What We're Watching-National Theatre Live-The Magistrate

National Theatre Live’s 2013 season continues at Music Box with

Victorian farce The Magistrate starring John Lithgow

shown Wednesday, January 23 with encore matinee Sunday, February 10

The Music Box Theatre continues its partnership with the UK’s National Theatre Live – produced by Northwestern University alum David Sabel – to exhibit live stage performances beamed to Chicago from the prestigious National Theatre in London.  Academy Award nominee and Tony Award-winner John Lithgow (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Shrek, This is 40) takes the title role in Arthur Wing Pinero’s uproarious Victorian farce, The Magistrate, directed by Olivier Award-winner Timothy Sheader (Crazy for You and Into the Woods). The Chicago performances take place Wednesday, January 23, 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 10, 2 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 North Southport Avenue.  Tickets to National Theatre Live events are $15 in advance at the Music Box Theatre box office and online at www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/national-theatre-live-presents; $18 at the door. 

In a similar vein to the National Theatre’s smash-hit classic comedies, She Stoops to Conquer and London Assurance, The Magistrate is sure to have audiences doubled up with laughter. When amiable magistrate Posket (John Lithgow) marries Agatha (Olivier Award-winner Nancy Carroll, After the Dance), little does he realize she’s dropped five years from her age – and her son’s. When her deception looks set to be revealed, it sparks a series of hilarious indignities and outrageous mishaps.

Now in its fourth season, the international phenomenon National Theatre Live is the brainchild of Northwestern University alumnus David Sabel, National Theatre’s Head of Digital. Sabel explains, “When you think of filmed theatre it's the exact opposite of what it's supposed to be: there in the space, seeing the sweat and feeling the emotion and heat of the room. How is that going to work? People are surprised at how connected they feel. A huge part of that is the shared experience; if you were watching it on TV, even if it was live, you'd go and make a cup of tea, but here you are buying a ticket and reacting and applauding together.

“It's like filming a sports match; you take the audience's eye to where the ball goes. If we've done our job, you should feel you saw a piece of theatre, not a film, even though there were probably lots of close ups where the director was choosing what you see.” Since its debut in 2009, National Theatre Live has expanded from 40 theatres in the UK to nearly 300 screens worldwide.

The 2013 NTLive season at Music Box continues in March with People, the acclaimed new play by Alan Bennett (The History Boys) and concludes in May with This House, a biting and energetic new play about the ruthless world of 1970s British politics.   Visit www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/national-theatre-live-presents for additional details.

About the Music Box Theatre: For nearly 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. For additional information please visitwww.musicboxtheatre.com .  Download the entire Music Box Theatre Winter Calendar here: www.musicboxtheatre.com/assets/calendars/MusicBox_Winter2012_FINAL-LoSpeads.pdf

National Theatre Live is an initiative by the UK’s National Theatre to broadcast live performances onto cinema screens around the world. Since its first season, which began in June 2009 with the acclaimed production of Phédre starring Helen Mirren, more than 750,000 people have now experienced the National’s work on movie screens worldwide. 

What We're Watching: Save the Dates MUSIC BOX THEATRE’S 70MM FESTIVAL

Can you name those famous 70MM scenes?!

February Films on our Radar

THE ORIGINAL HIGH-DEFINITION CINEMA

MUSIC BOX THEATRE’S 70MM FESTIVAL INCLUDES THE RETURN OF OSCAR-NOMINATED THE MASTER, A NEW PRINT OF KUBRICK’S 2001, AND HITCHCOCK’S ELEVATED VERTIGO

DIVERSE LINEUP ALSO INCLUDES MUSICAL WEST SIDE STORY, CHILDREN’S CLASSIC CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, FRENCH COMIC MASTERPIECE PLAYTIME AND MORE, FEBRUARY 15-28

