The Fear Haunted House at Navy Pier is open! (Chicago)

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	The Fear Haunted House October 10-14, 17-20, 24-27 and 30-31 Chicago’s only mega haunt – The Fear – returns to Navy Pier, brought to you by the producers of Statesville Haunted Prison. The Fear dares you to visit 18 terrifying rooms filled with ghoulish creatures at nearly every turn. The Fear is open at 7 p.m. Thursdays – Sundays plus October 30 and 31. There’s also a special lights-on, low scare daytime tour on Saturdays and Sundays plus Columbus Day from Noon to 5 p.m.
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More Halloween Fun The Fear Haunted House is complemented by other Halloween activities throughout October including fire spinners, music and 500-pound pumpkin carving. Then on October 26, enjoy spooktacular Fireworks at 9:30 p.m. plus Costume Contests for adults and children. Kids in costume under 12 are welcome to trick-or-treat on October 26, 27 and 31 with candy provided by Ferrara Candy Company.		Gravity: An IMAX 3D Experience On a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes and the shuttle is destroyed – leaving two astronauts played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney - completely alone, tethered to nothing but each other in this heart-pounding thriller.		Mo’ Crawl benefitting Movember Show off your mustache or faux-stache while enjoying drink specials, entertainment and supporting Movember on November 9 from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at seven participating locations throughout Navy Pier! Beers include Bud Light, Goose Island Drafts and Craft Beers as well as Goose Island Specialty and Rare Beers. Tickets include entry to the Mo’ Crawl, T-shirt, drink ticket and more.
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Cyrano De Bergerac Enduring tale and homage to poetry, love and panache that tells the story of the nobleman whose gift for romance is shadowed by his all-too-prominent nose, now playing through November 10 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.		Chicago Fine Chocolate & Dessert Show Experience the world of chocolate from the finest hand-painted artisan bars and uniquely-flavored truffles to decadent chocolate cakes, tarts, mousses and more, October 18 – 20 in Festival Hall. Tickets are available for $25.		SOFA CHICAGO SOFA CHICAGO, the world’s foremost fair devoted to Sculpture Objects Functional Art + Design, celebrates its landmark 20th year with national and international dealers showcasing more than 800 artists and their work. SOFA opens November 1-3 to the public in Festival Hall.
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Learn about special and upcoming events in every Navy Pier newsletter and receive exclusive offers. If you received this e-newsletter from a friend and would like to subscribe to our email newsletter, click the link.   MORE INFORMATION

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events

"BodyCartography Project is a group with a rare and wonderfully powerful gift to offer us." -Twin Cities Daily Planet SPINOFF 2013 CONTEMPORARY DANCE MADE IN THE MIDWEST * FREE THROUGH NOVEMBER 3 STOREFRONT THEATER * 66 E. Randolph St. + CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER * 78 E. Washington St.   PERFORMANCES BodyCartography Project * Minneapolis, MN SUPER NATURE (Chicago premiere) October 10-13 * Thursday-Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm Full of artifice and animal appetites, Super Nature engages the wild, the domestic and the civilized aspects of human nature to create a radical ecological melodrama. *Reservations recommended; click here to RSVP  *This performance not recommended for children under the age of 15 Storefront Theater BodyCartography Project * Minneapolis, MN SUPER NATURE INSTALLATION (Chicago premiere) a 10-minute performance for an audience of one October 11-12 * Friday-Saturday at 12-5pm Presented as part of SHIFT: A New Media Exhibit by Luftwerk. *Reservations recommended; click here to RSVP  Chicago Cultural Center * Chicago Rooms WORK IN PROGRESS SHOWINGS Esoteric Dance * Chicago, IL CHIAROSCURO (excerpt) Kristina Isabelle * Chicago, IL THE FLOATING CITY (excerpt) The Seldoms * Chicago, IL WHERE POWER GOES (excerpt) October 13 * Sunday at 12pm Works-in-progress excerpts from three Chicago-based contemporary dance companies. *Reservations recommended; click here to RSVP  Chicago Cultural Center * Dance Studio     Follow us on:

ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT TO SEE SIGNS OF LIFE (Chicago)

BOLD, RISKTAKING NEW MUSICAL PRODUCTION CONTINUES TO SURPRISE AND DELIGHT THEATER GOERS



ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT TO SEE SIGNS OF LIFE  

CHICAGO (Oct. 14, 2013) – SIGNS OF LIFE enters its final two weeks at the Zacek McVay Theater at the Biograph (2433 N Lincoln Ave), playing through October 27, 2013.

“When survival depends on hiding the truth, how does the truth survive? How much are you willing to compromise and how much are you willing to risk?”

“Do you save yourself? Do you work to save other people? Do you go along? Do you not?”

These are some of the questions raised in this new and original production called Signs of Life.

Signs of Life takes place in the fortress town of Terezin, located only 40 miles outside of Prague, CZ. During WWII, the Germans occupied the town and renamed it Theresienstadt.

The Germans sent 144,000 people to Theresienstadt but only 17,000 survived. Signs of Life introduces its audience to these world renowned composers, artists, writers, musicians, and explores the paradox in which their own art is forced to become a tool for their own demise.

