty, Mike Nussbaum as Johnny and Guy Massey as Samuel in Smokefall at Goodman Theatre (photo by Liz Lauren).

THe #1 pLaY on THe ChiCago Tribune’s “besT THeaTer oF 2013” LisT reTurns! (ouT oF 4)

“noT-To-be-misseD” –Chicago Tribune

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sTarTs sepTember 20 Featuring its acclaimed original cast, Smokefall returns for an expanded encore production. Haunting and slyly funny, Smokefall beautifully explores the power and fragility of love through three generations of family life.

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Guide The

Also On Our Radar September

Theater

Theater

(broadwayinchicago.org), always dazzles us with the glitz of New York’s theater mecca. And this season is packed with some great new works and familiar favorites. From December 8 – January 14, 2015, one of the most charming musicals to hit Broadway in years, Newsies, comes to Oriental Theatre. Bringing a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, Newsies is the timeless story of the underdog standing up to big business in New York City, and who doesn’t love a good underdog story?

One of the things that makes Chicago a great theater town is that so many companies of varying sizes are always producing such high caliber work.

Established theaters certainly have nicer spaces and more resources, but some of the best and most imaginative theater in the city is coming out of medium, small, and teeny-tiny companies.

Profiles Theatre (profilestheatre.org) occupies two small storefront spaces in Lakeview, but the company produces some incredibly big experiences in those little theaters. The 2014-2015 season includes the Midwest premiere of resident playwright Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Happy. The companion piece to LaBute's 2009 Tony-nominated Reasons to be Pretty, Reasons to Be Happy is a funny, surprising, and poignant comedy that examines the choices and sacrifices we make in the hunt for happiness (August 28 - October 12).

Black Ensemble Theater (blackensemble.org) continues its tradition of thrilling musicals based on the lives and stories of real life musicians with a new productions of At Last: A Tribute to Etta James (October 24 - December 28). An iconic entertainer, James is revered in this heartfelt tribute done in the only way Black Ensemble Theater knows how, full out and with brilliance.

Victory Gardens’ (victorygardens.org) new schedule is offering Chicago audiences a fantastic season of powerful, varied work. Audiences are in for another Midwest premiere with the Tony-nominated The Testament of Mary. This intelligent and profoundly challenging work recounts, in riveting detail, Mary’s narrative of the last days in the life of her son, Jesus. Hailed as “beautiful and daring” by The New York Times, acclaimed author Colm Tóibín brings the world’s most famous mother to life in this fiercely lyrical solo play (November 14 - December 14).

Proving that good theatre exists well beyond the Chicago city limits, First Folio Theatre (firstfolio.org) has a great season lined up out in the western suburbs.

Most notable among their four-show season is the world premiere of the gothic drama The Gravedigger. This tale of Frankenstein's monster takes place in one of Bavaria’s forgotten cemeteries, where a lone gravedigger finds a hideously scarred man hiding in a fresh grave. The perfect tale to kick off the Halloween season, don’t you agree?

(October 1 - November 2).

Just a little north of Chicago are two outstanding theater companies that are well worth the trip. Northlight Theatre in Skokie (northlight.org) is celebrating its 40th sea-

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• Now through October 5 – Mnemonic at Red Tape Theatre • Now through November 5 – The Coward by Stage Left Theatre at Theater Wit • Now through September 28 – Ecstasy by Cole Theatre at Red Tape Theatre • 3 through October 5 – Miracles in the Fall by Polarity Ensemble Theatre • 5 through 26 – Jane Eyre at Lifeline Theatre • 12 through 28 – Sweet Charity by MadKap Productions in Skokie • 19 through October 2 – Edward Albee’s At Home At The Zoo at City Lit Theatre • 15 through October 18 – Mercy Strain at American Theatre Company

October • 2 through November 2 – Owners by Interrobang Theatre Project • 4 through 12 – Cole Porter’s Greatest Hits by Chicago Light Opera Works • 9 through November 2 – Amazing Grace at Bank of America Theatre • 18 through December 7 – Titanic at Griffin Theatre Company • 30 through November 23 – Lotto Fever in the Sucker State by Saint Sebastian Players

November • 7 through 9 – Holcome Waller by Wayfinders at The Museum of Contemporary Art • 15 through December 28 – A Christmas Carol at Goodman Theatre • 18 through 30 – Annie at Cadillac Palace Theatre • 26 through January 4 – Shining City at Irish Theatre of Chicago

Summer 2014CNCJA•31

From top: Iconic entertainer Etta James (photo courtesy of Black Ensemble Theatre); actress/ playwright Amanda Peet (photo by Getty Images).

Summer 2014CNCJA•49

ciety and in the process, something about herself (March 16 - May 3, 2015).

American Theater Company (atcweb.org) will kick off an ambitious 30th anniversary season with Chicago premieres of two one-man plays.

Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy will run in repertory with Michael Milligan's award-winning Mercy Strain.

Both productions explore topics of illness, loss, pain and frustration and are the perfect complement to

heate

son with an incredibly varied collection of productions. The season kicks off with the Midwest premiere of actress/playwright Amanda Peet's The Commons of Pensacola (September 12 - October 19). The story is about Judith, a woman in exile, relegated to a Florida condo after her husband’s Madoff-like crimes have expelled her from a luxurious life. Described as” funny, incisive and timely,” The Commons of Pensacola is just the first show in what looks like a diverse and exciting lineup at Northlight.

Writers Theatre in Glencoe (writerstheatre.org) is in the process of building a new theater center, and so they've cleverly planned their 2014-2015 season to include intimate shows and a site-specific production to accommodate the construction process.

In their smaller Books on Vernon space, Writers' audiences will be treated to the Midwest Premiere of Isaac's Eye, Lucas Hnath's contemporary and imaginative tale based on the life of Isaac Newton (September 2 December 7). That's followed up with The Diary of Anne Frank, a play that's always lovely and will likely work beautifully in such a cozy theater (February 24 - May 31, 2015). The season wraps up with John Patrick Shanley's Doubt performed at Glencoe Union Church (April 28 - July 12, 2015). The production—directed by William Brown—will allow the audience to be a fly on the church wall, observing as battle lines are drawn, allegiances formed and motives called into question.

Lots of new work is coming out of The Gift Theatre (thegifttheatre. org) in 2015—in fact, their entire season is comprised of new plays starting with The Royal Society of Antarctica, written by Mat Smart, who says he, “went to the bottom of the world to find this play—working as a janitor for three months at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.” In the otherworldly brightness at the bottom of the earth, Mat's heroine encounters a motley crew of characters, spends 60 hours a week scrubbing toilets, is crowned Princess of the Royal Society Ball, and discovers something about what it means to disappear into so-

Also On Our Radar December • 9 through 19 – I Love Lucy Live On Stage at Bank of America Theatre • 16 through January 4 – Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella at Cadillac Palace Theatre • 9 through 31 - The Merry Widow by Chicago Light Opera Works

February • 23 through March 28 – Redletter at The Neo-Futurists

March • 6 through 22 - Rumors at Brightside Theatre in Naperville • 18 (No close date yet published) – Title and Deed at Lookingglass Theatre

April • 9 through June 7 - Billy Elliot The Musical at Dury Lane Theatre

May • 1 through 31 – Crimes of the Heart by Step Up Production at Athenaeum Theatre • 6 through July 26 – Iana by Timeline Theatre • 12 through 24 – Jersey Boys at Cadillac Palace Theatre

From top:Cast of Isaac's Eye playing this fall at Writer's Theatre in Glencoe (photo courtesy of Writer's Theatre); actress/playwright Anna Deavere Smith (photo courtesy of American Theatre Company) Autumn 2014CNCJA•39

Guide The

Theater

heater

each other (September 13 - October 18).

Though there are plenty of new plays being produced in Chicago this season, The Hypocrites (thehypocrites.com) has a fantastic take on classic theater with All Our Tragic. All 32 surviving Greek tragedies will be performed in one unparalleled twelve-hour theatrical adaptation combining them into a single epic narrative. See the whole thing in one fell swoop on Saturdays or Sundays (there are multiple intermissions and meal breaks), or theater-goers who can't quite manage ALL that tragic at once can do it in four shorter installments over consecutive Friday or Monday nights.

Sure, it'll be a marathon, but you'll have some serious bragging rights when you cross the finish line (now through October 5).

Can't find a babysitter? Theater in Chicago can be a family affair with the fantastic live stage productions for kids in our city. Chicago Children's Theatre (CCT) (chicagochildrenstheatre.org) offers a full season of familyfriendly productions, including Frederick, based on the book by Leo Lionni. Featuring six actor-musicians playing spirited folk and blues music, Frederick also features an inventive, do-it-yourself, trunk show style that transforms ordinary objects and everyday ideas into the extraordinary. CCT also offers sensory-friendly and ASL performances for each of its shows (October 15 - November 16).

More great theater for kids takes the stage this season at the McAninch Arts Center (atthemac.org). A couple of shows that will be tons of fun for families are The Story Pirates (October 4) and Click, Clack, Moo (February 14, 2015). The Story Pirates features tales from local kids that are adapted into a hilarious sketch comedy musical. Click, Clack, Moo is based on Doreen Cronin's beloved storybook about Farmer Brown's typing cows. It's a great show for the tiniest theater-goers and a hoot for the adults who tag along for the fun.

Clearly, inspiring live theater is alive and well in Chicago. New or classic, musicals or plays, there are lots of options for every theater-goer and perhaps even some great options for creating new theater-goers of all ages. Take your pick, get your tickets, and maybe I’ll see you there. From top: Cast of All Our Tragic, playing at Hypocrites Theatre (photo by Evan Hanover); Cast of The Story Pirates, playing at the McAninch Arts Center (photo courtesy of McAninch Arts Center)

40•CNCJAAutumn 2014

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The

Guide

Your guide to Chicago's new fine arts season, packed with our editors' picks for the 'Best of the Best' performances and exhibitions in the new season.

10

Questions for Steppenwolf Theatre's Francis Guinan

Transgalactic Journey The Adler Planetarium gets downright theatrical in its newest tour of the cosmos.

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JEWEL

Chicagoland Journal for the Arts Summer 2013

BRIGADOON!

Co Cele ve br rin ati n Ar g Ch g 5 ts ica Gr & go ea Cu 's A t Y ltu m ear re azin s g

SUMMER PILLOW at the

Rest your head at the epicenter of dance this summer



By Patrick M. Curran II

Gene Siskel Film Center Under Glass

Smart Museum exhibit focuses on the national identity

5

Q&A

with hot young symphonic conductor Andrew Grams

Top Vineyards Just a short drive from the Windy City

Up Close & Personal Emily Disher chats it up with Hubbard Street Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo.

Clef N tes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

Griffin's Take Preeminent Sondheim interpreter Gary Griffin mounts two highly anticipated productions of the composer's works at Shakespeare Theater this season.

BETWEEN the LINES

Alonzo King's LINES Ballet returns to the Windy City

Winter 2010

Mayor Daley’s grand vision for a revitalized Chicago Theater District has been a long time coming, and Broadway In Chicago has had a significant role in making that a reality.

Feast for the Eyes

AMERICA'S Self-Image

Concert Journal for the Arts

Bringing Broadway to chicago

Goodman Theatre will transport audiences this summer to that enchantingly wistful Scottish village with the first major US revival of the beloved Lerner and Lowes classic in 30 years.

We go one-on-one with the artist as she gets set to make her Ravinia debut this summer.

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A ProgrAm of merit

the Uncommon DivA

Stirring UP LAUghter

Merit Music’s incredible contribution to the city’s music education legacy

A look at opera star Frederica von Stade as she prepares for her last staged Chicago performance

Chicago’s 2009 Humanities Festival and its celebration of the many sides of laughter

A Decade At The Harris

Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

JOAN ALLEN

Back on the Steppenwolf stage

EXPO CHICAGO A global spotlight on Chicago's culture scene

Philanthropy & The Arts

Cultivating a genuine corporate sponsor partnership based on shared values and mutual goals

World's finest cultural newborns slated for Chicago audiences this winter

Clef N tes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

Arts & Education Issue!

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

NEWBIES

POETIC license

to the 2013-2014 season of fine arts in Chicagoland!

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Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

GTheuide Stephen Petronio Company is just one of our picks for the best and the brightest in Chicagoland's amazing new cultural season!

Bold and wildly innovative, Grammywinning sextet eighth blackbird is rewriting the rulebook on contemporary classical music performance.

A Tale of Two Cities

PALM AT THE PIER

Summer 2014CNCJA•31

Finding

SARA

Andreas Mitisek takes the helm of Chicago Opera Theater with a new collaborative model that just may take COT to a whole new level

Longtome Lookingglass Theatre stage manager gets her wings with new production of her first stage play.

