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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Chicago Cultural Plan 2012 Released

Here at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows, we value Chicago's arts and culture.   The city's theatre, music and arts scene are what make this diverse city wonderful and world class.   After a downward spiral of budget cuts, evaporating grants and arts job losses, finally the city has a plan.    Check it out.

Chicago Cultural Plan 2012 Released
A Vision for Strengthening Arts and Culture in Chicago
The City of Chicago has released the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012, the first new plan for strengthening the city's arts and cultural sector in more than 25 years. The new plan fulfills one of the key initiatives identified by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's arts transition team and will serve as the centerpiece planning document for enhancing Chicago's reputation for creativity, innovation and excellence in the arts. The final plan and executive summary can be downloaded at www.chicagoculturalplan2012.org or www.cityofchicago.org/DCASE.

The League of Chicago Theatres has already weighed in with their support here:

The League of Chicago Theatres congratulates Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Michelle Boone and the City of Chicago on the unveiling of the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012.  The plan, the first of its kind in 25 years, is a visionary tool for supporting and enhancing theatre, arts and culture in the City.

“We are thrilled that the plan dedicates the resources of the City of Chicago to our thriving cultural industries and looks towards the arts as a catalyst for innovation,” says Deb Clapp, Executive Director of the League of Chicago Theatres.

"Bravo to the City of Chicago!  The Cultural Plan of Chicago allows for our over 250 theatres, as well as Chicago educators and the greater cultural community, to travel on a defined road map - a map that clearly honors and supports our work as well as celebrating and trumpeting Chicago's greatest assets to the world.  This plan gives all of Chicago, in every neighborhood, the opportunity to access an amazing array of theatre and culture," comments Eileen LaCario, Chair of the League of Chicago Theatres and Vice President of Broadway In Chicago.

About Chicago theater
Chicago theater is the leader in the U.S. with more than 250 theaters throughout Chicagoland, comprising a rich and varied community ranging from storefront, non-union theaters to the most renowned resident theaters in the country, including 5 which have been honored with Regional Tony Awards, and the largest touring Broadway organization in the nation. Chicago’s theaters serve 5 million audience members annually and have a combined budget of more than $250 million. Chicago produces and/or presents more world premieres annually than any other city in the nation. In 2009-10 alone Chicago theater companies produced more than 130 world premiere productions and adaptations. Each year Chicago theaters send new work to resident theaters across the country, to Broadway, and around the world. 

The League of Chicago Theatres’ Mission Statement
The League of Chicago Theatres is an alliance of theaters which leverages its collective strength to promote, support and advocate for Chicago's theater industry locally, nationally and internationally. The League of Chicago Theatres Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the art of theater in the Chicago area through audience development and support services for theaters and theater professionals.

For a comprehensive list of Chicago productions, visit the League of Chicago Theatres website, www.chicagoplays.com.  Discounted tickets are available atwww.hottix.com.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Great Chi-Town Family Friendly Ticket Give Aways & Winning Wednesdays #giveaways

Fall into free fall fun with ChiIL Mama's Winning Wednesdays


ChiIL Mama has a full plate of fun fall give aways.   Our free kindie concert and theatre tickets are for our Chicago readers (or for you if you can get yourself to Chicago for the show).    


Here's a run down of ALL our current give aways.   Remember....check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often!   Entry is easy and winning rocks.



Chicago Tickets:







4 tickets to Harold and the Purple Crayon at Chicago Children's Theatre (theatre ages 3+)  Enter through midnight 10/16.




*check out our past coverage and click here to enter to win tickets.








4 tickets to Six Stories Tall at Adventure Stage Theatre (theatre ages 8+)  Enter through midnight 11/2.

*check out our past coverage and enter to win tickets here.







4 tickets to Beat Kitchen's Concerts for kids
(kindie rock)-ChiIL Mama has free tixs to EVERY show.  New winner announced every Friday.  
New winner announced every Friday (ongoing).


Show are aimed at birth through 10 with parents, every Sunday at noon in Chicago's Roscoe Village neighborhood.   Bands vary weekly.   


ChiIL Mama is stoked to be back again as media sponsor for the series.   Check here and on ChiIL Mama's YouTube Channel for 175+ original band video interviews & live show footage.   We have loads of kindie music reviews, new release news and free give aways!

   

*Check out our past coverage and enter to win tickets here every week.   All October Beat Kitchen Concerts for Kids shows are open for entries right now.






4 tickets to Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus Presents Dragons!   Enter through midnight 10/21.


*Enter to win tickets here and check out our past coverage. 













4 tickets to ChiTAG(Chicago Toy & Game Fair)-new winner announced every Wednesday leading up to the fair/6 total.


*Check out our past coverage and enter early and often to win tickets here.  We have 6 family 4 packs and will announce new winners weekly!


There's an autumn chill in the air, and loads of rockin' fun to be had.  So get out to see family friendly theatre or rock out at a kindie concert.  ChiIL out with ChiIL Mama and be sure to check back like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often for the latest entertainment news, photo & video filled reviews, great give aways and more.