An epic format deserves an epic festival. For two weeks in February, Music Box Theatre screens nine movies – more than a half-ton of celluloid – at the Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival.  Highlights include a brand new print of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and the return of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master.  Music Box has spent more than 100 man-hours prepping their 70mm equipment to ensure that even audiences who’ve seen 70mm before have never seen it with this clarity. Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival runs February 15-28, 2012 at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/music-box-theatre-70mm-festival

In August 2012, film fans from around the country flew into Chicago for an exclusive late-night sneak preview of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master in glorious 70mm. Until now, the one-night, sell-out presentation was Chicagoans’ only opportunity to see this gorgeous film projected in the large film format in which it was filmed. 70MM Festival presents another rare opportunity to see this Academy Award-nominated modern masterpiece in its original format.

Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival also includes: a brand new print of Kubrick’s 2001 (1968); an archival print from a recent restoration of Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim (1965); Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958); Tobe Hooper’s outer space vampire/zombie thriller Lifeforce (1985); Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of Shakespearean Hamlet (1996); Jacques Tati’s colorful and slapstick Playtime (1967); children’s favorite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1961); and the timeless Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story (1961). Synopses and showtimes below.

“Music Box Theatre is committed to film presentation in any and all formats available and is one of the very few cinemas in the United States – and the only one in Chicago—still able to screen 70mm,” said Music Box Theatre General Manager Dave Jennings. “It is with this capability that we proudly present these nine films as examples of 70mm film to Chicago in this very special series.  All of these films will be presented the way their makers intended: on the big screen, in a theater, on film and in 70mm.”

Tickets to individual movies in the Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival are $9.25 per screening. A festival pass, $70, entitles the holder to one admission to every screening – including seeing the same film more than once. To purchase, visit www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/music-box-theatre-70mm-festival  or the Music Box Theatre Box Office, 3733 N. Southport Ave.

About the 70MM film format

Almost since the advent of cinema there have been variations of 70mm film used to capture visual clarity unequalled in 35mm filming. 70mm films became popular in the 1940s through the 1980s. Due to the cost of 70mm film, few films were ever shot in this large format, and following their initial release many of them were also released in 35mm to facilitate wide release. Other films were shot in 35mm and “blown up.” When DTS sound and Dolby Surround were introduced to cinemas, 70mm (and auditoriums devoted to 70mm) all but disappeared. The Result: few people have had the chance to see true 70mm presentation.

Contrary to popular belief, 70mm is not a larger image; it is a format that allows for more information and more visual clarity than its 35mm counterpart. There is a depth to the image that is unlike 35mm, and certainly very different from digital projection. Over the past several years the film industry has moved away from film in favour of digital projection. Film, in any format, is expensive to use for production and replication. For the first time since the advent of sound, cinemas have had to make a major change in their projection capabilities making the number of auditoriums outfitted for 35mm or 70mm film projection very few. The Music Box Theatre is committed to film presentation in any and all formats available and is one of the very few cinemas in the United States able to screen 16mm, 35mm, 70mm and almost all digital formats.

Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival Films

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) To begin his voyage into the future, Kubrick visits our prehistoric ape-ancestry past, then leaps millennia (via one of the most mind-blowing jump cuts ever conceived) into colonized space, and ultimately whisks astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) into uncharted realms of space, perhaps even into immortality. “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” Let the awe and mystery of a journey unlike any other begin. Shows Friday, Feb. 15, 9:00pm; Saturday, Feb. 16, 9:00pm; Sunday, Feb. 17, 8:00pm; and Thursday, Feb. 21, 7:30pm   

This is one of our favs...especially on the big screen.   We announced the impending birth of our first kid in 2001 with the iconic movie poster and the tag line 2001:  A Baby Odyssey.   The ultimate trip indeed!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). Dick Van Dyke stars as quirky inventor Caractacus Potts, whose magical flying car transports his family and lovely lady friend to Vulgaria, a kingdom strangely devoid of children, ruled by the evil Baron Bomburst. Written by Ian Fleming, with a screenplay by Roald Dahl and the same producer (Albert Broccoli) as the Bond bunch as well!   Shows Saturday, Feb. 16, 2pm; and Sunday, Feb. 17, 5:00pm   Didn't you ever wonder why that James Bondesque penchant for wacky inventions and quirky character names seemed sooo familiar in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?!   

