NOVEMBER
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Eat at home and get there early remain the two best tips for enjoying the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, which finishes up a 12-day run this weekend at the Allstate Arena before moving on to Chicago’s United Center. Three Ring Adventure, the interactive show that starts an hour before the main performance, is a must-see, offering first-rate clowning and the chance to get a wet, powerful smooch from Asia the elephant. The formal show, this year said to be inspired by the film Moulin Rouge but looking a lot like Cirque de Soleil, substitutes kites for floats in the parade and fills a hunk of time with Broadway-style musical numbers. Still, there’s enough of the old-fashioned circus to satisfy: dogs, ponies, tigers, acrobats, and trapeze artists, plus six spinning motorcycles in the Globe of Death and a don’t-try-this-at-home flaming cannon shoot. Food and souvenir prices are stiff (cotton candy is $8 at the food stands, $10 in the seats), but tickets can still be a bargain, ranging from $10.50 to $50. Performances are tonight at 7:30; Saturday, November 15, at 11:30, 3:30, and 7:30; and Sunday, November 16, at 1 and 5. The arena’s at 6920 N. Mannheim in Rosemont; call 847-635-6601 for information, and 312-559-1212 for tickets.
15 SATURDAY
17 MONDAY
The Bush administration’s recent ban on certain late-term abortions is likely to wind up in the Supreme Court–where Roe v. Wade “hangs by a thread,” according to the four national women’s groups sponsoring this spring’s pro-choice demonstration in D.C. There will be a local planning meeting for the April 25, 2004, March for Freedom of Choice, which organizers hope will be the largest such march on Washington ever, tonight at 5:30 at Planned Parenthood, 18 S. Michigan in Chicago, on the sixth floor. For more information call 312-592-6800 or see www.marchforchoice.org.
