Lots and Lots of Looptopia

By Jocelyn Geboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 10, 2007 5:21PM

Well, we've been hearing about Looptopia for awhile. A big overnight festival held in the Loop, blah blah. We didn't think too much about it. We pretty much dismiss the Loop after 5 p.m. and give it up for lost on the weekends. Looptopia is obviously working hard to change all that. It's going on this Friday through early Saturday morning and since we're going to be down there, we decided to check out the schedule. Holy crap. This thing looks like a Loop Lollapalooza. So, we decided to tell you what we're interested in. Take some of our suggestions or go to Looptopia yourself!! We're pretty excited now.

Music:
We think it's funny that Tim Tuten has his own listing as Master of Ceremonies at Daley Plaza. We have enjoyed his varied introductions, rants, speeches and public proferrings in the past, but is he his own spectacle? Maybe. Some of the acts he'll be overseeing that we'll want to see are Bobby Conn from 8:00-8:30 p.m., The Ponys from 8:45-9:30 p.m., and Mucca Pazza from 9:45-10:15 p.m.

Film:
Over at the Gene Siskel Film Center, there will be some short films being shown as well as some Oscar Shorts. This will be from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Dance:
There's a variety of dancers, with two different bellydance troupes -- Jezebelly and Read My Hips. We always love bellydancers.

Visual Art:
The Art Institute has free general admission and there are lots of tours all night. Two tours that particularly interest us are the Decadent Delights tour at 9:30 p.m. and the Dreams and Nightmares tour at 10:30 p.m. The North Garden will have fruit installations (?) and atmospheric lighting. Cool.

Theater:
Chemically Imbalanced is an improv group that will take the worst theatrical review and do the show the way they think the critic would have rather seen the show. They'll be in the Chase Tower Auditorium from 9:00 - 9:45 p.m.

At the Goodman Theatre from 10:00 - Midnight, there will be a presentation of seven plays in Susan-Lori Parks' "play a day" series called 365 Days/365 Nights . These short plays will be uniquely staged "in a loop" in spaces not traditionally used for performance at the Goodman.

Activities/Discussions/Readings:
There will be flashlight tours of the Chicago Cultural Center from 4:30 - 5:00 a.m. with the city's cultural historian. How cool is that!? It's from 10:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m is a chance to chill with the Windy City Knitting Guild in a late night craft circle. There will also be some Midnight Yoga to candelight with live music from 11:00 p.m. -- 12 a.m.

If you've got the need for some zzzz's, you can go crash at the Family Sleepover and Children's Night at the Harold Washington Library. It goes from 7:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.

Spectacle:
From 6:30 - 7:30 pm, nationally renowned jump rope artists Rope Warrior will wow audiences with high-energy tricks and audience participation over at One South Dearborn.

Right after Rope Warrior, Redmoon Theater will perform in one of the from 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. in one of seven large-scale installations throughout the Loop. created specifically for Looptopia. There will be roving special effects machines, whimsical site installation, and a culminating grand spectacle event.

Macy's (The store you love to hate):
They'll have MCA live art in the windows from 5:00-10:00 p.m. and will host Club Looptopia from 8:00 p.m. to midnight in 7 on State. They'll be DJ music and Killer Spin Ping Pong.

Other:
We don't know how these guys just get put under "other," but we are NOT missing TJ and Dave from 12:00-1 a.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center. Whoo! This is truly the improvisation that Chicago is famous for, and these two gentlemen are the best of the best.

If we weren't going to be learning and laughing with TJ and Dave, we'd be silently contemplating at the Taize Service at the sanctuary in First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple. Held at the same time as TJ and Dave, this service will replicate "the contemplative worship services that have grown out of the Protestant monastic community in Taize, France." It's a candlelit service with meditative music, Scripture readings and moments of silence and reflection.

We're already a little overwhelmed, so if you want cell updates about what's the latest at Looptopia, you can sign up for that here.