ARCHITECTURE
GLENN MURCUTT LECTURE
The Australian architect, winner of the 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize, will discuss “Landscape Architecture.” The lecture is the keynote speech for IIT’s symposium on the planned Ford Calumet Environmental Center in Chicago; 6 p.m. Thursday at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Crown Hall, 3360 S. State St., free; 312-567-3230.
— Blair Kamin
CLASSICAL
AMELIA PIANO TRIO
It’s a Chicago homecoming for members of the talented chamber ensemble, which appears under auspices of the Chamber Music Society of the North Shore. The program holds piano trios by Haydn and Mendelssohn, plus Ned Rorem’s “Spring Music”; 3 p.m. Sunday at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern University, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; $12 and $28; 847-835-5084.
ORION ENSEMBLE
Violinist Guillaume Combet guests with the estimable chamber group in a wide-ranging program that includes Dvorak’s Bagatelles and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet; 7 p.m. Sunday at the Fox Valley Unity Church, 230 Webster St., Batavia; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Roosevelt University’s Ganz Hall, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Room 745; and 3 p.m. March 7 at the Winnetka Presbyterian Church, 1255 Willow Rd., Winnetka; $8-$23; 630-628-9591.
NEWBERRY CONSORT
Baroque trio sonatas by French, German and Italian masters make up the group’s program. Director Mary Springfels and friends welcome guest artists Janet See, flute; Washington McClain, oboe; and Arthur Haas, harpsichord; 8 p.m. Friday in Ruggles Hall, Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St.; 8 p.m. Saturday at Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake St., Oak Park; and 3 p.m. March 7 at Northwestern University’s Lutkin Hall, 700 University Pl., Evanston. There also will be an open rehearsal at 3 p.m. Thursday at the library. $10-$37; 312-255-3700.
CHICAGO SINFONIETTA
Ever heard of “artistic whistling”? Virtuoso whistler Hans Martin Werner will demonstrate. Soloist Leon Bates will present the world premiere of Roque Cordero’s Piano Concerto on a program that also contains works by Mozart and Sibelius, with Paul Freeman conducting; 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St.; and 2:30 p.m. March 7 at Dominican University, 7900 W. Division St., River Forest; $28-$48; 312-236-3681.
FLORESTAN TRIO
The young British chamber ensemble makes its Chicago debut under the aegis of the University of Chicago Presents chamber music series. Piano trios by Haydn, Smetana and Schubert make up the program; 8 p.m. Friday in Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St.; $30; 773-702-8068.
— John von Rhein
JAZZ
McCOY TYNER TRIO
The veteran, brilliant pianist is still explosive in a small-group setting; Thursday through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; $20; 312-670-2473.
DEEP BLUE ORGAN TRIO
This soulful, Chicago unit will be joined by guest baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber; 9 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway; $8-$15; 773-878-5552.
— Howard Reich
MOVIES
`THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST’
Director-producer-co-writer Mel Gibson’s serious, often brutally powerful film on the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus (Jim Caviezel). Despite a conservative Catholic version of biblical events that has inspired questionable charges of anti-Semitism, and despite showing more punishment and gore than power and glory, this movie retells the tale with a lacerating physical realism. In Latin and Aramaic, with English subtitles. MPAA rating: R. In wide release.
`NEW BABYLON’
A classic from co-directors Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, the 1929 silent film is an inventive historical epic about the 1871 Paris Commune battle. One of the great lesser seen Russian silents; Kozintsev later made the brilliant Russian films of “Don Quixote” (1957) and “Hamlet” (1964). Thursday at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.; 312-846-2600.
THEATER
`AMERICAN DEAD’
What outlet can grief find in a small town already grieving its own demise? That’s the question posed by playwright Brett Neveu in this quietly compelling drama. Years after the murder of his police officer sister, Lewie (James Leaming) has lost his bearings. At the local tavern he meets a mysterious man (David Parkes) harboring information about the unsolved murder. The American Theater Company world premiere is excellent — eight fine, nuanced performances out of eight, a pretty rare percentage even in Chicago; through March 21 at 1909 W. Byron St. (off Lincoln Avenue); $20-$30; 773-929-1031.