Hamlet (1996). Veteran Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh delivers a brooding performance as the Danish prince driven to madness by his father’s death in this four-hour production of one of the Bard’s finest plays, featuring cameos by several stars. Tormented by his father’s ghost and enraged by his mother’s plans to wed his uncle, Hamlet concocts a revenge plot that leaves the stage dripping with blood. Look for Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and Kate Winslet. Shows Sunday, Feb. 24, 2:00pm; and Tuesday, Feb. 26, 7:30pm

Lifeforce (1985). American and British astronauts (Steve Railsback, Mathilda May and Peter Firth) on a joint mission exploring an alien spacecraft discover that the vessel contains several seemingly human bodies. But after they’re brought back to Earth, they come alive and start turning Londoners into zombies in this sci-fi thriller from director Tobe Hooper. Shows Wednesday, Feb. 20, 7:30pm; and Sunday, Feb. 24, 9:40pm

Lord Jim (1965). Writer Joseph Conrad’s stirring maritime novel charts the emotional course of British seaman Jim (Peter O’Toole), a thrillseeker aboard a merchant vessel who longs for adventure. He finds that in spades when the ship is caught in an all-consuming storm. But he also discovers that he has no courage to spare, and he soon abandons ship — an act that drives him to redeem himself in a dangerous Southeast Asian jungle. Shows Saturday, Feb. 16, 5:30pm; and Monday, Feb. 18, 7:30pm

The Master (2012). Academy Award nominees Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1950s-set drama centered on the relationship between a charismatic intellectual known as “the Master” whose faith-based organization begins to catch on in America, and a young drifter who becomes his right-hand man. Shows Friday, Feb. 22, 9:00pm; Saturday, Feb. 23, 8:30pm; and Monday, Feb. 25, 7:30pm

Playtime (1967). Technology-minded visual comedy directed by and starring Jacques Tati. Monsieur Hulot (Tati) has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Shows Friday, Feb. 22, 6:30pm; Saturday, Feb. 23, 5:30pm; and Thursday, Feb. 28, 7:30pm

Vertigo (1958). Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological masterpiece last year ousted Citizen Kane to become number one on the AFI’s list of top 100 films of all time. A San Francisco detective (James Stewart) suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend’s wife (Kim Novak), becoming dangerously obsessed with her. Shows Friday, Feb. 15, 6:30pm; Sunday, Feb. 17, 2:00pm; and Tuesday, Feb. 19, 7:30pm

West Side Story (1961). Natalie Wood and Russ Tamblyn star in Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim’s musical retelling of Romeo and Juliet set among rival NYC gangs. The sets were built six feet off the ground to allow for low-angle shooting with the large 70mm cameras. This became the winningest musical of all time when it earned 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. Shows Saturday, Feb. 23, 2:00pm; Sunday, Feb. 24, 6:45pm; and Wednesday, Feb. 27, 7:30pm.

Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival Daily Schedule

Fri 2/15:

·         6:30pm: Vertigo

·         9:00pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Sat 2/16:

·         2:00pm: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

·         5:30pm: Lord Jim

·         9:00pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Sun 2/17:

·         2:00pm: Vertigo

·         5:00pm: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

·         8:00pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Mon 2/18:

·         7:30pm: Lord Jim

Tues 2/19:

·         7:30pm: Vertigo

Wed 2/20:

·         7:30pm: Lifeforce

Thurs 2/21:

·         7:30pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Fri 2/22:

·         6:30pm: Playtime

·         9:00pm: The Master

Sat 2/23:

·         2:00pm: West Side Story

·         5:30pm: Playtime

·         8:30pm: The Master

Sun 2/24:

