OPENING: The Mousetrap at Northlight Theatre

Act Out:  Chicago Theatre openings, closings, reviews, giveaways, ticket sale dates and more. 

Chi, IL Live Shows on stage and on our radar.

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we adore a good mystery and The Mousetrap is the world's longest running play (now at 62 years on London’s West End), written by one of the finest masters of the craft, renowned mystery writer Agatha Christie.

We'll be there for opening night tonight, so check back for our full review shortly. Northlight is a long running favorite of ours for stellar production values and excellent casting choices. Book your tickets before they disappear like the guests of Monkswell Manor!

On a snowy night at Monkswell Manor, newlyweds Mollie and Giles welcome a group of strangers to their guest house, only to discover news of a murderer in their midst! A police investigation reveals the sordid details of each guest’s mysterious past, but not soon enough to stop the killer from striking again. Agatha Christie’s masterful whodunit weaves an intricate plot filled with nerve-rattling suspense, all leading up to the ultimate final twist!

The Mousetrap

PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL BROSILOW

The cast of The Mousetrap includes Greg Matthew Anderson (Det. Sgt. Trotter), Patrick Clear (Major Metcalf), Joey deBettencourt (Christopher Wren), Joe Dempsey (Mr. Paravincini), Laura T. Fisher (Mrs. Boyle), Keith Neagle (Giles Ralston), Lindsey Pearlman (Miss Casewell) and Cora Vander Broek (Mollie Ralston).

Title:  The Mousetrap

Written by: Agatha Christie

Directed by: Jonathan Berry

         

Featuring:                 Greg Matthew Anderson, Patrick Clear, Joey deBettencourt, Joe Dempsey, Laura T. Fisher, Keith Neagle, Lindsey Pearlman and Cora Vander Broek.

         

                         

            

           Dates:  Regular run: November 15 – December 14, 2014

          Schedule:  Tuesdays: 7:30pm (except Nov. 18 and Dec. 2)

                           Wednesdays: 1:00pm (except Dec. 10) and 7:30pm (except Nov. 26)

                           Thursdays: 7:30pm (except Nov. 27)

                           Fridays: 8:00pm (except Opening on Nov. 14 at 7:30pm)

                           Saturdays: 2:30pm (except Nov. 8) and 8:00pm

                           Sundays: 2:30pm and 7:00pm (except Nov. 16 and 23 and Dec. 14)

Open Captioned   Sunday, December 7 at 7:00pm

Performance:

Location:  Northlight Theatre is located at the North Shore

                             Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd,

                             Skokie

Tickets:                   

                              Regular run: $25-$78

                             Student tickets are $15, any performance

(subject to availability)

Box Office:              The Box Office is located at 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie.

                                    847.673.6300; northlight.org

INCOMING: Quinn Tsan Debut EP Release at Constellation 11/14 (18+)

Chicago singer-songwriter Quinn Tsan will celebrate the release of her debut EP, Good Winter, with a show at Constellation on Friday, Nov. 14. Passerines and Kelsey Wild will be on hand to open the show.

Quinn Tsan

Passerines

Kelsey Wild

FRI, NOVEMBER 14, 2014

9:30 PM

$10.00

QUINN TSAN

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, singer/songwriter Quinn Tsan began playing music in 2008 when she relocated to Chicago, IL to sing back-up for Joe Pug. Classically trained in dance though always having an affinity for music, Tsan quickly immersed herself in the local scene, going on to sing with Sarah Holtschlag, Rachele Eve, Johnny Lewis, and Sima Cunningham, among others. This performance will celebrate the release of her debut EP, Good Winter. 

"precise and sweetly comforting, deliberate while staying endearing, all while showing off a knack for mood-building that most young acts don't develop so quickly."

PASSERINES

Passerines is a Chicago based music group that weaves together aspects of chamber music, indie folk, and r&b.

KELSEY WIL

Born: 1990 in Honolulu USA
Piano lessons: 1996-2002
Writing music since 2004

I have a cat, a dog, a goldfish named Nancy Kerrigan. I like to roller skate, I have a scar on my left index finger from a box-cutter, I love coffee, I hate licorice, and I don't like to dance except when the music's good and I'm with friends who are also bad at dancing. 
I love to play and write music, but not all the time. It's a relationship with highs and lows, plagued by doubt and frustration but always good enough to keep going. I read an essay by Ray Bradbury once about how art is created because of the artist's ego, and I think that's true. I try to find other reasons so I don't feel so guilty.

I like the ocean and I like to walk places.

https://www.facebook.com/quinntsanmusic

https://soundcloud.com/come-virgil-music/sets/good-winter

SAVE THE DATE: "Mearra - Selkie From the Sea” at Old Town School Sunday 12/7 (6+) #FamilyFriendly

Chicago singer-songwriter Linda Marie Smith will be presenting the multimedia show "Mearra - Selkie From the Sea” at the Old Town School on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3PM.

This family-friendly performance features Smith's adaptation of a classic Celtic tale told with original songs and performed with a six piece orchestra playing along to projected animation. 

