CHICAGO’S FREE WEEKLY SINCE | APRIL
A morning at the CBD shop Maya Dukmasova 14
Surviving with Marijuana Sarah Watts and Lucius Wisniewski12
The CTA’s chronic problem John Greenfi eld 3
Weed If recreational cannabis is legalized, how will Illinois reengage the formerly incarcerated and make amends to communities of color? whacked By T W -M 15 THIS WEEK CHICAGO READER | APRIL | VOLUME NUMBER
IN THIS ISSUE T R - reproductive rights intensifi es with THEATER @ revisions to federal policy plus a 24 Review Cambodian Rock Band look at the movie Unplanned blends tragedy and joy into one of 14 Dukmasova | News Wake and the best plays of the year P bake a morning at the CBD shop 25 Plays of note Unlike dancers’ T B I E C bodies A Chorus Line holds up K H S K FEATURE Medusa Undone posits she was a 32 Shows of note Sunn O D E K S 15 Weed If recreational cannabis is victim of rape culture and Utility Tatiana Hazel Mutant Beat Dance C L SK D P J R legalized how will Illinois reengage shows the cost of quiet desperation and more shows this week C E AL the formerly incarcerated and make 36 Early Warnings Amon Amarth M E P M amends to communities of color? BoomBox the Sugarhill Gang and A E J L S W D I CITY LIFE more justannounced concerts BJ MS 03 Transportation You can’t spell 36 Gossip Wolf Impulsive Hearts S W M D L G “contact high” without the CTA use summery poprock to raise G D D C S M E B W 05 Preview A curated list of city money for Resilience Footwork M L C and neighborhood festivals crew the Era screens short fi lms in S C -J Hyde Park and more F L C P F T A E C S C N B D C OPINION D C L C N LC 38 Savage Love Dan Savage off ers C C M DL C S F I G A G advice on when it’s accceptable to KTH JH J H ARTS & CULTURE dig through ancient emails I H D J M K 26 Community The classic Chinese S K M M E M T FILM B M JRN M O 17 Reviews In Faces Jafar tile game mahjong is having a CLASSIFIEDS L P K S K R Panahi turns the camera inward renaissance downtown 39 Jobs BS D S T the Chicago Palestine Film 27 Lit David Ranney has no 39 Apartments & Spaces W -M A W ------Festival provides a framework for nostalgia for the days of middle 39 Marketplace D D J D FOOD & DRINK understanding the Middle East class manufacturing jobs D P E &P 06 Restaurant Review The 19 Movies of note Her Smell is 28 Dance Nureyev tells the epic COMICS SERIALS K K Reader’s guide to Polish sausage a unique examination of self story of the Sovietborn dancer’s Don’t fret your fave indie strips will O M SN L destructive rock musicians extraordinary life return! ADVERTISING NEWS & POLITICS Hotel by the River injects a -- - @ C @ 08 Joravsky | Politics Aldermen sense of instability into pleasant MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE O I S M -N F just raised property taxes to pay for interactions and Wild Nights 29 Feature Natural Information S D P F Rahm’s TIF handout to his pals with Emily is a sparkling indie Society make the stage a home M -N ’ V P S 10 Isaacs | Culture The battle over and vice versa A M S A R J L A R LM -H C R M TP
COMICS FEATURE N A V M G --- J L SB ------D C [email protected] -- STMREADERLLC B P D RL Surviving with weed T E R S J S Medical marijuana was an abstract A - S V concept until my sister-in-law C EB suff ered a brain aneurysm. C ------B S W L R ISSN- STMR LLC W 12 SM SC IL --
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2 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll CITY LIFE
SUMMER ART CAMPS JUNE-AUGUST 2019
A “No Smoking” sign at the Clark/ Lake station CTA
TRANSPORTATION A chronic problem JOIN US THIS SUMMER FOR WEEK-LONG You can’t spell “contact high” without the CTA. MULTIMEDIA CAMPS FOR AGES 3-16 YEARS By J G DESIGNED TO INSPIRE YOUR CHILD’S IMAGINATION IN A SUPPORTIVE, FUN AND ’ll never forget the first time I walked due to the rising popularity of Uber and Lyft, NON-COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT. into a hot-boxed CTA el car. On a week- especially on weekends. During the first 11 night two summers ago, I was heading months of 2017, el boarding fell by 12 percent home from the Grand Red Line station. on Saturdays and 13 percent on Sundays, As the train doors opened, I stepped into compared to that period in 2015. Fewer people POTTERY, Ia haze of smoke and breathed in the telltale, riding trains may embolden smoking sco aws MOVIE MAKING, love-it-or-hate-it aroma of marijuana. A group to light up, since it lowers the chances of of teenagers passing a joint were nearly roll- other passengers reporting them. The fi ne for PHOTOGRAPHY, ing in the aisle with laughter. Not being a weed smoking or vaping on CTA property, enforced TEXTILES, afi cionado myself, I rolled my eyes and headed by Chicago Police Department o cers, ranges to the next carriage. from $100 to $300. JEWELRY, Since then, it appears that the phenomenon A Streetsblog reader called my attention to COMICS, of CTA customers illegally smoking pot or, the issue earlier this year, complaining that more often, cigarettes on trains has picked he’s exposed to secondhand smoke once or PAINTING up speed. Nowadays it seems like every other twice a week on the train, and said the prob- AND MORE! time I ride the 24-hour Red or Blue lines in the lem is especially prevalent on the Forest Park REGISTER ONLINE late evening, there’s evidence that someone branch of the Blue Line. “It is clear to me that has recently smoked or toked on transit, or is they . . . do not care about their fellow passen- AT LILLSTREET.COM. about to. Judging by comments from Streets- gers or any possible repercussions.” blog readers and on social media, this issue In response to a Facebook query I posted, 773-769-4226 seems to have shifted into high gear in recent Danielle McKinnie, a technical trainer at a hos- months, especially during the brutal winter pital, also told me CTA smoking is on the rise. 4401 N RAVENSWOOD AVE we just survived. After a recent PM commute on the Red Line, There’s a correlation between the apparent during which people were walking through increase in marijuana and cigarette smoking the train smoking, her husband picked her up on trains and the decrease in CTA ridership at 95th Street. “He asked where I had been J ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 3 CITY LIFE
continued from 3 parcels in tow, or sleeping horizontally across because I smelled like smoke,” she said. “He the bench seating, seem to be increasingly thought I’d been to a club.” common. Fans of the Twitter feed CTA Fails concur. Nicole Richardson, vice president of clinical “Literally, actually sick of all the smokers operations for Thresholds, a social service on the Blue Line,” tweeted one. “Every day, agency that helps people with mental illness, there’s a car full of smoke.” blamed Chicago’s continuing homelessness “Nothing like [coming from] the AM com- crisis on a shortage of affordable housing, mute reeking of weed,” tweeted another. “We exacerbated by factors like the reduction of will all surely be making great impressions the number of SROs due to gentrification. today.” While she didn’t draw a direct line between Not everyone has a problem with getting a the closure of half of the city’s mental health CTA contact high. “I was stuck on the Blue Line clinics under the Emanuel administration and once, with everyone freaking out and getting the high incidence of mentally ill people living pissed,” production designer Vanessa Mathai on the street, she said “a gap in social services said in response to my Facebook post. “Some across our entire system” is contributing to dude pulls out a huge joint and smokes up half the problem. the car while we waited. Just lovely!” Thresholds has six outreach workers who But assuming you’re not cool with a lungful try to build trust with homeless folks on the of someone else’s dank weed or cancer-stick Red and Blue lines, as well as in the Thompson smoke, what’s the best response? You could Center, the Pedway, the Harold Washington confront them, but that carries a certain Library, and Lower Wacker. They offer food, amount of risk. Last month CBS noted that re- water, clothing, and fellowship in hopes of ported incidents of violent crime on CTA plat- eventually connecting people in need with forms increased from 263 cases in 2014 to 447 social services. incidents in 2018. Already this year we’ve seen Asked about a possible link between home- everything from a CTA worker being used as a lessness and an increase in train smoking, human shield and repeatedly stabbed during Richardson pointed to studies that suggest a fi ght at the Roosevelt station, to a hammer nicotine is more addictive for people with attack on a Red Line car near Grand. schizophrenia. People with mental illness have As an alternative to a direct confrontation also been found to smoke at two to four times with a smoker, a CTA spokesperson recom- the rate of the general population. “Like any mended switching cars at a stop and using other drug, nicotine is a coping mechanism,” the