Weekend Arts Roundup

By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 10, 2007 3:01PM

Here's what happened while a punk rock choir distracted us from Doomsday:

• Fall arts season preview season is here. If you didn’t pick up a Reader over the weekend, you can still bookmark their A & E preview online. The Trib’s writers chose their 10 most promising in theater, art, dance, music (rock and otherwise), comedy and architecture. The Bright One previews Broadway in Chicago and upcoming rock concerts and CDs (remember those?). New City Chicago caters to our short attention spans. Time Out Chicago’s Fall Preview is so last week—they profiled the new kids at Steppenwolf, the inside scoop on newish comedy venues, and Jasper Johns at the Art Institute.
• Last weekend was one of the year’s busiest for Chicago art folk. More than 50 city galleries and art spaces opened shows Friday night. Art Institute students descended en masse onto Peoria Street and a quieter but no less enthusiastic crowd circulated around River North. We’ll post our impressions later in the week.

• Local arts professionals have likely seen this plea for Blago to restore the $7 million in funding he cut from the Illinois Arts Council (chaired by Shirley Madigan, wife of House Speaker Michael Madigan, which we’re sure has nothing to do with the cuts…). It’s a must-read for those who believe investment in the arts and arts education is vital for Illinois’ economic and cultural vitality. Talking points for your angry letter to the Guv are here.

• September 22 is the postmark deadline for Curtain Call’s American Harmony Prize competition, a new celebration of musical theater diversity. They’re looking for “a new musical that dramatizes an aspect of the experience of Black Americans.” Winning entry earns its playwright $250 and will be performed, abridged, in Stamford, CT, next year. If you think you’ve got the ear and the vision, go read the rules and finish that score.

• The race is tightening as Impress These Apes heads into Week 7. Kristen Studard’s in first, leading by one point over Jarrad Apperson, who’s leading by one point over Erin Pallesen. Friend of Chicagoist Margaret Hicks is further back, but it still looks like anyone’s game. For the final two rounds, contestants will perform a sideshow routine and then have free reign to impress the primates (anything goes… within reason).
  

Image via Gallery 40000