In this re-imagined story, Mearra, a mythical seal, makes use of her magical ability to transform into a human being, marries Ian, a lonely fisherman and eventually starts a family; knowing all the while she must inevitably return to the sea as a seal, or perish. The characters experience love, loss and transformation while emotionally charged music, beautiful stage lighting and evocative projected imagery all come together to make for an unforgettable multi-media concert experience.

This show comes to life on the heels of Smith's successful previous multi-media music production The Triumph of Artemisia. Smith's unique vocal style has a folk rock sensibility and her music has been described as romantic, soulful and earthy; her lyrics and melodies weave colorful stories of intriguing people and curious places. 

She received honorable mention in the Billboard Songwriting Contest, has co-produced and performed in two of the acclaimed Michael Smith's musical productions, teaches at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and has been recognized by the Illinois Arts Council in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Sunday, December 7, 2014  ♦  3:00 PM

Linda Marie Smith presents

Mearra - Selkie from the Sea

Recommended for Ages 6+

4544 N Lincoln Ave · Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall · 773.728.6000

• $18 General Public
• $16 Members

Click here to purchase tickets & for more details.

http://www.lindamsmith.com/mearra/

INCOMING: 10th Annual Barn Dance Apocalypse, featuring The Golden Horse Ranch Band (17+)

Chi, IL Live Shows on Our Radar

10th Annual Barn Dance Apocalypse, featuring The Golden Horse Ranch Band, at Thalia Hall on Saturday, Nov. 8.

What began as a gathering of friends at Open End/Av Aerie has grown into huge crowds at unique and undisclosed locations around Chicago. After taking a tour of the unfinished Thalia Hall in 2013, The Golden Horse Ranch Band knew this old dancehall would be the perfect location for the 10th annual Barn Dance Apocalypse.

Third generation square dance caller Annie Coleman summons her roots of calling dances at her grandparents dude ranch, after which the band is named. While the band plays street festivals, city-sponsored events, and weddings year-round, the real deal is the Barn Dance Apocalypse. It's loud, wild, and loaded with love, with a strong queer following. Friends and lovers have met and a beautiful community of friends has been built.

This is the band's first ever public Barn Dance. In the past, the underground spaces have filled to the brim quickly, and a big crowd is expected for this exciting event at Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport in Chicago, on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 8PM CST.

http://www.goldenhorseranch.com/

FOO FIGHTERS CONFIRM ALL-CHICAGO ALL-STAR WRIGLEY FIELD LINE-UP CHEAP TRICK, NAKED RAYGUN & URGE OVERKILL TO SUPPORT ON SATURDAY AUGUST 29

TICKETS ON SALE 10am CT MONDAY, OCTOBER 27 Foofighters.com Pre-Sales Begin 10am CT October 24 Sonic Highways Out November 10 on Roswell/RCA

Fresh off the critically lauded, ratings smash Chicago-centric debut of their HBO series Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways and a packed to the gills premiere shindig at Wrigleyville’s Cubby Bear, Foo Fighters have confirmed the Windy City as the site of the band’s first ever U.S. stadium headline show: On August 29, 2015, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear will return to the same neighborhood where Grohl saw his first ever live show, this time to play the storied Wrigley Field.

And now it has been confirmed that Foo Fighters’ Wrigley extravaganza will feature a day-long multigenerational celebration of Chicago’s musical heritage: Kings of the Chicago underground Urge Overkill will open the festivities, followed by Naked Raygun a/k/a the band that played that same Cubby Bear gig that was teenage Dave Grohl’s first live show. In the penultimate spot will be the local and international multi-platinum legends Cheap Trick, whose Rick Nielsen both appears in the Sonic Highways series and contributes his unmistakable guitar tones to the album’s lead track and current Rolling Stone Playlist #1 “Something From Nothing."

Tickets for Foo Fighters’ historic Wrigley Field stand will be on sale to the public Monday, October 27 at 10am CT at cubs.com/foo, with fan club pre-sales beginning 10am CT Friday, October 24 and running through 5pm CT Sunday, October 26. A 4 ticket limit for the general admission floor, and 6 ticket limit for the reserved sections will be strictly enforced.

For further information stay tuned to foofighters.com

OPENING: The triumphant all-American opera returns to Lyric -- The Gershwins’Porgy and Bess

The triumphant all-American opera returns to Lyric

The Gershwins’

Porgy and Bess

by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin

Opens Monday, November 17 at Lyric Opera

13 performances through December 20

Lyric

Photo Credit: Dan Rest

Lyric Opera is a favorite of ours here at ChiIL Mama/ChiIL Live Shows. Their immense talent pool, lavish sets, and ability to make the rarified world of opera accessible and interesting to novices and aficionados alike, are nothing short of impressive. The 2014 season continues in the same vein with this familiar Gershwin score – including jazz standards “Summertime,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’” and “Oh Lord, I’m On My Way”. This production is a great way for jazz fans to be introduced to opera or for opera fans to hear classic jazz/musical theater work in a new way.