The Palm Beach Show Group brings one of the world's largest art and antiques shows to Navy Pier.

Lens of authenticity Interview with Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member K. Todd Freeman

LUMINARY  Q&A with folk icon John Gorka

Summer 2014CNCJA•49

Limited Engagement

Begins September 2, 2014

“A pleasingly nimble-footed domino-row of moral dilemmas” —London Evening Standard

DEAT H

T A X Lucas Hnath Directed by Heidi Stillman Written by

Featuring Ensemble Members J. Nicole Brooks and Raymond Fox, Artistic Associate Louise Lamson and Tony Award-winner Deanna Dunagan.

Pictured: Deanna Dunagan as Maxine.

Photo by Sean Williams.

Visit LookingglassTheatre.org or call 312.337.0665

Located in the Water Tower Water Works on MichiganAutumn Avenue2014CNCJA•41 at Pearson

Guide The

Dance F Dance

By EMILY GROCH

Dance

Fresh perspectives from some of Chicago’s most respected artists combine with an unparalleled lineup of national and international visiting companies in the upcoming Chicago dance season. Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University’s “Made in Chicago” series will re-envision city neighborhoods, explore monumental moments of Chicago history, and reveal new creations from local dance veterans. Harris Theater will host an array of amazing per-

Summer 2014CNCJA•31

Photo: "Thodos Dance Chicago in "The White City—Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893."

42•CNCJAAutumn 2014

Chicago-Made Auditorium Theatre (auditoriumtheatre.org) presents a wealth of local talent in its “Made in Chicago” Dance Series as the landmark venue marks its 125th anniversary. Kicking off the series on November 29, Thodos Dance Chicago reimagines the 1893 World’s Fair with “The White City—Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893” (2011). Erik Larsen’s best-selling novel, Devil in the White City, inspired the production, choreographed by the company’s founder Melissa Thodos and Tony award-winning choreographer Ann Reinking.

The Chicago-focused series also features a mixed repertoire program from Giordano Dance Chicago October 24 and 25, including “Moving Sidewalks,” a clever work featuring the evolving mid-19th century Pilsen neighborhood. Then, in the spring, River North Dance Chicago company veteran Hanna Bricston (who began training at RNDC at the age of twelve!) premieres a new work for the company’s female dancers at the Auditorium Theatre. The piece is Bricston’s first commissioned choreographic work, and it will debut alongside Adam Barruch’s third collaboration with RNDC, set for the full company, during the March 28 performance.

Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s (CHRP) Chicago Rhythm Festival rounds out the Auditorium Theatre’s series of local talent on May 6, 2015. CHRP’s festival explodes with a diverse cast of Chicago rhythm makers that include CHRP's

resident ensemble BAM!, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Mexican Dance Ensemble and Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater.

Looking beyond Auditorium Theatre, one still finds no shortage of Chicago talent performing this season. Chicago Dance Crash will bring its intensely athletic mix of hip-hop, capoeira, modern and ballet to the Dance Center of Columbia College (colum.edu/dance-center) February 19 - 21, 2015. Their mixed repertoire program will feature a new piece by guest choreographer and former HSDC dancer Ben Wardell.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (mcachicago.org) has commissioned a new work, “Power Goes,” from Chicago’s political dance dynamo Carrie Hanson, which will premiere at the museum March 2022. Hanson’s latest piece delves into the relationship between the body, power, and language, drawing upon the figure of President Lyndon B. Johnson to explore these concepts. Playwright Stuart Flack collaborated with Hanson and her impressive dance company, The Seldoms, to explore how power is acquired, taken, wielded, expressed and deployed in this multidisciplinary performance.

Comedic Combo On the heels of its historic 10th anniversary season, Harris Theater for Music and Dance Photo by Cheryl Mann

formers from both near and far, and there's that much-anticipated collaboration between Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) and improvisational/sketch comedy group The Second City.

These, and many more of our favorite venues, welcome a brilliant dance season of new imaginings and favorite classics from talented companies both large and small.

Autumn 2014CNCJA•43

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(harristheaterchicago.org) will usher in the debut of tha unique collaboration between two of Chicago’s most beloved entertainment institutions—HSDC and The Second City—October 16 - 19. The highly versatile performers belonging to each group will improv their way through what is likely to be this season’s most hilarious dance production.

“Many of our works,” HSDC artistic director Glenn Edgerton notes, “are devised in collaboration in ways quite similar to how The Second City’s members create their shows. Improvisation is a key part of our DNA on both sides. So it’s a natural fit for us to join forces, and I’m thrilled to watch this project make its way to the stage.”

Big Ballet Wheelan, of course, will not be the only famous ballerina to grace Chicago stages this year. In fact, many of the globe’s most renowned companies will converge upon Auditorium Theatre during the 2014-15 season. The American Ballet Theater takes the stage October 3 - 5 with a mixed repertoire program including Twyla Tharp’s “Bach Partita” and “Sinatra

44•CNCJAAutumn 2014

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Danc

Dance

D a r i n g Duets HSDC (hubbardstreetdance.com) will put on three other productions this season, including their Summer Series (June 11-14, 2015), which will feature only the works of resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Cerrudo himself will be quite busy this season, not just with HSDC, but also in performances of “Restless Creature,” a series of duets for which he collaborated with New York City Ballet principal Wendy Wheelan. Last year’s Guide featured “Restless Creature” as a must-see production for the 2013-2014 season, but the tour was postponed after Wheelan sustained a hip injury. She has since returned to the stage, touring with Cerrudo and three other choreographers who collaborated on the suite of duets, Kyle Abraham, Josh Beamish and Brian Brooks. “Restless Creature” makes its way to Harris Theater—the venue Wheelan says she had in mind while developing the project—on January 21, 2015.

Suite,” as well as Clark Tippet’s “Some Assembly Required” and Jerome Robbins’ beloved “Fancy Free.” Chicago’s own Joffrey Ballet treats viewers to a whopping five programs (adding an extra production to their usual four), including Christopher Wheeldon’s “Swan Lake” October 15 - 26. Wheeldon’s version reimagines the quintessential classical ballet, setting it in the studios of the Paris Opera Ballet in the 19th century.

On November 21 - 23, Auditorium Theatre hosts the Dance Theatre of Harlem for the first time in sixteen years. The company will perform a mixed repertoire performance that includes “Gloria,” “Contested Space,” and “past-carryforward.” Eifman Ballet returns to Chicago May 8 - 10, 2015 to present the American premiere of “Tender is the Night,” a story ballet set to jazz and inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s final novel of the same name. The Royal Ballet will close the venue’s season with Carlos Acosta's production of “Don Quixote,” June 18 - 21, 2015.

International Inspirations International ballet companies represent only a fraction of the global visitors Chicago will host during the 2014-15 season.

In addition to ballet, Sònia Sánchez makes her U.S. debut at the Museum of Contemporary Art, February 13 - 15 with “Le Ca” (The Id), a reinvention of flamenco technique set to live guitar, vocals, and sound mixing. The vibrant Brazilian dance troupe, Grupo Corpo, makes its Auditorium Theatre debut Feburary 28 - March 1, with a blend of traditional Brazilian dance and western modern movement.

Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s contemporary dance company, Rosas, will visit from Belgium, performing “Rosas danst Rosas” at the MCA October 9 - 12. One of the world’s most prominent contemporary choreographers, de Keersmaeker created “Rosas danst Rosas” for her company in 1983, generating international attention. The piece has since become iconic among dance groups. In fact, a sequence from this piece was mirrored in Beyonce’s music video 2011 Countdown, sparking a plaSummer 2014CNCJA•31 giarism controversy (and heightening discussion about borrowing versus stealing in art).

On October 28 - 29, at Harris Theater, Beijing Dance Theatre will

nce

Dance

present “Wild Grass,” a large-scale full-evening work in three sections, based on the poetry of Lu Xun (1881–1936). The piece was created by choreographer Wang Yuanyuan, a collaborator on the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Additionally, Minneapolis-based mother-daughter team Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy will bring their classical Indian dance company Ragamala to the MCA April 10 - 12, 2015, presenting “Song of the Jasmine,” a unique collaboration with jazz saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa informed by their shared bicultural identities as Indian Americans. An experiment with improvisation, “Song of the Jasmine” revisits the medieval South Indian poet, Andal, with live music and classical dancers performing under a canopy of brass bells.

NCE

G I O R DA N O DANCE CHICAGO Nan Giordano Artistic Director

TICKETS START AT $15.00 OCTObER 24 & 25 AT 7:30PM

Hidden Gems Dotting the landscape of this stellar season in Chicago dance will be several hidden gems that might be missed amid such a wild flurry of dance's elite in the Windy City.

Chicago's own Hedwig Dances will celebrate its 30th season under the direction of Jan Bartoszek, expanding its multi-year collaboration with DanzAbierta, Cuba’s preeminent contemporary dance company. They'll present “Trade Winds” by Bartoszek and DanzAbierta’s resident choreographer Susana Pous’ “Aires de Cambio” (Air of Change) at the Dance Center of Columbia College, October 9 - 11.

And also at the Dance Center, Urban Bush Women celebrates its 30th season under the direction of African-American choreographer Jawole Zollar, featuring a portion of works based on the music and legacy of John Coltrane. The performances run from March 19 - 21, 2015.

For dance—for all of the emotion, engagement, and entertainment it elicits—there is no season quite like a Chicago season. With hardly a performance-free weekend from September through June (yes, there are even more performances than this article could contain), one easily sees how Chicago has gained its remarkable reputation for dance. Clockwise from top left - opposite page: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (photo by Todd Rosenberg); Dance Theatre of Harlem (photo courtesy of Dance Theatre of Harlem); "ASCENDance" by Helwig Dance (photo by Vin Reed); "Walking with Trane" by Urban Bush Women (photo by Rick McCollough); Rosas danst Rosas (photo by Herman Soregeloose); Stella Abrera and Calvin Royal III in Twyla Tharp's Bach Partita (photo courtesy of American Ballet Theatre).

Also On Our Radar November • 6 through 8 - Heidi Latsky Dance at Dance Center of Columbia College

March

featuring a

WORLD PREMIERE

ray leeper iconic choreographer from TV/Film/Stage

Harris Theater at Millennium Park 205 East Randolph Drive 312.334.7777 www.harristheaterchicago.org

• 6 through 15, 2015 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Autumn 2014CNCJA•45

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art

in early October. The first is Onchi Koshiro: The Abstract Prints, which features a rare collection of Koshiro’s prints constructed with heavy influence from Wassily Kandinski and Edvard Munch. Koshiro’s prints rarely have duplicates, and very few of them are available for private ownership, so this is a rare and special opportunity to view his abstract printmaking. The exhibit closes on October 5.

By LAURA KINTER Closing a week later is What May Come: The Taller de Gráfica Popular and the Mexican Political Print, a unique As the wind picks up, exhibition showcasthe leaves change ing a woodblock and the kids go back print custom made to school, Chicago 70 years ago for finds itself withthe Art Institute by out the summer Mexican political comforts of outactivist and artist door concerts, picnics at the lake, and iteraLeopoldo Méndez. tion after iteration of street festivals. The city The exhibit also begins to turn its attention to Chicago’s features prints, thriving museum culture, jam packed with posters, and ilunique and eclectic art exhibits that will sate lustrated publithe taste of any Chicago native (or visitor). cations from the Our survey of the most intriguing Chicago’s museum’s colart exhibitions this season will cover contempolection of works rary and traditional art from painters, printmakers, from the Taller sculptors, photographers and even pop stars from de Gráfica Popular every corner of the world.

(TGP). Pay it a visit beThe Museum of Contemporary Art fore October 12. (mcachicago.org) will feature more than The third exhibit— 400 objects from the David Bowie and by far the most Archive for David Bowie Is, an illuminon-generic—is nating show that runs from September the Art Institute’s 23 to January 4, 2015. After months Magritte: The of a generous online marketing Mystery of the campaign, the long-awaited exOrdinary. hibition will give viewers a beEarlier this hind-the-scenes look at Bowie’s summer, the creative processes, displaying museum handwritten lyrics, photoghad taken raphy, original costumes creative and rare performance remarketcordings. Visitors will be ening to a new level and began ticed with Bowie’s first steps into peppering the city with some his music career, the inner workings of surrealist legend Magritte’s of his creative collaborations, and favorite objects—to the delight insights into his wildly popular of many unsuspecting art lovers. performances. The MCA is the Above: Original photography for the Earthling Several storefronts and organizaalbum cover, 1997. Union Jack coat design: only American museum to tions in downtown Chicago have Alexander McQueen in collaboration with David feature this exhibition reprecollaborated to turn the city into Bowie. Photo by Frank W Ockenfels 3. © Frank W senting an inimitable look a giant, 3D surrealist canvas.

