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Monday, April 9, 2012

Play Locally-April Highlights: Theatre Openings, Music and #Giveaways



It's an eventful, event filled April in Chi-Town. 


Scroll All The Way Down For A Month Full of Adult & Family Friendly Highlights Below Including 21+ punk & metal shows, Ticket Give Aways, original video interviews, live kids' show footage, Beat Kitchen Concerts for Kids, Bloodiest vinyl release, C2E2, CIMMfest 2012, Human Nature The Motown Show, 20 FREE copies of Just Kids book by Patti Smith, Prong, recommended bands at Cobra
Lounge & Empty Bottle, Reggies, Schubas, & Sub-T, Theatre openings, CD releases, and more:




FAMILY FUN: 





Sunday 4/15   Beat Kitchen's Concerts for Kids features The Boogers (Ramones style punk for the punk kin) at noon.   ChiIL Mama's stoked to sponsor the series aimed at birth through 10 year olds with parents.   Infants are free.   Everyone else is just $6!   Win 4 free tickets right here, to see The Boogers.   We pick new winners weekly and have 4 free tickets to all kids' shows at Beat Kitchen and many other venues throughout Chicago.   Then check out ChiIL Mama's YouTube Channel for loads of live Boogers show footage and our exclusive video interview with the band.





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for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone through
RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on
the actual page title and it should pop right up).
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Saturday, April 7, 2012

ACT OUT: OPENING-FISH MEN AT GOODMAN


HIGH STAKES GAME OF URBAN CHESS HUSTLERS ON THE HOOK FOR FISH MEN BY CÁNDIDO TIRADO, PREMIERING AT GOODMAN THEATRE

****EDWARD TORRES MAKES HIS GOODMAN DIRECTORIAL DEBUT WITH THIS TEATRO VISTA COLLABORATION, THE SECOND OF THREE NEW WORKS BY LATINO PLAYWRIGHTS, APRIL 7 – MAY 6, 2012***

Goodman Theatre and Teatro Vista team up for their second world-premiere production with Fish Men, Puerto Rican playwright Cándido Tirado’s new comedic drama about a group of urban chess hustlers drawn together by a shared need to overcome their individual demons. Edward Torres, Artistic Director of Teatro Vista, makes his Goodman directorial debut with this second play of a three-year producing partnership between the Goodman and Teatro Vista, Chicago’s first and largest not-for-profit professional Latino theater company. 

Fish Men runs April 7 – May 6, 2012 (Previews start today.  Opening Night is April 16.) in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre. Tickets ($12-$42; prices subject to change) can be purchased at GoodmanTheatre.org by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). Sara Lee Foundation is the Owen Season Sponsor. Baxter and Blue Cross Blue Shield are Contributing Sponsors and Hoy is the Spanish Print Media Sponsor.

Cándido Tirado, Teatro Vista’s newest resident playwright and a highly-rated chess master by the United States Chess Federation, explains, “When I graduated from college, I decided I wanted to combine two great loves of my life: writing plays and playing chess. But it wasn’t until 2000, as I was walking by the chess tables in New York’s Washington Square Park, that the play suddenly revealed itself to me. Outwardly, Fish Men deals with the cruel art of the ‘chess hustle’—but underneath it is an exploration of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man. I am thrilled to premiere this play in Chicago, with Teatro Vista and Goodman Theatre.”

Fish Men plays out in real time on a hot summer day in New York City’s Washington Square Park, where Rey Reyes (Raul Castillo), a survivor of the Guatemalan genocide who is going through his own personal hell, gets snared by a group of chess hustlers. Ninety Two (Howard Witt), a Holocaust survivor, tries to intervene, exposing Rey’s need for vengeance. As the game progresses, the circumstances that stoke the fire of each player’s obsession with the game and their inner demons are revealed. Fish Men features a multi-ethnic, multi-generational ensemble cast including Raul Castillo as Rey Reyes, Dan Cantor as Stuart, Howard Witt as Ninety Two, Cedric Mays as Cash, Ricardo Gutierrez as Jerome, Kenn E. Head as Pee Wee, Ben Chang as Dr. Lee and Mike Cherry as John. The creative team is set designer Collette Pollard, costume designer Christine Pascual, lighting designer Jesse Klug and sound designer Mikhail Fiksel.

“Fish Men is an ideal project for Teatro Vista and the Goodman,” says Edward Torres, artistic director of Teatro Vista. “Together, we are exploring the cultural intersections of our communities through ourcollaborative development of new plays by Latino writers. While Cándido’s work comes from the Latino perspective, with the multi-cultural, multi-generational cast of Fish Men, we have the opportunity to share with a large and appreciative audience what we have in common as people. This play is special and Chicago audiences are in for a real treat.”

