ART
Romania’s bumpy road to democracy
Gregory G. Knight, director of visual arts, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs: “Locally, I’m excited to see a Romanian group show that will appear at LIPA, Links for International Promotion of the Arts, 160 E. Illinois St., [Nov. 7 through Dec. 7, after an initial showing at Barat College in Lake Forest, Sept. 11-Oct. 31].”
Curated by Olga Stefan, former director of the Around the Coyote Arts Festival, the exhibition is the first to feature work by contemporary Romanian artists in Chicago. “The four site-specific projects deal with the political, social, economic, artistic and cultural instability plaguing Romania, a democracy in transition,” says Stefan. “The artists invite visitors to explore this instability by interacting with the projects and thereby physically experience the bumpy and difficult road toward democracy.”
The artists are Dan Perjovschi, Lia Perjovschi, Teodor Graur and Ioan Godeanu, all of whom have exhibited outside Romania.
“Internationally, I’m looking forward to seeing the Havana Biennial in November,” Knight says. “It will be my first time to Cuba, to see what is likely to be a memorable and charged event of contemporary art from 42 nations. It opens the week of Nov. 1 to 8.”
— Alan G. Artner
DANCE
Keeping modern voices alive on stage
Gerald Arpino, artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet:
“There are so many I look forward to. I always go to see River North Chicago Dance each season, and I love Dame Libby Komaiko and her Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater. And any choreography by Harrison McEldowney shouldn’t be missed.
“But more than anyone, I probably look forward to Melissa Thodos and whatever she and her dancers are doing. She’s creative and keeps the modern dance voice alive somehow. We discovered a new work by one of her dancers, Paul Christiano, at one of her concerts, and we had him stage it for our company a few seasons back.
“That’s the kind of thing you might encounter there. She’s just active, always at it. Her imagination never flags.”
Melissa Thodos & Dancers are set to perform this fall in a number of programs as part of the Dance Chicago festival at the Athenaeum Theatre, including Nov. 1, 2, 12, 13, 16, 19, 20, 28, 29 and 30. The troupe also performs Nov. 7 and 8 at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights.
— Sid Smith
CLASSICAL
Rising stars and recitals on the radar
Welz Kauffman, Ravinia Festival’s president and CEO:
Kauffman has honed his skill at juggling pop, jazz and classical fare for more than 15 years at venues across the country, and his eclectic taste drives his curiosity. “I make the point of checking out the extraordinary range of acts at HotHouse, the Cultural Center and Davenport’s,” he says, adding that Ravinia’s own “Rising Stars” series that showcases young classical musicians is also a must.
“You’ll see me at HotHouse on Sept. 18 for the Chilean Independence Day Celebration,” Kauffman says. “I’ve heard wonderful things about the performers Noche Chilena and Nelson Sosa.”
At Davenport’s, the Wicker Park cabaret, it’s “The Music of Laura Nyro” that has him excited. “The singers will rotate so one gets a chance to hear a great many interpreters of the same material. I am very interested in what singers I don’t know have to say about music I do know.”
Soprano Michelle Areyzaga’s recital at the Cultural Center is also on Kauffman’s radar. “I’ve been following Michelle for a while and she’s an alum of our Steans Institute program,” he explains.
— Ted Shen
COMEDY
Fertile ground for local laughs
Kelly Leonard, Second City producer:
There are five sketch comedy companies that Leonard and associate producers Beth Kligerman, Robin Johnson and Alison Riley are keeping an eye on, including the natural choice of ImprovOlympic (3541 N. Clark St., 773-880-0199). Leonard calls the place “very invaluable in that the sort of long-form improvisational styles that they teach there are a great bedrock for our work.”
Leonard says Frankie J’s on Broadway/MethaDome Theatre (4437 N. Broadway, 773-769-2959) has had “a lot of quality stuff go up there lately.” He says that venue, as well as the Playground Theatre (3341 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-520-5202), are great for providing “access” for performers to go up and work on their craft. He also likes WNEP Theater (3209 N. Halsted St., 773-755-1693) for its habit of producing original theater work. “That’s a good place to search as far as directors, who might have some specific skills,” Leonard says, as well as a location to mine good writers.
One surprise location on Leonard’s list is the ComedySportz Theatre (2851 N. Halsted St., 773-549-8080), and not just for its improv-based games.”ComedySportz in many ways trains people better to do Second City than an Improv-
Olympic,” Leonard says, “in part because they get a real, true theater audience, as opposed to an improv-insider audience.”
— Allan Johnson
JAZZ
Real guys love Velvet
Marguerite Horberg, found-er-director of HotHouse:
When Horberg wants to catch up on the latest currents in the jazz avant-garde, she knows precisely where to head: Fred Anderson’s Velvet Lounge, on the Near South Side.
“If I had to pick one place that I go to, exclusively, to hear what’s happening in this music — apart from HotHouse, that is — it would have to be the Velvet Lounge, and not just because I used to bartend there,” says Horberg.
“It’s a dynamic, interesting, authentic platform for exciting music,” adds Horberg, referring to the slender but vital venue that tenor saxophonist Anderson long has run at 21281/2
S. Indiana Ave.
Because of Anderson’s stature in Chicago’s most innovative musical circles, the best experimental players in the city tend to gravitate to his club, as do visiting artists.
“At any given time that you might walk into that club,” says Horberg, “you’re going to see surprising pairings of musicians.
“You’re also going to hear a stable of great players: people like Harrison [Bankhead], Hamid [Drake], Tatsu [Aoki] and Ernest [Dawkins].
“Those are all the real guys in this town, and they love playing at the Velvet.”
— Howard Reich
ROCK
Dark, haunting weirdness: A must see
Nick Miller, vice president of Jam Productions:
Miller has been bringing concerts to Chicago venues since 1989. But even he makes time to see shows and visit clubs that he doesn’t book. Among his must-see concerts for the fall is the Handsome Family, Oct. 17 at the Abbey Pub. “I just like the darkness and weirdness in their songs,” he says of the husband-wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks, former Chicago residents who now reside in New Mexico. “They’re their own thing: haunting, kind of country-ish music. They remind me a lot of the dynamic that John [Doe] and Exene [Cervenka] had in X.”
— Greg Kot
THEATER
Great young actors, exquisite programs
Erica Daniels, Steppenwolf Theatre casting director:
“Oh God, there’s so much. I’m excited about the Hypocrites’ production of “Balm in Gilead” [opening Sept. 13 at the Chopin Theatre]. There are some great young actors in that company.
“I look forward to Congo Square, whatever they do. [Next up: “Spunk,” opening Oct. 5 at the Storefront Theater.] This town is just chock-full of fantastic African-American men and women [actors], and many of them have worked there.
Directors? “I like Dexter Bullard’s work a lot,” Daniels says. Bullard is best known for his exquisite work with his Plasticene Physical Theatre Company. For A Red Orchid Theatre, opening Sept. 27, he’s staging the Midwest premiere of “In the Solitude of Cotton Fields,” Bernard-Marie Koltes’ 1987 psychological drama about a dealer and a client and a late-night meeting rife with mystery.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Daniels says. “But it’s bound to be interesting.”
— Michael Phillips