Ockenfels 3. into the cultural imprint On July 25, the two giant feet of the life of this infrom Magritte’s painting comparable icon, so The Red Model apget tickets now before peared furtively on it moves onto its next Oak Street Beach.

Summer 2014CNCJA•31 stop, Paris!

The citywide collaboThe Art Institute (artic.edu) will feature several fascinating exhibi- ration was developed with Leo Burnett Chicago and the Chicago Park tions during the awkward summer-to-fall transition, three of which close District.

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While touring the other downtown museums, keep an eye out for the surreal; the Art Institute promises more surprises before the exhibit closes on October 13.

There’s no question that Chicago’s big name museums bring unparalleled, elevated cultural experiences to the city’s residents. But off the beaten path in the Windy City’s smaller, lesser known museums, you will find some of the best art in the Midwest.

The Swedish American Museum (swedishamericanmuseum.org)

Also On Our Radar September • Now through November 7 – Rose FreymuthFrazier & Dawn England at Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago’s River North • 19 through December 4 – Charles McGee: at 90 at Mongerson Gallery on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile • 26 through November 14 – Lars-Birger Sponberg Retrospective at The Deer Path Art League in Lake Forest, IL • 27 through February 15, 2015 – Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections at The Art Institute of Chicago

October • 26 through January 11, 2015 – The City Lost and Found: Capturing New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, 1960 – 1980 at The Art Institute of Chicago

November • 7 through December 15 – Leah Joo at Andrew Bae Gallery in Chicago’s River North • 22 through March 8, 2015 – Ann Collier at The Museum of Contemporary Art

December

Art

will feature painter Ariana Ramhage in Bluescapes of Sweden, opening on September 12. Ramhage’s stunning watercolor landscapes are painted from memory of her beloved home, and evoke a sense of warmth and happiness. Ramhage herself will attend a gallery walk on September 14 at 11 a.m. and offer insights on her own work.

From a very different hemisphere, the National Museum of Mexican Art (nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org) will proudly present America’s largest annual Day of the Dead exhibition, which will feature ofrendas, artwork and installations by Mexican artists from both sides of the border.

The exhibit will celebrate life by glimpsing death, and offering its visitors a peek into the ancestry and rich cultural history of Mexico and Yucatan.

• 13 through May 17, 2015 – MCA DNA: Richard Hunt at The Museum of Contemporary Art

May

• 17 through October 4, 2015 – Carles Ray: Sculpture, 1997- 2014 at The Art Institute of Chicago

Above: René Magritte (Belgian, 1898–1967). Painted Object: Eye (Objet peint: Œil), 1932/35. Oil on panel glued to wooden base; 27 × 24.8 × 14.4 cm (10 5/8 × 9 3/4 × 5 11/16 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, through prior gift of Arthur Keating, 1989.53. © Charly Herscovici – ADAGP – ARS, 2014

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Guide The

The Chicago Cultural Center (http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/ en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_culturalcenter.html/) has an impressive lineup for September. Several new exciting exhibits will open. The first of which is called All The Names: Patricia Rieger. Rieger uses images, sculpture and paintings to explore paradoxes and opposites, movement and silence, private and public language. Her work creates a unique sense of tension and poetry from the mundane and ordinary. All The Names runs from September 13 to January 4, 2015.

A second exhibit opening at the Cultural Center with identical run dates is Topography of Tension: Frank Connet.

Topography will feature the technique of mokume shibori, used to create patterns on a fabric surface.

Connet’s 20-year fascination with this curious technique has yielded a series of sewn and tied bundles, each unique and full of tension and potential. His work is informal and intuitive, and he lets the works unfold as naturally as they possibly can.

For those with a taste for the contemporary, visit Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (art.org). This new museum will present Collective Soul, an exhibit exploring the relationship between art and collector. Viewers will see works from private collections that express self-taught, authentic artistic expression from a diverse caché of Chicago artists. Collective Soul opens with a free opening reception from 5 - 8 p.m. on September 19.

If Intuit didn’t satisfy your thirst for the contemporary, visit Aspect Ratio (aspectrationprojects.com) for brand new work from gallery artist Bryan Zanisnik. The Passenger will explore Zanisnik’s relationship with suburbia, family catastrophe and American masculinity. The exhibit will cover several media, including a video, aquarium painting, and hand-stitched textiles. This industrial Americana experience opens September 5 with an opening reception.

The Kavi Gupta Gallery (kavigupta.com) in the West Loop will open two new exhibitions on September 19. First is Mickalene Thomas: I was born to do great things.

T h o m a s ’s first solo exhibit will heavily focus on her mother,

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Sandra Bush, and take the form of a domestic installation. She will exhibit bronze works based on her mother’s personal items and in doing so, explore her own memory and nostalgia. Opening on the same day is Glenn Kaino: Leviathan, another first solo exhibit. Using debris from sites permeated with cultural upheaval, riots and conflicts, Kaino’s sculptural works highlight the cycle of societal destruction.

For some more robust galleries with insightful exhibitions on tap this season, visit college campuses and their surrounding areas for their affiliated art

centers.

The Hyde Park Art Center (hydeparkart.org) has an interesting exhibit on display until November 12, The Chicago Effect: Redefining the Middle.

This public program engages 50•CNCJASummer 2014 artists and practitioners to explore the concept of “the middle” boundaries, limits, and spaces in between, both conceptual and concrete. The Art Center as a middle occupying space illustrates just how “the middle” can foster intercommunity connectivity and engage audiences from either side. The curators see the “middle” as an essential condition of the creative process, and the exhibit includes a year-long think tank from teams of academics in diverse fields that questions assumptions about how an art center can and should function.

Also on display beginning in September will be works from 25 graduating artists from the Center Summer 2014CNCJA•31 Program’s 2014 graduates.

Right next door to the Art Center is University of Chicago’s

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Smart Museum of Art (smartmuseum.uchicago.edu), which will open a large, sculptural exhibit in September. Carved, Cast, and Crumpled: Sculpture All Ways will feature just that: an investigative survey of objects and sculptures.

This is the first of many special projects to commemorate Smart’s 40th anniversary, and will showcase a foundational component of the museum’s sculpture collection dating back to 1974.

The exhibit will explore the essential qualities of three-dimensional art across historical and cultural contexts, questioning what it means to be the in the presence of an object.

Carved, Cast, and Crumpled will open

September 27. As part of their anniversary celebration, the museum will open up Gallery X on the same day as the exhibit, a year-long experiment to further engage museum visitors. The space will serve as a hub for creative discussions, and redefine the museum’s role as a teaching museum by helping craft their future approaches to visitor engagement.

On the other side of town comfortably rests Northwestern University’s Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art (blockmuseum. northwestern.edu). Block will feature the first U.S. survey for Kenyan born and Brooklyn based artist Wangechi Mutu in Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey. The survey will highlight more than 50 of Mutu’s works spanning the mid 1990s to the present. She is best known for her large scale collages of female figures in other-worldly landscapes. The exhibit opens September 27.

Rest assured that Chicago’s rich artistic culture will never be short of incredible eclectic programming. The beautiful summer weather has served as an excuse to avoid museum visits, but once the snow blanket settles on the city, we will have no choice but to turn our attention indoors and begin a long-awaited journey of captivating artistic enrichment. Clockwise from top left - opposite page: Topography of Tension: Frank Connet (photo courtesy of the City of Chicago); All the Names: Patricia Rieger (photo courtesy of the City of Chicago); Carved, Cast, Crumpled: Sculpture All Ways, The Smart transforms itself into a sculpture museum for the fall. This whole-museum exhibition investigates the essential qualities of three-dimensional art across historical and cultural contexts (photo courtesy of Smart Museum of Art); Assaf Evron, Untitled (series R), 2010, archival inkjet print, 1 out of 5 in series, 70 x 70 cm. (photo courtesy of the Hyde Park Art); Sandra Bush, Center); mother of artist Mickalene Thomas and subject of her series, Mickalene Thomas: I was born to do great things at Kavi Gupta Gallery (photo courtesy of Kavi Gupta Gallery).

Autumn 2014CNCJA•49

Guide The

Museum (naturemuseum.org) for some real close ups with nature.

The Nature Museum has a wide array of indoor tours and exhibits that transport its visitors from the frigid Midwest to a tropical paradise. Take a tour of the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven for over 75 species of exotic butterflies, all inside one greenhouse.

Occupy the kids with trips to their Hands On Habitat, the Wilderness Walk, or Birds of Chicago to learn about our own city’s environment and wildlife. You can also check out their website’s calendar for

Museums H Museums

By LAURA KINTER

MUSEUMS

Museums

Having trouble dragging the kids to the latest and greatest gallery opening? Sure you do. Some of Chicago’s top museums offer interactive, historical and educational exhibits for those looking for something a little different. The 2014-2015 season will bring to Chicago an array of cultures from around the world, stretching the walls of our city across the very globe.

Mirrored rooms are a powerful tool for curators to turn an interesting exhibit into an immersive and interactive one. The Museum of Science and Industry (msichicago.org) will present Numbers in Nature: A Mirror Maze, a captivating scientific and mathematical exploration of patterns in nature. The exhibit will feature a 1,800 square foot mirror maze that takes visitors through the intricacies of numerical patterns—from the spirals of a sunflower’s seeds to a sprawling mountain range.

Within the maze are interactive media featuring stunning footage of nature. The exhibition will open October 8.

A wonderful follow up to this numerical experience with nature would be a visit to the Peggy Notebaert Nature

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a l i s t of family friendly events, such as butterfly releases, live animal feedings, and even butterfly haven yoga classes for mom.

For the more cosmic-minded, hop on Lake Shore Drive after visiting MSI and jot on down to the Adler Planetarium (adlerplanetarium.org) for a very different kind of tour: a tour of the entire solar system.

With new, state of the art technology in Adler’s Grainger Sky Theater, audience members will see our celestial neighborhood come to brilliant life right in front of their eyes.

In Destination Solar System, it’s the year 2096, and space tourism is readily available to the planetari-

MUS

Summer 2014CNCJA•31

MUSEUMS um’s Chicago visitors. This innovative and interactive show is available with Adler’s

“All Access Pass.”

For those more interested in the historical, the Chicago History Museum (chicagohistory.org) is opening an exhibit on September 4 entirely about the year 1968.

Organized chronologically, the exhibit will feature stories by Vietnam vets, self-proclaimed hippies, conservative voters, and every day Americans. The 1968 Exhibit will allow audience members to be saturated with the media of 1968, covering the war, women’s liberation, civil rights and the explosive Democratic Convention held in Chicago—the event that lead to the famous chant “the whole world is watching.”

The exhibit’s run will be packed with events along the way—such as family activity nights, a bus tour, a panel discussion and a fundraising party.

To continue on a chronological exhibit tour, visit the DuSable Museum of African American History (dusablemuseum.org) for Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution Animation Art from Classic Cartoons of the ‘70s. This exhibit celebrates the 40th anniversary of the nation’s first positive black Saturday morning cartoon characters. On display will be original drawings, sketches and production pieces that highlight the artisic process of the characters’ creations. Hurry in before the exhibit closes on October 20.

Next Valentine’s Day, ditch the roses for more than 10,000 tropical blooms at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s (chicagobotanic.org) Orchid Show (February 14 through March 15, 2015). The Botanic Garden brings the show back for a second year after exceeding expectations for interest and attendance in 2014. "Visitors told us that they loved our first Orchid Show—and we can't wait to build on that success for our next show," said Harriet Resnick, vice president of business experience and visitor development. "People really responded to the idea of an escape from winter into the lovely world of orchids."

SEUMS

Clockwise from bottom left - opposite page: Judy Istock Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (photo courtesy of Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum); Numbers in Nature: A Mirror Maze at the Museum of Science and Industry (photo courtesy of the Museum of Science and Industry); Destination Solar System at the Adler Planetarium takes guests on a theatrical tour of the cosmos through the technology of the Grainger Sky Theatre (photo courtesy of the Adler Planetarium).

Heroes of the Holocaust

were people just like you.

Come be inspired.

IllinoisHolocaustMuseum.org Autumn 2014CNCJA•51

Guide The

tifacts from the historic fair and soak in the excitement from one of architect Daniel Burnham’s greatest triumphs and one of the world’s historic events. But you better hurry; the exhibition closes September 7.

