New year, new you, right? Right? We don’t presume to tell you what to do, but we know this: New Year’s resolutions were made to be broken. And now that you’ve messed up most of yours, we have some that aren’t at all painful. You don’t have to lose weight, join a gym or drink less coffee. You just have to go out and have fun. Here are On the Town’s entertainment resolutions for 2008, from our staff and critics.
ROCK
Get right down front at a show. There’s something about being right there at a performance that makes it easy to understand the power of rock ‘n’ roll.
Support your local talent. The roster of incredible performers that do their thing regularly, right here in this town, would boggle the mind. From Fred Anderson over at the Velvet Lounge and Ken Vandermark at the Hideout, to honky-tonkers the Hoyle Brothers and the innumerables: Wilco, Sea and Cake, Tortoise … the list goes on.
Hoyle Brothers, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave. Free; 773-276-3600.
Take a chance. No, you don’t know the band. So what? There are more than a few venues with impeccable taste, including the Old Town School, Empty Bottle and Hideout. They know, even if you don’t.
JAZZ
Check out Sabertooth, the long-running, late-night attraction Saturdays at the Green Mill Jazz Club. With Pat Mallinger and Cameron Pfiffner playing saxophones, Pete Benson on Hammond B-3 organ and Ted Sirota on drums, Sabertooth epitomizes Chicago jazz in all its rough-hewn, unvarnished glory.
Midnight-4 a.m. Saturdays, Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway. $5 (free 2-4 a.m.); 773-878-5552.
Drop in on the increasingly popular Sunday night shows at the Checkerboard Lounge, where some of Chicago’s most celebrated jazz figures appear before an enthusiastic, neighborhood audience. For the most part, the music-making is as intense as the setting is inviting.
Checkerboard Lounge, 5201 S. Harper Ave.; 773-684-1472.
Stay up late on a weeknight and watch what happens when Von Freeman holds court at the New Apartment Lounge. The great Vonski, as everyone in jazz calls him, hits the stage just after 10 p.m. on Tuesdays to play with his band. By the time the second set rolls around — near midnight — aspiring artists young and old have gathered around the stage, waiting for a chance to sit in with the master. Virtually everyone is called up, but not everyone lasts more than a chorus or two, before Freeman hits the eject button.
New Apartment Lounge, 504 E. 75th St.; 773-482-7728.
Get free. Chicago’s free and improvised music scene is world-renowned for many good reasons. It isn’t the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music stalwarts playing out and about, usually at Fred Anderson’s Velvet Lounge. It’s also the Vandermarks and Hamid Drakes, the Kent Kesslers and Michael Zerangs.
Find a diamond at the Cultural Center. Michael Orlove is doing programming over there that verges on genius. Even without being able to get players paying gigs at the now-shuttered HotHouse, the Cultural Center gigs are innovative and always good. And it’s free.
ART
Develop a personal view of art. Glenn Gould said, “The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline, but is, rather, the gradual lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.” What is it for you?
Visit the suburbs. There are some lovely galleries doing interesting things, such as the Evanston Art Center — you know, the place with the giant stuff on the front lawn. The Chicago art scene isn’t just River North and River West.
DANCE
Check out the offerings of the Dance Center of Columbia College, the Ruth Page Centre for the Arts, the Athenaeum Theatre, Links Hall or even just one of the above. The larger venues are great, and there’s lots going on this winter and spring. But the feisty, adventurous, stellar stuff at these smaller spaces constitutes a critical contribution to the city’s dance aesthetic.
Susan Marshall and Company, 8 p.m. Feb. 7-9, 1306 S. Michigan Ave. $24-$28; 312-344-6600.
Take a dance class. The gym is fine, but there just aren’t that many artistic rewards to a half-hour on an exercise bike. Chicago abounds in dance studios of all variety, so, whether your pleasure’s ballet, ballroom, tap or salsa, get off the couch and face the mirror.
See the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Do yourself a favor and check out this talented group of dancers when the troupe is scheduled to be here in April. “Revelations,” the late Ailey’s masterful tribute to black heritage in America, has been performed for years — and it never fails to excite and move.
April 16-20, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy. $30-$79; 312-902-0500.
THEATER
Try a play that freaks you out a bit. Pick something untested, unknown and a bit avant-garde. Be brave. Fringe and storefront theaters are a Chicago treasure that few other cities can match, and great stuff can be seen for not too much scratch. Some possibilities:
“Boy” at Circle Theatre: A 17-year-old shows up in the Twin Cities and weaves a series of tales that seduce and horrify a group of intertwining characters. (Jan. 16 to Feb. 24 at 7300 W. Madison St., Forest Park; Tickets are $12-$24, 708-771-0700 and www.circle-theatre.org.)
“How I Learned To Drive” by BackStage Theatre: The play by Paula Vogel about a girl who grows from adolescence with both the support and the unwanted incestuous advances of her uncle. Directed by Matthew Reeder. (Feb. 9 to March 9 at Viaduct Studio, 3111 N. Western Ave.; Tickets are $18-20, 312-683-5347 and www.backstagetheatrecompany.org)
Go someplace new. Hopefully 2008 will bring news about new theaters and venues, and in the meantime:
“The Little Dog Laughed”: About Face Theatre snagged the rights to this snarky Broadway comedy about our celebrity-obsessed culture, and the Chicago premiere will be performed in the 170-seat Hoover-Leppen Theatre at the plush new Center on Halsted. (Through Feb. 17 at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., 866-811-4111.
“The Art of Collaboration” with Olympia Dukakis: The actress is in town directing a new play (“Botanic Garden” opening Jan. 30 at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse); she’s giving a talk Thursday on the state of theater and film — in a one-night-only event at the renovated Wilmette Theatre, a century-old vaudeville house that now presents an array of film, live music and theater. (7 p.m. Jan. 17 at Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Ave., Wilmette; Tickets are $30, 773-871-3000 and http://wilmettetheatre.com.)
OPERA
Listeners who complain that Chicago never gets to hear enough opera should make a beeline to the Harris Theater for Music and Dance between April 30 and June 8 to catch Chicago Opera Theater’s 2008 spring season. COT regularly presents tempting repertory and brilliant productions stocked with gifted young singers in a venue boasting superb acoustics and sightlines. What’s not to enjoy — or to support?