·         2:00pm: Hamlet

·         6:45pm: West Side Story

·         9:40pm: Lifeforce

Mon 2/25:

·         7:30pm: The Master

Tues 2/26:

·         7:30pm: Hamlet

Wed 2/27:

·         7:30pm: West Side Story

Thurs 2/28:

·         7:30pm: Playtime

About the Music Box Theatre: For nearly 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. For additional information please visit www.musicboxtheatre.com.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING: Must See Shows at Music Box This Weekend

It's a director filled weekend in Chi-town.  Chicago-born filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton will be here for the opening of her new movie Somewhere Between, Jan 11-13, as will the stars of the movie.   We caught a press preview of this moving, thought provoking doc. and highly recommend it!

I'm the daughter of an ESL (English as a second language) teacher and my cousin adopted Chinese girl twins as toddlers who are now 9.   You can check out their "Somewhere Between" experiences via the blog And Babies Make Four right here.  International families have always been a part of my world, and we're making a concerted effort to raise urban kids who have friends from many cultures.   So this film was of particular interest to me.   My husband's also a location sound engineer who travels the world on documentaries and other TV shoots, so he's picky about production values.   Even he was impressed by the quality of the audio and video in Somewhere Between.

The girls' stories are thought provoking, unique and insightful and raise great questions for adoptive multicultural families and society as a whole.   Check it out!

JOYOUS AND MOVING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ASKS “WHO AM I?”

Award-winning documentary about adopted Chinese girls by Chicago-born filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton opens exclusively at Music Box Theatre January 11

LINDA GOLDSTEIN KNOWLTON AND TEENAGERS FROM THE MOVIE WILL BE AT THE MUSIC BOX OPENING WEEKEND FOR POST-SCREENING Q&A’S

In profiling Chinese adoptees in contemporary America, the joyous Somewhere Between illustrates that even the most specific of experiences can be universally relatable. The deeply moving documentary by Linda Goldstein Knowlton (The World According to Sesame Street) intimately follows four American teenagers, some of the 80,000 girls who have been adopted from China since 1989 a decade after the country implemented its One Child Policy. These typical American teens reveal an inspiring sense of self-awareness as they attempt to answer the uniquely human question, “Who am I?” Somewhere Between makes its Midwest premiere Friday, January 11 for a limited engagement at Music Box Theater, 3733 N. Southport Avenue. Filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton and the girls from the movie will be in attendance for post-screening Q&A’s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. www.musicboxtheatre.com/features/somewhere-between

“My daughter's name is Ruby Goldstein Knowlton,” Knowlton explains. “She’s seven. When my husband and I adopted her from China, we had no idea what lay ahead. We became a family in an instant. But as I began to think about Ruby's future, I started to wonder how her coming of age would differ from mine. I began talking to older girls who had been adopted from China and brought to the U.S., and plunged into a world not just of identity but of what it means to be who we are. This film, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN, was born.”

The four girls at the center of the movie – Haley, Jenna, Ann and Fang – meet and bond with other adoptees, some journey back to China to reconnect with the culture, and some reach out to the orphaned girls left behind. In their own ways, they attempt to make sense of their complex identities. Issues of belonging, race and gender are brought to life through these articulate subjects, who approach life with honesty and open hearts.  Born in China to families who are unable to keep them, largely because of China’s “One Child Policy,” the baby girls were raised in orphanages, and then eventually adopted by American families. Here, they grow up with Sesame Street, hip-hop and Twitter. They describe themselves as “bananas”: white on the inside and yellow on the outside. All is well until they hit their teen years when their pasts pull at them, and they begin to wonder, “Who am I?”

As Somewhere Between plunges the viewer into the ordinary and extraordinary days of these four girls’ lives, we, too, are forced to pause and consider who we are—both as individuals and as a nation of immigrants.

