Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:
Pivot Arts Presents 6th annual
PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL
June 1 – 10, 2018
Ten Days of Innovative Performances
Featuring Chicago Premiere of Rude Mechs
This year, the ten-day Festival features the Chicago premiere of Rude Mechs, a theater collective from Austin, TX, who have performed at major venues across the country – joined by top artistic innovators from Chicago and beyond. Performances include theater, dance, puppetry, multidisciplinary works, site-specific performances, performances for youth, discussions and showings of new works-in-progress from the Pivot Arts Incubator program, which has developed works such as Isaac Gomez’s La Ruta, to be performed at Steppenwolf Theatre next season.
The Festival also features the 4th annual “Celebrate Community!” Parade on Saturday, June 2 at 3 pm, kicking off at the Senn Park (1501 W. Thorndale Ave.) and culminating in performances and interactive workshops at Senn Playlot (1501 W. Elmdale Ave.)
Festival Preview Party
Join Pivot Arts for a sneak peek of this year’s Festival at the Festival Kick-Off Party on Thursday, May 17 at Francesca’s Bryn Mawr, 1039 W. Bryn Mawr in Chicago. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door and include appetizers, drinks, entertainment, plus a silent auction. Tickets are available at www.pivotarts.org/festival. All proceeds support the festival.
The full 2018 PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL Line-Up includes:
Nire Nah (pictured) Music artist Nire Nah will perform at the Festival Launch Party. Photo by Matthew Gregory Hollis.
Friday, June 1
Festival Launch: A Night That Pops!
8 pm, FLATSstudio, 4612 N. Clifton St.
Tickets: $10 suggested donation. Ages 21+
The 2018 Festival kicks off with live music by Nire Nah, a visual art exhibition curated by FLATSstudio, and a series of eclectic pop-up performances including a hip-hop opera by Chicago Fringe Opera with BraveSoul Movement and Cassie Bowers’ one-on-one tarot readings in Arcana Obscura, along with other artists. Dance to a DJ following the performances. The celebration includes food and drinks.
Walkabout Theater (pictured) Walkabout Theater’s stilt walkers will perform Monuments following the Celebrate Community! Parade. Photo by Tria Smith.
Saturday June 2
Celebrate Community! Parade
Featuring Walkabout Theater’s Monuments
3 pm, meet at Senn Park Baseball Diamond (Thorndale & Greenview Aves.)
3:30 pm, Parade to Senn Playlot (1501 W. Elmdale Ave.)
Tickets: FREE.
Pivot Arts 4th annual Celebrate Community! Parade culminates in a site-specific performance of Walkabout Theater’s Monuments, a stilt performance created with artistic buoys designed by Studio Gang architectural firm. The parade includes sculptural puppets, stilt-walkers and free theater and art workshops. This year’s participants include CircEsteem, Barrel of Monkeys, Dream Big Performing Arts Workshop, Merry Music Makers, Storytown Improv, Walkabout Theater, and more!
Corey Smith Presents The New Prairie School
7 pm, Creative Co-Working/Colvin House, 5940 N. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $20/$15 with student ID ($30 for both The New Prairie School and You’re His Child).
Equal parts architectural tour, immersive theater and musical performance, The New Prairie School at the Colvin House brings audience members on a fantastical journey through an historic Sheridan Road Mansion.
Emmy Bean Presents You’re His Child
Vanessa Valliere opens with The Life and Times of Terry
9 pm, Chicago Filmmakers, 5720 N. Ridge Ave.
Tickets: $20/$15 with student ID ($30 for both You’re His Child and The New Prairie School).
A heartfelt exploration of religion, family and song. Emmy Bean brings the history of her great-grandfather to life through archival recordings of his hymns, joining his voice and her own in live musical performance. Vanessa Valliere opens with The Life and Times of Terry, the tale of one woman’s search for love through clowning, puppetry, drawings, photos and audience participation.
Sunday, June 3
Corey Smith Presents The New Prairie School
4 pm, Creative Co-Working/Colvin House, 5490 N. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $20/$15 with Student ID ($30 for both The New Prairie School and You’re His Child).
Enjoy a special $15 fixed price festival menu at The Growling Rabbit (5938 N. Broadway) in between performances. Reserve for the dinner by emailing marketing@pivotarts.org.
Equal parts architectural tour, immersive theater and musical performance, The New Prairie School at the Colvin House brings audience members on a fantastical journey through an historic Sheridan Road Mansion.
Emmy Bean Presents You’re His Child
Vanessa Valliere opens with The Life and Times of Terry
7 pm, Chicago Filmmakers, 5720 N. Ridge Ave.
Tickets: $20/$15 with student ID ($30 for both You’re His Child and The New Prairie School).
Enjoy a special $15 fixed price menu at The Growling Rabbit (5938 N. Broadway) in between performances.
A heartfelt exploration of religion, family and song. Emmy Bean brings the history of her great-grandfather to life through archival recordings of his hymns, joining his voice and her own in live musical performance. Vanessa Valliere opens with The Life and Times of Terry, the tale of one woman’s search for love through clowning, puppetry, drawings, photos and audience participation.
Monday, June 4
Broad Night: Demystifying Women’s Health
Hosted by Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and Katy Collins
7:30 pm, Chicago Filmmakers, 5720 N. Ridge Ave.
Tickets: $15.
Broad Night kicks off with a showing from This Boat Called My Body, a play from the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health about the abortion experiences of youth across the state, and a preview of Katy Collins’ web series The Doula Is In directed by Sarah Fornace and Julia Miller of Manual Cinema. Collins, doula to the internet, will field questions about women’s health. Post-performance discussion includes artists and Melissa Widen, Chair of the Board of Directors at Personal PAC.