intercom to notify the train operator. Of she said. course, that could delay the train and piss o© Richardson acknowledged that smoking on fellow customers. The rep also noted that “No transit is problematic. “I’m not a smoker, so Smoking” signs are ubiquitous on CTA prop- I do find it annoying when I have to walk by erty, and the agency recently launched a PR somebody who is.” campaign to remind customers that pu ng on The CTA needs to find a better solution public transportation is verboten. to this vexing problem, which could further So why do people still do it? To gain some in- drag down ridership. Perhaps installing sight, I rode the Red Line at 11 PM on a Tuesday airplane-style smoke detectors? and interviewed a few smokers. After boarding But in the meantime, those of us who a southbound train at Jackson, I saw men don’t need to shelter on trains should keep walking between cars, calling out, “Squares some perspective. Smoky el cars and other [loose cigarettes], packs.” After switching cars homeless-related quality of life issues on the a few times myself, I encountered a young man CTA reflect Chicago’s larger problems. Last with braids who was rolling tobacco in a brown week the City Council approved TIF funding tobacco leaf. He agreed that smoking is becom- deals for the upscale Lincoln Yards and The ing more prevalent on public transportation. 78 megadevelopments. Many, including the “It’s because there’s homeless people. They Reader’s Ben Joravsky, have argued that don’t want to leave [the system] to smoke and means $2.4 billion in future property tax rev- then have to pay again.” enue, which otherwise might have been used There are currently about 80,000 homeless to address Chicago’s many social justice chal- people in our city, according to an estimate lenges—including homelessness—has gone up from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. in smoke. v Anecdotally, people taking shelter overnight on the Red and Blue lines, often with large @greenfieldjohn 4 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll CITY LIFE
Matt Muse at Taste of Chicago 2018 DAVONCLARK Out of Space Festival, 8/8- 11, Evanston SEPTEMBER Chicago Hot Dog Fest, 8/9- Chicago Lowrider Festival, Grant Park 7/13-15 11, Lincoln Park 9/2, Pilsen Beverly Art Walk, 6/29 Chinatown Summer Fair, Retro on Roscoe, 8/9-11, Throwback Music Festival, Lyrical Lemonade Festival, 7/15 Roscoe Village 9/6-8, Gladstone Park 6/29-30, Douglas Park Wicker Park Fest, 7/26-28 Bud Billiken Parade, 8/10, Renegade Craft Fair, 9/7-8, Logan Square Arts Festival, Pitchfork Music Festival, Bronzeville Wicker Park 6/29-30 7/19-21, Union Park My House Music Festival, Ride for Life Chicago, 9/7-8, Chi Town Hot Sauce Expo, Silver Room Block Party, 8/10-11, Pilsen Chicago-Michigan 6/29-30, Seatgeek Stadium 7/20, Hyde Park Chicago’s Little Italy Festa, Jerk, Seafood, and Vegan TRQPiTECA Queer Pride Water Lantern Festival, 8/16 Festival, 9/7-8, South Loop Chicago, 6/30, Chinatown 7/20, Humboldt Park Edison Park Fest, 8/16-18 Out in the Park, 9/8, Six Chicago Pride Parade, 6/30, Dearborn Garden Walk, 7/21, Windy City West Indian Flags Great America Lakeview Old Town Carnival, 8/17, Harvey Riot Fest, 9/13-15, Douglas Fiesta del Sol, 7/25-28, Pilsen Sangria Festival, 8/17-18, Park Wakandacon, 7/26-28, Hyatt Humboldt Park World Music Festival, 9/13- JULY Regency McCormick Chicago Air and Water 29, various locations Windy City Ribfest, 7/4 - 6 , Ghana Fest, 7/27, Washington Show, 8/17-18, North Avenue Fulton Market Harvest Uptown Park Beach Fest, 9/14-16 Windy City Black Pride, 7/4 - Chicago Margarita Festival, South Shore Summer West Loop Art Fest, 9/16-17 7, various locations 7/27-28, Navy Pier Festival, 8/21 Expo Chicago, 9/19-22, Harper Court Music Series, South Loop Beer and Cider Taste of Greektown, 8/23-25 Navy Pier 7/5, Hyde Park Fest, 7/27 Chicago Jazz Festival, 8/23- Edgewater Arts Festival, Preview West Fest, 7/5-7, West Town Bantu Fest, 7/27-28, Hyde 9/1, Chicago Cultural Center 9/28-29 Chosen Few DJs Picnic & Park and Millennium Park Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Festival, 7/6, Jackson Park Villapalooza, 8/24, Little 9/28-29 Chicago Michelada Fest Village Oktoberfest, 9/28-30, 2019, 7/6-7, Pilsen AUGUST Out at Wrigley, 8/25 Lakeview v City and neighborhood Taste of Chicago, 7/10-14, Harper Court Music Series, México en el Corazón, 8/30, Grant Park 8/1, Hyde Park Millennium Park Square Roots Craft Brew Lollapolooza, 8/1-4, Grant North Coast Music Festival, & Music Festival, 7/12-14, Park 8/30-9/2, Northerly Island festivals Lincoln Square Belize Day in the Park, 8/4 , Taste of Polonia Festival, Roscoe Village Burger Fest, Burnham Park 8/30-9/2, Jeff erson Park Good times, good times
Mole de Mayo Festival, West Loop SPRING INNOVATION SPOTLIGHT APRIL 5/24-26, Pilsen Chicago Taco & Tequila Sound of Silent Film Festi- Live on the Lake!, 5/24-9/1, Fest, 6/15, Lincoln Park MEDICAL CANNABIS val, 4/20, Davis Theater Navy Pier Punk Black Chicago Fest 6/15-16, Beat BOOMING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Afro Fusion Easter Day Belmont-Sheffield Music Edition, Party, 4/21, The Promontory Festival, 5/25-26, Lakeview Kitchen CineYouth Festival, 4/26-28, Navy Pier Fireworks, 5/25- Hyde Park Handmade, 6/16, Monday, April 29, 2019 · 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM Music Box Theatre 9/31, Navy Pier The Promontory Windy City Horrorama, Bike the Drive, 5/26, Lake Puerto Rican People’s Marshall’s Landing 4/26-28, Davis Theater Shore Drive Parade, 6/16, Humboldt Chicago Wine Fest, 4/27, Maifest Chicago, 5/30-6/2, Park 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza · Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Square Pilsen Taco Fest 2019, Randolph Street Market, Chicago Gospel Music 6/16-17 TICKETS: www.americaisrael.org 4/27-28, West Loop Festival, 5/31-6/1, Chicago World’s Largest Block Cultural Center and Millen- Party, 6/21-22, Greektown nium Park Chi-Soul Fest, 6/21-22, Navy MMEET & GREET · LEARN & DISCOVER · EAT & DRINK MAY Do Division Street Fest, Pier Kids and Kites Festival, 5/31-6/2, West Town Gold Coast Greek Fest, 5/4, various locations 6/21-23, Annunciation Greek Spotlight On: TIKUN OLAM USA - BERNIE SUCHER, CEO MoonRunners Music Orthodox Cathedral of After A Decade Of Testing, Israeli Medical Cannabis Festival, 5/4-5, Reggies JUNE Chicago James Beard Awards Gala, Gold Coast Art Fair, 6/1-2 Ruido Fest, 6/21-23, Union Comes To The U.S. 5/6, Lyric Opera Hyde Park Community Art Park Hyde Park Food Truck Fest, Fair, 6/1-2 Country Lakeshake, 6/21-23, 5/11 57th Art Street Fair, 6/1-2, Huntington Bank Pavilion at Moderator: FRED TANNENBAUM - Gould & Ratner LLP Renegade Craft Fair, 5/11-12, Hyde Park Northerly Island Pilsen Millennium Park Summer Chicago Food Truck Fes- Panelists: TOM MAZARAKIS - Salveo Capital Chicago Riverwalk Season Film Series, 6/5-8/14 tival in the South Loop, SCOTT MANDELL - Cannabistry Labs Celebration, 5/13-19 Harper Court Music Series, 6/22-23 Día del Niño, 5/18, Pilsen 6/5, Hyde Park Chicago Pride Fest, 6/22-23 DINA ROLLMAN - Green Thumb Industries Open Air Music Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Lakeview 5/18-19, Seatgeek Stadium 6/7-9, Millennium Park Ravenswood on Tap, 6/22-23 RANDY SHIPLEY - VividGro and Cannafundr.com Hyde Park Handmade, 5/19, Spring Awakening, 6/7-9, Mamby on the Beach, 6/23- The Promontory Poplar Creek 24, Oakwood Beach Sponsors: Sweets and Snacks Expo, Andersonville Midsom- Chicago Summerdance, 5/21-23, McCormick Place marfest, 6/7-9 6/27-8/24, various locations House Music Conference Old Town Art Fair, 6/8-9 Back Lot Bash, 6/28-30, and Festival, 5/23-25, vari- Wells Street Art festival, Andersonville ous locations 6/8-9, Old Town Dyke March, 6/29, Little International Mr. Leather, Printers Row Lit Fest, 6/8-9 Village Scott & Lonni 5/23-27, Congress Plaza LatiNxt, 6/14-15, Navy Pier Navy Pier Pride, 6/29 Hotel Taste of Randolph, 6/14-16, Pride in the Park, 6/29, Glickson ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 5 A ’D &M S R S K ’S S N. Milwaukee R N. Milwaukee -- -- FOOD & DRINK andysdeli.net
8 3 It turns out churchgoing, Polish-speaking Poles experience a similar longing—at least on Holy Saturday, aka the Harrowing of Hell, when Jesus descended into the underworld on the day after he was crucifi ed to save history’s captive souls. This is the day—this Saturday, in fact—of Święconka, or when you bring your Easter basket to church to get blessed by the priest in advance of breaking your Lenten fast. It’s not fi lled with jelly beans and Peeps, but real food (ham, cheese, salt), symbolizing di© erent things. Eggs are for new hope, new RESTAURANT REVIEW life. Bread is the staff of life. Butter molded into the shape of lambs signifies the end of Lent. Sausages mean abundance and, if you’re The Reader’s guide to Polish sausage particularly hungry, they smell like it too. “When you’re taking that thing to church Kielbasa, that is, in (many of) its tubular forms and getting it ready in the morning, the smell is the fi rst thing that hits you,” reports Sylvia By M S Dziemian, who DJs under the name M. Syl- via, and who helped her grandparents make sausage when she was little. “When you’re in church waiting for the priest to get done, there’s also a very special kind of smell in the air, all coming from the sausage. Ideally, you’re fasting. You’ve been abstaining from meat on Fridays, and you certainly shouldn’t eat before 4 1 you bring the basket home. However, as soon as you get in the car, you grab a piece of that sausage before you grab the steering wheel.” 5 You can put whatever kind of kielbasa you DANIELLEASCRUGGS 2 like in your Easter basket. They make about
