ACT OUT EXTENDED: The Aliens at Red Orchid #Review

DUE TO TICKET DEMAND,

A RED ORCHID THEATRE EXTENDS THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF

THE ALIENS

Playwright, Annie Baker knows how to get inside your head.  She's not afraid of pauses, lengthy silence and OCD rants designed to make the audience squirm.   And once her plays get under your skin, they stay there.   Come see the highly recommended Chi-town premiere of The Aliens, now extended due to high ticket demand.   

ChiIL Live Shows caught opening night and we were blown away.  Context makes a huge difference in perception and pacing is everything.   If someone sits in meditation as a monk, they're revered and respected.   If someone does the same behind a dumpster, they're a bum.  A highly ritualized tea ceremony performed for enlightenment is derelict or desired, just because the who and where changes.   The Aliens truly takes you on a deep, tangent filled journey with it's troubled trio of entirely endearing characters.

This familiar journey of failed musicians, writers and intellectuals unfolds in a "secret garden" of barren land, behind the stinking dumpsters of the Green Sheep Coffee House.   It's striking and perfect that the friends hang out in back by choice, since they hate the conventional music and vibe inside.   They choose instead to create their own space, and rituals, mentally and physically, in the land outside.

We highly recommend catching The Aliens.   You'll never hear the word ladder the same way again.

The Chicago Premiere of The Aliens by Annie Baker Directed by Artistic Associate Shade Murray Featuring Ensemble Member Steve Haggard with Brad Akin and Michael Finley. January 17-March 16, 2013 Shows Thursday-Saturday at 8:00pm and Sunday at 3:00pm Click To Purchase Tickets or call the box office at (312) 943-8722

A Red Orchid Theatre announces new performance dates for its hit Chicago Premiere production of Annie Baker’s The Aliens, directed by Shade Murray.  Due to high ticket demand, the production is now extended through Saturday, March 16, 2013 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells. Tickets for the two-week extension are now on sale through the box office, (312) 943-8722 and www.aredorchidtheatre.org.

All day every day, two slackers hang out behind a coffee shop by the dumpsters.  These guys have elevated loitering to an almost Buddhist “tea ceremony” level, where music, Bukowski, sex, travel, philosophy, friendship, and ambition - or lack thereof - are intensely meditated upon while the busy world rushes by.  Enter a 17 year-old barista-cum-disciple, and so begins a summer where no one moves but everything changes. 

The Aliens features A Red Orchid Ensemble Member Steve Haggard (Jasper), with Brad Akin (KJ), and Michael Finley (Evan).

Title:               The Aliens

Written by:        Annie Baker

Directed by:      Artistic Associate Shade Murray

Featuring:         Ensemble Member Steve Haggard, with Brad Akin and Michael Finley

Dates:              

                                    Regular Run:               January 22 – March 3, 2013

           

EXTENSION:   Now extended through Saturday, March 16, 2013.

Schedule:         Thursdays:                  8:00 p.m.

                        Fridays:                       8:00 p.m.

                        Saturdays:                   8:00 p.m.         

Sundays:                     3:00 p.m.

Location:          A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells Ave.

Tickets:            $15 previews, $25-$30 regular run.  ($25 Thurs, $30 Fri-Sun),

$50 Red Night Opening & Reception on January 25 at 8 p.m.

Box Office:       Located at 1531 N. Wells Ave, Chicago, (312) 943-8722; or online www.aredorchidtheatre.org

About A Red Orchid

Since 1993 A Red Orchid Theatre has been an artistic mainstay of the Chicago theatre community; known and praised for its powerful ensemble, creative design and its gripping, intimate productions.  The resident Ensemble maintains the conviction that passionately committed theatre will draw passionately committed audiences, and the 2012-2013 subscription season promises to bring Ensemble and audience even closer together.

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Lance Baker, Dado, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Danny McCarthy, Brett Neveu, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers, Natalie West and Craig Wright.