Linda Goldstein Knowlton (Director/Producer)

Linda Goldstein Knowlton co-directed and co-produced the feature-length documentary, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET. The film examines Sesame Street's international co-productions, made primarily in some of the world's political hotspots, including Kosovo, Bangladesh, and South Africa. The film made its World Premiere in competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Selection in the U.S. Documentary category. The film was selected and screened at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto, the Seattle Film Festival, and other festivals including Boston, Dubrovnik, New Zealand, Melbourne, and Zurich. Previously, Goldstein Knowlton produced the New Zealand film WHALE RIDER (2002), directed by Niki Caro, which was the winner of the Audience Awards at Toronto, Sundance, Rotterdam, Seattle, San Francisco, and Maui film festivals. Goldstein Knowlton became involved with WHALE RIDER in 1992, a decade before its theatrical release, after reading the novella upon which the film is based. Prior to that, she initiated the development of THE SHIPPING NEWS after reading the novel in galley form in 1993, and then produced the 2001-released film, directed by Lasse Hallstrom. She made her feature-film producing debut in 1999 with both MUMFORD, written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and CRAZY IN ALABAMA, directed by Antonio Banderas. She is currently developing both fiction and documentary films.

Born and raised in Chicago, Goldstein Knowlton studied neuroscience at Brown University. Following college, she remained in Providence to serve the governor of Rhode Island in the Office of Intergovernmental Relations. She subsequently worked raising funds for film preservation at The American Film Institute, in Washington, D.C., and, later, in Los Angeles. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

About the Music Box Theatre: For nearly 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. 

For additional information please click here for the main MUSIC BOX site. 

Download the entire Music Box Theatre Winter Calendar here

Music Box--Now Showing & ChiIL Live Shows Beloved Review

We had a chance to catch a sneak peek at a press screening of Beloved on the 6th.   It was a true pleasure to see legendary Catherine Deneuve co-staring in mother/daughter roles with her real-life daughter, Chiara Mastroianni.     Here at ChiIL Live Shows/ ChiIL Mama we've been doing a long form series of video interviews on "How Creatives Parent and How Parents Create", so it was particularly fascinating to see life and art so intertwined.  

The emotional explorations across generations and the time span of 3 decades with a range of actors playing the main characters, makes for a fascinating story arc.      