On view at The Shedd Aquarium (sheddaquarium.org), Jellies is another exhibition from the 2013 season that still mesmerizes viewers every day. Extended twice already, Jellies the exhibit appears to have the same staying power that jellies themselves are shown to have through this interactive show. The exhibit offers a fascinating up-close-and-personal look at these amazing creatures and illuminates more than just their mysterious anatomy. It delves into their evolution, their amazing resilience and their impact on our planet. Jellies is in an open-ended run at The Shedd this season.

From the grass beneath our feet, to the solar system, back into American history, Chicago’s museums cover an incredibly wide array of cultures, time periods and mind-bending scientific experiences this fall. Clear your mind from the summer of weird weather. Fall is here.

It’s time to breath in Chicago’s inspiring culture.

Museums

Museums

The first two rooms of the show will be open to the general public, while ticketed visitors will have access to the entire Regenstein Center. Visitors entering through Krehbiel Gallery will be greeted by fragrant orchid displays suspended over a long reflecting pool. Photographic images of orchids will decorate long walls of the gallery, which will also house gift and ticket kiosks.

Clusters of palms and other species of orchids will adorn Nichols Hall at the Garden’s Glencoe campus. Nichols Hall will also serve as the setting for free concerts, a weekend orchid marketplace and the Illinois Orchid Society Show & Sale.

RACE: Are We So Different?, on view this season at The Illinois Holocaust Museum (ilholocaustmuseum.org) in Skokie, was developed by the American Anthropological Association in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota. The poignant exhibition, which runs October 12 through January 25, 2015, is the first national show that tell the stories of race from the biological, cultural, and historical points of view. Combining these perspectives, curators hop to offer an unprecedented look at race and racism in the United States.

Of course, not all of the best exhibitions in Chicagoland this season are new. The Field Museum’s (fieldmuseum.org) fall 2013 exhibition Opening The Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair packs a serio u s w a l lop with amazing artifacts that tell the tale of the historic 19th Century Columbian Exposition. The exposition would put Chicago on the map as a global magnet for cultural and scientific discovery and it would seed the beginnings of the Field Museum itself. Check out rarely (or never before) seen ar-

52•CNCJAAutumn 2014 ASummer 2014

Above: Record-setting crowd at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago (photo courtesy of The Field Museum).

Also On Our Radar September

• Now through October 26, 2014 – Model Railroad Garden – Landmarks of America at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe • Now through (Close date yet unpublished) Future of Energy at The Museum of Science and Industry • Now through January 4, 2015 – The Machine Inside: Biomechanics at The Field Museum • Now through December 31, 2017 – Underground Adventure at The Field Museum • Now through August 2015 – Railroaders: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography at Chicago History Museum

November • 15 through August 16, 2015 – Fashioning The Magnificent Mile at Chicago History Museum • 28 through January 4, 2015 – Wonderland SummerBotanic 2014CNCJA•31 Express at the Chicago Garden in Glencoe

Stream more than 800 hours of music history.

EXPLORING MUSIC.ORG debuts!

Bill McGlaughlin, host of Exploring Music

After 10 successful years, WFMT’s flagship program, EXPLORING MUSIC with BILL McGLAUGHLIN, is going online! Now every program can be heard at your convenience at our new streaming web site.

Listen to more than 800 hours of personable, insightful, entertaining programs on the history of classical music, featuring entire weeks (5 hours of programs) devoted to specific composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler…), genres, cities, historical periods, and much more on this unparalleled subscription streaming website.

Visit exploringmusic.org to secure your membership for unlimited listening anytime, anywhere.

wfmt.com

exploringmusic.org

Autumn 2014CNCJA•53

Tidbits Firey Festivities

Television and film actors Jesse Spencer and Taylor Kinney (both stars of the hit NBC drama Chicago Fire,) will lend their heat to the inaugural Great Chicago Fire Festival, the free spectacle of fire on the Chicago River set to take place Saturday, October 4.

The Great Chicago Fire Festival, celebrating Chicago’s grit, greatness and renewal following the historic Great Chicago Fire of 1871, is presented by Redmoon with the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and Chicago Park District.

Taking place between the State Street and Columbus Drive bridges in the heart of downtown, Kinney and Spencer will ignite the festivities – literally – as they light one of 15 massive “Fire Cauldrons” that will be lowered from bridges to watercraft waiting on the Chicago River below. From there, an elaborate “Grand Spectacle” performance will unfold Some 400 different performers and singers will participate in the event, which culminates with a choreographed fireworks display designed by Las Vegas-based company Pyrotechnico.

So get ready to swoon! For more information about the upcoming Great Chicago Fire Festival visit chicagofirefestival.com.

Half Century Celebration

The Chicago International Film Festival has announced the first selection of titles to be screened during its 50th anniversary year. Featuring more than 150 feature-length and short films, the 50th Festival will run October 9 – 23, 2014.

The festival also announced the thrust of this year’s celebration, a nod to its 50 year history spotlighting new and diverse film making. “This sampling includes both innovative new work from around the globe as well as films that pay tribute to our history,” said founder and artistic director of the Chicago International Film Festival Michael Kutza. “…This year, we also take a look back and shine a spotlight on some of the groundbreaking work that has helped to make the festival the enduring institution it is.”

Screenings for this year’s festival will be held at the AMC River East Theater (322 E. Illinois Street). The full schedule will be announced early this fall.

For more information, visit chicagofilmfestival.com.

Cultural Journeys

This summer, the Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) announced the complete schedule for the 25th Anniversary Fall Festival, 112 events which will explore the theme of Journeys, October 25-November 9, 2014, with preFestival programs on October 6 and 21, at venues across Chicago. This year's presenters include a dazzling and varied slate of luminaries, including James Beard Award-winning food writer Mark Bittman, political commentator David Brooks, president of Ebert Productions Chaz Ebert and opera star Renee Fleming. A complete schedule of the fall programs is available at chicagohumanities.org/journeys.

Tickets can be purchased at chicagohumanities.org or by calling the CHF Box Office at (312) 494-9509.

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Elite Honor

This summer Harris Theater founding member and Trustee, Joan W. Harris, was among the recipients of the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the federal government, the 2013 National Medal of Arts. She was presented the award by President Barack Obama in the nation’s Capital. For more than three decades, Joan Harris has been on a personal mission to ensure the value of the arts in society and to fight for funding and respect for the arts.

The National Medial of Arts honors individuals or groups deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States. Mrs. Harris was in a class of the most elite arts luminaries and administrators in the nation, including acclaimed musician Linda Ronstadt; esteemed dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones; and Jeffrey Katzenberg, director and CEO of DreamWorks.

The Windy City Honors the Arts

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) will honor five Chicago artists, arts advocates and cultural institutions at the inaugural Fifth Star Awards this fall in Millennium Park. Inaugural honorees are dancer/choreographer Lou Conte, sculptor Richard Hunt, Grammy-winning jazz pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis, longtime arts administrator Lois Weisberg and the landmark Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

The ceremony will accompany a free live show at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park that will feature a diverse lineup of performances in tribute to the honorees.

Emanuel said of the announcement of the new award, “Investing in art and culture can bring economic revitalization to every one of our neighborhoods and a sense of community like no other investment can. The Fifth Star Awards… will honor our past as a great hub for art and culture, while also becoming an important part of the city’s future.”

For more detail about the awards or a full lineup of performances, visit fifthstarawards.org.

Clockwise from top right: President Barack Obama awards the National Medal of Arts to Chicago arts patron Joan Harris (photo by Mandel NganAFP-Getty Images); Chicago's Priztker Pavilion in Millennium Park (photo courtesy of the City of Chicago); opera luminary Renée Fleming (photo courtesy of the Chicago Humanities Festival); Stanley Kramer is presented the first Chicago International Film Festival Career Achievement Award (photo courtesy of the Chicago International Film Festival); Chicago Fire actors Taylor Kinney and Jesse Spencer (photo courtesy of the Redmoon Studios).

autumn 2014

Cultural Almanac

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Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (Tel. 312.922.2110, auditoriumtheatre.org) Kalapriya Presents: Kamayani Baroque Band (Tel. 312.235.2368, baroqueband.org) Mad Men - Handel and Vivaldi Bella Voce Chamber Choir (Tel. 877.855.6277, bellavoce.org) Faire Is The Heaven l l Chicago Opera Theater (Tel. 312.704.8414, chicagooperatheater.org) MacBeth l l l City Winery (Tel. 312.733.9463, citywinery.com/chicago) [Folk/neo-folk/Americana=*, Jazz=**, Blended/Pop, rock or soul fusion=†, Country/Blue grass = ††] Bubbly Q with Fruition, Old Salt Union and the Way Down Wanderers†† l The Secret Sisters* †† l Shawn Mullins w/Max Gomez* l Riot Fest presents Billy Bragg with special guest Billy the Kid* l World Music Festival l Mingo Fishtrap† l Mary Gauthier & Sam Baker* l Rhett Miller* l Flamenco from Spain - EviscerArt - Starring Vanesa Aibar + Eduardo Pachecho + Cristian de Moret Iris Dement with special guest Pieta Brown* †† Crystal Bowersox* Macy Gray † Steve Nieve Plays Elvis Costello: Piano Solo reinterpretations of Elvis' best songs w/Tall Ulysse † Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago (Tel. 312.369-8330, colum.edu/dance_center) BattleX l l l Joffrey Ballet (Tel. 312.386.8905, joffrey.org) Stories in Motion l l l Museum of Contemporary Art (Tel. 312.280.2660, mcachicago.org) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 eighth blackbird: Heart and Breath l The David Bowie Variety Hour Ravinia Festival in Highland Park (Tel. 847.266.5000, ravinia.org) [Folk/Roots/Americana=*, R&B = **, Pop/Rock = †, Jazz = ††, Country/Bluegrass = ^, Listings without notation are classical in genre] Alexandra Silocia, piano (Bennet Gordon Hall) l Alexy Zuev, piano (Bennet Gordon Hall) l Zhang Zuo, piano (Bennet Gordon Hall) l The Moody Blues l l Nicolas Altstaedt, cello (Bennet Gordon Hall) l Alexandra Deshorties, soprano and David Fung, piano (Bennet Gordon Hall) l Carrie Underwood with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra* l l Anna Fedorova, piano (Bennet Gordon Hall) l Joss Stone** l Micha and Cipa Dichter: Legends for Piano l Poi Dog Pondering† l Five for Fighting with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra† l John Mayer† l Symphony Center Presents w/Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Tel. 312.294.3000, cso.org) CSO: Muti Conducts Beethoven l CSO: Concert for Chicago in Millennium Park, l CSO: Symphony Ball l CSO: Muti Conducts Tchiakovsky 4 MusicNOW: Synchronicity

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The CNCJA Cultural Almanac listings are representative of schedules from participating institutions available at time of publication.

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Black Ensemble Theater (Tel. 773.769.4451, blackensembletheater.org) The Marvelous Marvelettes At Last: A Tribute to Etta James Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Tel. 312.595.5600, chicagoshakes.com) King Lear The Magic Flute City Lit Theatre (Tel. 773.293.3682, citylit.org) Edward Albee's At Home At The Zoo Books On the Block Court Theatre (Tel. 773.702.7005, courttheatre.org) Native Son Goodman Theatre (Tel. 312.443.3800, goodmantheatre.org) The World of Extremely Happiness Smokefall Greenhouse Theater Center (Tel. 773.404.7336, greenhousetheater.org) Churchill Hank Williams: Lost Highway The Downpour Miracles in the Fall Lifeline Theatre (Tel. 773.761.4477, lifelinetheatre.com) Jane Erie Lookingglass Theatre (Tel. 773.477.9257, lookingglasstheatre.org) Death Tax Northlight Theatre in Skokie (Tel. 847.673.6300, northlight.org) Commons of Pensacola Profiles Theatre (Tel. 773.549.1815, profilestheatre.org) Reasons to Be Happy The Cryptogram Raven Theatre (Tel. 773.338.2177, raventheatre.com) All My Sons RedTwist Theatre (Tel. 773.728.7529, redtwist.org) The Size of the World Geezers Another Bone Stage Left Theatre (Tel. 773.975.8150, stagelefthteatre.com) The Coward Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Tel. 312.335.1650, steppenwolf.org) The Midnight City The Night Alive Timeline Theatre (Tel. 773.327.5252, timelinetheatre.com) My Name is Asher Lev Danny Casolaro Died for You Victory Gardens Theater (Tel. 773.871.3000, victorygardens.org) Rest Writers Theatre in Glencoe (Tel. 847.242.6000, writerstheatre.org) Isaac's Eye

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Photos from left:Director Eric Ting in rehearsal for the world-premiere production of The World of Extreme Happiness (photo by liz lauren) Guy Massey as Footnote, Eric Slater as Daniel and Katherine Keberlein as Violet in Smokefall (photo by liz Lauren); Tamino (Mhlekazi Andy Mosiea) in Isango Ensembles The Magic Flute (photo by KeithPattison); Larry Yando takes on the title role in King Lear this fall at Shakespeare Theatre (Photo by Liz Lauren).