Cándido Tirado (Playwright) is a New York-based playwright. His play Momma’s Boyz, produced by Teatro Vista earlier this season, was chosen a “Chicago Top Ten in 2011” by the Huffington Post. His off-Broadway productions include Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz (co-written with Carmen Rivera) which premiered at New World Stages and was also performed in Chicago’s Athenaeum Theater, Las Bellas Artes in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Tenerife and Miami; King Without a Castle; Checking Out; First Class (Puerto Rican Traveling Theater); The Barber Shop and Momma’s Boyz (Repertorio Español). Other productions include The Missteps of a Salsa Dancer, From Dating to Death in Five Easy Steps, Ilka: The Dream, Hands of Stone, King Without a Castle (also workshopped at Sundance Theater Lab); Some People Have All The Luck, produced at the National Theater of the Dominican Republic and New York; Heart Stopping Sex, produced by Soho Rep, and The Kid Next Door, Hey There Black Cat, Abuelo, The Missing Colors of the Rainbow and Palladium. He co- wrote with Alfredo Bejar the award winning short film Getting to Heaven and was a staff writer for the TV show Ghostwriter where his episode was nominated for a Humanitas Award. His screenplays include Da Bronx, El Casique del Poker and The Milagro Boyz. He’s a four-time winner of the New York Foundation of the Arts Playwriting Fellowship. Publications include First Class, Recent Puerto Rican Theater: Five Plays from New York (Arte Publico); Some People Have All the Luck, Nuestro New York: An Anthology of Puerto Rican Playwrights (Penguin, Mentor Books); Ilka the Dream: Positive/Negative: Women of Color Living with H.I.V. (Aunt Lute Books). Mr. Tirado is a co-founder of Educational Plays Production with his wife Carmen Rivera, which tours public schools presenting plays with social issues concerning youth.

Edward Torres (Director, Teatro Vista Artistic Director) directed the world premiere of Kristoffer Diaz’s The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Victory Gardens Theater (produced in association with Teatro Vista) which was named Best Play of 2009 by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Time Out Chicago, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and earned Jeff awards for Best Production and Best Director. He also directed subsequent productions off Broadway at New York’s Second Stage Theatre (2010 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play and Obie Award for Best Play), and at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles to critical acclaim. Mr. Torres has produced more than 25 plays as the artistic director of Teatro Vista over the last 12 years. His Teatro Vista directing credits include The Show Host, Jamie Pachino’s Aurora’s Motive, Romulus Linney’s Ambrosio, Edwin Sánchez’s Icarus, Reuben Gonzalez’s The Boiler Room and Karen Zacarías’ The Sins of Sor Juana. Other Chicago directing credits include Amparo Garcia- Crow’s Cocks Have Claws and Wings to Fly and Migdalia Cruz’s Lolita de Lares. As an actor he will be seen in Victory Gardens Theater’s upcoming production of Oedipus El Rey. Most recently he was seen in El Grito del Bronx, a co-production with Collaboraction in association with Goodman Theatre; the Goodman’s production of The Cook; and Teatro Vista’s productions of Massacre (Sing to Your Children) at the Goodman and Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble as part of the Visiting Company Initiative at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Other Chicago acting credits include roles at the Goodman, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Victory Garden Theater, Latino Chicago Theater Company, Court Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Teatro Vista. He was the recipient of a 2010 3Arts Artist Award, and was featured as guest director at the 2011 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Mr. Torres has a BA in theater from Roosevelt University in Chicago and an MFA in film from Columbia College Chicago. He serves on the Illinois Arts Council, and has served on the National Endowment for the Arts Theater Panel (2005 – 2007) and on the MAP Fund Theatre Panel (2008).

Insider Access is a series of public programs that provides insight into the Goodman’s artistic process. With Artist Encounters, audiences meet the names and faces behind the work on stage, including playwrights and directors.

Artist Encounter: Fish Men Featuring Playwright Cándido Tirado and Director Edward Torres Wednesday, April 11; 6 – 7pm | Chicago Cultural Center 78 East Washington Street | Chicago, IL Free; for tickets please call 312.443.3800

Tickets to Fish Men ($12-$42) are currently on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org. Tickets and 2012/2013 subscriptions can also be purchased at the box office (170 North Dearborn), by phone at 312.443.3800 or at GoodmanTheatre.org

Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office and at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) day of performance; Mezztix are not available by telephone. 10Tix are $10 rear mezzanine tickets for students available at 12 noon at the box office and at 10am online on the day of performance; 10Tix are not available by telephone; a valid student I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets; limit four per student with I.D. All tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted Group Tickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820. Purchase Goodman Gift Certificates in any amount at GoodmanTheatre.org. The flexibility of Goodman Gift Certificates allows recipients to choose the production, date and time of their performance. Artists, dates and ticket prices are subject to change.

The Artist Encounter series brings together audiences and the artists who create the work on our stages, in an intimate environment, for a behind-the-scenes look at the plays and the playmaking process. Join us for an intimate conversation with Fish Men playwright Cándido Tirado and director Edward Torres before a 7:30pm performance.

About Teatro Vista
Teatro Vista, Theatre with a View, was founded in 1989. Today, Teatro Vista is celebrating its 22nd season, having grown to be Chicago’s largest non-profit Equity Latino theater company producing full scale, Latino oriented, theatrical productions in English. Just within the last year, Teatro Vista was celebrated as one of 25 of “Chicago’s cultural leaders” by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago, and received the League of Chicago Theatres’ 2011 Artistic Leadership Award.

