TOP SHELF Among this week’s freebies: a happy-hour serenade by the cosmopolitan big band Pink Martini, part of the Grant Park Music Festival
THE FIVE: ALL FREE
The free stuff gets top billing two weeks running! Don’t-miss picks for Wed 06.23.10 through Tue 06.29.10:
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concerts Pink Martini ALSO THIS WEEK: In nearby Grant Park, Broadway in Chicago stages a live clips show of the best of recent seasons, with scenes from Billy Elliot, Shrek, Wicked, and more, on June 28 at 6. |
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beer Tour de Fat |
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lit Anthony Bourdain |
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parades Chicago Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade |
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film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory |
PLUS: FOUR MORE FOR $25 OR LESS
museums Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy
Sixty sculptures, by Calder and later artists indebted to the kinetic master, take over the MCA. Go Saturday when the show opens—or wait until the museum’s no-admission day on Tuesday and you’ve got yourself another freebie.
GO: June 26–Oct 17. Free to $12. Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E Chicago. mcachicago.org
film La Piscine
After this steamy flick, you’ll be ready for a cold dip. The onetime real-life lovers Alain Delon and Romy Schneider star along with Jane Birkin in Jacques Deray’s 1969 film set in and around a swimming pool in Saint Tropez.
GO: June 23. Snacks at 7:30; film at 8:15. $5. Alliance Française de Chicago, 54 W Chicago. af-chicago.org
theatre Cherrywood
Kirk Lynn’s script for his self-described “feral ensemble piece” contains lines that cast members choose at random—which would sound like a recipe for cherry-flavored disaster if it weren’t for the Obie-winning David Cromer at the helm. Bonus: Make it a Cromer twofer with the director’s take on A Streetcar Named Desire, onstage through July 11 at Writers’ Theatre.
GO: June 24–August 8. $18-$22. Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co, 735 W Sheridan. maryarrchie.com
classical Wagner’s ‘Ring’ Hits
BYO spear and magic helmet for an awesome Ring cycle sampler led by Ravinia’s music director, James Conlon, and featuring Ride of the Valkyries, scenes from Siegfried, and the Götterdämmerung suite. The Grammy-winning soprano Christine Brewer and the powerhouse tenor John Treleaven star.
GO: June 30 at 8. $10-$25. Lake Cook and Green Bay, Highland Park. ravinia.org
Photograph: © 2009 Adam Levey