Amalia Pica Art Exhibition Opening

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Julia Fuhst Posted in Around Town, Visual Arts | 1 Comment

Amalia Pica is an Argentinian-based artist based in London, who uses drawings, sculptures, large-scale photographic prints, slide projections, live performances, and installations to explore metaphor, communication, and civic participation.

The Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition, Amalia Pica, is her first solo museum show in the United States containing fifteen of her most significant works from the last seven years. Using simple, everyday materials, Pica creates beautiful art that addresses some fundamental issues of communication.

The exhibit runs from April 27 through August 11, with gallery hours on Tuesdays from 10AM-8PM and Wednesday-Sunday from 10AM-5PM at 220 East Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611.

By The Way, Meet Vera Stark at the Goodman

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Jaela Hall Posted in Around Town, Theatre | Comments Off

Pulitzer Prize winner, Lynn Nottage, fearlessly exhumes the world of old Hollywood in her latest play, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, a smooth satire deemed as “not-to-be-missed” by Vogue. This “sharp-toothed comedy” (The Wall Street Journal) offers a glimpse into the life of Vera Stark, a determined African American actress who begins a career in film during the 1930s, where in that time, her only shot at success laid in stealing small scenes in big Hollywood blockbusters.

It is seventy years later where film buffs and the Hollywood elite, alike, are left to reflect on the life and legacy of this controversial star, whose eventual fame and fortune came at the price of perpetuating dangerous stereotypes. Though adamantly hysterical and touching, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark still doesn’t fail to dig up the all the dusty controversy of classic Hollywood that had been swept under the rug for so long. In this gripping production, the overt cultural climate that shaped the work of this “screen queen” into what became a legacy, prompts the question of who she might have been if not for the fickle elements of timing and luck.

For more information on the production, click here.

The Building Stage’s Final Show

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Jaela Hall Posted in Around Town | Comments Off

After eight years of presenting original, ensemble-created works in our West Loop venue, The Building Stage will close for good at the end of April 2013.

Over the years, The Building Stage has built a notable reputation for skillfully adapting and reinventing classic tales, like their 2011 award-winning Moby-Dick. It seems that old habits die hard when looking to the characteristics of their final show: Don Quixote.

In this production, the company puts its whimsical spin on the Spanish Golden Age masterpiece originally created by Miguel de Cervantes. The comic adventures of Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho, are transformed into a personal and poetic exploration into “the cost of dreaming” as the two set out into the unknown on an impossible quest.

A cast of six men and women wearing fake beards, riding imaginary horses, and playing ukuleles comes to fashion this delightful tale of misadventure. The final showing will be on April 27th. For full information about the performance, visit The Building Stage’s website. To purchase tickets, click here.