7 6 20 cured and smoked sausages at Andy’s Deli & Mikolajczyk Sausage Shop, the reigning 101-year-old godfather of Polish sausage in ie dla psa kiełbasa,” is a when I get a craving for kielbasa and fi nd my- girth, length, and hue is labeled with its Pol- Chicago, with its own dedicated Wisconsin sardonic thing you can say self in one of the city’s wondrous Polish delis, ish name, and because these places are often slaughterhouse, Je© erson Park fl agship deli, in Polish when something is such as Rich’s, Dunajec, or Kurowski’s. These thick with people who know exactly what they and Garfi eld Park processing plant. But most (or should be) unattainable places all smell bewitchingly of smoke, pork, want and how to ask for it, there’s little chance people use a special shortened ring of their for someone who desires garlic, and spice, and all feature long rows of for someone who grew up on the featureless standard Polish sausage (polska kielbasa), “Nit. It means “the sausage is not for dogs.” Not dangling meat, hung far out of reach behind Hillshire Farm casserole standby to fi gure out according to general manager Simon Kolasa, speaking Polish, it’s precisely the way I feel the counter. Each individual expression of what’s what. whose uncle Andy Kolasa bought the business
6 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll ChicagoStyle-Reader-Print.pdf 1 4/9/19 9:29 AM
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back in the 80s. Andy’s also makes a special stu© ed with bigger chunks of lean meat. Good mini-ham that can fit snugly into an Easter for sandwiches. basket, along with some 250 other meat prod- ucts, which are stocked in every major Polish Krakowska parzona (craw-k-of-ska posh- grocery and deli around Chicagoland, and on-ah, “of Kraków steamed”): A long, coarsely shipped all over the country. ground, dry, lean sausage, with a peppery kick The end of Lent, when everybody’s anxious named for Poland’s second-largest city. People to satisfy their nagging meat tooth, is a par- hang it at home and dry it out. Seasoned with ticularly busy time of year for Empire Andy’s, allspice, pepper, coriander, and garlic, it’s fi rst C but Kolasa still found time to walk me through steamed, then smoked. Good for sandwiches the plant last week—a labyrinthine sausage with a pronounced hammy taste. M
forest—and give me a short course in Polish Y sausageology, which led, along with addi- Lesna (lesh-nah, “Forest”): A darker CM tional guidance from special correspondents caramel-colored casing jackets a cherry wood- Dziemian and Patryk Carwinski, to the follow- smoked garlic and marjoram-seasoned grind.MY
ing, not-comprehensive kielbasa cheat sheet, CY which you can refer to the next time you feel Mysliwska (mi-shh-leave-ska, “Hunter”): CMY like you deserve some sausage. Semidry, lean, dark and smoky, it’s named for the hunters who may have carried it as provi-K 1 Domowa (pronounced dome-of-ah, sioning. It has a peppery kick that can stand up “homemade”): A dark, firm, relatively dry in bigos, or hunter’s stew. coarsely ground nitrite-nitrate free sausage, with a hint of marjoram. According to Kolasa, 3 Szyszkowa (shish-co-va, podhalanska): customers sometimes worry the sausage has Hailing from the southern highland Podhale spoiled due to the interior, untinted by nitrites region, it’s molded in a distinctive flower- and nitrates. It hasn’t. shaped casing. It has a coarse grind that holds together like a deli meat. Grillowa (grill-of-ah, “grill”): A plump, tender, fatty, juicy, not-too-spicy tube appropriate for Slaska (shh-low-ska): A regional sausage with grilling (not pictured). an 80/20 meat to fat ratio, this is a bit leaner than most and a bit more expensive. Ideal for Jalawcowa (yah-wah-vts-of-ah, “juniper”): grilling. A fi rm, semidry pork and beef sausage spiced with juniper berry, nutmeg, allspice, mustard, 4 Surowo-wędzona (sur-o-v-o v-e-w-ds- smoked sausage (not pictured). oh-nah): A fresh, cold-smoked sausage with a raw, chorizo-like texture. Some people hang it Kiszka, aka kaszanka (kee-shhh-kah, beef to dry, others remove the casing and fry it up. blood and barley sausage): Good fried with eggs, though the encased version, kiszka krup- 5 Swojska (swoy-ska, “pork polish sau- #TVKUV9TKVGT nik, is durable enough to be grilled without sage”): Another long, strongly smoked, ni- falling apart. trate-free old-style link. 2GTHQTOGT! %4'#6+8' 51.76+105 (14 2 6 Kabanos (cob-ah-no-sss): Long, thin, lean Weselna (ve-sell-nah, “Wedding”): A %4'#6+8' 2'12.' snack sticks with a hint of allspice, in a few double-smoked pork sausage ideal for sober- varieties, such as the chewy smoked and dried ing up drunk wedding guests. 5WRRQTVKXG #HHKTOKPI CPF )QCN kabanosy suszane and a chicken variety: ka- EARLY &KTGEVGF 2U[EJQVJGTCR[ CPF banosy z zury. 7 Wiejska (v-yay-ska, “country”): Andy’s *[RPQVJGTCR[ HQT #FWNVU most garlicky pork sausage and its best online WARNINGS Kielbaski pyszne (que-wi-bus-kee pish-neh, seller. /#: - 5*#2'; .%59 barbecue sausage): Thin, hot-dog-shaped NEVER MISS A SHOW AGAIN .QECVGF KP &QYPVQYP 'XCPUVQP smoked pork links, suitable for the grill. Same 8 Zywiecka (zh-v-yets-kah): Hailing from CHICAGOREADER.COM/EARLY formula as the grillowa except in a collagen the south central brewery town, this large casing, which allows for precisely controlled sausage has a very hammy taste, and a thick YYYOCZUJCRG[EQO uniform weight from sausage to sausage. artifi cial casing, with big chunks of lean meat OCZUJCRG["CQNEQO in the grind. v NWG TQUU NWG 5JKGNF 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT Krajana (croix-anna, “sliced,” Canadian- KIPC 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT style): A long, girthy, heavily smoked sausage @MikeSula ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 7 WE ASKED: NEWS & POLITICS Can a community-centered independent paper survive in this environment? THAT’S UP TO YOU,
Byron Sigcho-Lopez, alderman-elect of the 25th Ward, at a protest CHICAGO. against Lincoln Yards CHARLESEDWARDMILLER We’re asking readers to chip in $48 to become a founding member of the Chicago Reader and help us keep the legacy going strong. POLITICS
Donate before April 30th and not only will that lock in your membership rate (for life!), but we’ll also send you a Chicago poli-tricks as usual limited-edition pin for founding members. Aldermen just raised property taxes to pay for Rahm’s TIF handout to his pals. CHIP IN: ChicagoReader.com/Backer By B J
few days after Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot argued that she didn’t have the Lightfoot raised the white flag City Council votes to stop the deals and so, on Mayor Rahm’s $2.4 billion TIF having wrung concessions on minority hiring, deals, I happened to see Knock signed on to them with a word of warning. Down the House, an uplifting doc- “I was very clear with the developers: Enjoy umentaryA about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s this moment in the sun, because you’re never upset triumph in last year’s Democratic House going to get a deal like this again out of the city primary in New York City. of Chicago as long as I’m mayor,” Lightfoot Since winning that election, Ocasio-Cortez said in a press statement. has moved on to Congress, where she’s been a The standard analysis from many aldermen fearless champion for progressive issues. is that Lightfoot had no choice because Mayor In contrast, Lightfoot capitulated even Rahm had enough council votes to pass both though she had campaigned against both TIF deals no matter how much she resisted. So deals and, having won 75 percent of the vote, better to avoid a fi ght rather than to go down had what you might call a rock-solid mandate fi ghting for what you believe. Presuming you WANT TO DONATE VIA CHECK? to take a stand against such taxpayer-funded believed it in the fi rst place. Make checks payable to “Chicago Reader” and mail to: scams. That logic is so Chicago, my friends. We like Chicago Reader, Suite 102, 2930 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60616. I guess this is why Chicago remains the Sec- to think of ourselves as the Monsters of the Include your mailing address, phone, and email—and please indicate if you ond City, at least when it comes to progressive Midway—think Dick Butkus tackling running are okay with us thanking you by name in the paper. politics. backs in the open fi eld. 8 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll NEWS & POLITICS Less scrolling.
