DECEMBER
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Forget the crummy script for Jammin’ With Pops at Apple Tree Theatre; forget the attempts at acting based on it. If this is what it takes to get Felicia Fields and Joe Plummer to team up on two dozen Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Arm-strong songs, I can get past it. Director Chuck Smith asked Fields and Plummer to sing “in the style of” Fitzgerald and Armstrong, and they do it superbly, aided by a mellow onstage trio led by pianist and musical director Francesco Milioto. Essentially cabaret with a great set (by Keith Pitts), it’s a nice change of pace from the usual holiday fare. Performances are Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 5 and 8:30, Sundays at 3 (with an additional show at 7 on December 28 and January 4), and Wednesdays at 7:30 (no show Christmas Eve) through January 4; tickets are $38. On the 31st there’ll be special performances at 6 and 9:30; tickets are $50. Call 847-432-4335 for more information.
American Theater Company hopes to make its production of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play–which is meant to be performed onstage with live sound effects and an ensemble of six–a holiday tradition. But though audience members are encouraged to sing “Auld Lang Syne” with the cast, artistic director Damon Kiely promises not to “clamp you to your seats and make you drink eggnog and sing carols.” The show, adapted by Joe Landry from the movie’s screenplay, opened Thursday, December 18, and continues through Sunday, December 21, at the ATC, 1909 W. Byron in Chicago. Tonight’s performance is at 8 and will be followed by nog, cookies, and caroling–if you’re so inclined. The suggested donation for adults is $15 plus a canned food item (to be given to the Common Pantry), $10 for children. Call 773-929-5009 or see www.atcweb.org for more information.
Jim Sikora’s 1998 film Rock & Roll Punk tells the story of the rise and fall of a band called the Out-Patients whose members were once outpatients at an Elgin mental hospital. In a twist on the expected narrative, however, things go downhill once the perpetually stoned musicians go straight. Written and produced by former SST Records manager Joe Carducci, with appearances by indie icons David Yow, Steve Albini, John Haggerty, and Dave Pajo, the film will be shown tonight at 5 and Tuesday night at 8 (and again at 8 on Tuesday, December 30) at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State in Chicago. Tickets are $8; call 312-846-2800 or see www.siskelfilmcenter.org for more information.
24 WEDNESDAY
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Laurie Savin, Jim Caufield, courtesy Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.