Teatro Vista is firmly committed to sharing and celebrating the riches of Latino culture with all Chicago theater audiences. This commitment stems from the belief that there are as many similarities between us as there are differences, and that the answer to breaking down the walls of prejudice and stereotypes lies in understanding these differences. Ultimately, it is through this “view” that Teatro Vista bridges the gap between Latino and non-Latino cultures in Chicago.
Teatro Vista is supported in part by Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, a CityArts Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Hispanics In Philanthropy, Illinois Arts Council, Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and The Shubert Foundation. For more information, visit teatrovista.org



Fish Men Rehearsal Photos
Playwright Cándido Tirado plays a game of chess with cast member Raúl Castillo (Rey Reyes) during a rehearsal of Teatro Vista and Goodman Theatre's Fish Men.

About Goodman Theatre
Currently on stage in the Albert Theatre (ENDING THIS WEEKEND) is Camino Real by Tennessee Williams, directed by Calixto Bieito running through April 8, 2012.

The 2011/2012 Season includes: The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Robert Falls (April 21 – June 10, 2012); and Crowns, written and directed by Regina Taylor (June 30 – August 5, 2012).

Goodman Theatre, “the leading regional theater in the nation’s most important theater city” (Time), is a major cultural, educational and economic pillar in Chicago, generating nearly $300 million in economic impact over the past decade in its state-of-the-art two-theater complex on North Dearborn Street. Founded in 1925 and currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls, “Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, Chicago’s oldest and largest not-for- profit resident theater has welcomed nearly two million patrons to productions and events—including 10 festivals celebrating playwrights such as David Mamet, August Wilson and Horton Foote, as well as the biennial Latino Theatre Festival—and served legions of students through its Education and Community Engagement programs (including the FREE Student Subscription Series and other interactive programs). 

The Goodman has earned more than 90 awards for hundreds of productions, including the Pulitzer Prize for Ruined by Lynn Nottage—one of 25 new work Goodman commissions in the last decade. Ruth Ann M. Gillis is the Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees and Joan Clifford is President of the Women’s Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre. BMO Harris Bank is the Major Production Sponsor of A Christmas Carol, and Aon Corporation is the Corporate Sponsor Partner. 

Visit the Goodman virtually: watch artist interviews, view production photos, catch the latest news and more at GoodmanTheatre.org. Like us on Facebook.com/GoodmanTheatre; follow us at Twitter.com/GoodmanTheatre; and peek behind the scenes at YouTube.com/TheGoodmanTheatre.

Fela! Review & Fela! On Tour-Afrobeat Orchestra Tonight At Lincoln Hall

Saturday, April 07 2012 10:00 PM
21+ $16.00

($18.00 Door)







ChiIL Live Shows was there for opening night of Fela! in Chicago at Oriental Theatre and we were blown away by the passion, the politics and the power of this Broadway Musical!  Tonight, you can hear the music Fela! is famous for, with members of the cast, The Fela Band and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra.    We'll be there to shoot the Lincoln Hall show tonight.   Lincoln Hall is 21+.   For the musical at Oriental Theatre, parents are strongly cautioned due to mature themes, political violence, drug use, and language.   The historical and political story of Fela! makes this musical a worthy "must see" for older teens and adults.


The sheer spectacle of the colorful costumes, choreography, phenomenal acting, and superior set design all contribute to make a lasting impression.  The wrenching drama of this oppression story is still timely today.  Fela's history is a story that should not be forgotten, told with such passion and joyful dance that patrons will hardly realize they're learning.   We particularly loved the execution of the dream scene, where Fela! visits his dead mother to seek her wisdom.




Fela! the Musical is playing at The Oriental Theatre through April 15th.   Highly recommended, whether you're a Fela fan or a newbie to the Afrobeat scene! 



FELA!, the joyous dance, theater, music spectacle, has thrilled
audiences in three continents. The Tony Award® winner, directed and
choreographed by Bill T. Jones explores the extravagant world of
Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti.
FELA! comes to Chicago's Oriental Theater
following its sold-out run at London's prestigious National Theatre
where The Guardian's Michael Billington exclaimed, "It breaks down
conventional barriers between stage and auditorium and joins passion and
politics. The dancing is ecstatic, the music lifts the spirits, and
the stage is alive with movement." After Ben Brantley of the New York
Times raved, "There should be dancing in the streets!" Bill T. Jones
earned a Tony Award® for Best Choreographer. He was also given the
Astaire Award and received a 2010 Kennedy Center Honor along with Oprah
Winfrey.


Ticket prices are $25 to $90.

Groups of 15 or more, now on sale!


Call 312-977-1710 or click here for tickets.


FELA!, the most critically acclaimed musical of the season,
received three 2010 Tony Awards®: Best Choreography, Best Costume Design
for a Musical and Best Sound Design of a Musical!
His story inspired a
nation. His music inspires the world. FELA! tells the true story of the
legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, whose soulful Afrobeat rhythms
ignited a generation. Motivated by his mother, a civil rights champion,
he defied a corrupt and oppressive military government and devoted his
life and music to the struggle for freedom and human dignity. FELA! is a
triumphant tale of courage, passion and love, featuring Fela Kuti’s
captivating music and the visionary direction and choreography of Tony
Award® winner Bill T. Jones. 

