RECOMMENDED

Comedy vet David Alan Grier has taken some pretty awful roles in a few godforsaken films—like Damon Wayans’ sidekick in the 1994 superhero parody “Blankman,” or as a bumbling American soldier in the Pauly Shore bomb “In the Army Now” – but he’s become a pretty dependable and relatively enjoyable stand-up, based on his sarcastic outbursts alone. Grier’s latest project, Comedy Central’s “Chocolate News,” a “Daily Show”-style satirical news show with an African-American perspective, was recently cancelled, and though the show never really lived up to its premise, you could tell Grier still had some comedy left in him. With an enormous, boisterous on-stage persona, Grier’s the type to express wit through incredulous eruptions. Perhaps the best indicator of Grier’s reputable goofiness: his Wikipedia entry states that he’s in talks to star as Louis Farrakhan in “The Nation,” a comedic bio-musical about the minister’s life. The report, according to Grier, is untrue, yet people have been persistently asking him about it, as if it’s clearly the part he was born to play. Honestly, unless Pauly Shore comes calling again, how could he not capitalize on that idea? A Louis Farrakhan musical has “career-defining triumph” written all over it. (Andy Seifert)

Sept 23-25 at Zanies, 1548 N. Wells, (312)337-4027.

PEGASUS PLAYERS ANNOUNCES 2009-2010 SEASON

Featuring a World Premiere production in collaboration with MPAACT, two Chicago Premieres and the 24^th Annual Young Playwrights Festival

CHICAGO – September 14, 2009 – Pegasus Players Executive/Artistic Director Christopher Schram is proud to announce the company’s 2009-2010 season, featuring:  a World Premiere collaboration with African-centered theater company MPAACT titled Ten Square, September 25-November 22, 2009; the Chicago Premiere of Dael Orlandersmith’s The Gimmick, February 11-March 28, 2010; the return of Pegasus Players’ annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 7-31, 2010; and the Chicago Premiere of the acclaimed satire The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), May 6-June 20, 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Mordine & Co. Dance:

MORDINE & CO. DANCE THEATER ANNOUNCES 2009-2010 SEASON

SEASON FEATURES A SERIES OF COLLABORATIONS WITH INNOVATIVE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARTISTS IN UNEXPECTED SPACES, CULMINATING IN A WORLD PREMIERE, PLUS THE SECOND ANNUAL “NEXT” FESTIVAL

CHICAGO—Mordine & Company Dance Theater, the longest running contemporary dance company in the Midwest, celebrates “40 Years of Moving Dance Forward” with its 2009-2010 Season. The season highlights Artistic Director Shirley Mordine’s renewed interest in creating greater intimacy with audiences, in a series of events that explore boundary breaking techniques as found in commedia del arte, to provide a fresh direction for the Company.  In the year ahead, Mordine & Co. will work with a variety of innovative collaborators, including the development of a new piece with experimental jazz musician Doug Lofstrom and the New Quartet. The season lineup includes performances at experimental dance venues this fall, and a push to take dance out of the traditional concert stage and into a jazz club and a church during the spring. The culminating NEXT Festival in May 2010 offers the premiere of the year long collaboration between Lofstrom and Mordine, plus works created by the recipients of the 2010 Mordine & Company Emerging Artists Mentoring Project Awards. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from The Artistic Home:

THE ARTISTIC HOME ANNOUNCES ITS MAINSTAGE 2009/2010 SEASON

CHICAGO (September 9, 2009) – The Artistic Home is proud to announce its mainstage season for the 2009-2010 season. The season will open with the rarely produced DAYS TO COME from renowned playwright, Lillian Hellman, continue with the comedic classic THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH by Thorton Wilder, and close with the World Premiere of THE TALLEST MAN by Artistic Home Associate, Jim Lynch. The Artistic Home’s Acting Studio will also produce two works this season to be announced at a later date. Read the rest of this entry »

Sultry striptease and karaoke are what this unique burlesque show is about tonight at the U.S. Beer Company. The audience cheers as the hosts and dancers appear on stage one-by-one, ready to shed their costumes.

But there’s more to burlesque, or the “classic striptease,” than what many think. American burlesque in the early twentieth century combined satire and social commentary with performance and of course, striptease. However, solo performer and producer for Flesh Tones Burlesque, Cathy “Maiden Sacrifice” Russell, says as it’s become more popular, it’s become difficult to find that style anymore.

“As it’s gotten bigger, people who don’t have quite the education yet as to the history and what it’s typically been about, why it’s important in our dance history and what that meant socially,” Russell says. “It’s really gone back to basics. It’s gotten a little conservative.” Read the rest of this entry »

