Kuek Garang
ABOUT A BOY The locally produced documentary 22 Years from Home, on the Lost Boy–turned–Chicagoan Kuek Garang’s return to Sudan, screens twice this week.

THE FIVE

Don’t-miss picks for Wed 04.21.10 through Tue 04.27.10:

1

film 22 Years from Home
Kuek Garang is one of 27,000 Lost Boys, a generation of children displaced by Sudan’s bloody civil war. Now 29, he’s also a Rogers Park resident whose 2009 journey back to his homeland was documented by a fellow Chicagoan, Malachi Leopold, in 22 Years from Home. The film gets two local screenings this week, both with Leopold and Garang in attendance. Bonus: Read our story on the film from Chicago’s April issue and watch a trailer.
GO: Apr 23 at 8: $7-$8. Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N Clark. chicagofilmmakers.org. Apr 27 at 7:30: $10. Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport. musicboxtheatre.com
2

concerts Joshua Redman
In the words of our jazz writer, Mark Loehrke: “What a pleasure it’s been to hear Redman’s maturation, from a much-hyped young lion of the 1990s, whose blazing sax technique threatened to overwhelm his artistry, to the thoughtful, and thought-provoking, player he’s become today.” Well said.
GO: Apr 23 at 8. $24-$83. Symphony Center, 220 S Michigan. cso.org
3

concerts Natalie Merchant
Speaking of marinating musicians, the former 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman has been cooking her just-released album, Leave Your Sleep, for the last six years. Research, as many an aspiring Ph.D. will tell you, takes time, and for this set of songs adapted from poems—by the likes of E. E. Cummings and Robert Louis Stevenson, among lesser-known talents—Merchant dug deep into the archives. While she recruited everyone from Wynton Marsalis to the Ditty Bops to play on the record, it’s just Merchant (plus backing musicians) for this Chicago performance.
GO:  Apr 24 at 7. $45. Rubloff Auditorium, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S Michigan. poetrycenter.org

ALSO THIS WEEK: Corinne Bailey Rae unspools slow-fueled ballads and girl-group-style dance jams Apr 22 at the Vic; Gogol Bordello brings gypsy-punk to the Congress on Apr 23, and the former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler plays the Chicago Theatre that same night.
4

talks Anthony Bourdain
Bourdain’s a hoot, but you don’t have to take our word for it—take our coworker’s. Dish, the Chicago Guide’s sister newsletter, chatted up the traveling chef and human garbage disposal back in March; relive the convo, then get tickets to Bourdain’s talk.
GO: Apr 24 at 8. $43-$78. Chicago Theatre, 175 N State. thechicagotheatre.com

ALSO THIS WEEK: The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross talks about the intersection of poetry, art, and—hey, Merchant, are you paying attention?—music, Apr 22 at the Art Institute.
5

museums Prohibition Month
“Booze” might be a more fitting label than “museums”—but you can thank us for weeding out a few barely 21-year-olds from your, ahem, fully educational pursuits. The Chicago History Museum continues its ode to the era of illicit hooch with a bevy of upcoming events. While the Booze, Bars, and Bootlegging pub crawls are sold out, you can catch the writer and former Chicago staffer Jonathan Eig discussing the investigative process behind his new book, Get Capone (read an excerpt in our May issue, on stands now). For nonpracticing teetotalers, Eig’s talk includes a whiskey tasting.
GO:  Apr 27 at 7; $15. Chicago History Museum, 1601 N Clark. chicagohistory.org

FREEBIES OF THE WEEK

theatre Spin
April’s Big Deal Opening Award goes to Theater Wit, as the company moves into the space once home to the Bailiwick. We applaud Wit’s artistic director, Jeremy Wechsler, for an accomplishment a decade, and a million, in the making—as well as his decision to offer free seats for the inaugural play’s first week and a half. Here’s hoping Spin, Jeff winner Penny Penniston’s story of an adman in crisis, is just as sharp.
GO: Previews Apr 22-27; run continues through June 5. All tickets free Apr 22-May 2; $25 after. Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont. theaterwit.org

talks Colm TÓibín, Peter Carey
Two big-time writers swing through town this week. First up is Tóibín, the author of this spring’s One Book, One Chicago selection, Brooklyn—which means show up early unless you want to trade elbows with every book clubber in town. The next night, Peter Carey (Oscar and Lucinda) sits down with Victoria Lautman to talk about his latest, Parrot & Olivier in America, a historical novel that re-envisions Alexis de Tocqueville’s American expedition as a buddy road trip of sorts. Doors open at 5 for both events, but expect lines earlier (audience capacity is limited to 384, with no overflow seating).
GO: Tóibín: Apr 21 at 6. Carey: Apr 22 at 6. Both talks take place in the Pritzker Auditorium, Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S State. chipublib.org

Photography: Chris Strong