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The Art In Architectu Josef Koud Sharp, Clea Veiled Arc Heaven an Ghosts and focus: Lucy The City L Strokes of Temptation Onchi Kos Nairy Bagh Onchi Kos Saul Steinb What May Magritte: T What Did Ethel Stein De ou par Chicagoism Modern M The [Not S Caillebotte Joseph Beu Shomei To Expanded Of Gods a The Elizab Cy Twomb Photograp Mary & L Wangechi Ecological Wangechi National M Rito y Recu Desde Ade Líneas Bor Museum o David Bow Body Doub BMO Harr Ann Collie MCA DNA Smart Mu Carved, Ca GalleryX Judy Ledge

58•CNCJAAutumn 2014

Art Museums

September2014

Veiled Architecture: Kukje Gallery, SO-IL Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections Ghosts and Demons in Japanese Prints focus: Lucy McKenzie The City Lost and Found: Capturing New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, 1960–1980 Strokes of Genius: Italian Drawings from the Goldman Collection Temptation: The Demons of James Ensor The ArtKoshiro: InstituteThe of Abstract ChicagoPrints (Tel. 312.443.3600, artic.edu) Onchi Architecture to Scale: Stanley Tigerman Zago Architecture Nairy Baghramian: French Curve / Slipand of the Tongue Josef Doubtful OnchiKoudelka: Koshiro: Nationality The Abstract Prints Sharp, Clear Pictures: Edward Steichen’s World War I and Nast Years Saul Steinberg: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Condé His Birth Veiled Architecture: Kukje Gallery, SO-ILPopular and the Mexican Political Print What May Come: The Taller de Gráfica Heaven Art of of the Byzantium from Greek Collections Magritte:and TheEarth: Mystery Ordinary, 1926–1938 Ghosts andRenaissance Demons in Japanese Prints What Did Printmakers Make of Antiquity? focus: Ethel Lucy Stein,McKenzie Master Weaver The CityparLost andMagritte: Found: Capturing New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, 1960–1980 De ou René Art in Belgium, 1920-1975 Strokes of Genius: Italian Drawings from the Goldman Collection Chicagoisms Temptation: The Return Demons of James Ensor Modern Masters Onchi Koshiro: TheLife Abstract Prints The [Not So] Still Nairy Baghramian: FrenchRainy CurveDay" / Slip of the Tongue Caillebotte "Paris Street; Returns Onchi Koshiro: The Abstract Prints Joseph Beuys: Untitled (Sun State) Saul Steinberg: Commemorating Shomei Tomatsu: Island Life the 100th Anniversary of His Birth What May Come: The GráficaCollection Popular and the Mexican Political Print Expanded Gallery for Taller ArthurdeRubloff of Paperweights Magritte: of The the Ordinary, Of GodsThe and Mystery Glamour: Mary and 1926–1938 Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art What Did Renaissance Printmakers The Elizabeth Morse Touch GalleryMake of Antiquity?

Ethel Stein, Master Weaver Cy Twombly: Sculpture Selections, 1948–1995 De ou par René Art in Belgium, 1920-1975 Photography Is Magritte: _______________.

Chicagoisms Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art (Tel. 847.491.4000, blockmuseum.northwestern.edu) Modern Masters Wangechi Mutu:Return The End of eating Everything The [Not So]Looking: Still LifeSustainability & the End(s) of the Earth Ecological Caillebotte "Paris AStreet; RainyJourney Day" Returns Wangechi Mutu: Fantastic Joseph Beuys: Untitled (Sun State) National Mexican Museum of Art (Tel. 773.738.1503, nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org) Shomei Tomatsu: Day IslandofLife Rito y Recuerdo: the Dead Expanded GalleryAbstract for Arthur Rubloff of Paperweights Desde Adentro: Works fromCollection the Permanent Collection Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art Líneas Borrosas: Selected Works by Gabriel Villa The Elizabeth Morse Touch Gallery Museum of Contemporary Art (Tel. 312.280.2660, mcachicago.org) Cy Twombly: Selections, 1948–1995 David Bowie Sculpture Is Photography Body DoublesIs _______________.

Mary LeighBank Block Museum of Art (Tel. 847.491.4000, blockmuseum.northwestern.edu) BMO&Harris Chicago Works: Sarah Belknap and Joseph Belknap Exoplanet Skin Wangechi Mutu: The End of eating Everything Ann Collier Ecological Looking: Sustainability MCA DNA: Alexander Calder & the End(s) of the Earth Wangechi Mutu: AofFantastic Journey of Chicago (Tel. 773.702.0200, smartmuseum.uchicago.edu) Smart Museum Art - University National Mexican Museum of ArtAll(Tel. Carved, Cast, Crumpled: Sculpture Ways773.738.1503, nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org) Rito y Recuerdo: Day of the Dead GalleryX Desde Adentro: Abstract WorksPatterns from the Collection Judy Ledgerwood: Chromatic forPermanent the Smart Museum Líneas Borrosas: Selected Works by Gabriel Villa Museum of Contemporary Art (Tel. 312.280.2660, mcachicago.org) David Bowie Is Body Doubles BMO Harris Bank Chicago Works: Sarah Belknap and Joseph Belknap Exoplanet Skin Ann Collier MCA DNA: Alexander Calder Smart Museum of Art - University of Chicago (Tel. 773.702.0200, smartmuseum.uchicago.edu) Carved, Cast, Crumpled: Sculpture All Ways GalleryX Judy Ledgerwood: Chromatic Patterns for the Smart Museum l l l

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Exhibit Closes October 13 Exhibit Closes October 15 Exhibit Closes November 9 Exhibit Closes November 10

Ongoing Permanent Exhibits ExhibitsorClose October 12

Exhibits Close October 5

Exhibits October 12 13 Ongoing ExhibitClose Begins September Ongoing Exhibit Begins September 27 Exhibit Closes October 13 Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 11 Exhibit Closes October 15 Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 23 Exhibit Closes November 9 Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 26 Exhibit Closes November 10 Ongoing Exhibit Begins November 1 Ongoing Exhibit Begins November 23

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Ongoing Exhibit Begins September 27

Ongoing Exhibit Begins September 23 Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 5 Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 11 Ongoing Exhibit Begins November 22 Ongoing Exhibit

Ongoing Exhibits Ongoing or Permanent

BeginsSeptember September1927 Ongoing Exhibit Begns

Ongoing Exhibit Begins September 23 Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 5 Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 11 Exhibit Runs September 16 - November 30 Ongoing Exhibit Begins November 22 Exhibit Runs September 19 - November 30 Ongoing Exhibit Ongoing Exhibit Begins September 19

Ongoing or Permanent Exhibits

Ongoing or Permanent Exhibits Ongoing Exhibit Begns September 19

Exhibit Runs September 16 - November 30 Exhibit Runs September 19 - November 30 Ongoing Exhibit Begins September 19

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Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 26 Ongoing Exhibit Begins November 1 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Ongoing Exhibit Begins November 23

Autumn 2014CNCJAโ ข59

Art Galleries

Hidden Wonders Historic Atwood Sphere Our Solar System Planet Explorers Sundials Shoot for the Moon Telescopes The Universe: A Walk Through Space and Time

Astronomy and Culture Cyber Space

Ellen Green: Murder Ballads Russell Bowman Art Advisory (312.751.9500, bowmanart.com) Roger Brown: Virtual Still Life Schneider Gallery, Inc. (Tel. 312.988.4033, schneidergallerychicago.com) Luis Gonzรกlez Palma: MOBIUS Adler Planetarium (Tel. 312-922-7827, adlerplanetarium.org)

Theresa James: Not All Angels Have Wings Lauren Levato Coyne: Wolf Peach

Franklin Riley Jean Albano Gallery (Tel 312-440-0770 , jeanalbanogallery.com) Margaret Wharton: In Memoriam kasia kay art projects gallery (Tel 312-944-0408, kasiakaygallery.com) The Suite - group exhibition curated by Kasia Kay Linda Warren Projects (Tel 312-432-9500, lindawarrenprojects.com) Kim Piotrowski McCormick Gallery (Tel 312-226-6800, thomasmccormick.com) Vivian Springford: works from the estate Packer Schopf Gallery (Tel 312-226-8984, packergallery.com)

Addington Gallery (Tel. 312.664.3406, addingtongallery.com) Curtis Phillips Kathleen Waterloo: GLOBALocal Joseph Hronek: Painting Studio Series ARC Gallery (Tel 773-252-2232, arcgallery.org ) Michele Stutts Esther Murphy Stanislav Grezdo Carl Hammer Gallery (Tel. 312.266.8512, hammergallery.com) Eugene Von Bruenchenhein Douglas Dawson Gallery (Tel. 312.226.7975, douglasdawson.com) From the Blacksmith's Hands: African Metal Echt Gallery (Tel. 312.442.0288, echtgallery.com) Gregory Grenon - Allusions, Then and Now FM*Gallery (Tel 312-810-5690, fultonmarketgallery.com)

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Chicago Architecture Foundation (Tel. 312.922.3432, caf.architecture.org) Chicago: City of Big Data

September2014

Amy Reichert: Reinventing Judaica

Scots Jews: Identity, Belonging and the Future

Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies (Tel. 312.332.1700, spertus.edu)

Abbott Oceanarium Amazon Rising At Home On The Great Lakes Aquatic Show Caribbean Reef Jellies Polar Play Zone Waters of the World Wild Reef

You! The Experience Shedd Aquarium (Tel. 312.939.2438, sheddaquarium.org)

Earth Revealed Fast Forward…Inventing The Future Future Energy Chicago Science Storms Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives

Earth Explorers Think 80 at 80 Coal Mine

Numbers in Nature: A Mirror Maze

Museum of Science and Industry (Tel. 773.684.1414, msichicago.org)

Race: Are We So Different?

Karkomi Permanent Exhibition Legacy of Absence Gallery Out of Chaos: Hidden Children Remember the Holocaust

Sue The T. Rex Underground Adventure Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (Tel. 847.967.4800, ilholocaustmuseum.org) Charlotte Salomon: “Life? or Theater?”

Tiny Giants 3D

Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World's Fair Bunky Echo-Hawk: Modern Warrior Creatures of Light: Nature's Bioluminescence Crown Family Play Lab Earnst & Young Three-D Theatre DNA Discovery Center Grainger Hall of Gems Pacific Spirits Tracking the Reptiles of Pangea The Machine Inside: Biomechanics

A Slow Walk to Greatness Africa Speaks The Freedom Now Mural Field Museum of Natural History (Tel. 312.922.9410, fieldmuseum.org)

Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution Animation Art from Classic Cartoons of ‘70s

Chicago Styled: Fashioning The Magnificent Mile Railroaders: Jack Delano's Homefront Photography Abraham Lincoln Vivian Maier's Chicago DuSable Museum of African American History (Tel. 773.947.0600, dusablemuseum.org)

Chicago Model City Women Building Change: Celebrating 40 Years of Women in Architecture Chicago History Museum (Tel. 312.642.4600, chicagohistory.org) 1968 1968

Museums

60•CNCJAAutumn 2014 l

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Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 8

Ongoing or Permanent Exhibits

Ongoing Exhibit Begins October 12

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The CNCJA Cultural Almanac listings are representative of schedules from participating institutions available at time of publication.

Autumn 2014CNCJA•61

Music & Dance

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Auditorium AuditoriumTheatre TheatreofofRoosevelt RooseveltUniversity University(Tel. (Tel.312.922.2110, 312.922.2110,auditoriumtheatre.org) auditoriumtheatre.org) American AmericanBallet BalletTheatre Theatre- -An AnAll AllAmerican AmericanCelebration Celebration ll ll ll Baroque BaroqueBand Band(Tel. (Tel.312.235.2368, 312.235.2368,baroqueband.org) baroqueband.org) Mad MadMen: Men:Handel Handeland andVivaldi Vivaldi ll ll Chicago ChicagoLatino LatinoMusic MusicFestival Festival ll Chicago ChicagoaaCappella Cappella(Tel. (Tel.773.

