Things may look precarious at the Paramount Arts Centre in Aurora this weekend, but don’t worry. The pyramid of people and pagoda chairs, wobbly wire walkers, trick cyclists and precision tumblers are the Peking Acrobats. The show comes to the Paramount for one performance, at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The 24 members of this elite troupe are some of the best in China, and that’s saying a lot. There are about 100,000 acrobats studying at special schools there, reflecting China’s dedication to the art.
Tickets are $18.50 and $16.50 for adults, $16.50 and $14.50 for children 12 and under. The Paramount is at 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. Call the box office at 708-896-6666 or Ticketmaster at 312-902-1500.
– Country music star Kathy Mattea will perform the hits that made her famous-“Goin’ Gone,” “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses,” “Quarter Moon” and others-at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Dellora A. Norris Cultural Arts Center, 1040 Dunham Rd., St. Charles.
Mattea is a two-time winner of the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year Award and, in 1991, was the only woman nominated for the association’s highest honor: Entertainer of the Year.
Tickets are $27 for adults, $25 for children and senior citizens, $23 for groups of 10 or more. Call 708-584-7200.
– Singer-comedian Charlie Prose, always an audience favorite with his rich baritone voice and special brand of humor, comes to the Rialto Square Theatre at 3 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $18.50 and $15.50. The Rialto is at 102 N. Chicago St. in downtown Joliet. Call the box office at 815-726-6600 or Ticketmaster at 312-559-1212.
– The award-winning Lark String Quartet will bring its contagious enthusiasm for the string quartet repertoire to Fermilab’s Ramsey Auditorium at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The all-female group was formed in the mid-1980s at Juilliard and has won major competitions across the globe: the Banff Competition in 1986, the Naumburg Chamber Competition in 1990 and the Shostakovich International Competition in 1991, to name a few.
Saturday’s program will include Mozart’s Quartet in B-Flat; Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 2; and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in D.
Admission is $10. Ramsey Auditorium is in Wilson Hall, the high-rise visible from Kirk Road and Pine Street, Batavia. Call 708-840-2787.
– There’s always something new at the College of Du Page Arts Center Mainstage. This weekend, it’s the New Classic Singers on Saturday and “Robin Hood” on Sunday and Monday.
The New Classic Singers will perform “Baroque and Britten,” with a repertoire of Vivaldi, Bach and Britten, and featuring tenor soloist Steve Stolen, bass soloist Robert Smith and the Chicago String Ensemble. Alan Heatherington directs the concert, which begins at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $12, $11 for senior citizens, $8 for students.
Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor is always a popular theme. The American Family Theater’s “Broadway for Kids” series has put together a musical version of “Robin Hood,” which is recommended for children ages 4 to 12. It comes to the Mainstage at 2 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, and 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Tickets are $5 for Sunday performances and, in recognition of Casimir Pulaski Day, $4 for Monday shows. The College of Du Page Arts Center is near 22nd Street and Park Boulevard, Glen Ellyn. Call 708-858-3110.
– Another musical version of “Robin Hood” is in progress at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, presented by the Children’s Theatre. The show will run through May with an irregular performance schedule. March showtimes are 10:30 a.m. March 4, 10-12, and 15-19.
The cast features Rod Allen as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Don Forston as Friar Tuck, Kathy Taylor as Lady Merle, Carolynne Warren as Maid Marian and David Mendes as Robin Hood. Ray Frewen, who most recently directed “A Christmas Carol” and “Beauty and the Beast” at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, directs this production.
Tickets are $4.50. Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace is at 100 Drury Lane, just north of Oak Brook Center. Call 708-530-8300 for tickets or for April and May show dates.
– The Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra will feature the winner of its 20th annual Young Artist Competition, cellist Ani Aznavoorian, at its Family Concert, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount Arts Centre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora.
Aznavoorian, 16, is a junior at Barrington High School. She will perform the Shostakovich Concerto No. 1. The program also will feature soprano Kay Griffel singing favorite love songs and Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” all under the direction of Harold Bauer.
Tickets are $15 to $21; $11 to $15 for senior citizens; and $6 to $10 for students. Call the Fox Valley Symphony office at 708-896-1133.
– Speaking of young virtuosos, 16-year-old Jennifer Koh, who studies violin at the Music Center of the North Shore in Winnetka and is a student at Benet Academy in Lisle, will make her debut with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra this weekend. Classic Concert IV will be presented at 8 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Hemmens Auditorium, 150 Dexter Ct., Elgin.
Koh, who has won numerous local and international competitions, will play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major with the orchestra. Under the direction of Robert Hanson, the program also will include the “Overture of the Season” by Tomas Svoboda, professor of music at Portland State University in Oregon, and the “Enigma Variations” by English composer Edward Elgar.
Tickets are $8 to $22. Call 708-622-0300.
– Pianist Ramon Salvatore and speaker Ann McKinley will present “The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition: Music and Musicians at the Fair” at 3 p.m. Sunday at Cantigny’s Robert R. McCormick Museum Library, 1 S. 151 Winfield Rd., Wheaton.
Salvatore is known for championing the American composer, both past and present. He teaches at Winnetka’s Music Center of the North Shore. McKinley is a composer, performer, scholar and teacher.
Admission is free; however, there is a $3 parking fee. Reservations are required; call 708-668-5161 weekdays.