But when it comes to standing up for our manic privilege, while looking the other way convictions, we’re more like Marc Trestman’s when it comes to real ones, like TIF abuse. 2014 Bears—down 42 points at halftime to the In reality, aldermen only get to control the Packers, and rolling over without a fi ght. relatively small things—like sidewalk café If AOC operated like this, she’d have told permits—that the mayor doesn’t care about. Trump: I’m voting to fund this wall, but not But as soon as the mayor has a horse in the the next one! race, it’s bye-bye aldermanic privilege. We Okay, maybe I’m being too hard on Mayor- fi rst learned this in 2008, when Mayor Daley elect Lightfoot. After all, she didn’t negotiate got the City Council to approve moving the these deals. That honor goes to Mayor Rahm— Children’s Museum to Grant Park, even as just one fi nal middle fi nger to the taxpayers as Brendan Reilly, the local alderman, begged he heads out the door. them not to. To remind you, Tax Increment Financing is The current hypocrisy was on full display a surcharge applied to your property tax bill, in the vote on the 78, a massive project ear- ostensibly to generate money to eradicate marked for land along the Chicago River just blight in low-income neighborhoods. Instead, south of Roosevelt Road. it’s largely used to underwrite upscale devel- That project lies in the 25th ward, whose opment in already-gentrifying communities current alderman, Danny Solis, has been out that would probably get developed without a of sight for the last few months, or ever since handout. word broke that he was wearing a wire to In other words, it’s Christmas-come-early gather dirt on Alderman Ed Burke. for the well-connected. In this case, Sterling The 25th’s incoming alderman—Byron Bay will get $1.3 billion to underwrite its Sigcho-Lopez—says he’s against the 78 TIF More strumming. Lincoln Yards project on the north side, and handout. The council voted for it anyway. Related Midwest will get $1.1 billion for the 78 Don’t worry, Byron, I’m sure they’ll let you in the South Loop. approve all the awning permits your heart What went down at the last City Council desires. meeting was classic Chicago poli-tricks. It’s One other thing—by creating these two Tax tough to decide which batch of aldermen was Increment Financing districts, the City Coun- more pathetic. Was it south and west side al- cil e© ectively took two chunks of valuable real dermen who supported the deals, even though estate in rapidly developing communities and their communities continue to lose in the TIF made them tax-exempt. game? Because this land won’t generate new Or was it the north side “reformers”—like property taxes for our taxing bodies (schools, Deb Mell, James Cappleman, and Tom Tun- parks, county, etc.) for at least the next 23 ney? While running for o ce, they promised years, the rest of you will have to pay more. to vote against Lincoln Yards, only to turn In other words, the City Council just voted to right around and vote yes, once their cam- raise your property taxes, Chicago. paigns were over. Did I mention that Sterling Bay gets to At this point, I should give a shout-out to spend $25 million of its handout on lawyers the aldermen who voted no on both deals: and fl acks? Well, they do. Let’s see if our lead- John Arena, George Cardenas, Pat Dowell, ers are as generous when it comes to funding Leslie Hairston, Sophia King, Harry Osterman, our schools. Ameya Pawar, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Brendan The council TIF votes went down a week Reilly, Susan Sadlowski-Garza, Michele Smith, after the mayoral election in which only 32 and Scott Waguespack. percent of the voters bothered to show up. In search of other good news, I’d like to re- There are many reasons why voter turnout Give your digital life a break. port that the last TIF vote ought to put to rest remains pathetically low. But one frequent the issue of aldermanic privilege. complaint is that Chicago politics is a con Connect over music, dance & more. This is one where we’re supposed to be game run by hustlers who will sell you out at outraged because aldermen supposedly have the drop of a hat, so why bother? Anyone can play! Find your spring class unfettered control over zoning and projects in After last week’s TIF votes, I can’t blame at oldtownschool.org their wards. Chicagoans for reaching this conclusion. v Another thing about Chicago: we’re end- lessly railing against bogus issues, like alder- @joravben ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 9 NEWS & POLITICS
Unplanned
ON CULTURE Parenthood planned and Unplanned The battle over reproductive rights intensifi es with revisions to federal policy and a new movie. By D I
ere’s one thing about reproduc- of high-profile attacks, one from the White tive rights I know for sure: If men House, the other playing at a movie theater were the ones who had to carry near you. a pregnancy for nine months, go The federal offensive, which comes in the through an excruciating childbirth, form of revisions to Title X, the only federal Hand then be responsible for the care and well- program dedicated to supporting affordable being of another person for the next several birth control and reproductive health care, decades, they’d be picking up their over-the- was on the mind of nurse-midwife Kai Tao counter abortion pills at the drugstore along when she spoke at a Health & Medicine Policy with their shaving lotion. Maybe even at the Research Group event earlier this month. grocery store. Nobody would bat an eye. Tao is a former deputy commissioner of That’s not how it works, however. At least the Chicago Department of Public Health, a not yet. And in these ill-tempered waning former vice president of clinical operations at days of the patriarchy, Planned Parenthood— Planned Parenthood of Illinois, and the found- founded more than a century ago for the radi- er, last year, of Juno4Me, a nonprofit that cal purpose of helping women get a handle on connects women to providers of reversible, their reproductive lives—is the target of a pair long-term birth control (IUDs and implants). 10 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll NEWS & POLITICS GREEN She said the Trump administration changes to Unplanned is a blend of Hallmark-style ro- Title X will prevent clinics from giving refer- mance and unintentionally campy horror fl ick, rals to abortion providers, even when patients with an R rating, a patriarchal subtext (she’s e l e m e n t request them. Instead, they’ll be allowed to “baby” to the husband who always knows best), withhold information about legal pregnancy and a happy, bulldozer-at-the-clinic ending. termination as an option and mandated to Ashley Bratcher stars as Johnson, who had two RESALE provide referrals for prenatal care. In addi- abortions herself and a successful eight-year tion, groups receiving Title X funding would career at Planned Parenthood (employee of the www.big-medicine.org have to be fi nancially and physically separate year!) before viewing an ultrasound-assisted from any abortion provider. procedure and undergoing what’s presented as 6241 N. Broadway, Chicago “They’re doing as much as they can so that an instant conversion, but makes more sense [organizations like Planned Parenthood] as a homecoming for the devoted daughter in won’t take the [federal] money,” Tao said. a staunchly anti-abortion family. Her over-the- 773-942-6522 On March 5, Planned Parenthood and the top boss, a villainous clinic director, refuses American Medical Association sued the Trump to call an ambulance when a procedure goes Mon-Sat 11-7 administration to prevent the revisions from wrong, and threatens retribution powered by going into e© ect. In a press release issued that “Soros, Gates, and Bu© ett” when Johnson joins Sun 12-7 day, AMA president Barbara McAneny called the objectors who’ve been praying at the clinic the changes “a government gag rule” and said, fence for years. The fi lm’s most dramatically “The administration wants to block physicians staged moment—a blood-in-the-toilet horror from providing full information [to their pa- scene with stark camera angles and escalating tients] about all of their health care options tension in the score—may have been inspired PLEASE CONSIDER and from providing appropriate referrals for by Psycho, but, frankly, wouldn’t look all that care.” unfamiliar to any woman. HONORING Planned Parenthood of Illinois president I asked Planned Parenthood of Illinois for Jennifer Welch said in the same statement, a response to the fi lm and got this reply from “This gag rule is just the latest step in the spokesperson Paula Thornton Greear: “The EARTH Trump-Pence Administration’s