Fela! first came to life in 2000 when New Yorker, Stephen Hendel,
stumbled across a CD of the Nigerian firebrand, iconoclast,
rabble-rouser and composer of genius, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He was so
impressed with the music and with Fela’s keen sense of social justice
that he determined to create a theatre piece expressing the timeless and
universal message contained in how Fela committed his gift as a voice
for the disenfranchised.

In 2004 Steve Hendel joined forces with Tony Award-winning
choreographer, Bill T Jones, who he invited to direct the play. Bill
then brought in writer Jim Lewis and together the three set about
mounting a series of workshops, involving musicians, actors, dancers and
technicians. It soon became clear that attempting to compress the
entirety of Fela’s turbulent and event-filled life into a stage play was
impossible. They elected to create a painting; an ode to determination
and truth to power by concentrating on one short, highly-charged period
during the late seventies, using it as a vehicle through which to
present a prime example of commitment and courage and art used as an
expression of human dignity.

Fela had used his extraordinary big-band music as a medium in which
he created biting, satirical diatribes against the excesses of
successive military regimes in his native Nigeria. Any form of
injustice, oppression, mismanagement, corruption was fearlessly and
ferociously attacked, using eloquent harangues that specifically named
the perpetrators.
He had paid a steep price for his bravery in the face of powerful and
implacable enemies, with 200 arrests and countless beatings that left
scars all over his body. But even these beatings didn’t stop him. “Ah
well, they didn’t kill me”, he would proclaim as he wrote yet another
acerbic lyric and gave inflammatory quotes to the press.

Fela died in August 1997. AIDS, they said, but as far as those close
to him were concerned, he died of one beating too many. He was a giant
of a man, but a man nevertheless. The system can only take so much. One
million people attended his funeral.

His legacy was a testament of incredible courage, together with
almost 50 albums of music that are now available globally through
Knitting Factory Records. His message of transparency, honest government
and justice for all is still as relevant today as when it was when
first released 4 decades ago — not just in Nigeria but globally.
Inspired by Fela’s courage and incredible musical mastery, it
nevertheless took two years of development for the creative and
technical team to reach the stage where they were ready to begin
mounting the piece Off-Broadway at a New York theatre complex, 37 Arts.

They spent three months at 37 Arts perfecting the production before
they were ready to open “Fela! The Musical”. The show was an immediate
and unmitigated critical and public success. Celebrities flocked to see
the show; Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Christine Amanpour, Charlize
Theron, and countless others. The decision was taken to go to Broadway.

With the blessings of the Kuti family, in 2009 the show opened at the
Eugene O’Neill Theatre and with Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Will &
Jada Pinkett-Smith coming on board as Producers, over the next 15
months, played to half a million people. Celebrities kept coming;
Madonna, Denzel Washington, Ben Stiller, Mick Jagger, Sting, Harry
Belafonte, Spike Lee (8 times!) Kofi Annan and Michelle Obama, to name
but a few. 


The show received 11 Tony nominations and three Tony Awards
for Best Choreography, Best Costumes and Best Sound. In 2010, whilst
still on Broadway, a second company was formed to present a sold-out
season of performances at London’s prestigious Royal National Theatre.

Since its 15 month Tony Award-winning run on Broadway an amalgam
company was created from members of the American and European casts.

Audiences in their many hundreds of thousands on both sides of the
Atlantic, including a triumphal series of performances in Fela’s beloved
Lagos, have risen to their feet in admiration of the play’s ethos and
execution. We would be surprised if you would not do the same.

The show is currently on tour in the United States. Visit felaonbroadway.com to see the tour schedule. Don’t miss it!

Notable Quotes

“THE HOT (AND SERIOUSLY COOL) ENERGY that comes from the musical
gospel preached by the title character of FELA! Feels as if it could
stretch easily to the borders of Manhattan and then across a river or
two. There should be dancing in the streets!”
“FELA! Is as rowdy as it is rousing. (It) is one of the most ORIGINAL and EXCITING shows to come around in a long while.”
“A great humane and transcendental fable come to life, with
everything “fable” implies; MYTHIC, FABULOUS and a supreme lesson in
living, here supplied magisterially by choreographer BILL T. JONES and
his star, SAHR NGAUJAH.”
“FELA! RADIATES JOY.”
“FIVE STARS (out of five) FELA! Is more than a musical…an ECSTATIC PHENOMENON.”
“BILL T. JONES wildly loose-limbed journey into the throbbing heart of Afrobeat BREAKS BOLD NEW GROUND IN MUSICAL THEATRE.”
“There’s enough energy in the first act of FELA! to short circuit
Con Ed. It spills over from the stage and into the orchestra seats.
BOUNDLESS AND JOYOUS: This is as close as Broadway gets to fully
immersive theatre.”
* MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

MALARIA is THE leading cause of death in South Sudan among children under 5.   Broadway is teaming up with The United Nations' NothingButNets.Net to get the word out and send life-saving bed nets to protect refugee families fleeing conflict.   To date, Nothing But Nets has raised over $40 million to distribute more than 6 million nets to families throughout Africa.   Check out their site to learn more and donate today!   April 25th is World Malaria Day.   Help families sleep safely.   Send a net and save a life!