773.281.7820, 281.7820,chicagoacappella.org) chicagoacappella.org) Global GlobalTranscendence: Transcendence:World WorldSacred SacredHarmony Harmonyand andChant Chant ll ll ll ll Youth YouthChoral ChoralFestival Festival ll City CityWinery Winery(Tel. (Tel.312.733.9463, 312.733.9463,citywinery.com/chicago) citywinery.com/chicago)[Folk/neo-folk/Americana=*, [Folk/neo-folk/Americana=*,Jazz=**, Jazz=**,Blended/Pop, Blended/Pop,rock rockororsoul soulfusion=†, fusion=†,Country/Blue Country/Bluegrass grass==††] ††] Justin JustinNozuka Nozukaw/ w/David DavidRyan RyanHarris* Harris*† † ll Gumbo Gumbo&&Cab CabFest Festwith withLost LostBayou BayouRamblers** Ramblers** ll Chicago ChicagoPhilharmonic PhilharmonicSunday SundaySeries* Series* ll David DavidBromberg BrombergQuintet** Quintet** ll Mason MasonJennings Jenningsw/special w/specialguest guestLucette* Lucette* ll Joan JoanOsborne** Osborne** ll Kat KatEdmonson* Edmonson* ll Glenn GlennTillbrook Tillbrook(of (ofSqueeze)* Squeeze)* ll Carbon CarbonLeaf Leafwith withspecial specialguest guestMarie MarieMiller* Miller*† † ll Pat PatMcGee* McGee*† † ll Sinéad SinéadO’Connor† O’Connor† ll ll ll Willie WillieWatson Watsonwith withspecial specialguest guestMikaela MikaelaDavis* Davis* ll Amel AmelLarrieux* Larrieux*† † ll Paula PaulaCole Colew/special w/specialguest guestAnne AnneHeaton* Heaton* ll Hot HotButtered ButteredRum Rum&&Zach ZachDeputy†† Deputy†† ll Mary MaryBlack* Black* ll Dance DanceCenter CenterofofColumbia ColumbiaCollege CollegeChicago Chicago(Tel. (Tel.312.369-8330, 312.369-8330,colum.edu/dance_center) colum.edu/dance_center) Helwig HelwigDances Danceswith withDanzAbierta DanzAbierta ll ll ll Rosy RosySimas SimasDanse Danse ll ll ll Harris HarrisTheater Theaterfor forMusic Musicand andDance Dance(Tel. (Tel.312.334.7777, 312.334.7777,harristheaterchicago.org) harristheaterchicago.org) Giordano GiordanoDance DanceChicago: Chicago:Fall FallSeries Series ll ll Beijing BeijingDance DanceTheatre: Theatre:Wild WildGrass Grass ll ll Hubbard HubbardStreet StreetDance DanceChicago Chicago(Tel. (Tel.312.850.9744, 312.850.9744,hubbardstreetdance.org) hubbardstreetdance.org) Fall FallSeries Series ll ll ll ll Joffrey JoffreyBallet Ballet(Tel. (Tel.312.386.8905, 312.386.8905,joffrey.org) joffrey.org) Swan SwanLake Lake ll ll ll ll ll ll ll Museum MuseumofofContemporary ContemporaryArt Art(Tel. (Tel.312.280.2660, 312.280.2660,mcachicago.org) mcachicago.org) 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 1010 1111 1212 1313 1414 1515 1616 1717 1818 1919 2020 2121 2222 2323 2424 2525 2626 2727 2828 2929 3030 3131 Rosas: Rosas:Rosas RosasDanst DanstRosas Rosas ll ll ll ll ll Michael MichaelClark ClarkDance DanceCompany: Company:come, come,and andbeen beengone gone ll ll ll Music Musicofofthe theBaroque Baroque(Tel. (Tel.312.551.1414,baroque.org) 312.551.1414,baroque.org) The TheMozart MozartRequiem Requiem ll ll ll River RiverNorth NorthDance DanceChicago Chicago(Tel. (Tel.312.944.2888, 312.944.2888,rivernorthchicago.org) rivernorthchicago.org) Street StreetBeat: Beat:Dance DanceThrough Throughthe theDecades Decades ll 25th 25thAnniversary AnniversaryFall FallEngagement Engagement ll ll Symphony SymphonyCenter CenterPresents Presentsw/Chicago w/ChicagoSymphony SymphonyOrchestra Orchestra(Tel. (Tel.312.294.3000, 312.294.3000,cso.org) cso.org) CSO: CSO:Muti Mutiand andChristopher ChristopherMartin, Martin,trumpet trumpet ll ll ll CSO: CSO:Mahler Mahler5,5,Jaap Jaapvan vanZweden, Zweden,cond. cond. ll ll ll SCP SCPJazz: Jazz:Ahmad AhmadJamal Jamal ll CSO CSOatatthe theMovies: Movies:Ben BenHur Hur- -MGM's MGM's1925 1925classic classicfeaturing featuringStewart StewartCopeland Copeland ll CSO CSOChamber ChamberMusic: Music:Takács TakácsQuartet Quartetw/Marc-André w/Marc-AndréHamelin Hamelinpiano piano ll Bassist BassistEdgar EdgarMeyer Meyerand andmandolinist mandolinistChris ChrisThile Thile ll London LondonPhilarhomic PhilarhomicOrchestra Orchestra ll Contemporary ContemporaryJazz JazzPiano PianoTrio: Trio:Keith KeithJarrett, Jarrett,Gary GaryPeacock, Peacock,Jack JackDeJohnette DeJohnette ll SPC SPCJazz: Jazz:Django DjangoFestival FestivalAll-Stars All-Starswith withKen KenPeplowski/Cyrille Peplowski/CyrilleAimée Aimée ll SPC SPCSpecial SpecialEvent: Event:Hallowed HallowedHaunts Haunts ll SPC SPCPiano: Piano:Maurizio MaurizioPolini Polini ll The TheCabinet CabinetofofDr. Dr.Caligari Caligariw/Cameron w/CameronCarpenter, Carpenter,organist organist ll University UniversityofofChicago ChicagoPresents Presents(Tel. (Tel.773.702.8068, 773.702.8068,chicagopresents.uchicago.edu) chicagopresents.uchicago.edu) Danish DanishString StringQuartet Quartet ll Pacifica PacificaQuartet Quartet ll Regina ReginaCarter CarterQuintet Quintetwith withspecial specialguest guestEdmar EdmarCastaneda Castaneda(jazz) (jazz) ll

Oc t ob e r 0 1 4 Oc t ob e r2 2 0 1 4

10

Questions Francis Guinan for

Starring this fall in Steppenwolf Theatre's Chicago premiere of The Night Alive by Conor McPherson.

F

By RAYMOND BENSON Francis Guinan arrived in Chicago in 1979, just in time to help establish the venerable Steppenwolf Theatre Company. A respected ensemble member of the company, Guinan, has appeared in nearly 40 Steppenwolf productions, including Tribes, August: Osage County, The Book Thief, and Fake.

This season, he will be starring along side a bevy of luminary ensemble members in the company’s latest endeavor, the Chicago premiere of The Night Alive, written by Irish playright Conor McPherson.

Guinan has one of those faces—you know you’ve seen it somewhere before. He’s so familiar because he’s been a “working actor” on television and in film, as well as on the stage, since first making the move to Los Angeles in 1989. His many small screen roles include characters on popular television series like Murder She Wrote, Star Trek—Enterprise and Star Trek— Voyager and the hit ABC drama, Grey’s Anatomy.

But Guinan's face has had its share of big screen time as well. Film appearances in box office smashes like The Last Airbender, Shining Through and Hannibal have peppered his career over the years.

We caught up with Guinan recently to ask him ten quickie questions about his life and career.

1. You’ve had a long career as a working actor. Not a lot of folks can do that. How do you manage to retain that longevity?

I consider myself the luckiest actor on the planet. And I say this not in self-deprecation or from a false sense of modesty. I had the great good fortune to have gone to college with many of the people who formed the core of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. In 1979, I was living in Minneapolis when I was asked to join the ensemble when the company moved from Highland Park, Illinois to Chicago. Since then, I have had what most actors only dream of: consistent, remunerative employment with wildly talented colleagues who know my work and trust my instincts. In such a rare situation, an artist has the time and opportunity to hone his craft.

62•CNCJAAutumn 2014

2. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, 1951, you grew up in Council Bluffs, Iowa. That sounds like a small town. What was it like growing up there?

Council Bluffs is just across the Missouri River from Omaha and together (they) make up a fairly substantial metropolitan area; population about 350,000 in 1951; nearly one million today.

My grade school was a block away. I came home for lunch each day. My church, where I was an altar boy, was next to the school. Lots of kids in a neighborhood where you could leave the house after breakfast and, as long as you were back by dark, you were pretty much left to your own devices.

I had a paper route (pre-cell phones and internet, of course); Polio; radio at the dinner table; Thorium 90 in the milk supply; Charles Starkweather; my own bedroom.

3. Can you pinpoint specific moments from your childhood that pointed you in the direction of wanting to be an actor?

I don't recall a specific moment. Freshman year of high school I quit the football team after one week of practice. I didn't like running up and down a hill in full uniform while the coach yelled at me. I'm sure my character has since suffered greatly as a result, but there it is. Wanting to do something after school, I tried out for the school talent show with a Dick Shawn routine I'd seen once on TV. School plays followed. Choral singing.

Speech and music teachers of particular influence at that time were Eileen O'Brien, Ellen O'Brien (unrelated), Paul Harrington, and Ira Raznik.

Photo by Michael Brosilow

4. What was your time in New York City like?

I lived in Brooklyn from 1983 to 1989...not a particularly great time to be there, though my Park Slope neighborhood was pretty posh.

People lived in cardboard boxes across from Lincoln Center, and Times Square had yet to be Disney-fied.

The subway system was near grinding to a halt. Theater work was very tough to come by and very little of it paid much of Left: Francis Guinan in Connor McPherson's The Night Alive, playing at Steppenwolf Theatre this fall.

Autumn 2014CNCJA•63

anything. I stood in blocks-long audition lines outside the Actors Equity Building. Though Steppenwolf was just then transferring some shows to New York City (...And A Nightingale Sang, True West, Balm In Gilead) I was never able to generate much interest from the locals.

Had it not been for the Steppenwolf transfers and some regional gigs, I'd have joined the legions of homeless people on the sidewalks...

New York is fine if you have a Broadway job or work on Wall Street, otherwise I just don't see the point...except for Central Park, which is a Wonder of the World on so many levels.

5. The Los Angeles years... was this a concentrated effort to work in film and television?

I've never had any particular plan for my career. Ironically, my first job after moving to Los Angeles in 1989 was back in New York for The Grapes of Wrath, which was a huge success. Los Angeles was very kind to me for many years. I had a couple of series (Eerie, Indiana and The Mighty Jungle) and a good many guest star gigs.

I was a working actor. I would go back to Steppenwolf on occasion to do a play. I even worked in the theater in L.A. (The Mark Taper Forum and The Geffin Theatre, with my friend Randy Arney). But in the early 2000's the studios began to consolidate and the work contracts began to shrink. At the same time rents were becoming stratospheric. My wife and I decided to come back home to Chicago.

6. Tell us a little about your role in The Night Alive.

I play Tommy, who, along with his friend Doc, has managed to cobble together a life as a handyman in Dublin. He rents a room in his Uncle Maurice's house, which he maintains in a chaotic state in a sort of metaphorical reflection of his larger life. He's behind on his child support and seems to be failing even as an absent parent. Most importantly for the play, he's far lonelier than even he realizes.

(Tommy’s story takes hold when he defends a destitute woman against a violent attack and then tends to her in his run-down room.)

7. We’re huge fans of M. Emmet Walsh. Have you ever met him prior to working with him in “The Night Alive”?

I've never met Emmet, though I too am a big fan and am looking forward to meeting him in rehearsals.

8. Who are your theatrical heroes?

64•CNCJAAutumn 2014

It's a long list. Sheldon Patinkin from Compass Players, Second City, Columbia College: the Godfather of Chicago Theatre; Cheryl Lynn Bruce, an actress of Biblical dimensions and subtlety; Tracy Letts, playwright, actor; Laurie Metcalf, an instinctive actress of incomparable gifts; Tina Landau, director, playwright, teacher, theatrical visionary; Frank Galati, director, actor, playwright, teacher—also a theatrical visionary; Martha Lavey, actress, artistic di-

rector of Steppenwolf Theatre, whose vision for Steppenwolf has made it one of the finest arts organizations in the nation; Robert Falls, Goodman Theatre, Chicago.

Indeed, I am in stark admiration of the hundreds of wonderful theater artists in Chicago who manage every day to create dynamic careers while raising families, working extra jobs, making magic. Immediately I think of Mark Grapey, Famous Door Theatre and the Three Oaks Festival; Elizabeth Laidlaw, Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre; Barbara Gaines, artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. The list goes on and on and they are heroes all.

