Back By Popular Demand

By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 6, 2006 6:00PM

Back in Chicago by popular demand are two shows everyone raved about the first time around. Or more accurately, a show inspiring lots of people to geek out and a show perfect for sociology geeks.

Returning to the Museum of Science and Industry is Game On: The History, Culture and Future of VideoGames, now reborn as Game On 2.0. This massively popular exhibit invites visitors to learn how games shape our culture and vice versa, to follow their evolution from Atari 2600 to Xbox, and then to kick some ass in Dig Dug and Zelda. Their collection is impressive, so the MSI expects a new round of massive crowds looking to blow off steam after cramming thousands of years of history into their craniums. Or possibly to skip the history lesson entirely and play Asteroids.

Returning to the stage next month for its first “resident commercial Chicago run” (read: “it’ll play ‘till we’ve milked it to death or get sick of it”) is Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’ Tony-Award winning Urinetown. Bypassing the glitzy Broadway in Chicago lights for the homey Mercury Theater, this curious hit musical pits an angry proletariat against the greedy bastards who would charge them for the privilege of using the toilet during a water shortage. Riots and laugh riots ensue. The homecoming of sorts for Hollman and Kotis (veterans of the New Tuners Theater and Neo-Futurists, respectively) will test this show’s legs three years after its initial hype while inspiring a new wave of bathroom humor among theater journalists.

Game On 2.0 is at the Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive. General admission ranges from $6.25 - $11, discounts available for city residents. More information at www.msichicago.org.

Previews for Urinetown begin March 15 for a March 26 opening at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N Southport Ave. More information at www.urinetown.com.

Image via The Atari Shop.