 
 

Friday, April 6, 2012

CIMMfest 2012 is Coming Up Fast!




CHICAGO PREMIERE OF QUEENS OF COUNTRY

WITH APPEARANCE BY LIZZY CAPLAN, JOE LO TRUGLIO, AND MORE, LAUNCHES

4TH ANNUAL CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL MOVIES & MUSIC FESTIVAL

AT VARIOUS VENUES AROUND CHICAGO, APRIL 12-15

Individual Tickets On-Sale Now!

ChiIL Live Shows will be there and have reviews and photo filled recaps all weekend.   The features in red are some of our favs.

The Chicago Premiere of Queens of Country with a special appearance by Lizzy Caplan, Joe Lo Truglio, and Matt Walsh; appearances by other filmmakers, actors, and musicians including Horatio Sanz, Irvine Welsh, and Bobby Bare Jr.; several World and U.S. Premieres; three film series: “British Invasion,” “Punk Around the World,” and “Always for Pleasure and More: Six Music Films by Les Blank”; a rare performance of “Rapper’s Delight” featuring Wonder Mike and Master Gee, founding members of The Sugarhill Gang; special events and live performances; and much more highlight the 4th Annual Chicago International Movies & Music Festival (CIMMfest). The four-day festival annually brings together filmmakers, musicians, and devotees from around the world for a celebration of movies and music at various venues around Chicago’s Wicker Park and Logan Square neighborhoods, including the recently renovated Logan Theatre, Thursday, April 12 – Sunday, April 15.


More than 50 films from over 20 countries will be screened including features, documentaries, shorts, concert films, animation, and music videos, all of which have music at their center. Supplementing the films will be live performances, numerous appearances by filmmakers and actors, incredible DJ/VJ events, a Rock Poster Show, panel discussions, and more. The complete schedule of films, events, and locations is available on www.CIMMfest.org.

“Now entering our fourth festival we are excited to showcase an even wider range of films and live performances, including Brit and Punk rock, Improv, and Broadway, all across Chicago’s vibrant Wicker Park and Logan Square neighborhoods,” said Josh Chicoine, CIMMfest Co-Director, with Ilko Davidov. “CIMMfest is unique in that we truly aim to highlight the crossover of film and song, shedding light on the interconnectedness of all people, around the world, through the lens of music and moving image. Along with our board of directors, partners, sponsors, friends and supporters, we are thrilled to be curating these amazing four days in April!”

Festival highlights include:

    •    This year’s Opening Night film will be the Chicago Premiere of Queens of Country (Dirs. Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke) at Wicker Park Arts Center, 2215 W. North Avenue, on Thursday, April 12 at 7pm. Starring Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls), Ron Livingston (Office Space), Joe Lo Truglio, and Matt Walsh, the film is about a spacey line-dancing queen who falls in love with the owner of a lost iPod because the music on it touches her soul, thus launching a deeply weird plot that leads to kidnappings, time travel, doppelgangers, and Joe Lo Truglio in a dress. Lizzy Caplan, Joe Lo Truglio, Matt Walsh, and directors Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke will be in attendance for a post show Q&A.


    •    Closing out this year’s festival will be the exclusive work-in-progress preview of Don’t Follow Me (I’m Lost): A Film about Bobby Bare Jr. (Dir. William Miller) at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, on Sunday, April 15 at 7pm. The film is a compelling look at the hard life of a touring musician who, despite his famous pedigree, still has to worry about feeding his family while trying to connect with his fans and follow his muse. Following the film will be a performance from “shit-hot honky-tonk” legend Lawrence Peters with his Outfit and then the film’s star, Bobby Bare Jr.


    •    A rare performance of “Rapper’s Delight” featuring Wonder Mike and Master Gee, founding members of The Sugarhill Gang, in support of the documentary, I Want My Name Back, at Wicker Park Arts Center on Friday, April 13 at 7pm. The film follows the rise, fall, and comeback of the band. Director Roger Paradiso will also be in town for a post-screening Q&A.


    •    The Chicago Premiere of High Road at the Logan Theatre on Friday, April 13 at 7pm, directed by Matt Walsh, founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. The film captures the disillusionment and resilience of the Millennial Generation and features several well known comedians. Lizzy Caplan, Horatio Sanz, Joe Lo Truglio, Zach Woods, and Joe Nunez will all be in attendance for the screening along with Walsh.


