Niles Herald-Spectator

Initiative celebrates new realities for dance

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:49:31 -0600

Dance fans have the chance to see three rare collaborations at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. Six acclaimed Chicago dance companies, with distinctly different styles, have paired up as part of the New Stages for Dance Initiative. The North Shore Center is one of five venues hosting eight collaborations. The others are the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Ruth Page Center for the Arts. “I love the idea of collaborating with Chicago arts companies,” said North Shore Center General Manager Michael Pauken. …

For your consideration

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:49:30 -0600

A quartet of activities for the coming week

New this week on video

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:12:20 -0600

Shakespeare turns out to have been a bit of a poser in the historical drama “Anonymous” and Santa Claus turns out to be a bit of a stoner in “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.”

BFF ‘Divas’ in concert at Northlight

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:30:00 -0600

The best of friends off stage, “The 3 Divas” have finally found a way to put their chemistry to work for an audience. Don’t let the name fool you, though. “The diva thing is tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek,” said Susie McMonagle, who will share the stage with her pals Heidi Kettenring and Christine Sherrill during the threesome’s concert performance Valentine’s Day evening at Northlight Theatre in Skokie. “It’s kind of funny that we’re calling ourselves the divas, because we’re so not. We’re going to be singing some really hard songs and just belting them out, so that qualifies — but there’s no attitude …

BFF ‘Divas’ in concert at Northlight

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:54:02 -0600

Park Ridge orchestra salutes romance

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:38:47 -0600

Love and discovery are the themes of the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra’s “Valentine Romance” concert on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m. at the Pickwick Theatre. Love, of course, because Valentine’s Day is nigh, and in the immortal words of Shakespeare, “If music be the food of love, play on.” The PRCO will perform suites from two monumental works, Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and Prokofiev’s “Romeo & Juliet, Opus 64.” And discovery, with the world premiere of “Likht un Shotn (Light and Shadow),” a klezmer concertante composed by violist Daniel Golden, who is in his eighth year with the …

Charlene Brooks offers a Streisand valentine

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:39:03 -0600

Barbra Streisand taught Charlene Brooks how to sing. That’s the multitalented Skokie performer’s story and she’s sticking to it. “I was a latchkey child so I was home alone a lot. My parents had their own business and they both worked all day,” Brooks related. She filled her time listening to several of her parents’ record albums repeatedly. One was Streisand’s “Funny Girl.” “I had a little tape recorder,” Brooks said. “I would listen to her music and then I would stop every phrase or two and record it until I thought I had got it just right. Then I’d …

Burning dialogue doesn’t warm up ‘Hesperia’s’ plot

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:52:01 -0600

Do a quick Google on “born again porn stars” and you’ll find there’s a surprising number of Evangelicals who gave up so-called sins of the flesh upon finding Jesus. Yet despite its grounding in an apparently not uncommon phenomenon, Randall Colburn’s “Hesperia” strains credulity. The story of sex workers striving to make new lives in a wholesome heartland far from Hollywood’s den of flesh-peddling iniquities has the marks of a writer gifted in dialogue and able to see intense depths in characters all too often played as stereotypes. Still, the Writers’ Theatre remount of a script seen in a Right …

Chicago a cappella sings spirituals in Evanston

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:39:16 -0600

“Wade in the Water” is the name of one of the more well-known African-American spirituals, and it is also the title of the latest concert from Chicago a cappella. Chicago a cappella performs at 8 p.m. Feb. 11 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Some of the selections will be familiar to those who frequent Chicago a cappella concerts; others are brand new, said director Jonathan Miller. “The most exciting thing about this program from a new music point of view is that we have several world premieres on this program,” he said. New work Grammy Award-winning arranger …

Circle puts on McNally’s ‘Ritz’

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:39:30 -0600

Circle Theatre puts quirky characters, dance numbers, and an imaginative, yet sticky situation on stage when performing Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally’s “The Ritz.” “It’s a fun, wacky farce,” said Bob Knuth, director and set designer for the production. “It’s a comedy that keeps moving. Some people will actually be intrigued by the fact that people are running around in bathrobes and towels, and the play itself is written so well.” Set in the 1970s, the play begins at the deathbed of Carmine Vespucci’s father, when the dying man commands his son to kill Guy Proclo. Knowing “the hit” is …

Arts and entertainment calendar for Feb. 9

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:39:47 -0600

Stage “Black Pearl Sings!”, through Feb. 19 at Northlight Theatre, located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie. Featuring a cappella renditions of rare American folk songs, the play tells the Depression-era story of two women dependent on one another to gain acceptance in a divided society. Performances on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. (except Feb. 19). Tickets: $25-$60. Tickets for those 25 and under are $10, subject to …

New troupe offers magic of ‘Bell, Book and Candle’

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:46:24 -0600

Paradise Playhouse presents a bewitching tale of tricks and treats with its production of the rarely produced “Bell, Book, and Candle” by John Van Druten at Oak Park’s Open Door Theatre, Feb. 10-26. “It’s a great show,” said director Jim Leonard. “For a lot of people this is going to be a new experience. It’s going to be like seeing a brand new show, which is nice. It’s something they’re not used to seeing.” The story takes place in 1950s New York City and follows Gillian Holroyd, who happens to be a witch. She’s a thoroughly modern one but not …

Parenting can be murder

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:50:00 -0600

For William Landay, 48, of Boston, writing a book was on his “bucket list.” It’s very much a goal he can cross out and consider a done deal now. “At age 30, I decided to begin writing fiction just to see if I could do it,” said Landay. “When I sold the first book, I ended up getting two new book deals, and that’s how I became a (full-time) writer.” His debut novel, Mission Flats, won the Creasey Memorial Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel and was also a Barry Award nominee. Landay’s second book, The Strangler, was named …

Acrofabulous to fire up Skokie audiences

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:14:03 -0600

Fire-breathing performers are among the attractions at the Acrofabulous Spectacular Saturday. Also, Kenyan music, dance and acrobatics, a family concert in Northfield and a dance party in Niles.

For your consideration

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:48:28 -0600

A quartet of activities for the coming week

Art pops up in Evanston

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:43:01 -0600

A “Pop Up Art Show,” hosted by Chicago area art gallerist Joy Horwich and her daughters, Jill Bernstein of Highland Park and Penny Keeshin of Deerfield, from Feb. 7-19 in the storefront at 1627 Chicago Ave., Evanston. The gallery will be open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily during the show. It will feature for sale one-of-a-kind fine art created by well known Chicago area and out-of-state artists. Among them are Deborah Eppstein and Jack Kreig (both of Evanston), Judith Roth, Laurie Rubin, Chuck Wickler, Mark McMahon, Gary Weidner, Gretchen Sigmund, Joyce and Steve Rebora, Rebecca Zemans, Eileen Neill, Eric Jensen, Nina …