Fela! Returns to Chicago TONIGHT 2/19 at Arie Crown 5 Nights Only #originallivephotos

ChiIL Live Shows Photos--The Fela Band and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra with cast members from the Broadway touring production of Fela! play Lincoln Hall in Chicago, April 2012.                                           In Chicago Feb 19-23:  Afrobeat Maverick Comes to Life in Striking Multimedia Performance FELA! We caught FELA! last year through Broadway in Chicago and highly recommend it.   We also had the great pleasure of catching the band from the show in a concert at Lincoln Hall during the run.    Our original LIVE show shots from LH are above.    Click here for our review of the show from last year. FELA! 02/20/2013 - 02/23/2013 Wed. Feb. 20 at 7:30 pm Thur. Feb. 21 at 7:30 pm Fri. Feb. 22 at 8:00 pm Sat. Feb 23 at 2:00 & 8:00 pm FELA! Five Performances only! Tickets range $85.00 to $20.00 Order Tickets Now!  If a song by the maverick founder of Afrobeat, Nigeria’s firebrand and musical revolutionary Fela Kuti, came to life, it would look like Fela!, on tour in the U.S. January through May 2013. A multifaceted performance rich with grooves, history, and visual intensity, Fela! chronicles the sonic evolution and politically defiant journey of one of Africa’s towering figures, from his musical beginnings to his unflinching opposition to government pressure and oppression.  To capture Kuti’s unorthodox, action-packed life, Fela!’s creators shied away from traditional clichés and approaches, creating a painting; an ode to determination and truth to power by concentrating on one short, highly-charged period during the late seventies, This vibrant snapshot—powered by the unflagging energy of an on-stage band (with members of Antibalas) and performers like Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child) and –is the perfect vehicle to present Fela’s commitment and courage, and to show how art can become a stunning expression of human dignity.                     Production Photos Credit:    Rameen Gasery Return of the Warrior: Fela! Channels Afrobeat Founder’s Uncompromising Complexity into a Music-Powered Show Every Tuesday, Fela Kuti would go to his Lagos club and main base of musical operations, The Shrine. There, before a core group of supporters and fans, the musical revolutionary and gifted composer would take questions and answer them, often using his radical responses and the crowd’s ideas as the seed of his next song. This passionate immediacy and heated dialogue—all seamlessly supported by Fela’s unmistakable sound, soulfully executed—pervades Fela!, on tour across the U.S. in the first half of 2013. Cities include DC, Chicago, LA, Miami, Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, Atlanta, Tucson, Cleveland, Charlotte NC, Tempe AZ, and Schenectady. Fela! is a vibrant embodiment of Kuti’s music, using sound and lyrics as a way to capture his wild, complex, no-compromise life. The show echoes the many sonic layers, visual elements, and personal dimensions of Fela’s work. Guided by the music and bursting with dynamic, visually engaging action, the show takes Afrobeat classics like “Zombie” and “Water No Get Enemy” and brings them to colorful, intense life. “I think of Fela as a returning warrior, somebody who has made his mark in another time, and now returned to our era, to us,” reflects director Bill T. Jones. “We are bringing him back to fresh eyes, as well as to eyes that are hungry to see him again, and hope that people will get truly excited about the music he made.” The show’s excitement flows from years of painstaking work and dedication to interpreting Fela’s ambitious art and complicated character. Instead of flashy biography, Fela! is a snapshot of a period in the 1970s when the musician faced some of his most trying hours. Spearheaded by a fan-turned-producer, Stephen Hendel, Fela! brought together diverse crew drawn from America’s burgeoning Afrobeat scene (members of Antibalas), from the American stage’s most respected names (Jones, for one), and from pop stardom (Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child so loved the show, she joined the cast). "He was James Brown, Bob Marley, and Malcolm X in one person. It single-handedly changed my life," explains ?uestlove, Fela! associate producer. “The trials and tribulations he went through socially, politically, creatively: It’s the story of making something into nothing. It’s a story that resonates with American hip hop.” Born into an elite family of Nigerian intellectuals and professionals, Fela