    •    The unique opportunity to see films screened with live music accompaniment, including Hubble’s Hubble and the Chicago Premiere of The Three Grace(s) Triptych (Dirs. Nicola Kuperus & Adam Lee Miller) at Wicker Park Arts Center on Friday, April 13, and the World Premiere of SciFiSol (Dir. Joseph Richard Lewis) at Wicker Park Arts Center on Saturday, April 14. Hubble’s Hubble at 9:30pm, pairs the minimalist, loop-based solo guitar music of Ben Greenburg with images from the world’s most famous telescope. Following, at 10:30pm, will be the The Three Grace(s) Triptych, accompanied live by ADULT, an avant-garde horror trilogy comprising three separate, but interconnected, short films—Decampment (2008), Traditions (2010), and Possession(s) (2011)—that reflect the dark, unsettling themes found in ADULT’s unique brand of dance music. SciFiSol, known as the first “silent movie super hero video game musical,” is about a lonely video game designer whose most recent creation starts to take over the world and will feature a live accompaniment by The Underground Multiplex and Melody Nife at 10:30pm. 


    •    Coming off successful showings at SXSW will be the Chicago Premieres of Charles Bradley: Soul of America (Dir. Poull Brien), at the Logan Theater on Friday, April 13 at 9pm, and Just Like Being There (Dir. Scout Shannon), at Wicker Park Arts Center on Sunday, April 15 at 3:15pm. Charles Bradley: Soul of America is the story of Charles Bradley and how at the age of 62 he reached a point where he could share his story and music with millions of listeners. Just Like Being There is a look at the expanding scene of rock show posters and the artists who make them including Daniel Danger, Jay Ryan, and local hero Steve Walters who designed the CIMMfest poster.


    •    The exclusive work-in-progress preview of Parallax Sounds (Dir. Augusto Contento), a contemplative film that examines the relationship between Chicago’s dynamic urban landscape and the trailblazing musicians who defined its underground sound from the 1990s into the future, at Wicker Park Arts Center on Saturday, April 14 at 5:30pm.


    •    A special presentation of Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy (Dir. Rob Heydon), a dark romantic comedy based on the controversial, bestselling book of the same name by Irvine Welsh, at Logan Theater on Friday, April 13 at 9:30pm. Director Rob Heydon and writer Irvine Welsh in person.


    •    A performance by the raucous, rowdy performance gang, Sister Spit, at Wicker Park Arts Center on Saturday, April 14 at 8pm. This multimedia explosion of taste-makers, novelists, luminaries, chanteuses, performance artists, poets and filmmakers will feature authors Michelle Tea (Valencia, Rent Girl) and Dorothy Allison (Bastard out of Carolina, Cavedweller), Mx Justin Vivian Bond, “the greatest cabaret artist of (v’s) generation” according to The New Yorker, and more!


    •    “British Invasion” featuring the World Premiere of This Band Is So Gorgeous! (Dir. Dunstan Bruce) at the Logan Theater on Saturday, April 14 at 1pm, about Sham 69, the first important UK punk outfit to play in the land of Mao and managed capitalism; the Chicago Premiere of The Beat Is the Law: Fanfare for the Common People (Dir. Eve Wood) at The Society for Arts on Saturday, April 14 at 9:15pm, which traces Pulp’s long, slow, remarkable rise against a backdrop of political and creative ferment in a city that battled with Thatcher and gave rise to industrial funk and house as well as Britpop’s misfit messiahs; and the Chicago Premiere of The Posters Came from the Walls (Dirs. Jeremy Deller & Nick Abrahams) at the Logan Theater on Saturday, April 14 at 11:15pm, highlighting the devout fan base of Depeche Mode.


    •    A film series focusing on niche genres such as “Punk Around the World” featuring the US Premieres of Pank: The Rise of Punk in Chile (Dir. Martín Núñez) at the Logan Theater on Sunday, April 15 at 1pm; Punk in Africa (Dir. Deon Maas, Keith Jones) at the Logan Theater on Sunday, April 15 at 3:15pm; Punk’s Not Dead (Dir. Vladimir Blazevski) at The Society for Arts on Saturday, April 14 at 5pm; and the Chicago Premiere Sons of Norway (Dir. Jens Lien) at The Society for Arts on Sunday, April 15 at 5:30pm.


    •    “Always for Pleasure and More: Six Music Films by Les Blank” featuring a six-film retrospective of the music documentaries of America’s greatest documentarian, Les Blank, at the Logan Theater. The films include: Ziveli! Medicine for the Heart (1987) and A Well Spent Life (1971) on Friday, April 13 at 7pm; Spend It All (1971) and Dry Wood (1973) on Saturday, April 14 at 5pm; and Dizzy Gillespie (1965) and Always for Pleasure (1978) on Saturday, April 14 at 9:30pm. Les Blank will be in attendance for all screenings.


    •    Three shorts programs: Shorts Program 1: Variety Is the Heart of CIMMfest featuring Two Sisters, Audiogram, Heart of Rhyme, Mo Kenny’s “Eden,” and Below New York at the Logan Theater on Saturday, April 14 at 1pm; Shorts Program 2: Roots-Rock Gods and Welshmen featuring Approximately Nels Cline, One Big Holiday, and a sneak preview of Joe Angio’s upcoming film Revenge of the Mekons at the Logan Theater on Saturday, April 14 at 3pm; and Shorts Program 3: North and South of the Border featuring Narcocorrido and Hamac Caziim at Wicker Park Arts Center on Sunday, April 15 at 1pm.