Deborah Voigt

RECOMMENDED

This is the ninth year that Lyric Opera has presented a free concert prior to its regular season, a tradition that began when Sir Andrew Davis became music director.  The original idea was to offer a season preview to tantalize the public for the upcoming season by presenting highlights performed by the same stars who would actually be in those productions.  Over the years, the concept has become a catch-all concert, only a fraction of which has anything to do with what will be presented during the season itself; of this year’s eight operas (actually six operas, one operetta and one oratorio), only three will be represented at this concert.  Of greatest interest is that all three of the principal stars of the season-opening production of Puccini’s “Tosca”—which opens September 26—are scheduled to perform: Tosca herself (soprano Deborah Voigt), Cavaradossi (tenor Vladimir Galouzine) and Baron Scarpia (bass James Morris).  Also scheduled to appear from Gounod’s “Faust,” the second production of the season which opens October 5, are Marguerette (soprano Ana María Martínez), Valentin (baritone Lucas Meachem), the second Faust (tenor Joseph Kaiser) and the second Mephistopholes (bass Kyle Ketelsen).  Although there will also be excerpts from Verdi’s rarely heard “Ernani,” the third opera of the season which opens October 27, no major cast members from those performances are scheduled to appear.  Also appearing will be Ryan Center members who will perform various roles across the 2009-10 season, including Katherine Lerner, Amanda Majeski, Amber Wagner and René Barbera.  (Dennis Polkow)

7:30pm, September 11, Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, (312)332-2244. Free.

Photo: Dan Merlo

RECOMMENDED

Over the past year, Jonathan Meyer has been—through meditation, studies in psychology and mescaline use, and observations of psychosis patients—chipping away at the armor of consciousness that dictates the way we move. Collaborator Christopher Preissing took a similarly deconstructionist approach to the accompaniment, which is harvested from found sounds, dissected, rearranged and layered with live flute and voice. The culmination of the project opens this weekend at the Co-Prosperity Sphere and is, by virtue of the rigors of the investigation alone, not to be missed. In preview clips, Meyer appears moved by a primordial force, at times shedding the chains of ego and anatomy in rapid hyper-fluidity, bouncing off the floor like an amoeba on a trampoline, then returning to reflective, mercurial moments of humanity. (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S. Morgan St. September 10-13 and 16-19. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday performances at 7pm, Friday-Saturday performances at 8pm. $15. For tickets, visit seechicagodance.com.

Photo: Eileen Ryan

RECOMMENDED

This Saturday, Natya Dance Theater departs from its signature style to pay tribute to Bollywood film composer A. R. Rahman. Rahman was made internationally famous with his score for “Slumdog Millionaire” and has provided sufficient inspiration for Natya artistic director Hema Rajogopalan to open the choreographic process up to her dancers, blending hip-hop, flamenco, African dance and Bollywood stylings into Bharata Natyam, the company’s signature classical form, marked by ritualistic-feeling gesture, rapid footwork and broad facial expression.

“The movement, while within the parameters of classical dance, will have a flavor of the movies. It’s a great opportunity to see what Bharata Natyam is and still have fun with it,” Rajogopalan told me. The seven or so short, fast-paced pieces are set to a wide range of Rahman’s catalog (I’m particularly looking forward to seeing what they do with “Lagaan,” from the film of the same title—a movie that served as my introduction to the candy-sweet goodness of Bollywood) including “Jai Ho,” the bouncy, singalong finale to “Slumdog.” (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State, (800)838-3006. Saturday, September 12, 7:30pm. $25, $15 student and senior.

My Witness/Photo: Todd Clark

RECOMMENDED

Kudos to Chicago dancemakers, venues and sponsors for striving to make dance ever more accessible in times of economic tribulation; each year the all-free Chicago Dancing Festival seems to double in duration, quality and attendance. A smattering of free shows in the Pritzker throughout the summer made it possible for anybody to see dance on a fortnightly basis for the cost of a stroll through the park. This kind of investment in art speaks well of our city, our artists and the folks putting up money to keep these projects going. The good news is, they keep going.

As the weather cools off, things move indoors with Harris Theater’s “Eat to the Beat” noontime series. It’s not free, but it’s cheaper than your lunch, which you’re encouraged to bring along and consume during the forty-five-minute performances. The series consists of three shows; the first—“My Witness,” choreographed by Gina Patterson and accompanied by folk trio Sons of the Never Wrong—goes up this Tuesday. Subsequent performances will be in November and February. Musicians and sound artists are encouraged to submit proposals to accompany the final show, Alex Ketley’s “If Ever (an Ocean) Relinquished.” (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, (312)334-7777. September 15, November 17 and February 23, noon. $5 or $10 for the series.

RECOMMENDED

It doesn’t seem all that long ago, but with a new decade fast approaching, the nineties are beginning to hold that same goofy, nostalgic appeal that was once reserved for remembering all of the eighties’ most embarrassing trends. And what says “pure nineties!” better than the phrase “booty call,” allegedly coined early in the decade by comedian Bill Bellamy and subsequently used by stand-ups everywhere, from Chris Rock to Bob Hope (assumedly). Bellamy has since cultivated a fairly respectable career, leading to a long list of credits, including Conan O’Brien, Last Comic Standing (where he’s hosted), and Def Comedy Jam, but, like Jim Gaffigan and Hot Pockets, he’ll likely always be defined for his classic “Booty Call” Showtime special, in which a fresh-faced, overly energetic Bellamy described the essential steps of the booty call: the browsing through the rolodex, the prodding of the completely suspecting suitor and the celebration of having coaxed “the booty” from her apartment (“my booty on the way!”). So tasteless, so stupid, and yet, so timeless. (Andy Seifert)

Sept 10 at Zanies, 1548 N. Wells, (312)337-4027.