Redmoon's latest extravaganza, Spectacle '09, runs through Sunday at Belmont Harbor.
BLAZE OF GLORY  The 1978 Italian film The Inglorious Bastards lights up the MCA for two nights this week.

THE FIVE

Don’t-miss picks for Wed 01.20.10 through Tue 01.26.10:

1

film The Inglorious Bastards
Nope, not that one. In this 1978 flick, part of the MCA’s month-long Italian film series and the titular inspiration for 2009’s Inglourious Basterds, a pack of World War II American soldiers escapes en route to a military prison, and mayhem ensues. The movie is part of Italy’s “macaroni combat” canon—think spaghetti western except less epic, more carnage—which, come to think of it, sounds a lot like Tarantino after all.
GO: Jan 23-24 at 1. $8. Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E Chicago. mcachicago.org
2

theatre Hughie, Krapp’s Last Tape
A longtime friend of the Goodman, Brian Dennehy returns to star in a pair of Broadway-bound one acts: Hughie, a two-man piece about a gambler who’s run plumb outta luck, by Eugene O’Neill; and Krapp, an antibirthday party of sorts, by Samuel Beckett. While Dennehy is best known around the theatre as an interpreter of O’Neill, this Saturday he joins director Jennifer Tarver for a preshow chat on Krapp. Don’t miss your chance to see the leonine legend ad lib on acting. (Get a preview.)
GO: Jan 23: talk at 5:30 ($5-$10); performance at 8. Previews continue through Jan 24 ($12.50-$66); regular run through Feb 21 ($18.50-$83). Goodman Theatre, 170 N Dearborn. goodmantheatre.org

ALSO THIS WEEK: The Chicago artist-about-town and general creative type Tony Fitzpatrick stars in This Train at Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater.

3

museums What is a Masterpiece?
Ah, the age-old question: What is art? We’re nowhere near qualified to answer, but we know someone who is. Isabelle Leroy-Jay Lemaistre, the curator of sculpture at Le Musée du Louvre (aka the Louvre), hosts this chat, followed by a vin d’honneur (aka reception with wine).
GO: Jan 21 at 6:30. $5-$10. Alliance Française, 54 W Chicago. af-chicago.org

ALSO THIS WEEK: Freedom’s Sisters, a new exhibition on 20 female history-changers of the civil rights movement, opens at the DuSable; Lego master Adam Reed Tucker works his magic live in the MSI’s rotunda.
4

concerts Robert Gordon & the Gang They Couldn’t Hang
Arguably the first rockabilly revivalist, Gordon has been belting out raucous, rollicking songs since the 1970s. He’ll be joined here by the renowned guitarist (and his longtime sidekick) Chris Spedding, the Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, and the Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom—a combo that should guarantee plenty of high-energy twang.
GO: Jan 23 at 8:30. $25-$30. Abbey Pub, 3420 W Grace. abbeypub.com
5

dance Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
This troupe doesn’t just pay lip service to becoming one with the elements. In choreographer Lin Hwai-min’s Moon Water, a work the New York Times rated as one of the best dances of 2003, dancers virtually transform themselves into weightless pools of water and air, with actual precipitation seeping on to the stage. Words don’t do the graceful performance justice; see for yourself.
GO: Jan 22-23 at 8. $30-$65. Harris Theater, 205 E Randolph. harristheaterchicago.org

FREEBIE OF THE WEEK

dance Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
As part of the Art Institute’s yearlong series 500 Ways of Looking at Modern (perhaps you’ve seen those red cubes popping up across town), HSDC’s new artistic director, Glenn Edgerton, leads guests on a gallery walk through the Modern Wing, while dancers, in a highbrow version of the schoolyard game statue, act out movements from the surrounding paintings and sculptures. Think of it as a three-part freebie: entry to the Modern Wing, a performance by HSDC, and a chance to size up Edgerton.
GO: Jan 21 at 6. Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S Michigan. artinstituteofchicago.org

Photography: Inglorious Bastards, 1978