Eric Owens, SFO 

Photo Credit: Terrence McCarthy  

Lyric Opera of Chicago presents the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess in a revival of the acclaimed production from renowned director Francesca Zambello, conducted by Ward Stare. It opens on Monday, November 17 with 13 performances through Saturday, December 20. Performance dates are Nov. 17, 19, Dec. 2, 5, 8, 13, 16, and 20 at 7:30pm; and Nov. 23, 26, 28, Dec.11 and 18 at 2pm.

Hailed by innumerable critics as the greatest American opera, George Gershwin’s masterpiece of 1935 has lyrics by Ira Gershwin (the composer’s brother) and Dorothy Heyward, and a libretto by Mrs. Heyward’s husband, DuBose Heyward. The opera is based on the 1927 Broadway play Porgy by Mr. and Mrs. Heyward and Mr. Heyward’s own novel of the same name, written in 1924.

Onstage in the opera Porgy and Bess, an entire community comes to life: the fictitious tenement called Catfish Row on the shore of Charleston, South Carolina. It is there that the lame Porgy (bass-baritone Eric Owens) meets and falls in love with the sultry Bess (soprano Adina Aaron, Lyric debut), girlfriend of the hulking Crown (baritone Eric Greene). Bess leaves Crown to live with Porgy but is susceptible to the drugs (“happy dust”) offered her by the devious Sportin’ Life (tenor Jermaine Smith). The cast also includes soprano Karen Slack (Lyric debut) as the devout Serena, soprano Hlengiwe Mhkwanazi (Lyric debut) as the endearing young mother Clara, contralto Gwendolyn Brown as the earthy Maria, and baritone Norman Garrett (Lyric debut) as Clara’s warmhearted husband Jake.

Porgy and Bess will be conducted by Ward Stare and directed by Francesca Zambello.  Peter J. Davison is set designer, Paul Tazewell is costume designer, Mark McCullough is lighting designer, Michael Black is chorus master, and Denni Sayers is choreographer and associate director.  

Says Anthony Freud, Lyric’s general director, “Lyric had such a great success with the company premiere of Porgy and Bess during the 2008-09 season that we decided to bring this magnificent work back for further performances in Francesca Zambello’s vibrant, revelatory production. Ward Stare conducts an almost totally new cast, including the incomparable Eric Owens in the title role.”

Eric Greene, Lyric 

Photo Credit: Dan Rest

Starring

Eric Owens, Adina Aaron, Jermaine Smith, Eric Greene, Karen Slack,

Hlengiwe Mkhwanazi, Norman Garrett, Gwendolyn Brown

Ward Stare/conductor, Francesca Zambello/ director,

Peter J. Davison/sets, Paul Tazewell/costumes, Mark McCullough/lighting,

Michael Black/chorus master, Denni Sayers/choreographer

For tickets and information call (312) 827-5600 or go to lyricopera.org/porgy. Watch video and read articles about this production at lyricopera.org/InsidePorgy.

Follow the conversation on Twitter: #LyricPorgy.

The Nov. 17 opening night performance will be broadcast live on 98.7WFMT and streamed on wfmt.com starting at 7:15pm. For those listening to the broadcast, live mobile titles will be available at lyricoperalive.org.

Lyric Opera presentation.  Generous sponsors are the Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust, The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, Cherryl T. Thomas and Adrmore Associates, and Roberta L. and Robert J. Washlow, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Production owned by Washington National Opera.

Operagoers can also enjoy the exhibit DON GIOVANNI: Past to Present before curtain and during intermission of all Lyric performances. Located in the Opera Club Wine Cellar on the lower level of the Civic Opera House, this new exhibit showcases the 60-year history of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Lyric and pays tribute to Lyric’s brand-new production. It is free to all ticket holders and will on display through December.

About Lyric

Founded in 1954, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s mission is to express and promote the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great opera. Lyric exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to Chicago and the nation, and to advance the development of the art form.

Lyric is dedicated to producing and performing consistently thrilling, entertaining, and thought-provoking opera with a balanced repertoire of core classics, lesser-known masterpieces, and new works; to creating an innovative and wide-ranging program of community engagement and educational activities; and to developing exceptional emerging operatic talent.

Under the leadership of general director Anthony Freud, music director Sir Andrew Davis, and creative consultant Renée Fleming, Lyric strives to become the great North American Opera Company for the 21st century: a globally significant arts organization embodying the core values of excellence, relevance, and fiscal responsibility.

HELP LOCALLY: Razorhouse To Headline Yoga for Recovery benefit at the Lincoln Tap Room 10/23

Chi, IL Live Shows on Our Radar

Chicago’s Razorhouse will headline a Yoga for Recovery benefit at the Lincoln Tap Room on Thursday, Oct. 23, and drop the single “Girl Like a Hand Grenade” on Nov. 11, 2014. 

Come Out and Support A Great Cause!
- $5 Tecate & Cuervo Silver shot
- $4 Fat Tire pints
- $2 Hamms & Strohs cans
- $4 Fireball shots
- $5 Absolut cocktails
- $5 PBR Bottle and Jameson shot

http://www.lincolntaproom.com/events.html