e© orts to ban claims in the fi lm are simply false. . . . We un- abortion, limit access to sexual and repro- derstand that people have di© erent thoughts ductive health care, and block care at Planned and feelings about abortion, and we know Parenthood.” that people’s beliefs can change over time. DAY If you’re an Illinois resident, you’ve got a However, one’s change of view on the issues of dog in this fi ght: last month, Illinois joined 19 abortion and birth control do not justify false EVERY other states and the District of Columbia in a claims about Planned Parenthood’s services DAY lawsuit that challenges the Title X changes and mission.” as unconstitutional. Illinois attorney general Planned Parenthood has posted a petition Kwame Raoul said in the same statement, on its website asking that the changes to Title “Title X allows the state of Illinois to provide X be dropped; the public’s invited to sign on critical funding to 28 agencies around the here. And this isn’t its only battle: last week state, which provide vital health care services Ohio governor Mike DeWine signed off on a to tens of thousands of Illinois’ most vulnera- state law that will prohibit abortions once ble residents.” (According to 2010 data from a heartbeat can be detected. That’s as early the Guttmacher Institute, 52 percent of all as six weeks—a deadline that could close the pregnancies in Illinois were unintended, and termination option for women before they’re the rate was higher for women living on in- aware that they’re pregnant. comes below the federal poverty level.) With two Trump appointees now on the Su- A motion for a preliminary injunction is preme Court, abortion opponents in multiple pending; otherwise, the changes will go into states are drafting restrictive laws at a furious effect in early May. The next hearing date is pace. In opening remarks at the Health & Med- April 23. icine event, executive director Margie Schaps Meanwhile, down at the multiplex, Un- noted that, “In 2019 alone, 297 anti-abortion planned, a film based on the 2011 memoir bills have been introduced in state legisla- of the same title by Abby Johnson, a former tures.” Their ultimate goal: to enact the one Planned Parenthood clinic director turned that could make its way through the system to anti-abortion activist, is playing to the crowd a high court overturn of Roe v. Wade. v www.big-medicine.org that wants to see Trump’s Title X makeover implemented. @DeannaIsaacs ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 11 SARAHWATTSANDLUCIUSWISNIEWSKI
12 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll SARAHWATTSANDLUCIUSWISNIEWSKI
ll APRIL - CHICA O READER13 NEWS & POLITICS
Hemp fl ower, which is rich in CBD, looks, smells, and smokes just like marijuana—but it won’t get you high. MAYADUKMASOVA NEWS
tridges for e-cigarettes, too. Larsen says she Wake and bake recommends going straight home after buying hemp buds, lest a police o cer stops you and A morning at the CBD shop thinks it’s marijuana. By M D “Cops will come in and you can tell they’re just looking for something illegal to happen,” Petersen says. They always eye the dried fl ower with suspicion, but he adds that some o cers are customers who bring colleagues to the shop in an attempt to educate them about CBD. Also uneducated? Reporters. A while t’s 8 AM on a Friday in Boystown and manufacturers and distributors and there CBD-infused carbonated waters backstage to back, they recalled, K2 (aka spice, aka spike, 26-year-old Danielle Larsen unlocks the have been reports of the powder being sold stay relaxed. aka synthetic marijuana) was in the news. door of the CBD Kratom shop. She has with adulterants ranging from sawdust to PCP. The fi rst customer, a petite and tan middle- “We had people from the Tribune coming in long black hair and wears black Converse CBD Kratom swears by the purity and safety of aged blond woman in black leggings, bronze here,” Larsen says. “It was like this older man sneakers, high-waisted jeans, and a its kratom supply, which comes from a grower sneakers, and aviator sunglasses, strides in at with white hair and I think he was wearing Igreen short-sleeved polo with the shop’s logo in Indonesia. 8:15. She’s a regular who asks for two strains khakis and he was saying ‘Say, you got any stitched on the front. The corner storefront The Boystown shop is part of a Saint Louis- of kratom powder from a wall of small wooden spice?’” she puts on a hokey voice. “And we’re is drenched with sunlight, fi lled with the not- based chain with 18 locations around the crates behind the counter. “People will get it to like ‘No, it’s not legal.’ Plus I feel like [selling too-loud pulsation of a Muse song, and ready country. The company was founded in 2016 replace co© ee,” Larsen tells me later. The shop it would] be super straying away from our to receive its fi rst customer. by David Palatnik and his wife, Dafna Revah. classifies kratom types as reds (euphoria), theme here.” That theme being health and CBD, or cannabidiol, is a compound extract- Palatnik and his brother were already running greens (energy), and whites (relaxation). One wellness, she implied—not psychosis. ed from hemp. Hemp—unlike marijuana—is a head-shop chain and he set out to retail CBD customer might turn to a strain of powder for Since CBD and kratom aren’t regulated, a cannabis-family plant that is legal in all and kratom in a space designed to buck the pain relief while another uses it for restful there’s no systematic quality control over the 50 states and won’t get you high because it negative stigma of a weed-adjacent business. sleep. Others don’t respond to kratom at all. products sold in retail stores. Customers have contains very low levels of the psychoactive The shop is airy, with a wood-laminate Mornings are for kratom customers. They little assurance beyond their own googling, compound THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). CBD, fl oor and high ceiling. The interior design is stream in at a steady clip—a rotund, bearded manufacturers’ labels, and the words of the which has been credited with everything from generally inviting, if a bit reminiscent of an young man in a bright blue “Suck it Trebek” shopkeepers. Larsen and Petersen seem to soothing anxiety to abating seizures, can be artsy teenage girl’s room. There are quirky T-shirt; a woman in high-end athletic gear take their responsibility to inform and warn extracted from marijuana plants, too (though hand-painted signs (“You deserve to relax”) with an infant on her hip; a trim, bespectacled customers of their products’ e© ects seriously. the products sold at CBD Kratom are made and drawings of human anatomical systems middle-aged man in jeans and an ultralight They have lengthy conversations with visitors with CBD derived only from hemp plants). on black chalkboard panels. Fake plants are down jacket. The CBD folks usually flow in and aren’t pushy with sales pitches. Industrial production of hemp in Illinois is still interspersed with real ones. Tall glass display later, Larsen says. In the fi ve hours I spent at “People come to us and talk about every- in its infancy. So for now, CBD Kratom imports cases ring the perimeter of the floor where the shop, 27 customers came in, about half thing they’re dealing with and so we’re like most of their CBD products from Colorado. much of the CBD inventory is kept under lock looking for CBD and the other half for kratom. stand-in therapists,” Larsen says. “We don’t Kratom (pronounced KRAY-tum) refers to and key—everything from $2.95 lollipops Twenty-two of the customers that day were give any medical advice but I feel like people the powdered leaves of the Mitragyna spe- infused with 10 mg of the compound to $59.95 white, and 15 of them were white men. One just want to be heard. Most people who come ciosa tree, which is native to southeast Asia “shatters,” crumbly substances with up to man in a camouflage cap with the U.S. Air in will be dealing with a lot of anxiety or some and produces an opioid compound that can 1,000 mg of CBD per gram. There are vials Force logo came in for several kratom capsule other issues where they want to take CBD as be mildly psychoactive—lower doses can pro- of CBD drops to be administered under the packets. He’s a regular who uses kratom to an extra helper.” duce stimulating feelings akin to co© ee, higher tongue, topical creams and lip balms infused manage pain and avoid prescription opioids As the morning wound down and the clerks ones can produce feelings of euphoria or re- with CBD, bath bombs, chocolate, honey, and and travels from Wisconsin, where kratom is had takeout from the nearby Chicago Diner, laxation. (Opioids are any natural or synthetic even dog treats, which are especially popular banned, Petersen explains. I bought and ate a caramel infused with 30 substances that act on the brain’s opioid re- around the Fourth of July to ease the stress of One of the glass cases along