Dig Dragons? Win 4 Free Tickets to Ringling Bro. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Dragons #giveaway #ChiRingling

All of our readers are winners.   Enter the code MOM for discount tickets.   


We're circus freaks.  Our kids have been performing with CircEsteem for two years now, learning everything from aerial arts and juggling, to clowning, Spanish Web, Chinese Pole and more!   So our family live and breaths circus, and we freak out and get super excited when the pros come to town.   


What's better than circus?   DRAGON themed circus!!!!    Oh yeah.  We seriously can NOT wait to see them bring it for 2012--Year of the Dragon.  It's a lucky year for the Chinese and lucky for us, too, cause we've seen some amazing dragon themed shows already...with more to come.


What's better than DRAGON themed circus?   Winning free tickets from ChiIL Mama!  Enter through midnight 10/21.


Once again, we'll be giving away a family 4 pack of tickets to one of our lucky readers.   Winner can pick 4 tickets to either opening night at Allstate Arena Thursday Nov. 1 at 7:00pm, or Friday Nov. 2 at 10:30am at Allstate Arena, or Friday Nov. 14 at 7pm at United Center.


*Wait 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 or "a Rafflecopter giveaway link" and it should pop right up).   Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to FELD for once again providing us with review tickets, special pre-show opportunities & 4 tickets for our give away.


Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents DRAGONS is a once in a
millennium event that honors The Year of the Dragon. Circus performers
from the farthest reaches of the earth have assembled for Ringling
Bros.® Presents Dragons to showcase their astounding acts of bravery and
astonishing athleticism. Ringling Bros. Ringmaster Johnathan Lee
Iverson presides over this fantastical celebratory tournament of circus
champions that brings together mystic dragon lore with authentic circus
feats. Dragons is a never-before-seen blend of renowned spiritual and
real life legends that can be found only at The Greatest Show On
Earth®! 






Ringling Bros® and Barnum & Bailey Presents DRAGONS





Allstate Arena: Nov. 1-11, 2012

Prices: 
Circus Celebrity - $90 
Front Row – weekend =$60 / weekday = $50
VIP - $40
P1 – $25
P2 – $19
P3 - $13
**Circus Celebrity seats sell out early, with 20+ minutes where you and your family become a part of the show on the Arena floor.   Act fast if that's of interest.


Schedule: 
Thursday – 7:00
Friday – 10:30, 7:00
Saturday – 11:30, 3:30, 7:30
Sunday – 1:00, 5:00
Wednesday thru Friday – 7:00
Saturday – 11:30, 3:30, 7:30
Sunday - 1:00, 5:00



Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.

NOV. 1
NOV. 2
NOV. 3
NOV. 4


10:30 AM
11:30 AM




3:30 PM
1:00 PM

7:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:30 PM
5:00 PM
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.
NOV. 7
NOV. 8
NOV. 9
NOV. 10
NOV. 11



11:30 AM




3:30 PM
1:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:30 PM
5:00 PM


United Center:  Nov. 14-25, 2012
Prices: 
Circus Celebrity - $90
Front Row – weekend =$60 / weekday = $50
VIP - $40
P1 – $25
P2 – $19
P3 - $13

Schedule: 
Wednesday – 7:00
Thursday & Friday – 10:30, 7:00
Saturday – 11:30, 3:30, 7:30
Sunday – 1:00, 5:00
Tuesday – 7:00
Wednesday –2:00, 7:00
Friday  & Saturday – 11:30, 3:30, 7:30
Sunday - 1:00, 5:00


Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun

NOV. 14
NOV. 15
NOV. 16
NOV. 17
NOV. 18


10:30 AM
10:30 AM
11:30 AM





3:30 PM
1:00 PM

7:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:30 PM
5:00 PM
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.
NOV. 20
NOV. 21
NOV. 22
NOV. 23
NOV. 24
NOV. 25

2:00 PM

11:30 AM
11:30 AM




3:30 PM
3:30 PM
1:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:00 PM

7:00 PM
7:30 PM
5:00 PM








  • Doors open an hour prior to each performance ALL tickets holders are invited down to the arena floor for the FREE ALL ACCESS PRE-SHOW Power Up Party!!  Arrive early and bring your cameras for a chance to meet your favorite performers and animals.





The anticipation builds throughout Ringling Bros. Presents DRAGONS as Children Of All Ages bear witness to one phenomenal Ringling Bros. circus act after another, from Shaolin Kung Fu Warriors, charging Cossack riders, magnificent Asian elephants, fierce tigers to the frenzied Globe of Steel. As the audience observes these and even more real world displays that pay tribute to the dragon, their continued excitement will bring glimpses of the elusive beast. But, the big question remains; what will it take to lure a true dragon from its golden lair? 

