Herald News

First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre’s 2013 schedule

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:49:20 -0500

Here are the shows so far for the 2013 season at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, 19100 S. Ridgeland Ave., Tinley Park, (708) 614-1616. Tickets are or will be available soon at LiveNation.com, all Ticketmaster outlets, the box office and at (800) 745-3000. Lawn and pit tickets are general admission. MAY 24 TIM MCGRAW’s Two Lanes of Freedom Tour with Brantley Gilbert and Love and Theft ♦ 7 p.m. ♦ Tickets, $30.25 for lawn, $30.25-$70 for second pavilion, $45-$70 for first pavilion and $70 for pit JUNE 9 PITBULL and KE$HA ♦ 7 p.m. ♦ Tickets, $25 for lawn, $25-$79.50 for …

Culture: After Hours Film Society

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:38:00 -0500

AUDITIONS Morris Theatre Guild, Inc.: The group is seeking experienced theatrical directors for the 2013-2014 season. Interested persons can attain additional information by calling the guild at (815) 942-1966 or emailing Andrea Gustafson at jegalg@sbcglobal.net or visiting morristheatreguild.com. University of St. Francis Concert Chorale: This choir, that meets at the university on Mondays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. with some performances throughout the year. At 500 Wilcox St., Joliet. Contact USF professor Will Thomen (815) 740-5043, call (800) 735-7500 or visit www.stfrancis.edu. University of St. Francis Bernie’s Band: The Band, which meets at the university at varying practice times, …

Star power — Adler tech revolutionizes sky show

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:11:04 -0500

As a pulsing nebula races toward the watchful audience, a hand shoots up to touch it. More hands follow suit, straining skywards. For the kids taking in the Adler’s newest show, “Cosmic Wonder,” outer space is just out of reach. It’s an illusion created by the latest technology: The Crab Nebula or stars in Orion seem to graze heads, when in fact they’re projected on a dome nearly 40 feet above the audience. As the image gets larger, it appears closer and flatter — “or like the objects are dropping on top of you,” said Mark SubbaRao, Adler astronomer and …

Wheaton Drama presents ‘Into the Woods’

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:20:02 -0500

When performers appear in a play with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, they know they are in a challenging production, according to Craig Gustafson, who is directing “Into the Woods,” a musical comedy by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, at the Wheaton Drama Playhouse in Wheaton. “The music is beautiful, charming and very, very complicated to perform,” Gustafson said. “That’s what’s so great about it. Sondheim doesn’t write down to singers’ abilities. They have to come up to his. Sondheim shows are the Mount Everests of musicals. If you stroll up a 20-foot hill, you might do it well, …

First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre’s 2013 concert season

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:18:02 -0500

The 2013 summer concert season is a live music fan’s dream. A ton of great gigs are on the way, and many of them will be at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, 19100 S. Ridgeland Ave., Tinley Park. “It’s a busy summer and there’s just a lot of great artists on the road and great shows coming through,” said Jon Reens, senior director of marketing/Midwest for Live Nation, which operates FMBA. “They run the gamut on style and they run the gamut on format. It’s an extremely wide-ranging summer season.” The outdoor venue is boasting the most amount of country concerts …

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ turns out to be quite the Enterprise

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:10:14 -0500

RICHARD ROEPER: Director J.J. Abrams is a true talent, and he’s also a pop-culture savant who has great respect for the legacy of this franchise as well as a keen understanding of the mega-importance of box-office figures. There’s no better choice to make the best, the purest AND the most accessible big-budget “Star Trek” movie possible. Yet with all the futuristic splendor and the fine performances, “Into Darkness” only occasionally soars, mostly settling for being a solid but unspectacular effort that sets the stage for the next chapter(s).

New on DVD for May 17, 2013

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:10:49 -0500

Here is a look at what’s new on DVD this week. Many of these titles were released on May 14.

