Theater
– Performing Arts Chicago, a prime presenter of theater and music imports, is inaugurating its PAC Studio Series with “The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln,” a piece in Yiddish and English based on the life of the title character, a German-Jewish woman of the 17th Century who married at 14, raised 12 children and led her family business to great success. Created by Great Small Works (GSW) of New York, the production has live music by Frank London of The Klezmatics and features puppets and paper dolls, in addition to human actors Jenny Romaine and Adrienne Cooper.
“The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln” is performed at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave.; 773-722-5463.
— Richard Christiansen
Art
– “Distant Shores: The Odyssey of Rockwell Kent”: Paintings, prints and drawings by one of the most prolific illustrators of the first half of the 20th Century; opens Saturday; Terra Museum of American Art, 666 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-0664-3939.
– “Between Sound and Vision”: Musical scores, sculptural instruments, sound installations and recordings of graphic notations; through March 10; University of Illinois’ Gallery 400, 400 S. Peoria St.; 312-996-6114.
– “Katarzyna Kozyra: The Rites of Spring”: A humorous animated film based on choreography for Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet, “Le Sacre du Printemps”; final week; Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, 5811 S. Ellis Ave.; 773-702-8670.
— Alan G. Artner
Architecture
– Lecture: The history of theaters in the Uptown area is the topic when designer Joseph DuciBella speaks at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, 224 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-922-3432.
— Blair Kamin
Rock
– Erykah Badu: The queen of hip-hop soul tours behind her fine second album, “Mama’s Gun”; Friday through Feb. 25 at Auditorium Theatre; 312-559-1212.
– Residents: The masked marvels, underground legends since the ’70s, turn their avant-garde hi-jinks into otherworldly rock theater; Friday at Congress Theatre; 312-559-1212.
– Matthew Sweet/Frisbie: Power-pop heaven; Friday-Saturday at Metro; 773-549-0203.
– LaBradford: These synthesizer alchemists evoke the chilly atmospherics of the German avant-rock movement led by Kraftwerk and Neu; Saturday at Schubas; 773-525-2508.
— Greg Kot
Classical music
– Music of the Baroque: For only the second time in 30 years, Paul Hillier conducts the MOB chorus; the program is of works by Henry Purcell; 7:30 p.m. Sunday, First Methodist Church, 1630 Hinman Ave., Evanston; 8 p.m. Monday, Old St. Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams St.; 312-551-1415.
– Borromeo String Quartet: A Chicago debut in music by Mozart, Bartok and Brahms; Leon Fleisher is guest pianist in the Brahms; 8 p.m. Friday; Mandel Hall, University of Chicago, 1131 W. 57th St.; 773-702-8068.
— Alan G. Artner
Jazz
– Hallway Records Jazz Festival: The Chicago label presents its homegrown artists, with the Mark Colby Quartet, Thursday; Nick Bisesi Quartet, Friday; Internos Trio, Saturday; Rob Parton’s Ensemble 9, Sunday; at Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; 312-670-2473.
– “Spirituals to Swing” and “Steve Turre Celebrates the Music of Rahsaan Roland Kirk”: Double bill revisits Carnegie Hall’s historic “Spirituals to Swing” concert and music of multi-instrumentalist Kirk; 8 p.m. Friday in Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-294-3000.
– Nnenna Freelon Quintet: Though not for all tastes, the somewhat mannered vocalist has won some accolades; Friday and Saturday at the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway; 773-878-5552.
— Howard Reich
Theater
– “Bash: Latterday Plays”: Three confessionals of escalating horror are brilliantly enacted by Kyle Hall, Louise Lamson, Armando Riesco and Lisa Velten in director Eric Rosen’s scalpel-sharp staging of the Midwest premiere of Neil LaBute’s exploration of dark passions amid the sunny landscape of contemporary middle-class America; through March 4 at About Face Theatre, 3212 N. Broadway; 773-549-3290.
– “bee-luther-hatchee”: A stirring clash of ideas and issues in Thomas Gibbons’ drama of a proud young African-American editor (Shane Williams) who learns from a rumpled white writer (Lawrence MacGowan) the awful truth about a treasured book of memoirs by a Southern black woman that she has just published; through March 11 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie; 847-673-6300.
– “Early and Often”: Premiere of Tom Wolfe’s and Barbara Wallace’s riotously funny, shrewdly insightful comedy, at once cynical and sentimental, about Chicago-style politics in the crucial election year of 1960, peopled by Famous Door Theatre with marvelously tough, rude characters; extended through March 4 at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.; 773-327-5252.
– “Fuddy Meers”: A highly zany comedy of high anxiety gets a rousing workout by a high-energy Chicago cast in playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s story of a young female amnesiac in search of her past. Peggy Roeder, as the stricken, language-deprived mother of the innocent, embattled heroine (Wendi Weber), is not to be missed; through March 11 at Apple Tree Theatre, 595 Elm Pl., Highland Park; 847-432-4335.
— Richard Christiansen
