The Paris Opera Ballet
JUST DANCE The Paris Opera Ballet, above, performs Bolero during its visit to
Harris Theater this week.

THE FIVE

Don’t-miss picks for Wed 6.27.12 through Tue 7.3.12:

1

ballet Paris Opera Ballet
The Harris Theater presents the revered French company, which dates back to the time of King Louis XIV. The dancers perform two programs: the first is the romantic-era Giselle, and the second includes Serge Lifar’s neoclassical Suite en blanc and Maurice Bejart’s erotic Bolero.
GO: 6/27 at 7:30, 6/30–7/1 at 2. $55–$125. Harris Theater, 205 E Randolph. harristheaterchicago.org
2

theatre Three Sisters
The director Anna D. Shapiro directs Tracy Letts’s adaptation of Chekov’s saga of “unhappy marriages, unrequited love, duels, and really nasty in-laws.” This staging features a mix of Chicago’s acting elite, including the charming, soft-spoken Alana Arenas, the explosive Yasen Peyankov, and Carrie Coon, one of the city’s rising stars.
GO: Previews 6/28–7/7; $20–$56. Regular through 8/26; $20–$75. Steppenwolf, 1650 N Halsted. steppenwolf.org
3

soul Aretha Franklin
Ms. Franklin may have only recently topped Rolling Stone’s “Women Who Rock” list, but she will always be the fierce soul sister who belted “Think” in the The Blues Brothers. This week, Franklin and her inimitable pipes join The Impressions at the Arie Crown Theater.
GO: 6/30 at 7. $58–$145. Arie Crown Theater, 2301 S Lake Shore Dr. ticketmaster.com
4

theatre Crowns
E. Faye Butler and the Tony nominee Felicia P. Fields celebrate the Southern tradition of “hattitude” in Regina Taylor’s exuberant, original, raise-the-roof gospel musical.
GO: Preview 6/30–7/8; $29–$88. Regular run through 8/5; $29–$88. Goodman Theatre, 170 N Dearborn. goodmantheatre.org
5

museums Skyscraper: Art and Architecture Against Gravity
Chicago famously was named the birthplace of the skyscraper when the Home Insurance Building was erected here in 1884. This week, the MCA opens an exhibit that digs into the skyscraper’s architectural legacy and the world’s enduring obsession with super-tall buildings.
GO: 6/30–9/23. Open Tues 10–8, Wed–Sun 10–5. Free (kids under 13) to $12; free Tues for Illinois residents. Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E Chicago. mcachicago.org

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND

Jessica Stockholder
Jessica Stockholder

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know locals—a.k.a. people we like: Jessica Stockholder, an artist, a newly appointed faculty member at the University of Chicago, and the creator of Color Jam, the downtown art installation that has blanketed State Street and Adams Street with bright green, red, and blue hues.

“I live in Hyde Park, and there are a few art shows around here that I haven’t yet seen yet. On Friday, I might go to the Smart Museum show, Drawing Inward: German Surrealist Richard Oelze. And later, I might see an exhibit opening at the Logan Center called Local Metrics: Majeed, Mooses, Myrie. Then I’m thinking about going to Amelia’s for dinner—I really like the mojitos! And the quesadillas are far from ordinary.

“Saturday morning, I’ll go to the farmers market at the Experimental Station on 61st Street. I like the meat from Faith’s Farm and the flowers—they are much more beautiful than usual flowers. Then I want to see the Carmen McLeod and Susan Hefuna shows at Rhona Hoffman Gallery.

My husband loved this one 1980 painting, Landscape with Figures and Rainbow, in the Lichtenstein retrospective, so I may search that out at the Art Institute. If I’m downtown, I also like going to Lockwood Restaurant in the Palmer House. It's elegant, grand, old-fashioned, and comfortable.

“Sunday, there are two things I’m considering. Being new to the city, I want to go on an architecture boat tour, and I want to spend some time at Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. I’ve only seen the fountain from a car, and I’d like to experience what it’s like to stand next to it.” –As told to Elly Fishman

FREEBIE OF THE WEEK

concerts Eighth Blackbird
The Chicago-based, two-time Grammy Award-winning new music ensemble brings a mix of minimalism, electronica, and theatre to Millennium Park’s contemporary music series, Loops and Variations.
GO: 6/28 at 6. Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Michigan and Washington. explorechicago.org

 

Photography: (PARIS OPERA BALLET) Laurent Philippe; (STOCKHOLDER) Kevin Shelton Courtesy of the Chicago Loop Alliance