5 things to do: Joliet Slammers

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:07:30 -0500

Joliet Slammers Baseball: The first home game is May 17. Silver Cross Field, 1 Mayor Art Shultz Drive. Visit Jolietslammers.com. How much: $5-$12 Civil War Days: The encampment is May 18-19 at Naper Settlement. At 523 S. Webster St., Naperville. Call (630) 420-6010. How much: $5-$15 Armed Forces Day: The First Division Museum at Cantigny Park invites families from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 18. Enjoy family activities all day. Call (630) 260-8187. How much: Free Friends of Community Public Art: Display on community public art and maps for self-guided tours of Joliet’s public art. At 310 N. Ottawa St. in …

Angelina Jolie says she had double mastectomy to try to prevent cancer

Wed, 15 May 2013 02:18:22 -0500

LOS ANGELES — Angelina Jolie says she had a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carried a gene that makes it extremely likely she’ll get breast cancer. Jolie authored an op-ed for Tuesday’s New York Times, in which she writes that in April she finished three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts.

Lucasfilm: New ‘Star Wars’ movie to be shot in UK

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:36:00 -0500

LONDON (AP) — The next “Star Wars” movie will be shot in a galaxy far, far away from Hollywood — Britain.

Restaurants up the ante on fare for their youngest patrons

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:26:01 -0500

A program to revamp kids’ menus with more nutritionally sound options puts sushi, whitefish and bulgogi on the plates.

Harmonious as ever, James Cotton makes plenty of beautiful music on latest release

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:16:20 -0500

Like most of the musicians who launched national careers from the Sun Records studio in Memphis, James Cotton was well seasoned by the time he arrived. Later a Chicago fixture, Cotton spent his boyhood in the 1940s living and working with bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson. The harmonica legend took Cotton everywhere — to his radio gigs in West Memphis, to family outings with Williamson’s brother-in-law, Howlin’ Wolf — and Cotton, now a harp legend himself, made the most of his apprenticeship. “No lessons. I just watched and learned,” Cotton, 77, said in a recent interview. Cotton already had been inside …

Chicago Writers’ Bloc showcases new plays

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:51:09 -0500

Members of Chicago Writers’ Bloc will introduce a dozen new plays via the annual Showcase of New Plays, continuing through May 22 at Next Theatre in Evanston. “Our annual showcase is a wonderful chance for our members to present their works before a live audience,” said Zan Skolnick of Lincolnwood, spokesman for Writers’ Bloc, about the festival, which kicked off April 29. “Usually, we read them for each other and comment, but that’s not the same thing.” A number of the playwrights in the showcase have had full productions of their other works at various times throughout their careers. Remaining …

‘Miss Neo Pageant’ explores what it means to be feminine, successful

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:00:00 -0500

Women studies scholars will tell you that there are three feminist movements. The first began with the suffragettes and the right to vote; the second, of course, was the women’s liberation movement of the ’60s and ’70s and the third rallied the young women of the ‘90s via the Girl Power phenomenon. Megan Mercier came of age during feminism’s third chapter with strong female role models in her life. But despite all this, now at 29, she looks around and feels she’s “ended up in this weird limbo.” “It feels like being a teenager never stopped in some ways,” Mercier …

‘Falling Man’ tells tales of love and identity

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:52:17 -0500

Four men and a teenager deal with their sexuality in “Falling Man,” five monologues by Will Scheffer. Shane Abbott, who runs Gorilla Tango’s Skokie Theatre, directs the show Friday nights through May at the theater. He also performs the title monologue. Abbott decided to produce and direct this show because, “The writing is really strong,” he said. “It’s about sexual identity. In this day and age with all of the talk about gay marriage, I thought it was pretty current. It’s a dichotomy. You could take these stories and put females in all the roles, or teenagers or old people.” …

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy salutes Cab Calloway

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:22:01 -0500

Twenty years later, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is still swinging just as hard as they were back in the day. The nine-piece jazz- and swing-influenced ensemble performs an 8 p.m. show May 18 at Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College in Naperville. 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, which broke out with the songs “You & Me and the Bottle Makes Three (Tonight)” and “Go Daddy-O,” which were featured in the 1996 Vince Vaughn film “Swingers.” The band is not only celebrating its 20th anniversary, it is promoting its latest album “Rattle Them Bones,” the follow-up …