When asked for her motivation in commissioning this piece, Virginia S. Criste (Commissioner and Producer of Signs of Life) responds, “There was just something impelling about trying to figure out how they lived and what that experience was like, and the contradictions that it posed because in one way it was a very rich, rich artistic community and then in the other way it was a prison.”

And in regards to the universality of this piece, Virginia states, “Anyone can get labeled, I mean, we have characters in this show who didn’t identify themselves with being Jewish at all, and yet they were discriminated against and they were captured because someone else placed that label on them.”

Signs of Life is directed by the head of the MFA directing program at The Theatre School at DePaul University, Lisa Portes. Lisa served as the associate director on the Tony Award-winning musical Tommy and mounted its international productions in Canada, Germany, London, as well as its recent revival at the Stratford Festival Theatre.

When asked about her experience on Signs of Life, Lisa says, “I’ve never worked on a more challenging or fulfilling musical in my life!  Signs of Life is a bold and courageous piece of work that uses the scope and scale musical theatre demands to shine the light into the hidden lives of the artists who were imprisoned in the Terezin Ghetto. These people were trying to cope and make decisions within atrocious circumstances.  But they still fell in love. They still made jokes.  And most importantly they still sketched and drew and painted and made plays.  First, they did so as a way to escape the horrors they saw around them; later, because they were made to by the Nazi Party for propaganda reasons.  But finally, they made art to let the world know what was happening.  Their art became their revolution.”

The writing team is comprised of composer Joel Derfner, lyricist Len Schiff, and bookwriter Peter Ullian. Joel is a professor in the musical theater writing program at New York University, Len is an accomplished lyricist, teacher, and journalist, and Peter, most notably, wrote the libretto for Flight of the Lawnchair Man, which was directed by Hal Prince.
Among the remarkable cast is Jason Collins who plays Kurt. Jason has been with Signs of Life since its first workshop. While the show has been received well in each venue it’s been in, Collins tells The Chicago Jewish News, “One of the more difficult things is to get people to believe it’s not going to be horribly depressing. It’s hard to believe that you won’t feel punched in the gut. People go to theater to feel good.”

Jason attributes the fact that Signs of Life is not depressing to a first-rate writing team. “My hat is off to them. They have done such a miraculous job of walking a tightrope between being accurate and truthful and not shying away from the horror of the story and yet balancing that so beautifully with real honest characters. Genuine humor comes from those characters, from their situations together, yet it never feels like a punch line. That would be horrendous. It all comes from the heart and it works beautifully,” he says.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
The performance schedule for SIGNS OF LIFE is as follows:
Wednesdays at 2:00 & 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.
Fridays at 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays at 5:00 & 8:30 p.m.
Sundays at 3:00 p.m.
Please note: Ticket prices and performance schedule are subject to change.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for SIGNS OF LIFE at the Biograph Theater range from $45-$65.  Discounted tickets are available for seniors ($25), students ($20) and survivors ($20).  Individual tickets are available now by calling the Biograph Theater box office at 773.871.3000 or online at www.victorygardens.org.  Tickets are available for groups of 10 or more by calling Victory Gardens Theater Group Sales at 773.328.2136. For more information, visit www.signsoflifethemusical.com or www.victorygardens.org.

Follow SIGNS OF LIFE on Facebook at Signs of Life The Musical.
 