Kuti went from mild-mannered music student to radical firebrand, melding edgy politics with deep grooves inspired by the likes of James Brown. Unafraid to butt heads with the government or face beatings, imprisonment, and persecutions, Fela relentlessly and courageously criticized the hypocrisy, corruption, and spiritual bankruptcy he saw around him in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, calling for black power and African pride, political accountability, and justice for the downtrodden. All while creating a musical sound so unique, it became a genre unto itself: Afrobeat. Citing composers like George Friedrich Handel as well as funk idols and African jazz greats as his biggest inspirations, Fela was an exacting composer and performer. “People don’t always remember that he spent five years at music school in London,” recounts Fela’s long-time friend and manager Rikki Stein. “He had a real grounding in classical music,, composition, and harmony, and he was so totally involved in every part of music making. When we had a sound check before a show, he’d tune every instrument himself. It was a four-hour job. He really cared about what was happening.” The creators and performers of Fela! strive to follow Fela’s challenging, demanding lead. The bandleader and composer never settled for anything less than total musical precision and on-stage perfection, from dancers to horn section. Fela cared because music, according to Fela, was the weapon. It is also the foundation of Fela!. By breaking down and transcribing dozens of songs from Fela’s 50-album repertoire, Fela! Musical Director and Antibalas trombonist Aaron Johnson found a musical thread that united Fela’s diverse tracks. “This is clave music,” explains Johnson, noting the persistent pulse that runs throughout Fela’s songs. “The music is structured, with all its layers and complex rhythmic language, on the clave line that runs throughout. The patterns may vary from song to song, but that basis lets you jump into another song relatively easily.” Eschewing more traditional musical theater sounds, the team kept Fela’s red-hot, urgent vocal delivery and striking female call-and-reponse choruses, while supporting the emerging narrative of Fela’s inner life by finding a broad range of emotional expression and new instrumentation for Fela’s distinctive melodies. (A haunting vocal line sung by Fela’s mother originated in a sax line from one of his songs.) “To support the story, we really played with instrumentation. It took a lot of trial and error to get it right. We had to drop the drums here, the guitars there, to vary it and create some peaks and valleys.”    Production Photo Credit:    Bernard Matussiere Fela’s life was rife with peaks, valleys, and paradoxes, moments captured dynamically in Fela!. Adored by fans, Fela was persecuted by the authorities. Authoritarian to his band, he called for liberty and freedom of thought. Known for his sexual forthrightness and dozens of wives, his lifestyle seemingly overshadowed his intellectual prowess and true commitment to improving people’s lives. “Fela always said his real inspiration for music came from sex,” Stein recalls. “But he read a lot. He had a huge library and really knew his stuff. Those ideas would then develop into a song.” A million mourners attended his funeral in Lagos when he passed in the late 1997, However, though widely respected worldwide by the musical elite and though his records sold in the millions throughout Africa, Fela’s work remained relatively obscure, never achieving the impact that should have put him in the global ranks of icons like Bob Marley or Malcolm X. Fela!,by keeping to its subject’s high standards and musical grit, has helped ease the Afrobeat master’s return to his rightful place as internationally respected musical trailblazer and composer. Johnson and the Fela! crew's painstaking work has paid off, and their creative input in the show maintained its subject’s exacting standards. Fela! has been seen by millions on three continents, attaining public accolades and critical acclaim from both theater circles and die-hard Afrobeat fans.  “Afrobeat is really the only genre you can trace back to one artist,” Johnson notes. “The most important thing for me in this whole process was it had to feel real, legit. I want the Afrobeat audience to say, ‘Yes, this holds water.’ To know that the music worked. That’s why we went to the source.” Production Photo Credit:    Bernard Matussiere Click here for show dates, times and info or to order your tickets in advance.