Wednesday, June 6
A Discussion with Rude Mechs
6 pm, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.
Tickets: FREE.
Meet Rude Mechs, who arrive from Austin, TX for their Chicago premiere as part of the Pivot Arts Festival. Tanya Palmer, Goodman Theatre’s Director of New Play Development, moderates a discussion co-hosted by Pivot Arts and the Goodman about this nationally-celebrated theater company. Rude Mechs have performed at major venues across the country including Yale Repertory Theatre, Actors Theater of Louisville, Walker Arts Center, Wexner Center and more.
Thursday, June 7
What’s Next: Anna Martine Whitehead / Shannon Stewart and Aurora Nealand
7 pm, The Mundelein Center at Loyola University, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $15 suggested donation.
A sneak peek at in-progress performances from Pivot Arts’ Incubator program at Loyola University. Anna Martine Whitehead premieres Notes On Territory, a multi-disciplinary movement piece on the history of containment architecture from prisons to gothic cathedrals. New Orleans-based dance and music artists Shannon Stewart and Aurora Nealand present their movement opera Hysteria and the Body Electric. Evening includes discussion with artists led by Tara Aisha Willis, Associate Curator of Performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Friday June 8
Rude Mechs Present Not Every Mountain
7:30 pm, The Mundelein Center at Loyola University, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $30/$20 with student ID ($35 for both Not Every Mountain and The? Unicorn? Hour?)
The Chicago premiere of nationally-renowned theatre collective Rude Mechs’ debuting their new work Not Every Mountain, reflecting on change, permanence and our place in the natural world. Using pulleys, cranks, magnets and string, Rude Mechs simulate the life cycle of mountains on stage – an invocation of tectonic force and geological time.
The? Unicorn? Hour? (pictured) Leah Urzendowksi will present The? Unicorn? Hour? with Anthony Courser. Photo by Joe Mazza.
9 pm, Bar 63, 6341 N. Broadway St.
Tickets: $15 ($35 for both The? Unicorn? Hour? And Not Every Mountain).
Inspired by childhood favorites Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Pee-wee’s Playhouse, The? Unicorn? Hour? is a creative experiment in unrestrained playfulness and joy. Get ready to say “yes” to an unbridled uplifting of the spirit!
Saturday, June 9
Arts and Activism
6:30 pm, Loyola University’s Institute for Environmental Sustainability, 6349 N. Kenmore Ave.
Tickets: FREE
Join Rude Mechs’ playwright, Kirk Lynn, along with Natural Resources Defense Council and Chicago Community Climate Partners in a discussion about art, climate change and environmental activism moderated by Rachel Bronson, President and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Then head to Rude Mechs’ Not Every Mountain for the 7:30pm show. Discussion takes place in Loyola’s new LEED certified, sustainable building.
Rude Mechs (pictured) Rude Mechs will make their Chicago premiere with the new work Not Every Mountain. Photo by Bret Brookshire.
Rude Mechs Present Not Every Mountain
7:30 pm, The Mundelein Center at Loyola University, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $30/$20 with student ID ($35 for both Not Every Mountain and The? Unicorn? Hour?)
The Chicago premiere of nationally-renowned theatre collective Rude Mechs’ debuting their new work Not Every Mountain, reflecting on change, permanence and our place in the natural world. Using pulleys, cranks, magnets and string, Rude Mechs simulate the life cycle of mountains on stage – an invocation of tectonic force and geological time.
Leah Urzendowksi & Anthony Courser Present The? Unicorn? Hour?
9 pm, Bar 63, 6341 N. Broadway St.
Tickets: $15 ($35 for both The? Unicorn? Hour? and Not Every Mountain).
Inspired by childhood favorites Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Pee-wee’s Playhouse, The? Unicorn? Hour? is a creative experiment in unrestrained playfulness and joy. Get ready to say “yes” to an unbridled uplifting of the spirit!
Sunday, June 10
Ice Cream and Improv with Storytown Improv
11 am, Lickity Split Custard and Sweets, 6056 N. Broadway St.
Tickets: $10 (custard not included).
The 6th annual tradition of ice cream (well, custard…) with Storytown Improv! An all ages show where kids design the setting and help shape the story.
Community Courtyard Kick-Off
2 pm – 7 pm, Old Bethany Church Courtyard, 5944 N. Magnolia Ave.
Tickets: FREE.
Come early and enjoy family fun throughout the afternoon. The old Bethany Lutheran Church will be having its grand re-opening. The partners at Parish House are excited to show you what's to come of this historic building. Come meet the new owners, take a history-meets-future tour of the 50,000 square foot space, and have fun with your neighbors and neighboring businesses. All ages welcome.
What’s Next: Ginger Krebs Performance Project / Chicago Fringe Opera & BraveSoul Movement
7:30 pm, Parish House, 5944 N. Magnolia Ave.
Tickets: $15 suggested donation.
A sneak peek at in-progress works from Pivots Arts Incubator program. Ginger Krebs Performance Project presents Escapes and Reversals, reveling in the exertion of striving bodies through dance.
Bravesoul Movement (pictured) BraveSoul Movement will team up with Chicago Fringe Opera for The Rossini Project, transforming The Barber of Seville into a hip hop dance party.
About Pivot Arts
Pivot Arts produces and presents contemporary, multidisciplinary performance. They develop new work and present performances throughout the year culminating in a multi-arts festival. Their vision is that of a vibrant community where unique collaborations between artists, businesses and organizations lead to the support and creation of innovative performance events. For additional information, visit www.pivotarts.org.
Shannon Stewart (pictured) Dance and music artists Shannon Stewart and Aurora Nealand will present their movement opera Hysteria and the Body Electric. Photo by Diogo De Lima.