the wall draws mg of CBD. It had a satisfying balance of ceptors, like OxyContin, methadone, or opium fi reworks for furry friends. particular attention from customers—the top sugar and a soft, chewy consistency. About an poppy derivatives like heroin and morphine.) Shea Petersen, a 24-year-old aspiring actor shelves are lined with small bottles of tinc- hour later, I felt good. Maybe it was my brain Kratom is much less researched than CBD. who works at the shop because his other pas- tures, the bottom ones with glass jars of dried awash in CBD. Or perhaps just the normal re- It’s raised concerns for its addictive potential sion is homeopathic and natural medicine, hemp fl ower buds and pre-rolled joints. Hemp laxation brought by the tide of an impending and has been tenuously linked to a few dozen says CBD drops help tremendously with his fl owers look and smell just like weed buds and weekend. v overdose deaths around the country. The FDA scoliosis and fibromyalgia. When he’s in a can be smoked the same as their psychoactive has banned imports of kratom from some play he usually downs a couple of the shop’s cousin. The shop sells vapes and hemp oil car- @mdoukmas 14 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll City and state o cials have made e© orts to people of color, veterans, or individuals with ease the penalties for cannabis possession and disabilities. The Illinois Department of Finan- convictions, but it’s unclear how much of the cial and Professional Regulation and Illinois resources generated by cannabis legalization Department of Agriculture denied Freedom will be allotted to communities that have been of Information Act requests for access to that the hardest hit and whether recreational le- data, but that review is pending. galization will actually benefi t them. Between 2005 and 2017, the number of When Illinois opened its medicinal market, individuals in Illinois prisons for cannabis Tello didn’t apply to participate, because convictions peaked in 2011 at 849, but has the program isn’t open to individuals with since been on the decline, dropping to 372 in felony convictions. Tello has worked within 2017, according to Illinois Department of Cor- the cannabis sector for years. In 2005, the rections statistics. Baltimore native moved to California with his Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx brother and the two started their own medical announced in January that her office would cannabis farm. And once Colorado legalized begin expunging misdemeanor cannabis con- recreational cannabis, his brother started victions. State Representative La Shawn Ford another cannabis cultivation facility there introduced the Criminal Identification bill, in 2016, but Tello couldn’t be involved in the which would seal nonviolent criminal records Colorado business due to a 2009 cannabis con- including possession of 10 grams or less of can- viction in Illinois for which he was sentenced nabis after ten years. Other states have made to fi ve years in prison. He served 27 months an effort to expunge cannabis convictions, before being sent to a work-release program but it’s important for Illinois to automate or in Peoria. simplify that process as much as possible, said
SIMONEMARTINNEWBERRY The time behind bars made him more State Representative Kelly Cassidy (14th), who patient, but it was hard to be away from his has been working with State Senator Heather children, who are now in or headed to college. Steans (7th) to craft recreational cannabis “The worst, for me, in prison was not being legislation. Cassidy said Illinois should also able to hold my children. I love my kids, my improve the entrepreneurship support and wife. I just really missed my family more than law enforcement components. anything,” Tello said. “I remember from a pris- “I think what most folks fail to recognize on phone, my daughter being 12 or 13 asking when contemplating those issues of equity Weed me, ‘Daddy, is it okay if I have a boyfriend?’ and access is that there’s not a singular That’s a very hard feeling to get over.” problem that’s caused that lack of diversity,” He declined to name his former employer in Cassidy said. the work-release program, but said he was in States have used di© erent metrics such as automotive sales alongside two other individ- school or arrest data to identify communities whacked uals with criminal records. affected by cannabis criminalization. After If recreational cannabis is legalized, how will Illinois reengage the formerly Massachusetts, and California cities like talking with minority caucuses, and other incarcerated and make amends to communities of color? Long Beach and Oakland, have established stakeholders, Cassidy decided that the state cannabis social equity programs, which help needs to create a program for communities to By T W -M individuals and communities impacted by decide how to use the resources generated by cannabis criminalization get spots within cannabis legalization. business incubators, find jobs, and obtain As for diversifying entrepreneurship within licensing. It’s unclear whether Illinois will the market, Cassidy acknowledged that— f Illinois legalizes recreational cannabis, Tello, who is first-generation Italian- follow suit. When the state started its pilot though the state has declined to disclose David Tello plans to come home. Until American, is one of countless cannabis- medicinal cannabis program, regulators au- which diverse entrepreneurs were kept out of he decides whether to return to his wife connected felons in Illinois whose future pros- thorized cultivation centers and dispensaries the sector—Illinois’s current medical market and two children in Peoria, Illinois, in pects in the budding industry are unclear. As to grow and sell medicinal cannabis for pain is overwhelmingly white and male, adding May, he’s staying in California, where he’s the state weighs recreational cannabis legaliza- associated with conditions such as cancer, that dispensaries could be more inclusive in Ihelping his brother relaunch their cannabis tion—and eyes how other states have rolled out multiple sclerosis, and HIV and AIDS. But the hiring process. She also said the medical company in that state’s new recreational regulations—activists and citizens are won- thanks to the Compassionate Use of Medical cannabis law’s language that prevents the market. If recreational cannabis becomes legal dering how Illinois will handle two pressing, Cannabis Pilot Program Act, which conceals state from giving out not only proprietary here, Tello will launch MelloVibes, a cannabis overlapping concerns: how to engage felons the contents of dispensary and cultivation business information, but also disclosing basic dispensary, in Peoria. But for now, he’s legally with industry expertise like Tello and how to center applications and renewals, it’s unclear ownership information about the companies blocked from the industry he knows best be- rectify the impact of cannabis criminalization just how many people who received licenses licensed to operate, was a drafting error. cause of a previous conviction that he later got on communities of color that have been dispro- were members of underrepresented or mar- “It is critically important that we address sealed. portionately a© ected by the war on drugs. ginalized communities, including women, the issue of equity and access and bring J ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 15 continued from 15 a recreational cannabis bill, but there are that. That will have huge savings for the state.” the financial hurdles were too high, partic- real competition into the industry and ensure still plenty of kinks to be worked out. Hughes Mitchell, a former trial attorney at the Cook ularly in terms of buying land for cannabis that we do that in a way that improves the called the measure “inevitable” but said the County public defender’s o ce, said legalizing cultivation in southern Illinois or enduring the abysmal diversity record not just in terms of group wants to slow down the process to make recreational cannabis could reduce the court’s process of credit checks and background ownership but in hiring and contracting as sure the state perfects its social equity e© ort. number of misdemeanor cases but wouldn’t checks before opening a dispensary, Haley well,” Cassidy said. “They can be doing better Legislators still have some reservations, for do much for decreasing the prison popula- said. When asked if she knows any entrepre- now, and they’re not.” example, about social consumption, which tion, because the majority of people in prison neurs of color who would talk to the Reader Hughes said stems from the “demonization of are incarcerated for non-cannabis-related for this article, she said she knew of profes- ctivists, especially advocates of color, cannabis.” And there’s the question of how to o© enses. According to Illinois Department of sional people who had tried to pool resources