TONIGHT: The Steak House Mints Album Release Party at Martyrs'

ChiIL Live Shows will be there...will YOU?!    Chicago’s The Steak House Mints will celebrate the release of their new album, Love Songs for Prostitutes, with a show at Martyrs’ on Friday, Feb. 15: http://www.martyrslive.com/fri-feb-15-830pm-8
We'll be there shooting stills & we'll have a full review of their new album for you here soon as well.

21+
Only $8
Check 'em out!

Here's their main web site for more info.

LIVE Streaming FREE Tributosaurus Becomes The Band & The Beatles

Hey Everybody,

Here at ChiIL Live Shows/ ChiIL Mama, we dig Tributosaurus.   They rock!   These wacky musicians play out as different, excellent bands all the time....constantly morphing and changing.   They also do one of our favorite things...play kids show by day and adult shows by night!    Check 'em out.

Tributosaurus is trying something brand new-- streaming the show tonight on the web, for free, as a little experiment.  There's no substitute for seeing a live band in a live venue, but for those of you who cannot make it out tonight but would like to see a little of the show, you can use the links below. 

The first is for tonight at 9PM-Tributosaurus Becomes The Band, the other is for the Kid's Beatles show tomorrow at noon.  

The Band Show : http://tributosaurus.com/l/3oc9nb/10111269;http://gigity.tv/event/935/

9PM tonight

Kids Show : http://tributosaurus.com/l/b0j79s/10111269;http://gigity.tv/event/936/

Noon tomorrow

Let us know how it goes!

TONIGHT-Emilie Autumn at Metro (all ages) #originalshowshots

ChiIL Live Shows original shots-Emilie Autumn at House of Blues, Chicago.   Click here for our full review of that show.

There are still a few tickets left for 
An Evening with...

EMILIE AUTUMN

BUY TIX

Friday February 15

Rescheduled (All Tickets for 10/31 Will Be Honored)

• $18 adv - $21 day of
• Doors: 7PM / Show: 8PM-10PM
• All Ages 

We've been promoting Emilie Autumn's Metro appearance for months, before and after her Halloween show was postponed.   But today is finally the day!  Click here for some of our past coverage.

World-class violinist. Fashion icon. Famously bipolar. The list goes on, but one thing is certain: We're talking about Emilie Autumn. With world tours, glossy magazine covers, and guest spots on the albums of such artists as Courtney Love (with whom she performed on Leno and Letterman), Otep, Billy Corgan, and TV's 'Metalocalypse' under her corset strings, Emilie Autumn's devilishly dark lyrics, metal-shredding violin solos, 





pink-glittered pasties, and industrial-strength voice reinvent "gothic" for the masses, and goths have never had so much fun.






More akin to a Broadway musical than a standard rock performance, the Los Angeles-born starlet's highly theatrical stage show is a sexy circus of glam-rock burlesque, backed by a scantily-clad girl band known to EA's devoted fans as the Bloody Crumpets.





 

Featuring EA's signature electric violin pyrotechnics, heartbreakingly lush orchestrations, hard-core beats, and menacing lyrics growled with enough intensity to make your hair stand on end, the resulting noise is a harpsichord-heavy romp through Victorian asylums where screaming is allowed and girls always get revenge.    

Nick Waterhouse Photo Recap #originalshowshots #R&B

ChiIL Live Shows caught Nick Waterhouse LIVE at Lincoln Hall 10/10/12 above and again at Metro on Valentine's Day 2013.

Nick Waterhouse is old school R & B with a modern twist, and he puts on an excellent, memorable live show.  We especially dug the dual saxaphones with the keyboard player doubling on the 2nd sax.   The whole band knows how to bring it.  

We bought tickets to the Metro show instead of working Valentine's Day, so I didn't shoot last night.   But we have our 10/10 shots from Lincoln Hall for you.

 

Both shows were too sweet to ignore, and we highly recommend you keep an ear out for their next swing through town.





His debut is my husband's absolute favorite 2012 release and pretty high on my own list as well, despite the wide variety of genres we review and enjoy personally.   Nick Waterhouse is truly one to watch.

Check out his main site here.

Everything about Nick Waterhouse started with a single 45. Nick Waterhouse, who signs his own name across a righteous and exhilarating part of American music with this debut LP, snapped together from sessions traded for rent money and desperate favors and succeeding through strange luck, particular personality and a vision that would not crack. 



When he made that first 45 by himself, he was hoping less to launch a musical career than to bury the possibility with dignity. In his suburban hometown, there’d never been music like this, and when he moved to the big city for school, no one could be bothered to care about music like this, so he recorded his song simply to prove that he could record his song. 

That “Some Place” 45 on his own label Pres—put together with something barely more than a pick-up band of 20-something kids sold half its press in a single night in the winter of 2010, and so made itself known to the people who needed to know, in that quiet nighttime way certain records have done for decades.

By mid-2011, he was signed to a label and after three more swoops through engineer Mike McHugh’s studio the Distillery, where of course powerful spirits are made, he’d found Time’s All Gone.

Amazon says:   Nick Waterhouse is the New Breed - An R&B fanatic who combines an uncanny old-school sensibility and with a charged, contemporary style. Having just turned 25, he joins the ranks of similar acts and producers of recent times - Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones, Mayer Hawthorne, Aloe Blacc et al -- that are all moving forward into the past, yet all quite different. 

For Waterhouse, his muse is the over-modulated sound of vintage '50s R&B and Rebel Rock n' Roll. His take on such a time-honored tradition evokes the back-alley thrill of New Orleans, Detroit and Memphis in their heyday. He combines an astute attention to detail recording on all vintage equipment with an honest desire to match the emotional impact of the music that inspires him.