Friday 5/9 – Thursday 5/15
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10 SATURDAY The rock band and visual spectacle known as P1xel and the Chronic Network is unveiling its eponymous glam-inspired rock opera on the roof of a parking garage at 55th and South Ellis tonight because, according to the singer, guitarist, and University of Chicago student who calls himself P1xel, “there is not one single adequate rock venue in all of Hyde Park.” The 12-song cycle concerns a robot, P1xel, who’s unhappy with his lot in a future society and wants to travel back in time–against the advice of his cohorts. It’ll be performed tonight at 9 as part of the U. of C.’s free Festival of the Arts, which runs through Friday, May 16. For more information see fota.uchicago.edu or call 773-771-4574.
11 SUNDAY Chicago’s Cycling Sisters was founded in 2001 to encourage more women to ride bikes around the city. The group’s goals range from helping women find functional yet stylish cycling clothes to decreasing the incidence of “butt-pinching and ‘hey-babying’ by 100 percent.” The group kicks off a summer of rides, workshops, and other events today with a free Mother’s Day ride that starts at noon at Daley Plaza at Dearborn and Washington and ends at the Garfield Park Conservatory. The pace will be “leisurely.” For more call 773-252-8102.
14 WEDNESDAY For their 1995-’96 collaboration, Odyssey, the Dutch team of choreographer Beppie Blankert and composer Louis Andriessen combined music and movement with the words of Molly Bloom, from James Joyce’s Ulysses, to tell Homer’s tale of Odysseus’s ten-year journey back to his wife from the point of view of Penelope. The latest version of the piece–featuring four local singers, three Dutch dancers, and one actress–opens tonight at 8 on the waterfront at Wolf Point (Orleans and the Chicago River). The run continues through Sunday, May 18; tonight’s performance will be followed by a free postshow discussion. Tickets are $22; call 312-397-4010 for more.