are eyeing the legislation to make sure determine when people are driving while high. Corrections statistics, the percentage of state to enter the industry but who felt that talking Athe recreational legalization doesn’t Unlike with drunk driving, there’s no fi eld test prisoners with cannabis convictions has not about their e© orts publicly would jeopardize repeat the same mistakes as the medicinal to immediately determine whether someone risen above 2 percent between 2005 and 2017. their careers. one. Echoing Cassidy’s hope for Illinois, behind the wheel is impaired. In a larger sense, societal attitudes toward In response to critics who say that legaliza- Kiana Hughes, education director of Chicago These law enforcement concerns are im- cannabis have progressed a great deal since tion would bring more cannabis into commu- NORML, a cannabis policy, education, and en- portant, because there is mistrust within the 2009, Tello said. A 2017 Southern Illinois nities of color, Hughes said that the controlled trepreneurship advocacy group, said Illinois Black community, Hughes said. Removing University poll found that 74 percent of voters substance already permeates Black and brown has a chance to legalize cannabis while imple- smell as a probable cause for arrest is critical support decriminalization of cannabis where neighborhoods unregulated and is readily menting social equity measures. for ensuring cannabis consumers don’t get people in possession of small amounts for per- available for young people in the underground The organization has put forth its proposals arrested on questionable grounds, she said. sonal consumption would not be prosecuted market. for social equity in cannabis, which include The fear in Black communities exists even but may be fi ned, compared to 21 percent who “Most of the time what people don’t un- expunging cannabis conviction records in pro-cannabis circles. Hughes said that when strongly oppose it. derstand is when you get something from a and providing resources for entrepreneurs, she’s organizing Chicago NORML events, peo- “I never got mad at marijuana. I got mad at dispensary or from a regulated cannabis busi- whether or not they want to enter the can- ple fear being targeted by the police or being the system and the crazy irrational thinking of ness, it’s been tested. There’s labels of exactly nabis industry. For people of color whose seen by outsiders as a cannabis supporter. society,” he said, refl ecting on his sentence. what’s in it. You can look it up,” she said. “But communities have been disproportionately Police o cers’ views of cannabis won’t change When it comes to compensating individuals with what’s out there on the street now, you’re impacted by the war on drugs, it is especially simply with the passage of a new law, nor can who were incarcerated for cannabis con- really just taking someone else’s uninformed crucial that the state devote social equity re- you wait for law enforcement to change their victions, Mitchell thinks doing so would be information that they’re just throwing out sources specifi cally to them, because cannabis minds before changing the law, said Sharone equitable, but a measure like that wouldn’t there.” criminalization was partially responsible for Mitchell Jr., deputy director of the Illinois gain political support or be economically pos- While legislators decide whether they will trauma and family separations—a separate Justice Project. sible for the state to do. legalize cannabis in Illinois, entrepreneurs like plight than other marginalized groups have On the other side of the issue, some activists Teresa Haley, president of the Illinois Tello must wait to determine how they will faced, Hughes added. worry that cannabis will not be good for the NAACP, also expressed skepticism over wheth- operate in the state in the future. Tello said he “I think that the stu© provided for people of Black community. Will Jones, communications er cannabis legalization would benefi t Black knew from an early age that he wanted to be a color and social equity should be separate. I and outreach associate of Smart Approaches communities, adding that she was concerned businessman. His father, who died when Tello don’t want us all to get lumped in with women to Marijuana (SAM), a bipartisan marijuana about children accessing it, as well as adult was four years old, owned commercial fi shing and veterans and all that,” Hughes said. “Do policy organization, questions whether the addiction. Even if the state were to expunge boats in Boston. “I had this feeling growing what you need to do to make sure women get resources generated from legalized cannabis previous cannabis convictions, Illinois would up that I’ve always wanted to own my own what they need and make sure that they’re in Illinois would actually benefi t any commu- need to ensure that those whose prior can- business, and I’ve owned di© erent businesses paid the same, but don’t mash that up with nities of color. nabis convictions were thrown out have the throughout my life, some successful, some what we’re asking for over here because we’re Allowing entrepreneurs of color to enter resources to reintegrate into the community, failures,” he said. asking for it for a very specifi c reason.” the sector could be good in theory, but it takes she said. As he awaits lawmakers’ decision, he said he A February 2019 report from the consulting signifi cant capital to even enter the industry, For communities slated to receive a cut of hopes that the bill they pass will allow those fi rm Freedman & Koski estimated that legaliz- and it’s not clear whether their earnings will the cannabis tax revenue, Haley said that it’s with cannabis convictions to participate in ing cannabis in Illinois could generate between “trickle down” to other people of color, Jones up to lawmakers to commit to a percentage, the legal market as well as provide social eq- $443 million and $676 million a year in sales said. The organization is working to further whether it’s 20 or 25 percent or so. When uity programs that will even the playing fi eld. tax revenue. But if the state were to legalize decriminalize personal cannabis possession asked whether she believes that lawmakers Doing so would allow those who have some cannabis, the market would need to open up in Illinois, but it views the commercialization will actually allocate a significant portion experience with the plant to get their shot at to more cultivators and dispensaries. A 2019 of cannabis as a way for companies to target of tax revenue from cannabis legalization to the legal market, rather than only ushering in Marijuana Policy Group analysis reportedly disenfranchised communities, likening the communities of color, Haley said, “Hell no.” wealthy people with little experience who will found that the current market could fulfi ll the budding sector to alcohol and tobacco compa- “I think we need to be at the table, but if end up hiring consultants for advice. state’s demand for four years, but Cassidy said nies, Jones said. you’re introducing . . . legislation that’s going “I’m not necessarily looking for easy. I’m just because the current suppliers and dispen- “If we want to show that we have the polit- to cause more harm than health to our com- just looking for the opportunity,” Tello said. saries claimed they could meet the demand ical will to really channel more resources to munities, you need to have some programs in “I work my ass o© to get where I need to go. I doesn’t mean that the market shouldn’t be disenfranchised communities, let’s e© ectively place and some dollars to back it up,” Haley don’t need easy. But I do need to know that I’m opened to other entrepreneurs. decriminalize,” Jones said. “Take it out of said. allowed in the program.” v In its conversations with legislators, Chi- the hands of law enforcement, so there aren’t Even among Black entrepreneurs who want- cago NORML has heard a willingness to pass people arrested and getting incarcerated from ed to enter Illinois’s medical cannabis market, @Tati_WM 16 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll F sss Directed by Jafar Panahi. In subtitled Farsi and Turkish. min. /-/ . Gene Siskel Film Center, N. State, -- , siskelfilmcenter.org , $ . FILM
3 Faces