`FAR AWAY’
Under an hour in length, but an apocalypse in breadth, Caryl Churchill’s short, sharp shock of a play imagines a totalitarian world in the making. Churchill takes a final leap into allegorical absurdism that doesn’t quite wash, and the Next Theatre production staged by Lisa Portes is a little wobbly. But Wendy Robie and especially Karen Aldridge get a lot out of this fascinating text; through March 14 at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston; $18-$29; 847-475-1875.
`SEX!’
A team of TV newshour anchors deliver reports on the history, variety, entanglements and insistent popularity of the title act and, in one instance, one correspondent’s first time. Sean Benjamin’s entertaining Neo-Futurist outing transcends a conventional satiric framework (Jon Stewart has a lock on it at the moment) and some uneven writing, thanks to an ingratiating cast. Plus, they pass around aphrodisiac dessert bars; through Feb. 28 at the Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave.; $12; 773-275-5255.
— Michael Phillips
`ANGUS, THONGS AND FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING’
Based on the cult British novel by Louise Rennison, Christian Calvit’s new theatrical adaptation has humor, charm and the unmistakable whiff of timeless human truth. To appreciate the fundamental charms of this tale of the world from the viewpoint of a 14-year-old, one needs neither an interest in the durability of thongs nor latent curiosity as to how tongues can be trained to avoid teeth at pivotal moments of intimacy. But it’s ideal for tweens and teens; through March 14 at the Griffin Theatre, 5404 N. Clark St.; $10-$20; 773-769-2228.
`DOORS OPEN ON THE RIGHT’
Joshua Funk’s stellar, daring and frequently hilarious new revue on the Second City mainstage blames poor Steve Bartman (of Cubs’ choke infamy) for everything from fire to the lack of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The cast is young but the material is hot, and Funk’s formative mastery of the Second City genre without recent peer; open run at Second City, 1616 N. Wells St., $17-$19; 312-337-3992,
`DRINKING AND WRITING’
Performed in actual taverns, this humorous and savvy effort from the ever-imaginative Neo-Futurists is a funny, poignant and intellectually stimulating look at the irrefutable causal link between drinkers and writers of various stripes; open run (Mondays only) at Levin’s, 1450 Sherman Ave., Evanston; $12; 847-869-0450.
`FREE MAN OF COLOR’
In this stimulating world premiere, Ohio playwright Charles Smith supposes that one of Ohio University’s early presidents was a former slave-owner who brought a young black student to Athens, Ohio, in the 1820s specifically to train him to be the first governor of Liberia. Smith’s stand in the play is made all the more radical by his noting that the work is a blend of fact and fiction — by the end of the night, he offers little comfort for white liberals; ends Sunday at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., $22-$35; 773-871-3000.
`PANTS ON FIRE’
This is an unusually fertile time for this lively, exuberant and very funny new comedy revue at the spunky Second City e.t.c., which, thanks to an especially talented current cast, continues to beat the pants off the more staid Second City mainstage. Director Joshua Funk and his youthful coterie see and debunk liars everywhere; open run at Second City e.t.c., 1608 N. Wells St.; $17-$19; 312-337-3992.
`SAN VALENTINO AND THE MELANCHOLY KID’
This faux-tragic western from the talented youngsters at the House Theatre is a full-blown rockabilly musical bursting with originality. Replete with cattle, illusions, cowboys, romance, a Mormon avenger, a revenge plot and a live rock band sitting behind a fake rock, “The Kid” makes for a thrilling and exciting night of 15-buck theater that knows neither fear nor internally imposed limitations; through March 6 at the Viaduct, 3111 N. Western Ave.; $15; 773-251-2195.
`SOME AMERICANS ABROAD’
Richard Nelson’s caustic, cynical play goes after the more troubling tropes of the academy with all the bitter relish of a hard-working assistant professor denied tenure on the whim of a false friend; through March 21 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.; $18-$43; 773-871-3000.
— Chris Jones
