Ballet Hispanico: For its Chicago debut, the 30-year-old, New York-based dance troupe presents an eclectic mix of commissioned works by three different cutting-edge choreographers: David Rousseve’s “Something from Nothing,” Ramon Oller’s “Bury Me Standing” and Anne Reinking’s “Ritmo y Ruido.” The company was founded in 1970 by artistic director Tina Ramirez to showcase the various dance styles of Hispanic-American culture.
Ballet Hispanico performs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy.; 312-902-1500.
— Richard Christiansen
TELEVISION
“If These Walls Could Talk 2”: Big stars and big directors are behind HBO’s second set of short films, this time about being lesbian in America; 8 p.m. Sunday.
“Behind The Music: Tina Turner”: It seems like there are only about 12 of them, but this is actually the 100th episode of VH1’s popular biography series; 8 p.m. Sunday.
“Secret Agent Man”: The most intriguing of the new series debuting this week, this stylish UPN spy show is from executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson (“Men in Black”); 7 p.m. Tuesday, WPWR-Ch. 50.
— Steve Johnson
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Lang Lang: The 17-year-old piano sensation, substituting for the ailing Richard Goode, makes his local recital debut in a program of Haydn, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, at 3 p.m. Sunday at Symphony Center; 312-294-3000.
Alberto & Friends, Middle East to the Met: Tenor Alberto Mizrahi performs cantorial masterpieces, opera selections and Sephardic folk songs in a free program at 3 p.m. Sunday in Anshe Emet Synagogue, 3760 N. Pine Grove; 773-868-5126.
Ars Viva: Two extraordinary young singers from Austria, soprano Elisabeth Kainz and bass-baritone Lauri Vasar, join Alan Heatherington and the chamber orchestra for an all-Mozart program;7:30 p.m. Sunday at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie; 847-673-6300.
Danish National Orchestra: Denmark’s leading symphony orchestra under principal conductor Yuri Temirkanov presents a program of Scandinavian works along with the Brahms Violin Concerto; 8 p.m. Tuesday at Symphony Center; 312-294-3000.
— John von Rhein
JAZZ
Kenny Drew Jr.: The last time he played Chicago, the pianist produced a melting lyricism one doesn’t often encounter among jazz keyboardists; Tuesday through Sunday at Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; 312-670-2473.
Leroy Jenkins: Jazz violinists who extend the expressive vocabulary of the instrument are in short supply, and Jenkins stands among the most inventive; Wednesday at HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo Dr.; 312-362-9707.
Sheila Jordan: Younger, more celebrated jazz singers would do well to study the work of Jordan, whose annual Chicago visits are models of interpretive creativity and technical aplomb; Friday and Saturday at Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway; 773-878-5552.
— Howard Reich
ART
“Surrealism in America During the 1930s and 1940s: Selections from the Penny and Elton Yasuna Collection”: Final week; David and Alfred Smart Museum, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave.; 773-702-0200.
Lecture: “Sacred Spaces and Other Places: A Guide to Grottos and Sculptural Environments in the Upper Midwest”; 6 p.m. Tuesday; Terra Museum of American Art, 666 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-664-3939.
“Surface Impressions”: Opens Friday; Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 W. Chicago Ave.; 773-227-5522.
— Alan G. Artner
ROCK
Ghostface Killah: One of the sharpest MC’s from the formidable Wu Tang Clan; Thursday at Joe’s; 312-337-3486.
Judds: Reunion of hitmaking mother-daughter country duo; Friday at Allstate Arena; 312-559-1212.
Ken Nordine: The giant of word-jazz; Saturday at Old Town School of Folk Music; 773-728-6000.
Fiona Apple: Piano-playing waif toughens up on second album; Saturday at Riviera; 312-559-1212.
Blacks at Empty Bottle: Tom Waits meets X on the way to a party at Louis Armstrong’s speakeasy; Saturday at Empty Bottle; 773-276-3600.
— Greg Kot
THEATER
“Funny Money”: This naughty-but-nice English sex farce, about a London suburbanite (Dale Benson, in high gear) who mistakenly picks up a briefcase loaded with cash, is supremely silly stuff, socked across by a crackerjack cast and staged at rocket speed by director David Mink; through March 26 at Drury Lane Theatre, 2500 W. 95th St., Evergreen Park; 708-422-0042.
“Nixon’s Nixon”: A surrealistic/satirical fantasia concocted by playwright Russell Lees on what might have happened in a meeting between President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger the night before Nixon resigned his presidency in 1974, played with great relish by Larry Yando and William Brown; through April 2 at Writers’ Theatre Chicago, 664 Vernon Ave., Glencoe; 847-835-5398.
“Police Deaf Near Far”: David Rush’s imaginative, multilayered docudrama on the many diverse elements that led to the police shooting of an angry young deaf activist is enacted with power and sensitivity by director Drew Martin’s impassioned cast of deaf and hearing actors; through April 8 at Stage Left Theatre, 3408 N. Sheffield Ave.; 773-883-8830.
— Richard Christiansen