    •    The Chicago Premieres of Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet (Dir. Jesse Vile) at The Society for Arts on Friday, April 13 at 7pm, a documentary about legendary rock guitarist, Jason Becker, a child prodigy diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease who is still alive, writing music using his eyes; Louder Than Love: The Grande Ballroom Story (Dir. Tony D'Annunzio) at the Logan Theater on Saturday, April 14 at 3pm, the story of The Grande Ballroom, the epicenter of Detroit’s rock music scene in the late ‘60s, told by the artists who helped create the legend; Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA Riots (Dir. Mark Ford) at the Logan Theater on Saturday, April 14 at 7:15pm, a feature length documentary executive produced and narrated by hip hop legend Snoop Dogg that captures the connection between the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 and rap music; The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best (Dir. Ryan O’Nan) at the Logan Theater on Saturday, April 14 at 7:15pm, a multihyphenate road trip about Alex, a pathetically down-on-his luck singer-songwriter, who hits the road with a self-described “musical revolutionary”; Fluchkes (Dir. Ofer Inov), a feature documentary about an inspiring group of women artists in their 70’s who refuse to let age get in the way of their art at The Society for Arts on Sunday, April 15 at 1pm; One Night Stand (Dirs. Elisabeth Sperling & Trish Dalton) at the Logan Theater on Sunday, April 15 at 1pm, a documentary about the 24-hour musical festival in New York, featuring Rachel Dratch, Roger Bart, Nellie McKay, and Cheyenne Jackson; and more!


COMPETITION
For the fourth year, most films will be up for competition, with awards given to the Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary, Best Fictional Feature, Best Short Fiction, and Best Music Video. The esteemed jury consists of: Allison Anders (Filmmaker, Border Radio, Gas Food Lodging), Keirda Bahruth (Filmmaker, "Bob and the Monster", Best Doc at CIMMfest'11), Warren Cohen (Executive Producer, VH1 Rock Docs), Jon Langford (Artist/Musician), Marty Lennartz (WXRT Radio Personality), John McNaughton (Filmmaker, Mad Dogs and Glory), Dave Watson (MusicFilmWeb), and Irvine Welsh (Author, Trainspotting).


FESTIVAL TICKETS & VENUES
Single tickets are now on-sale and priced at $7-$10; most special events are $15. Concerts are priced by the venues. Tickets for all screenings and events are available at www.CIMMfest.org.

Festival venues include: Debonair Social Club (1575 N. Milwaukee), Double Door (1572 N. Milwaukee), Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia), The Logan Theater (2646 N. Milwaukee), Rodan (1530 N. Milwaukee), The Society for Arts (1112 N. Milwaukee), and Wicker Park Arts Center (2215 W. North Avenue).

The 2012 CIMMfest is sponsored by the DePaul School of Cinema and Interactive Media.

ABOUT CIMMFEST
The mission of the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival (CIMMfest) is to highlight the crossover of film and song through the production of an annual four-day, multi-venue festival in the city of Chicago. Ultimately, we strive to shed light on the interconnectedness of all people, around the world, shown through the lens of music and moving image, both recorded and performed live. All of the films screened at CIMMfest have music at their center: short and long form documentaries and narrative fiction; concert films; animation; music videos, along with related performances and concerts, art exhibits and panel discussions, presented at historic and famous venues around Chicago. Operating as a non-profit organization, we mean to provide a platform for filmmakers and musicians to present their vision and a connection point for like minded artists, directors, producers, fans, and aficionados to come together for a celebration of movies, music, and great times in the greatest city on earth -- Chicago! For more information or to get involved visit www.CIMMfest.org. CIMMfest is a 501C-3 organization.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

ACT OUT: Tunnel Rat Opening Tonight



Opening:





Tunnel Rat 4/5



A SOLDIER’S STORY IS TOLD BY GENESIS THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS’

U.S. PREMIER OF “TUNNEL RAT”




Tonight we'll be at the opening of Tunnel Rat with Ronnie
Giles, whose life inspired this story.
  We'll have a full review for you shortly.           

            In late 1965 after a run-in with the law, 17-year old Ronnie Giles was given the option of joining the Army....or going to jail. He chose the Army-and inevitably-Vietnam.  Because he was short, he was 'volunteered' to go into the Vietcong Tunnels in and around the jungles of Cu Chi.

            Ronnie’s experience in Vietnam forms the basis for “Tunnel Rat,” a U.S. premier by acclaimed Australian playwright Neil Cole.  With a rare, personal story about the war in Vietnam, “Tunnel Rat” explores, with humor and insight, the effects of PTSD on a young and naïve man.

                “Tunnel Rat” will be directed by Brian LeTraunik and features Stefanie Johnsen, Joyce Hshieh and Mark Shallow as Ronnie Giles.

            The technical crew includes Beth Bruins, Stage Manager, Nick Quinn, Set Design, Molly Krall, Costumes, Marly Wooster, Lighting Design,Andrew Dallas, Sound Design and Ashlee Edgemon, Movement.