(773) 871-6604 SHOWTIMES 3733 N. SOUTHPORT AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60613 Home Showtimes Coming Soon Special Events Midnight Movies Weekend Matinees About Us Beloved! David Byrne! Thursday, September 13th, 2012 Happy Thursday Music Boxers, Opening this Friday is Beloved, which you may remember as the Festival Centerpiece of the Chicago French Film Festival. This romantic musical drama follows a mother and daughter’s misadventures in love over three decades. Starring Catherine Deneuve! On Monday at 7pm, the Chicago Tribune presents Press Pass All-Access: Greg Kot with David Byrne and Bettina Richards. Critic Greg Kot hosts an evening with author and Talking Heads cofounder David Byrne and Thrill Jockey Records founder Bettina Richards. The three will discuss Byrne’s new book, How Music Works, in which the legendary artist explores the joy, the physics and the business of making music. Tickets for sale through the Chicago Tribune. Then, stick around for a special screening of Stop Making Sense at 10pm. The Talking Heads light up the screen in one of the greatest concert films of all time! Tickets on sale now.   Plus, next week we have great events like Superstars of Burlesque and the Chicago United Film Festival. Get your tickets before they sell out!   See you at the movies. . . FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH – THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2012 Beloved (Les Bien-Aimes) A FILM BY CHRISTOPHE HONORE STARRING CATHERINE DENEUVE, CHIARA MASTROIANNI Starring Catherine Deneuve and (her real-life daughter) Chiara Mastroianni, this sly and exquisitely romantic musical drama from Christophe Honoré (Love Songs, Dans Paris) spans over three decades as it follows a mother and daughter’s misadventures in love. From the ‘60s era story of Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) and her Czech husband to the romance of Madeleine’s daughter, Vera, thirty years later and the rekindling of an affair between a re-married Madeleine (Deneuve) and her former lover Jaromil (Milos Forman). Beloved is a light-hearted but ultimately moving exploration of the changing nature of relationships. Fri, Sep 14 4:15pm · 7:00pm · 9:45pm Sat, Sep 15 1:20pm · 4:15pm · 7:00pm · 9:45pm Sun, Sep 16 1:20pm · 4:15pm · 7:00pm · 9:45pm Mon, Sep 17 4:15pm · 7:00pm Tue, Sep 18 4:15pm · 7:00pm · 9:45pm Wed, Sep 19 4:15pm · 7:00pm · 9:45pm Thu, Sep 20 4:15pm · 7:00pm · 9:45pm Sleepwalk With Me A FILM BY MIKE BIRBIGLIA AND SETH BARRISH STARRING MIKE BIRBIGLIA, LAUREN AMBROSE AND KEVIN BARNETT “An endearing indie feature about the day-to-day indecisions and nocturnal perambulations of a commitment-phobic New Yorker.” –Variety “I’m going to tell you a story and it’s true… I always have to tell people that.” So asserts comedian-turned-playwright-turned-filmmaker Mike Birbiglia directly to the viewer at the outset of his autobiographically-inspired, fictional feature debut. We are thrust into the tale of a burgeoning stand-up comedian struggling with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship threatening to race out of his control, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore. Based on the successful one-man show, Sleepwalk with Me engages in the kind of passionate and personal storytelling that transfigures intimate anguish into comic art. Fri, Sep 14 3:40pm · 5:35pm · 7:30pm · 9:30pm · midnight Sat, Sep 15 1:45pm · 3:40pm · 5:35pm · 7:30pm · 9:30pm · midnight Sun, Sep 16 1:45pm · 3:40pm · 5:35pm · 7:30pm · 9:30pm Mon, Sep 17 4:20pm · 9:30pm Tue, Sep 18 5:35pm · 7:30pm · 9:30pm Wed, Sep 19 5:35pm · 7:30pm · 9:30pm Thu, Sep 20 5:35pm · 7:30pm · 9:30pm Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense A FILM BY JONATHAN DEMME STARRING THE TALKING HEADS The Talking Heads live on stage. Need we say more? Director Jonathan Demme expertly crafted this unrivaled concert film from footage of three live gigs at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre. The staging concept — the brainchild of Talking Heads front man David Byrne — begins with the lead vocalist striding onto an empty stage, acoustic guitar and boom box in hand. With each new tune, another band member or backup singer joins Byrne onstage, building steadily toward the smokin’ finale. Mon, Sep 17 10:00pm How Music Works Press Pass All-Access Series: Greg Kot with David Byrne and Bettina Richards. In his latest book since the best-selling Bicycle Diaries, David Byrne takes on the role of musical historian and anthropologist as he dissects how, exactly, music has been shaped through time and place. Ranging in scope from Wagnerian opera houses to African villages to birdsongs in San Francisco, Byrne’s How Music Works is a guided tour of the business, physics and joys of music. One of the most brilliant artists of our time, Byrne’s writing, honed from a life of musical experience, will be remembered as one of the most enlightening books on the subject in a long, long time. Mon, Sep 17 7:00pm Midnight Madness