WED 9/27
We’ll drink to that
Sipping spirits by the lake is great, but does the view justify paying $10 for a tiny ‘tini? Um, we think not. Raise a glass at 24 neighborhood watering holes during Toast to Chicago Week and get $4 Amstel Light beers, select wine and a bevy of signature cocktails at Red-I (2201 S. Wentworth Ave.), People Lounge (1560 N. Milwaukee Ave.) and any participating bar in between. Through Friday. RSVP required: sheckys.com. 212-242-2566 ext. 27.
We are the world
It’s nice to know that sometimes, we really can all just get along. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s 2006 Fall Series: Global Tapestry rides a worldly wave with premieres by Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki and company dancer Alejandro Cerrudo and revivals by Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato and dancers Brian Enos and Lucas Crandall. 7:30 p.m. Through Sunday. $20-$75. Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph Drive. 866-535-4732.
Book it
If you think book censorship ended in the “Leave It to Beaver” era, boy are you wrong. The American Library Association schools us all with Banned Books Week readings at Kate the Great’s Book Emporium. Actors from City Lit Theater give dramatic readings from nine books that recently faced censorship in a local school district, including Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried.” 7 p.m. Free. 5550 N. Broadway. 773-561-1932.
THU 9/28
Fired-up fashion
You can thank your lucky stars that the Apparel Industry Board’s Chicago Is . . . Red Hot runway show takes place during the breezy fall, rather than during sun-baked days of July–it’s plenty hot as it is. See fashions by 50 of the city’s apparel and accessory designers, including Cynthia Ashby, Mira Couture, Shirley Novak, Paul Sisti and Jenny Stadler. Presented as part of Fashion Focus Chicago. 8 p.m. $30. Millennium Park’s Chase Promenade North, 55 N. Michigan Ave. 312-836-1041.
Animation nations
Asian cinema doesn’t begin and end with Jet Li and epic book adaptations. Go the animated route and catch recent flicks from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan during the Asian Animation Film Festival. An opening ceremony and meet-and-greet with director Nelson Shin begins at 6 p.m., followed by the film “Empress Chung” at 7:30 p.m. Through Oct. 6. $3-$10 per screening. Film Row Cinema of Columbia College, 1104 S. Wabash Ave. eighth floor. 312-344-8214.
FRI 9/29
Hooray for fall!
Everything’s better with a mug of beer, even the end of summer. Celebrate the coming of autumn with St. Alphonsus Church’s Oktoberfest Chicago, three days of music, brats, sauerkraut, beer and, if you’re lucky, a lederhosen sighting. The Brau-Haus Band kicks things off at 5 p.m., followed by rockers Maggie Speaks at 7 p.m. 5 p.m. Through Sunday. $5. 3000 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-665-4682.
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metromix@tribune.com