            Genesis is proud to be  the first outside production to be presented at the National Pastime Theatre’s new home  in the Preston Bradley Center, 941 W. Lawrence, Chicago and opens on Thursday, April 5, 2012.  Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 7pm to April 29.  Tickets are $25.  




Tickets can be ordered online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/213189.  Group rates for 10 or more are available.  For more information call 773-327-7077.

            Discounts for active or retired members of the military are available at the box office only or by calling 773-327-7077.

            A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Ronnie Giles, whose life inspired this story, is a member of the ¾ Cavalry Association, VFW, Disabled American Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America.

Genesis Theatrical Productions wishes to thank the Australian Consulate of Chicago, the Vietnam Veterans of America and National Pastime Theater for their support of this production.




GENESIS THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS NFP, INC.

THEATER: REIMAGINED, REDEFINED, REINVENTED
 



Tuesday, April 3, 2012

CHI, IL FILM 2012: The Beginning --Sacred Maya Texts and Doomsday Date 12/21/12

 photo credit:   Chicago IONS


An exciting new documentary that a friend of ours edited will have its Chicago premier on Sunday April 15 at 3pm.   "2012: The Beginning" travels the world to examine what the Sacred Maya texts really say about the "doomsday" date of December 21, 2012.  Director Shannon Kring Buset will be there for a q&a after the screening.


Sunday, April 15 
3:00 PM to 5:30 PM


Chicago IONS Presents:
        "2012: The Beginning"  
         A WildHeart Vision Production
        directed by Shannon Kring Buset

Identified by the Maya nearly 1,400 years ago, the year 2012 has become the focus of great curiosity and debate.

Some believe it will bring catastrophic events.
Others, an era of enlightenment.
Or perhaps, as Jose Stevens suggested at our February program, it will contain both destruction and creation.

But what did the ancient Maya themselves believe?  In this new documentary film we travel the world to examine what the Sacred Maya texts really say.

Our journey is guided by noted archaeologists, scholars, and the living Maya, who take us into the field-to the very origins of the Maya Long Count Calendar-and into their lives and sacred ceremonies.  Together, these people from very different worlds shed light on a date that has long been shrouded in mystery and fear.
 
About Shannon Kring Buset, (Writer, Producer & Director):
 In 2007, Shannon Kring Buset was writer, executive producer, and co-star of an Emmy-winning PBS reality-cooking series. The author of award-winning cookbooks and owner of acclaimed restaurants and culinary schools, she walked away from it all and moved to a remote Maya Chorti' village on the Honduras-Guatemala border in 2008.. She brought with her three goals for inner achievement: to heal her heart, to reconnect with her spirituality, and to discover her higher purpose.

Grateful for having lived and worked alongside indigenous elders, spiritual luminaries, world leaders, and other awe-inspiring individuals in places as diverse as Indonesia, Finland, and India, and dedicated to inspiring others to embrace a more soulful existence, Shannon shares the teachings she's honored to carry to us.

Suggested Donation: $10 Doors Open: 2:45 p.m. 
Registration and light refreshments until 3:15 p.m.
Program begins promptly at 3:15 p.m. 

Location: Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago
at the intersection of Howard, Lincoln, and Skokie Hwy. 
(Free parking is available in the building's lot, as well as in the lot next door,(just east of the building), and at the former "Coffee Beanery" lot, just across Lincoln.)   Enter from the East Lot entrance.


Event Website: http://chicagoions.org/programs.html
About IONS: http://www.noetic.org/about/overview/

Exciting News and Philanthropy from Chi-Town Boys, The Shams Band



Here's the latest from one of ChiIL Live Show's local favs, The Shams Band.   They've got a new release coming out, a record fundraiser and a philanthropic project to give back to Chi-town.   Check it out.

Dear Friends and Family,

This summer, The Shams Band will be releasing our first full length vinyl record. Some very exciting music will be coming your way shortly! Leading up to our Record Fundraiser on May 10th at Subterranean, we are gathering friends to help us give back to our great city of Chicago!

Each Sunday, we will be volunteering a few hours of our time to clean the streets of Chicago.
We even created a PSA to help spread the word - CLEAN INTO LOVE - feel free to share on your networks to spread the word :) 

The reason we are doing this is to give back to the people of Chicago for lending us all their support thus far in our career! There is no better way to say "Thank You" than to donate our time to a cleaner city. If you're interested in joining us in the coming weeks, please let us know. We'll have some drinks after to celebrate a good days work.

Instead of creating a Kickstarter campaign, we encourage you to come out to our record fundraising concert on May 10th. It will only be $10 and it will provide us with the money needed to press vinyl records. This can cost us a couple thousand dollars.

Show information:

Thursday, May 10th at Subterranean
2011 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL, 60647
$10 | 21+ | Doors at 8:30
Reserve Your Ticket Today


Thank you very much for everything. We are very proud of this record, and we think you will be as well.

We look forward to seeing you on May 10th!

Love,

Doug, Donnie, Brian, Paul and Ben

http://www.theshamsband.com
http://www.facebook.com/theshamsband
http://www.twitter.com/theshamsband

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