Presents: The Rocky Horror Picture Show Purchase advance tickets online Our monthly screening of this cult classic is never for the faint of heart. Join us as we do the Time Warp again!Midnight Madness ensures that what’s happening in the audience is just as entertaining as what is on screen. For 35 years, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has delighted audiences and terrified parents. The Music Box Theatre is the proud Chicago home of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Every screening has a shadow-cast of the film (that’s actors acting in front of the screen during the film), and the Halloween screenings are known to sell out! The Rocky Horror Picture Show A FILM BY JIM SHARMAN STARRING TIM CURRY, SUSAN SARANDON, RICHARD O'BRIEN, CHARLES GRAY, MEATLOAF, BARRY BOSTWICK This notorious horror parody — a fast-paced potpourri of camp, sci-fi and rock ‘n’ roll, among other things — tracks the exploits of naïve couple Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) after they stumble upon the lair of transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry). The film — a bizarre musical co-starring Meat Loaf and Richard O’Brien — bombed in its initial release but later gained a cult following at midnight showings. Sat, Sep 15 midnight Baby Face A FILM BY ALFRED E. GREEN STARRING BARBARA STANWYCK, GEORGE BRENT, AND DONALD COOK Barbara Stanwyk stars in the most notorious sex-in-the-workplace vice film made during the Pre-Code era. Arriving in the big city after a stint in a speakeasy dive to work at Gotham Trust Company, Lily (Stanwyck) starts at the bottom floor but resolves to leap to the executive suite, two floors at a time! Screening in a restored, unedited print from the Library of Congress. Sat, Sep 15 11:30am Sun, Sep 16 11:30am The Room A FILM BY TOMMY WISEAU STARRING TOMMY WISEAU, JULIETTE DANIELLE AND GREG SESTERO This “electrifying American black comedy about love, passion, betrayal and lies” stars (and was directed, written and produced by) the mysterious Tommy Wiseau, and has been a cult favorite in LA for almost 6 years. “Enter The Room and leave forever changed!” Uninhibited by cinematic convention, this quirky cult favorite about lust and duplicity delivers nonstop laughs from beginning to end as the film’s central character (writer-director Tommy Wiseau) discovers that his foxy fiancée, Lisa (Juliette Danielle), is bedding his best friend. Adding to the hilarity are Greg Sestero, who plays the backstabbing buddy, and Carolyn Minnott as Lisa’s materialistic mom. Fri, Sep 14 midnight Nominated: Bart Layton, Grand Jury Prize - World Cinema, Documentary, Sundance Film Festival Awards 2012 The Imposter A FILM BY BART LAYTON STARRING ADAM O'BRIAN, FREDERIC BOURDIN AND CAREY GIBSON A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who convinces a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who went missing for 3 years. “You won’t be able to get it out of your head.” –Peter Travers, Rolling Stone Based on a true story, The Imposter is documentary filmmaking turned film noir. In 1994, a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from San Antonio, Texas. Three-and-a-half years later he is found alive thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain, telling an elaborate story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but everything may not be as it seems. His strange accent and changes in appearance all seem to be suspicious inconsistencies, yet the family seems not to notice. It’s only when an investigator starts asking questions that this story takes an even stranger turn. With all of the twists of a true thriller, The Imposterchallenges our perceptions of the truth, and every new revelation leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat. Sat, Sep 15 11:30am Sun, Sep 16 11:30am Download our Fall 2012 Calendar in PDF format Friend us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Watch trailers on YouTube Visit Music Box Films Tickets Admission for main features and midnight films is $9.25 (different prices may apply to special presentations). The first show of the day on Tuesdays through Thursdays is only $8.25. Admission for the 11:30am matinee films is $7.25. All tickets on Mondays are $5. The Music Box Discount Cardprovides 5 admissions for $35.00 (a savings of up to $11.25; good for six months; limit two admissions per visit). Cards are available at the box office. For showtimes, call (773) 871-6604. Getting here The Music Box is located at 3733 North Southport Avenue, Chicago 60613. Metered street parking is available on Southport Avenue. The Music Box is a short walk east from free street parking on Ashland Avenue. There is a parking lot one block north of the theatre at the Blaine School ($10). The theater is near the Southport station on CTA's Brown Line and the 152 Addison, 9 Ashland and 80/X80 Irving Park bus routes. For public transit information, call 836-7000. We look forward to seeing you soon! http://musicboxtheatre.com