Just like every little girl’s backyard clubhouse, the four stages of Stage 773 boast a “No boys allowed!” sign this weekend: It’s time for the Chicago Women’s Funny Festival, now in its third year. From June 5 to 8, estrogen flows freely on Belmont, with 70 acts featuring 400 lady performers (and perhaps a few male strays) showing off their skills in improv, stand-up, musical comedy, burlesque, and anything else they feel like....
Peggy Shinner is, in no particular order, a Chicagoan, a Jew, a black belt in karate, a sloucher, a lesbian, a baby boomer, a careful consumer of knives and bras, a one-time shoplifter (of a jar of nutmeg from her neighborhood Jewel), a possessor of two flat feet and one surgically-enhanced snub nose, longtime lover of Ann, daughter of Harriet (née Alter) and Nathan (né Shinitzky). Her father, who thought she could do no wrong, was responsible (inadvertently) for her flat feet; her mother, her sharpest critic, was responsible (deliberately) for the nose job Shinner got for her 16th birthday....
John Wojtowicz in The Dog Dog Day Afternoon was based on true events, but the you can get the real story in The Dog, Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren’s documentary about John Wojtowicz, whose infamous bank heist inspired the New Hollywood staple. You can see The Dog, which earned three stars from J.R. Jones, all week at Facets. Meanwhile, Ben Sachs takes a look at the evangelical fantasy actioner Left Behind—three guesses as to how many stars he gave it—and considers the long, strange career of Nicolas Cage....
Kinsella alert! A few weeks back, Gossip Wolf got a copy of the new book from Cap’n Jazz and Joan of Arc front man Tim Kinsella. Unlike his previous efforts, All Over and Over is decidedly nonfictional—published earlier this fall, it’s a diary of the final full U.S. tour of his band Make Believe in 2006. This wolf recommends it to anyone who’s ever felt totally human emotions such as alienation, paranoia, and self-doubt—or who’s ever wondered what it’s like to sit in a van for a few months with Sam Zurick....
The Sun-Times announced Monday afternoon that Wrapports LLC, which owns it, is in the process of selling its “assets” to Tronc (formerly Tribune Publishing), which owns the Tribune and other papers. Other interested parties have 15 days to make their own offers, but no one else has spoken up yet. Back at the Reader, the general reaction to that proclamation—beyond uncertainty as to what Ferro was talking about—was relief that those monumental ambitions would pursued somewhere else....
My parents took me to see Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander when it was released in the United States in 1983, and it warped me forever. I don’t recall what month we went to see it, but I was either about to turn 13, or had just turned 13. I do remember that we saw it at the Nickelodeon Cinema, just off Commonwealth Avenue, located in between buildings belonging to Boston University....
Readers of Chicago rejoice! This weekend is the Printers Row Lit Fest, the annual Tribune-sponsored celebration of books and the people who write them. In a concession to unpredictable June weather, all author appearances and writing workshops this year will be indoors, either at the Harold Washington Library or Jones College Prep, though the bookseller booths will remain outside. As always, the festival is mostly free, except for featured speakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Sun 6/11, 1 PM, $5, $35 for assigned seating) and Senator Al Franken (Sat 6/10, 3 PM, $35); if you want to spend $50 for a Fest Pass, you can see them and get access to the express signing lanes....
To their credit, both Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn and Republican businessman Bruce Rauner occasionally acknowledge that the race for governor is really about how to address the state’s precarious economic health. After all, everything else—education, crime, poverty, the environment, even the cost of pizza and beer—hinges on it. But they’ve offered few concrete solutions for how to fix it, perhaps because they don’t have any—at least none they want to campaign on....
Chuck Osgood Olof Lilja as Haymarket Opera’s Actéon We’ve got a Baroque opera minifestival going this weekend, with Lyric Opera performing Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and Haymarket Opera Company offering a double bill by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Le Jugement de Pan and Actéon. Le Jugement de Pan is a singing contest between two shepherds, with the half-goat, half-human god as judge. Actéon (Swedish tenor Olof Lilja has the title role) is the mythic story of a hunter who suffers a truly transformational penalty after spying on the goddess Diana as she bathes....
First-time actress Sara Podda (right) stars in Pretty Butterflies At nearly every international film festival in Chicago, one inevitably finds titles that recall adolescents’ first attempts at poetry. These films reference seasons, emotions, and plants (and some occasions, all three), and suggest an unhealthy degree of preciousness. I usually end up seeing at least one of these at every festival, either out of professional obligation or because I feel like exploring the outer reaches of the program....
For much of the last decade reedist Chris Potter has been experimenting with new forms, whether dipping deep into a groove-heavy electric sound with his band Underground or exploring orchestral writing and conceptual frames on his 2015 album Imaginary Cities. He’s pulled back a bit on his lush, patient new quartet recording The Dreamer Is the Dream (his third album for ECM), occupying the postbop comfort zone that’s made him one of the most admired jazz artists of his time and an idol for countless students....
ARTIST: Derek Van Gieson SHOW: Donkey Hotel, Psychic Nurse, Monica La Plante, and Murder Shoes at Burlington on Wed 8/26 MORE INFO: derekvangieson.tumblr.com
I recently had a discussion with my sister in which she was going on and on about how recent additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, were “stupid” characters. I explained that, first off, Doctor Strange is actually not stupid, he’s the sickest character of all. He also typifies modern-day Marvel Universe’s skill for taking campy, kind of silly, and outdated characters and placing them in a contemporary setting....
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. Allen: It wasn’t Greek Islands, it was Diana’s Opaa. We were having lunch with your mother there the first time the restaurant caught on fire. Judy: Let’s see, what are some of our brushes with fame? We did fabric for Walter Payton. We did 80 rolls of wallpaper with little crystal rhinestones for Dr. Phil’s wife’s dressing room....
Every year the Association of Alternative Newsmedia gathers to honor the best work put out by alt-weeklies across the country, and at this weekend’s convention, well, the Reader cleaned up nicely. Mike Sula’s cover story from March 6, 2014, took home first place for food writing. Ben Joravsky’s columns won second place for political columns.
A fair amount of the reaction to University of Missouri student protesters’ demand for a “safe space” that’s free from journalists boils down to a contemptuous What don’t these people understand about the First Amendment? I’ve seen this point made more than once by graduates (I’m one) of the university’s famous school of journalism. A second reaction (see columnist Jonah Goldberg’s reference to “delicate little flowers”) has been What don’t these babies understand about growing up?...
Brian Jackson/Sun-Times Media Sixth Ward alderman Roderick Sawyer says violence would drop if he and other aldermen were put in charge of a city jobs program. Last week Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed tough new regulations for gun shops in Chicago, including a requirement that they videotape all sales. The mayor framed the plan as part of his ongoing attack on the violence that continues to shake the city and make international headlines....
“Nerds, we’ve got a show!” So says Wil Wheaton in the premiere episode of The Wil Wheaton Project (henceforth TWWP), which is SyFy’s foray into the clip show territory of Tosh.0 and The Soup. Because you can’t have too many clip shows (thank you very much, Rob Dyrdek). There’s a bit of a twist, as indicated by the Wheaton quote above: it’s a clip show, but by and for nerds —or geeks, if you prefer or insist (let’s please just not fight about it)....
Courtesy Metal Blade Records Behemoth Looking for something to do today? Agenda‘s got you covered. For more on these events and others, check out the Reader‘s daily Agenda page.
Amanda De La Guardia TeatroLunaGenSex: Angelica Roque, Melissa DuPrey, and Paula Ramirez Looking for something to do today? Agenda‘s got you covered. For more on these events and others, check out the Reader‘s daily Agenda page.