OCTOBER EVENTS: DENNIS MANARCHY, JOHN FORD, JOSEPH MALHAM, NORA DUNN, PEACH CARR

welcome        artists      exhibition schedule          H|A News        blog                _____________________________________________________________________________ Joseph Malham John Ford Film Festival    featuring the release of  "POET IN THE DESERT"  by author JOSEPH MALHAM Special Guest  DENNIS MANARCHY  (October 11 only) 7:00 pm talk with Dennis Manarchy  about his monumental camera 7:30 Joseph Malham will discuss his biography of John Ford.      [Chicago, IL] A John Ford Film Festival, taking place at Hilton|Asmus Contemporary on October 11, 12 and 13, 2013, will feature three classic John Ford Films to be screened and discussed with a reception afterwards.    The John Ford Film Festival is in celebration of the release of Joseph Malham's book: John Ford: Poet in the Desert and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the director's death.     Published by Lake Street Press in Chicago, the biography is an intimate look at the life and work of a man considered the greatest poet of the American cinema and arguably the greatest in the history of the medium itself.  The films will be introduced by three guest speakers, including the author himself, and copies of the book will be available for purchase and autographing.      The three day festival will be played out against the current exhibition at Hilton Asmus Contemporary, "BUTTERFLIES & BUFFALO,"  the Western-themed works by photographer DENNIS MANARCHY, who celebrates the cultures that have helped shape America, with a particular emphasis on the cowboys, indians and myths of the West.      Manarchy recently unveiled the WORLD'S LARGEST FUNCTIONING FILM CAMERA capable of producing images in microscopic detail not possible in the digital world.  The camera takes 97,000 mega pixels. The negatives are 6 x 4.5 feet, with detail of up to 1,000 times greater than an average digital photograph. The size of the negatives allows the film to be developed to over 2-story tall prints (24 feet x 16 feet) with such extraordinary detail that you can see  every pore on the skin, the peach fuzz on a child's face, a single eyelash.   It is unmatched by digital technology and is the nearest thing Dennis Manarchy has found in his quest for the "perfect photograph."   Much like John Ford, searching for the "perfect" shot on screen.  FORD, MANARCHY and MALHAM.  Together at Hilton| Asmus Contemporary.     This film event is free and while RSVPs are not required, they are recommended to insure seating for all. For more information, please call or write the author (info at top of page) or visit www.hilton-asmus.com or www.lakestreetpress.com DENNIS MANARCHY'S 35 foot camera on display at 2 N. Riverside Plaza until October 31      __________________________________________________________________________        HELD OVER UNTIL OCTOBER 20! Post show discussion with  NORA DUNN PEACH CARR  (Project Runway)  ARICA HILTON (artist) SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13 The performance begins at 4:00 pm.  Discussion begins after the performance.  purchase tickets THEATER WIT ARICA HILTON'S PAINTING "UNIVERSE, LIFE UNLIMITED" IS THE BACKDROP FOR NORA DUNN'S HIT ONE WOMAN PLAY, MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS AT THEATER WIT   The Fictional Life of Truth by NORA DUNN "It's clear that a story not tilted will rarely stand up... "  Stephen Dunn, Poet A writer, a designer, and a painter come together to make theater. Fashion designer Peach Carr and artist Arica Hilton join Nora Dunn to talk about their work, and how their work became a part of Mythical Proportions.      "Some audience members ask me what is fact in my theater piece, and what is fiction.  I never know how to answer that. Truth is impressionistic. It's an interpretation.  When a playwright writes a play, he or she is going after a truth, and yet the play is a fiction.  But if a play is successful it ought to leave us feeling as if we've discovered a truth on our own, with the assistance of the playwright and the actors, who are players in the author's metaphor.    What I want to do to do is tell a meaningful story about my life.    Every director will tell an actor to tell the truth.   But what does that mean?    A great painting has always made me feel a part of the reason the artist made the painting in the first place. I am not so much awed by it as affected by it.  A painting affects me because it interprets the truth of my experience in a way that but puts me on the same plane as the work itself, which is a higher plane than I experience without it.    Arica's painting made me feel like I had entered into a poem about the universe.   It made me feel a part of a myth and I immediately wanted it as a set piece.  Arica's fantasy explained something to me about what I had written.     Peach Carr's skirts make me look like I have longer legs and thinner thighs. When I put on a great piece of clothing that makes me look a certain way, hiding the faults of my figure, I feel better about myself.  The dress that I put on is not telling the truth.  It's creating another truth.  Great designers create pieces that make us look better than we think we look without them, and in wearing such clothing we go out and become more of who we are, not less.   But fashion critics always ask, when a designer shows their latest line, "Did the designer tell me a story?"    I want the four of us to talk about how theater serves these other art forms, and how good plays offer us a valuable experience.  And I like putting artist together to help design my story."      --Nora Dunn POST SHOW DISCUSSION SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13    MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS When: Through OCTOBER 20 Where: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Tickets: $35 Info: (773) 975-8150 TheaterWit.org Run time: 75 minutes, with no intermission ________________________________________ UPCOMING EXHIBITION     ____________________________________________________ ISTANBUL BREEZE NOVEMBER 1, PREVIEW NOVEMBER 22, OPENING RECEPTION Join us on November 1st to meet the group of artists from Turkey who will exhibit many of their award winning works at Hilton Asmus Contemporary.   More to come.... MERAL DEGER, glass and steel sculpture HILTON | ASMUS CONTEMPORARY   specializes in contemporary paintings, works on paper, fiber art, sculpture and photography. Featuring Chicago based artists, as well as internationally known artists from Asia, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Region such as Turkey, Greece, Italy, and the Middle East.                                  Located in the River North Art District, the gallery is at the corner of Wells and Superior (between PROSECCO, a fine dining Italian restaurant and THE BOARDING HOUSE) ____________________    OCTOBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS JOHN FORD  FILM FESTIVAL &   BOOK SIGNING  JOSEPH MALHAM'S  "POET IN THE DESERT" October 11, 12, 13  Dennis Manarchy "Butterflies & Buffalo" Sept. 6 - Oct 12 Dennis Manarchy Dennis Manarchy  "AMERICAN COWBOY" Dennis Manarchy  "AT LIBERTY, VANCOUVER" NORA DUNN, PEACH CARR, ARICA HILTON post performance live interview at THEATER WIT with special guest moderator Sunday, October 13 Stage of  MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS PEACH CARR (Project Runway) ARICA HILTON NORA DUNN with Petie  & ARICA HILTON   LORRAINE PELTZ "LUSTER"  opening October 18 LORRAINE PELTZ   "GRAPE PUNCH" LORRAINE PELTZ   "Chandelier Black & Gold" MERAL DEGER "ISTANBUL BREEZE" TURKISH ARTISTS GROUP SHOW preview reception November 1 Opening November 22 SEMRA OZUMERZIFON "WAVES"