Ringling Bros. Presents DRAGONS opens with the All Access Pre-show available to all ticket holders. Families can join Pre-show Host Andre McClain and participate in interactive experiences such as learning juggling and balancing skills, get performer autographs, see one of Ringling Bros. majestic Asian elephant’s paint a one-of-a-kind masterpiece and meet the Ringling Bros. Clowns, whose side-splitting spoofs, absurd antics and comical parody are guaranteed to keep audiences roaring with laughter!



Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey searched far and wide, from north to south and east to west, to bring audiences spellbinding acts, including:
  • The Shaolin Warriors, from China, eintense and fearless Kung Fu martial arts dating back to the 5th Century. Trained at an early age to become masters of their discipline, the Shaolin Warriors demonstrate powerful concentration and skill by using rapid movements and the sheer strength of their own bodies to twist eight foot long metal rods; break six foot long wooden poles in one precise strike; or be lifted seven feet in the air on the points of five handheld spears. Not even 16 steel blades rotating within a metal ring of fire can unnerve the steady mind of a Shaolin Warrior as he jumps through the razor-sharp blaze blindfolded!

  • The Riders of the Wind, a dozen of the most deftly-balancing Cossack riders, charge into the ring on their thoroughbred horses, displaying great strength and amazing dexterity. The equestrian acrobat riders perform intricate maneuvers on horseback, including a double-man pyramid that builds to a remarkable Roman riding five-man high pyramid, all while the horses are galloping at full speed!






  • The Globe of Steel features the Torres Family who will shatter all records by putting eightfamily members on specialized motorcycles. Once locked inside a 16-foot steel globe, all together they will orbit at an unprecedented 65 miles per hour within inches of each other.

  • Hailing from Great Britain and appearing in the United States for the first time, Alexander Lacey, trainer and award winning presenter, along with his big cats including tigers and lions, summons brazen bravadoand valor in one mixed cat display. Lacey’s fearless command of the big cats’ agility and strength demonstrates unconditional respect between man and predator.


  • Featured in a dazzling aerial display, Viktoriya Medeiros and Widny Neves, the Hair Hang Heroines ascend 35-feet in the air from just the strands of their long dark hair. Relying on the pure strength of their hair, they juggle, flip and even spiral down a silk chiffon!  

  • The Flying Caceres,with their double decker high trapeze specifically for Ringling Bros., will soar elegantly through the air at The Greatest Show On Earth. will present the wildly difficult forward triple somersault and in the first worldwide attempt, troupe leader George Caceres will undertake a full twisting double bar-to-bar somersault.



Lions....and tigers....and DRAGONS?!   OH MY!




  • A whimsical, heartwarming and awe inspiring display of showmanship brings an animal menagerie from 10 pounds to 10,000 pounds only found at Ringling Bros. DRAGONS. Treasured Ringling Bros. Asian elephants, the largest herd of any circus in North America, are presented in an incredible spectacle of majestic wonder and strength. Andre McClainpresents a charming display of mixed hoofstock including horses,ponies, mini-donkeys, goats; Hans Klose his ten high-energy rescue dogsdisplay their animal athleticism by high jumping, hurdling, back flipping, walking on their hind legs and even diving from 16 feet up in the air; and, Mayyaand Andriy Panfilovamaze as their troupe of performing domestic felinesscale a “kitty low wire,” balance on top of balls, jump through hula hoops and walk across parallel bars only using their front paws.

  • In a friendly tournament of Russian Bar Renegades and Teeterboard Titans, two amazing acrobatic troupes attempt to outdo one another as they vault from a 12-foot-long, six-inch-wide Russian bar showcasing an overwhelming series of flips, twists and somersaults sequences. These athletes will astonish as they ramp it up by securing themselves to six-foot-tall stilts before being launched from the teeterboard, executing not a just single, not even a double, but an unbelievable triple somersault!

Roaring through the arena sky is the dueling double motorcycle high-wire!  Hearts will pound as two daredevil riders race their motorcycles on specially designed high-wires suspended 30 feet over the audience. Precariously poised from each bike are beautiful aerialists who feed the flames of excitement with flips and spins all while on the moving bikes!

All Access Pre-show Descriptions:

Don’t miss DRAGONS, all-new circus entertainment from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®! Arrive an hour early and meet our animals and performers at the All Access Pre-show Power-up Party – free with your ticket!

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® DRAGONS! goers can meet some of Ringling Bros.majestic animals, see a pachyderm paint a portrait and learn more about Ringling Bros. commitment to elephant conservation at the All Access Pre-show―Free with your ticket! Playing Allstate Arena Nov. 1-11 and united Center Nov. 14-25.  Get your tickets today at Ringling.com.

An hour before show time, audiences can join Ringling Bros.talented performers and learn new circus skillsthe All Access Pre-show, FREE with your ticket! Audience members can get up close and personal with Ringling Bros. performers to take photos, get autographs and learn circus skills at the All Access Pre-show. 

Playing Allstate Arena Nov. 1-11 and united Center Nov. 14-25.  Get your tickets today at Ringling.com.



Click here for sweet show videos, behind the scenes fun and more details.     





I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows and opportunities to attend private Feld pre -Show events.  


Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine

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