Mar 14, 2008

The Green Machine

Easy Being Green

The South Side Irish Parade took place on the 9th, and the weekend ahead is riddled with green beer drink-offs. Isn’t there anything authentic left to celebrate on St. Patrick’s Day? It’s FitzGerald’s (6615 Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn; 708-788-2118) to the rescue when the nightclub hosts its annual féile (that’s Gaelic for “festival”) on Monday the 17th. The merriment includes ten hours of music and dancing, 2 p.m. to midnight, with headliners the Dooley Brothers back for the band’s 26th year of playing its signature Irish-folk-meets-rock-n-roll. Other performers include the multitasking dancing/fiddler April Verch, and Kevin Flynn and the Avondale Ramblers, whose rock repertoire is Gaelic-inspired but Chicago-focused. Admission is $10. Slainte, everybody.

Best Bets for Things to Do This Week

Ogle

Redmoon’s Boneyard Prayer Photo by Sean Williams

• Few local theatre companies rival Redmoon in manufacturing surrealist spectacle. The troupe’s new original production, Boneyard Prayer, extends its reach into the great beyond, telling the story of one Depression-era man’s life and death through the upheaval of his grave. Redmoon’s signature puppets and machinations figure into the musical production, which opens Saturday the 15th and runs through May 11th at Redmoon Central (1463 W. Hubbard St.; 312-850-8440, ext. 111). Tickets are $15 to $35.
  

Listen

• Sister Helen Prejean—whose account of counseling a death row inmate served as the basis for the play, book, and movie Dead Man Walking—comes to Dominican University’s Lund Auditorium (7900 W. Division St., River Forest; 708-488-5000) Tuesday the 18th at 7 p.m. A discussion with Prejean follows a staged reading of Tim Robbin’s adaptation of her story. Admission is free.
  
  

Snap

• Something must have been in the water back in 1917, the year that Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Thelonius Monk all came into the world. (Full disclosure: There’s some dispute as to Cole’s actual birth year, but we’re willing to go with the flow if it means show-stopping jazz.) The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Jon Faddis, celebrates the greats 8 p.m. Friday the 14th with a program of big-band arrangements and vocals at Harris Theater (205 E. Randolph Dr.; 312-334-7777). Tickets are $15 to $45.

Peep

• You know the rule: Nudity on canvas isn’t dirty; it’s art. Sign up to hunt for nude portraits, sculptures, and other works of art at Naked at the Art Institute Scavenger Hunt, 2 p.m. Saturday the 15th (111 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-443-3600). Advanced registration is required: watsonadventures.com or 877-946-4868; $25.50 includes museum admission. The winner receives a T-shirt—since organizers can only take the nude theme so far.

Fantasize

• We’ve all had fantasies of trying out a new job. Get your chance while partying for a good cause at One Inspired Evening, a gala benefiting the social service agency Inspiration Corporation. A raffle includes dream-jobs-for-a-day such as zookeeper, chocolate maker, and architecture critic; the evening, $85 in advance or $95 at the door, also includes cocktails, live music, and an art auction. The party runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday the 14th at River East Art Center (435 E. Illinois St.; 773-878-0981, ext. 221).

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