Photos by Michael Brosilow

9. Steppenwolf has been your home or homeaway-from-home since 1979. To what do you attribute its longevity?

Luck, mostly. No, really. Gary Sinise, of course.

That and the generosity of the theater community and our friends. There are a lot of really talented people in Chicago, and there were in 1976 too, when Steppenwolf started. David Mamet, William H. Macy, Joe Mantegna and that whole crew were down at St. Nicholas Theatre on Halsted Street; Bob Falls had Wisdom Bridge up on Howard. Howard Platt and Michael Cullen were producing out of the old Theatre Building on Belmont around then. Stuart Oaken and Jason Brett built the Apollo Theatre on Lincoln Avenue in 1978.

Now all of those people have moved on to other things and their organizations are part of Chicago theater history. Steppenwolf endured.

But St. Nick gave a few of us jobs. Bob Falls did as well and continues to hire company members at the Goodman. Howard and Michael produced one of our most successful early productions. Stuart and Jason provided us with a home when we first moved down from Highland Park.

Richard Christiansen, The Chicago Tribune's theater critic was a big supporter of off Loop storefronts. Through a combination of unbelievably generous support from its boards of directors, subscribers and donors, Steppenwolf endures and grows.

10. What’s the one classic role you’ve always wanted to play but haven’t?

Cyrano. Of the modern "classics," it would be Tobias in Albee's A Delicate Balance.

You can get an up-close-and-personal look at Guinan in the role of Tommy in The Night Alive when it runs in the Downstairs Theatre at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago's Lincoln Park from September 18 through November 16, 20-14.

Left: Francis Guinan with Steppenwolf ensemble members John Procaccino and K. Todd Freeman in Art at Steppenwolf Theatre; Ensemble member John Mahoney with Francis Guinan in The Seafarer (2008) at Steppenwolf; Ensemble member Tom Irwin and Guinan in The Seafarer (2008) at Steppenwolf Theatre.

Autumn 2014CNCJA•65

66•CNCJAAutumn 2014

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Oct t ob e r2 2 0 1 4 Oc ob e r 0 1 4

The CNCJA Cultural Almanac listings are representative of schedules from participating institutions available at time of publication.

Autumn 2014CNCJA•67

Darrin Hallowell: New Work Russell Bowman Art Advisory (312.751.9500, bowmanart.com) Roger Brown: Virtual Still Life Schneider Gallery, Inc. (Tel. 312.988.4033, schneidergallerychicago.com) Luis González Palma: MOBIUS

Kim Piotrowski Carson Fox Eric Finsi McCormick Gallery (Tel 312-226-6800, thomasmccormick.com)

kasia kay art projects gallery (Tel 312-944-0408, kasiakaygallery.com) The Suite - group exhibition curated by Kasia Kay Linda Warren Projects (Tel 312-432-9500, lindawarrenprojects.com)

Franklin Riley Jean Albano Gallery (Tel 312-440-0770 , jeanalbanogallery.com) Margaret Wharton: In Memoriam

Addington Gallery (Tel. 312.664.3406, addingtongallery.com) Kathleen Waterloo: GLOBALocal Joseph Hronek: Painting Studio Series Carl Hammer Gallery (Tel. 312.266.8512, hammergallery.com) Eugene Von Bruenchenhein Douglas Dawson Gallery (Tel. 312.226.7975, douglasdawson.com) From the Blacksmith's Hands: African Metal Echt Gallery (Tel. 312.442.0288, echtgallery.com) Gregory Grenon - Allusions, Then and Now FM*Gallery (Tel 312-810-5690, fultonmarketgallery.com)

October2014

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music and The crooner talks life, to Ravinia bringing his Large Band

Lyle's Large Life

SUMMER 2011

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Contact Account Executive Jason Montgomery Tel. 773.741.5502 or e-mail: Jason.Montgomery@ClefNotesJournal.com for special advertising opportunities.

For advertisers looking to reach an audience that is cultured, sophisticated, and values strong branding, there's no better place for your message than Clef Notes. Our readers open our pages for the best in Chicagoland arts and culture.

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Listings for permanent and onoing exhibits at museums listed within the Almanac may be found on pages 58, 59 & 60.

Art Galleries

Shall We Dance?

Visceral Enagement Choreographer Nick Pupillo had to learn to manage his time (and his hats) when launching a new dance company last year amidst an already bustling dance center and studio. It's now his sophomore season and he's ready for more.

By EMILY GROCH

S

Situated neatly on Elston Avenue, near a busy intersection on Chicago’s north side, Nick Pupillo’s Visceral Dance Center vibrates with vitality.

Founded by Pupillo in 2007, the center has been a boon to the Chicago dance community, providing a fertile space where young talent, seasoned performers, creators and collaborators can grow and evolve. The dance center houses several of Chicago’s smaller dance companies, including Elements Contemporary Ballet, Lucky Plush Productions, Nomi Dance Company, Chicago Dance Crash, and—as of September 2013—the center’s own Visceral Dance Chicago (VDC).

VDC, Pupillo’s professional contemporary dance company, has blossomed from the tremendous support and community that the Visceral Dance Center has fostered. After a highly successful inaugural season, the young company propels forward into its second year, extending the spirit of the Visceral Dance Center onto the stage and into the community with an impressive new repertoire. That repertoire features some of the finest dancers and most forward-thinking choreographers in contemporary dance today.

Pupillo speaks a mile a minute about his new company, the dance center and the Visceral Dance youth company, all of which have evolved quite organically from his desire to re-imagine how training and performing could be really done. Pupillo, who started performing in Chicago in 2001 as a member of Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC), decided after three years of touring with the company to invest his energies into training young dancers.

“There was just a point in my dance career when I wanted to make some changes, not just in the way performance was being seen, but in the way training was being done,” he explains. “I had so many opportunities (in my own training), I wanted to make sure young dancers didn’t miss out on (similar) experiences. I wanted to provide a home base where dancers could have every possible option to dance professionally.”

It’s with that ambition that, in 2006, Pupillo first developed Visceral Dance Studio, a youth company of 19 dancers. The dancers receive some of the best professional preparation avail-

68•CNCJAAutumn 2014

Inset: Nick Pupillo, founder and artistic director of Visceral Dance; right: Visceral dance in Senza di te (photos courtesy of Visceral Dance).

Autumn 2014CNCJA•69

Shall We Dance?

“I haven’t felt this type of energy in so long—so many passionate, respectful dancers in one place so appreciative of the experience. It’s good, positive energy.”

— Nick Pupillo, founder of Visceral Dance Center able, complete with opportunities to perform and train alongside pro dancers. The youth company, which Pupillo continues to direct in addition to VDC, receives training across a variety of dance disciplines, and many opportunities to perform and compete.

Shortly after creating the youth company, Pupillo developed the Visceral Dance Center. With so many companies in Chicago wanting for space to train, create and rehearse, the center quickly filled to the brim with artists. The dance center filled a significant need for Chicago’s dance community, and the gratitude, support structure and positive energy have been buzzing through its walls ever since.

This energy built quickly around the Visceral brand. Pupillo insists he didn’t expect the center to “flourish so big, so quickly, to be able to support a professional company,” but it did.

As a result, only six years after developing the center, Pupillo launched VDC. When Pupillo speaks of his company’s first season, he describes an almost magical quality in the way the dancers, visiting artists, and artistic staff came together. “It all happened so fast,” he explains.

“It’s such a blur. It happened in such an organic way. I auditioned quite extensively to make sure I chose the right dancers. On day one, it was as though everything was meant to be. Every single dancer connected immediately.”

Pupillo often resortes to using the word, “organic,” when describing the company’s formation, but any undertaking this huge must have its challenges. When pressed to share any difficulties from that first season, Pupillo explains that in his role as director of the youth and professional companies, as well as heading up the center itself, he (unsurprisingly!) had to rethink his own time management.

“The only challenge was... just knowing…when to focus my time and energy in the correct place. I like to be able to do everything!”

Then, he dismisses the challenge as a minor one, resorting to his constant theme of positive energy—which he insists drove that first season. Pupillo speaks proudly of the natural connection between his dancers, their exuberance and the collaborators with whom they worked: “I haven’t felt this type of energy in so long—so many passionate, respectful dancers in one place so appreciative of the experience. It’s good, positive energy.”

70•CNCJAAutumn 2014

That positivity keeps flowing this year, as VDC prepares to wow Chicago audiences with a fresh season of exciting new works. The company will next take the stage of Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts this October, presenting diverse works from new voices and established choreographers alike.

Some of the highlights include a reprise of “Impetere,” the first piece Pupillo created for the company, as well as Monica Cervantes’ “Changes,” which received rave reviews from audiences last season. VDC will also perform new works from several choreographers, including Brian Enos, Harrison McEldowney and Banning Bouldin.

Pupillo notes that he likes to have a mix of newer voices, like Bouldin, and established choreographers, such as Naharin, working with his company. He is also collaborating with cellist and composer Desiree Miller on a new commission. It will serve as a solo piece which he will choreograph on both the males and females of his company so as to be interchangeable. He’ll also premiere a new full-company piece at the North Shore Center.

And if that isn’t enough for one evening, the company will perform a duet by preeminent contemporary choreographer Ohad Naharin. Something Pupillo calls a “a complete honor,” for him and his young company, representing Naharin’s work in the October show. He describes the work as “beautiful,” “haunting,” and “intriguing.”

And intrigue is just what Pupillo hopes to evoke from his audience in Visceral Dance’s sophomore season, to evoke “feelings they can bring into their lives,” he insists, and ultimately to affect them on, “…a more visceral level.”

Visceral Dance will kick off their new season in Chicago with the Skokie performance at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts on October 26, 2014. They will also perform at the Harris Theater of Music and Dance November 21-22, and again in the spring, March 21-22.

For more information and tickets to upcoming performances, visit visceraldance.com. Top: Nick Pupillo, founder of Visceral Dance Studio, in training with young dancers; bottom: Visceral Dance in Impetere by Nick Pupilo (photos courtesy of Visceral Dance).

Viceral Dance, Impetere by Nick Pupillo.

Autumn 2014CNCJAâ&#x20AC;˘71

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The CNCJA Cultural Almanac listings are representative of schedules from participating institutions available at time of publication.

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Auditorium Theatre of Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt Roosevelt University University (Tel. (Tel. 312.922.2110, 312.922.2110, auditoriumtheatre.org) auditoriumtheatre.org) On Stage with Susan Werner l On Stage with Susan On StageJazz withPhilharmonic Susan Werner Werner- CJP @ 10 l l Chicago l l Chicago Jazz Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Philharmonic - CJP CJP @ @ 10 l l l l Aida Cuevas and Mariachi -Reyna de10 Los Angeles l Aida Cuevas and Aida Cuevas and Mariachi Reyna de de Los Los Angeles Angeles l l Dance Center ofMariachi Harlem Reyna l l l Dance Center of Harlem Dance Center ofChicago Harlem l l l l l l Thodos Dance l Thodos Dance Chicago Thodos Dance ChicagoChoir (Tel. 877.855.6277, bellavoce.org) l l Bella Voce Chamber Bella Voce Bella Voce Chamber Chamber Choir Choir (Tel. (Tel. 877.855.6277, 877.855.6277, bellavoce.org) bellavoce.org) Messiah l l Messiah Messiah l l l l City Winery (Tel. 312.733.9463, citywinery.com/chicago) [Folk/neo-folk/Americana=*, Jazz=**, Blended/Pop, rock or soul fusion=†, Country/Blue grass = ††] City (Tel. Blended/Pop, City Winery (Tel. 312.733.9463, 312.733.9463, citywinery.com/chicago) citywinery.com/chicago) [Folk/neo-folk/Americana=*, [Folk/neo-folk/Americana=*, Jazz=**, Jazz=**, Blended/Pop, rock rock or or soul soul fusion=†, fusion=†, Country/Blue Country/Blue grass grass = = ††] ††] EricWinery Roberson† l l Eric Roberson† Eric Roberson† l l l l Chicago Philharmonic Sunday Series* l Chicago Philharmonic Chicago Philharmonic Sunday Sunday Series* Series* l l Dave Davies† l l Dave Davies† Dave Davies† & David Grisman †† l l l l Del McCoury l l Del McCoury & Del McCoury & David David Grisman Grisman †† †† l l l l Joshua Redman* l Joshua Redman* Joshua Redman* l l Hot Rize feat. Red Kuckles & The Trailblazers†† l Hot Rize feat.

Hot RizeCenter feat. Red Red Kuckles & & The The Trailblazers†† Trailblazers†† l l Dance of Kuckles Columbia College Chicago (Tel. 312.369-8330, colum.edu/dance_center) Dance Center of Dance CenterDance of Columbia Columbia College College Chicago Chicago (Tel. (Tel. 312.369-8330, 312.369-8330, colum.edu/dance_center) colum.edu/dance_center) Heidi Latsky l l l Heidi Latsky Dance Heidi LatskyContemporary Dance l l l l l l Elements Ballet ( Tel. 773.704.9274, elementscontemporaryballet.com) Elements Contemporary Ballet (( Tel. Elements Contemporary BalletBallet Tel.in773.704.9274, 773.704.9274, elementscontemporaryballet.com) The Sun King: A Contemporary One Act feat.elementscontemporaryballet.com) Baroque Band l l l l l The Sun King: in feat.

Band The SunTheater King: A A Contemporary Contemporary Ballet in One One Act Act feat. Baroque Baroque Band l l l l l l l l l l Harris for Music andBallet Dance (Tel. 312.334.7777, harristheaterchicago.org) Harris Theater Harris Theater for for Music Music and and Dance Dance (Tel. (Tel. 312.334.7777, 312.334.7777, harristheaterchicago.org) harristheaterchicago.org) Inon Bartonan, piano l Inon Bartonan, Inon Bartonan, piano l l Chamber Musicpiano Society of Lincoln Center: Dvorák, Chausson, and Schubert l Chamber Society Lincoln Center: Chausson, Chamber Music Society of of Lincoln Center: Dvorák, Dvorák, Chausson, and and Schubert Schubert l l Music ofMusic the Baroque (Tel. 312.551.1414, baroque.org) Music of the Baroque (Tel. 312.551.1414, baroque.org) Music of the Baroque The Christmas Oratorio(Tel. 312.551.1414, baroque.org) l The Christmas Oratorio The Christmas Oratorio Museum of Contemporary Art (Tel. 312.280.2660, mcachicago.org) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ll 30 Museum of (Tel. 312.280.2660, 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 10 16 Museum of Contemporary Contemporary Art (Tel. 312.280.2660, mcachicago.org) 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 Bowie Changes: Bobby ConnArt Plays Station to Station mcachicago.org) l Bowie Conn Station to Bowie Changes: Bobby Conn Plays Plays Station to Station Station l l BowieChanges: Changes:Bobby Jon Langford & Sally Timms l Bowie Changes: Jon Langford Bowie Changes: Jon Langford & & Sally Sally Timms Timms l l Dissappears plays Low l Dissappears plays Low Dissappears plays Low l l Symphony Center Presents w/Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Tel. 312.294.3000, cso.org) Symphony Center w/Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Tel. Symphony Center Presents w/Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Tel. 312.294.3000, 312.294.3000, cso.org) cso.org) CSO: Dvorák NewPresents World Symphony w/Christian Marcelaru, cond. l CSO: Dvorák New CSO: Dvorák New World World Symphony Symphony w/Christian Marcelaru, Marcelaru, cond. cond. l l SCP Piano: Pierre-Laurent Aimard w/Christian l SCP Piano: Aimard SCP Piano: Pierre-Laurent Pierre-LaurentDebussy Aimard and Boulez l l Afterwork Masterworks: l Afterwork Masterworks: Debussy Afterwork Masterworks: Debussy and and Boulez Boulez l l Debussy and Boulez l l l Debussy Boulez Debussy andScore: BoulezBoulez at 90: Provisionally Definitive l l l l l Beyond and the l l Beyond the Boulez at Definitive Beyond the Score: Score: Boulez at 90: 90: Provisionally Provisionally Definitive l l SCP Chamber Music: Anne-Sophie Mutter and Mutter Virtuosi l SCP Chamber Music: SCP Chamber Music: Anne-Sophie Anne-Sophie Mutter and and Mutter Mutter Virtuosi Virtuosi l l CSO: Bach Brandenburg ConcertosMutter l l l l CSO: CSO: Bach Brandenburg Concertos l l l l l l l l CSO Bach at theBrandenburg Movies: PixarConcertos in Concert l l l CSO Concert CSO at the the Movies: Movies: Pixar in inBoys Concert l l l l l l SCP at Special Event: Pixar Vienna Choir l SCP Special Vienna Boys SCP Special Event: Event: Vienna Boys Choir Choir l l University of Chicago Presents (Tel. 773.702.8068, chicagopresents.uchicago.edu) University Chicago University ofPercussion Chicago Presents Presents (Tel. (Tel. 773.702.8068, 773.702.8068, chicagopresents.uchicago.edu) chicagopresents.uchicago.edu) Third Coastof l Third Coast Third Coast Percussion Percussion l l Tafelmusik l Tafelmusik Tafelmusik l l Alfred Rodriguez Trio l Alfred Alfred Rodriguez Trio l l Denis Rodriguez KozhukhinTrio l Denis Denis Kozhukhin Kozhukhin l l

Nov e mb e r2 2 0 1 4 Nov e mb e r 0 1 4 Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (Tel. 312.922.2110, auditoriumtheatre.org)

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Music & Dance

Autumn 2014CNCJAâ&#x20AC;˘73

Theater

Black Ensemble Theater (Tel. 773.769.4451, blackensembletheater.org) At Last: A Tribute to Etta James Broadway In Chicago (Tel. 312.977.1700, broadwayinchicago.org) Amazing Grace Dancing Pros Live!

Dee Snyder's Rock 'N Roll Christmas Tale Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Tel. 312.595.5600, chicagoshakes.com) S S e e p p t t e e mb mb e e r r2 2 0 0 1 1 4 4 King Lear Black BlackEnsemble EnsembleTheater Theater(Tel. (Tel.773.769.4451, 773.769.4451,blackensembletheater.org) blackensembletheater.org) ATheQ Brothers' Christmas Carol The Marvelous Marvelous Marvelettes Marvelettes AtPericles AtLast: Last:AATribute TributetotoEtta EttaJames James Chicago ChicagoShakespeare ShakespeareTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.312.595.5600, 312.595.5600,chicagoshakes.com) chicagoshakes.com) Court Theatre (Tel. 773.702.7005, courttheatre.org) King KingLear Lear The TheMagic MagicFlute Flute Iphigenia in Aulis City CityLit LitTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.293.3682, 773.293.3682,citylit.org) citylit.org) Eclipse Theatre (Tel. 773.728.2216, eclipsetheatre.org) Edward EdwardAlbee's Albee'sAtAtHome Home AtAtThe The Zoo Zoo Books BooksOn On thetheBlock Block Mud, River, Stone Court CourtTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.702.7005, 773.702.7005,courttheatre.org) courttheatre.org) First Folio Native NativeSon Son Theatre in Oakbrook (630.986.8067, firstfolio.org) Goodman Goodman Theatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel. 312.443.3800, goodmantheatre.org) goodmantheatre.org) The Gravedigger, A312.443.3800, Tale of Frankenstein's Monster The TheWorld WorldofofExtremely ExtremelyHappiness Happiness Goodman Theatre (Tel. 312.443.3800, goodmantheatre.org) Smokefall Smokefall Greenhouse GreenhouseTheater TheaterCenter Center(Tel. (Tel.773.404.7336, 773.404.7336,greenhousetheater.org) greenhousetheater.org) Carlyle Churchill Churchill Feathers andLost Teeth Hank HankWilliams: Williams: Lost Highway Highway The TheDownpour Downpour The Magic Play Miracles MiraclesininthetheFall Fall New Stages Lifeline LifelineTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.761.4477, 773.761.4477,lifelinetheatre.com) lifelinetheatre.com) Jane Erie Erie AJaneChristmas Carol Lookingglass LookingglassTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.477.9257, 773.477.9257,lookingglasstheatre.org) lookingglasstheatre.org) Greenhouse Theater Center (Tel. 773.404.7336, greenhousetheater.org) Death DeathTax Tax Northlight Northlight Theatre TheatreinLife inSkokie Skokie (Tel. (Tel. 847.673.6300,northlight.org) northlight.org) It's a Wonderful - Live in847.673.6300, Chicago Commons CommonsofofPensacola Pensacola Both Your Houses Profiles ProfilesTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.549.1815, 773.549.1815,profilestheatre.org) profilestheatre.org) Reasons Reasons totoBeBeHappy Happy The Inside The TheCryptogram Cryptogram Lifeline Theatre (Tel. 773.761.4477, lifelinetheatre.com) Raven RavenTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.338.2177, 773.338.2177,raventheatre.com) raventheatre.com) All AllMy MySons Sons Rabbit Velveteen RedTwist RedTwistTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.728.7529, 773.728.7529,redtwist.org) redtwist.org) Northlight Theatre in Skokie (Tel. 847.673.6300, northlight.org) The TheSize SizeofofthetheWorld World Mousetrap Geezers Geezers Another AnotherBone Bone Profiles Theatre (Tel. 773.549.1815, profilestheatre.org) Stage StageLeft LeftTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.975.8150, 773.975.8150,stagelefthteatre.com) stagelefthteatre.com) The Cryptogram The TheCoward Coward Steppenwolf SteppenwolfTheatre Company Company(Tel. (Tel.312.335.1650, 312.335.1650,steppenwolf.org) steppenwolf.org) Hell Cab Theatre The TheMidnight MidnightCity City Raven Theatre (Tel. 773.338.2177, raventheatre.com) The TheNight NightAlive Alive Timeline TimelineTheatre Theatre(Tel. (Tel.773.327.5252, 773.327.5252,timelinetheatre.com) timelinetheatre.com) All My Sons My MyName Nameis isAsher AsherLev Lev RedTwist Theatre (Tel. Danny DannyCasolaro Casolaro Died DiedforforYou You 773.728.7529, redtwist.org) Victory GardensTheater Theater(Tel. (Tel.773.871.3000, 773.871.3000,victorygardens.org) victorygardens.org) IVictory and Gardens You Rest Rest Steep Theatre (Tel. 773.649.3186, steeptheatre.com) Writers WritersTheatre TheatreininGlencoe Glencoe (Tel. (Tel.847.242.6000, 847.242.6000, writerstheatre.org) writerstheatre.org) Isaac's Isaac'sEye Eye The Vandal

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Luis González Palma: MOBIUS

Schneider Gallery, Inc. (Tel. 312.988.4033, schneidergallerychicago.com)

Roger Brown: Virtual Still Life

McCormick Gallery (Tel 312-226-6800, thomasmccormick.com) Darrin Hallowell: New Work Russell Bowman Art Advisory (312.751.9500, bowmanart.com)

Franklin Riley

Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Tel. 312.335.1650, steppenwolf.org) The Night Alive Animal Farm Timeline Theatre (Tel. 773.327.5252, timelinetheatre.com) Danny Casolaro Died for You Victory Gardens Theater (Tel. 773.871.3000, victorygardens.org) The Testament of Mary Writers Theatre in Glencoe (Tel. 847.242.6000, writerstheatre.org) Isaac's Eye Echt Gallery (Tel. 312.442.0288, echtgallery.com) Gregory Grenon - Allusions, Then and Now FM*Gallery (Tel 312-810-5690, fultonmarketgallery.com)

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A preview of the historic Paris Opéra Ballet as they kick off their American Tour at Harris Theatre.

Paris Comes to Millennium Park

Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art examines the impact of the Steins Family and and the passion they inspired in the appreciation of modern art.

a Legacy unveiled

Interview with Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member K. Todd Freeman

Lens of authenticity

Chicago Shakespeare Theatre celebrates a quarter century celebrating Shakespeare.

25 YEARS & COUNTING

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Andreas Mitisek takes the helm of Chicago Opera Theater with a new collaborative model that just may take COT to a whole new level

A Tale of Two Cities

Stephen Petronio Company is just one of our picks for the best and the brightest in Chicagoland's amazing new cultural season!

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The CNCJA Cultural Almanac listings are representative of schedules from participating institutions available at time of publication.

Listings for permanent and onoing exhibits at museums listed within the Almanac may be found on pages 58, 59 & 60.

Art Galleries

Theater

74•CNCJAAutumn 2014

FRED + GINGER HUBBARD STREET

+ THE SECOND CITY

MAC + CHEESE

LAUREL + HARDY PEANUT BUTTER + JELLY

FISH + CHIPS

BLACK + WHITE SALT + PEPPER FOUR

PERFORMANCES ONLY OCTOBER 16â&#x20AC;&#x201C;19

Tickets on sale now hubbardstreetdance.com 312-850-9744 Season Sponsors

Series Sponsors

The Walter E. Heller Foundation Hubbard Street Dancer Jessica Tong with actor Travis Turner of The Second City.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Commissioned by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, with support from Sandy and Jack Guthman through the Imagine Campaign.