depiction of what it’s like to drive other people lagers, it becomes clear that 3 Faces isn’t so around all day. much about whether Panahi and Jafari will 3 Faces is no less perceptive, delivering a fi nd Marziyeh than it is about the pleasure of richly detailed account of life in a rural Iranian interacting with people unlike yourself and village. Panahi characterizes the community how being a famous artist can make such in- of Saran (located in northeastern Iran near teractions possible. The fi lm develops a grand Tabriz) through its geography, customs, and irony in presenting the difference between manner of social interaction. Even though the how the villagers regard the visiting artists Tehran-based filmmaker acknowledges he’s and how they regard Marziyeh, whose dream observing this community as an outsider, his of becoming a fi lm actress they view with con- curiosity is irrepressible and contagious. It’s tempt. When Panahi and Jafari aren’t talking also the driving force of the fi lm’s narrative. about the troubled young woman, they find 3 Faces begins as the director and actress the people of Saran exceedingly gracious. The Behnaz Jafari (also playing herself) embark on film’s amusing climax finds an elderly local the long drive to Saran after a young woman trying to pass off to the bewildered Jafari a who lives there sends a video to Panahi’s cell package containing his son’s foreskin, be- phone begging for Jafari’s help. In the video lieving it will give her and Panahi good luck. the young woman, Marziyeh, explains she’s The director could certainly use it (the luck, been accepted into a fi ne-arts school in Tehran that is). Panahi never mentions his ban from to study acting, but her parents, who don’t fi lmmaking in 3 Faces, yet this reality governs want anyone in their family becoming artists, the movie as a structuring absence. Given how REVIEW have forbidden her from leaving the village. much he’s suffered as a film artist, can one The despairing Marziyeh concludes the video really blame the villagers for not wanting Mar- by putting a noose around her neck, then ziyeh to enter the Iranian fi lm industry? Mirror, mirror dropping her phone. Was she committing sui- Another irony of 3 Faces is that Panahi cide or merely threatening it? Feeling a sense can’t escape the movies even when he’s not In 3 Faces, Iranian director Jafar Panahi turns the camera inward. of responsibility for another persecuted artist, allowed to make them. Early on in the film, Panahi decides to look for her in Saran and Jafari reminds the director of a screenplay he By B S o© er moral support if she’s still alive. wrote about suicide several years earlier, rais- Jafari suspects that Marziyeh was only play- ing the possibility that he’s now living inside acting her suicide attempt, but the director the fi lm he was unable to shoot. Other scenes ad Jafar Panahi not already used This question, of course, is not just meta- isn’t so sure. He insists that the video couldn’t involving Marziyeh’s angry younger brother, the title The Mirror in 1997, he could physical for Panahi. The director has been have been doctored, and in any case, he can’t who fl ies into a rage whenever he hears about have applied it to any of the four banned from making movies in Iran since resist her cry for help. The opening 20 minutes his sister’s acting dreams, feel like they could features he’s made this decade. 2010, and unless that ban is revoked it will stay of 3 Faces find Panahi and Jafari bickering have come from Panahi’s The Circle (2000) The Iranian director appears as in e© ect until 2030. The Iranian government over the verisimilitude of the video on their and O side (2006), both of which concerned Hhimself in all four—This Is Not a Film (2011), has also forbidden Panahi from leaving the drive, which gets interrupted by phone calls the daily persecution women face in Iran. The Closed Curtain (2013), Taxi (2015), and now 3 country, making it impossible for him to work from Panahi’s mother (who wants to know if fi lm’s depiction of cinema as a hall of mirrors Faces (2018)—e© ectively turning the camera abroad. So I’m not surprised that numerous he’s making another movie) and the director recalls Abbas Kiarostami’s head-spinning on himself as a sort-of mirror. It would be people writing about Panahi’s recent films of the film Jafari has walked off of in order masterpiece Through the Olive Trees (1994), shortsighted, though, to reduce these works have overlooked their metaphysical and for- to make the journey. When the two arrive in on which Panahi worked as assistant director, with the label of autobiography. For one thing mal aspects by concentrating on the fact that Saran, they’re full of questions, but they’re and the similarity is likely intentional. 3 Faces Panahi is too imaginative an artist to limit they’ve been made at all. The stories of Pana- unable to ask them because they’re instantly is the first feature Panahi has made since his interests to just himself. Like the French hi’s e© orts to get his movies made and seen are swept up into the life of the village. They Kiarostami’s death in 2016, and it evokes the filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard and Philippe indeed entertaining, even heroic (This Is Not a interrupt a wedding ceremony taking place work of his old boss in other respects: the Garrel, Panahi recognizes how cinema can both Film was famously smuggled out of Iran on a on the only road leading into the town; in the premise of a director driving to a rural village enlarge a director’s persona and hold it up for fl ash drive hidden inside a cake), but let’s not village center, they’re mistaken for govern- to track down someone who may be dead re- scrutiny—you could say he brings the camera praise them simply because they exist. Taxi is ment workers, whom the residents are waiting calls Kiarostami’s Life, and Nothing More . . . to himself in order to interrogate how it works. on one level about Panahi’s experience as the on to fi x the broken water and gas lines. Over (1992), and the theme of suicide recalls his In The Mirror, Panahi exposed how much he victim of a restrictive government, but what the next day, Panahi and Jafari interact with a Taste of Cherry (1997). This is another exam- usually controls as a director by allowing the makes it a great movie is how the director is variety of townspeople, who begin to treat the ple of how Panahi, under the guise of looking little girl who stars in the movie to take control able to see in his plight a connection to people visitors with respect after they realize the two inward, is really using cinema to celebrate his of the narrative. His fi lms of the 2010s follow a who are su© ering under the Iranian regime for are famous artists. connection to others. v similar trajectory, questioning how much art- any reason. It’s a fi lm about how cinema unites As the protagonists get sidetracked from ists can control the world around them. people, not to mention a funny, perceptive their mission by their meetings with the vil- @1bsachs
ssssEXCELLENTsssGOODssAVERAGEsPOOR• WORTHLESS ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 17 C P F F / -/ : dates and times vary, see website; Gene Siskel Film Center, N. State, -- FILM , palestinefilmfest.com , $ .
primary source to refute Israel’s claim that the Perseverance under duress is a consistent attack was justifi ed. theme among all the films; the lone live- Three of the documentaries center around action narrative feature, Bassam Jarbawi’s Palestinian women to joyous and heartbreak- Screwdriver (Mafak) considers the plight of a ing e© ect. Thomas A. Morgan’s Soufra follows man wrongfully detained in an Israeli prison Mariam Shaar, a Palestinian woman born and for more than 15 years owing to deception raised in Beirut’s Burj El Barajneh refugee centered around a youthful indiscretion. Like camp, as she rallies other women in the camp several of the other selections, it positions to start a catering business that soon evolves such harrowing circumstances in the context into other, larger endeavors. The footage of of a less politically charged genre; in this case, the food is positively mouthwatering, a salient the plot involves something of a love triangle. reminder of its ability to unite people within a Accompanying all the features is a bevy of culture as well as outside it. The group, called short films whose genres range the gamut. Soufra, put out a cookbook, with proceeds It’s in the shorts where narrative fi ction dom- benefi ting its ongoing e© orts. inates, with an emphasis on the day-to-day Christy Garland’s What Walaa Wants happenings that make life as a Palestinian follows another refugee, this time inside a seem both wonderful and challenging. Here, West Bank camp called Balata, as she pursues too, works centering on women stand out. her dream of becoming a member of the Pal- Laila Abbas’s The Chair is impressive in all re- estinian Security Forces. Teenaged Walaa is spects, from its pacing to its wry economy, as decidedly headstrong, and her desire to be an it depicts a Palestinian family in the wake of a authority fi gure while rejecting authority her- family death, with a friend attempting to play Killing Gaza self makes for a curious story. It’s a nuanced matchmaker to both the young Jamaica-based look at what it means to be young in Palestine, niece and her never-married aunt. Something FESTIVAL PREVIEW one that reveals how certain truths (namely that links many of the short fi lms is the way in that of youthful rebellion) are universal. which their makers draw emotions other than The closing night film, Julia Bacha’s Naila horror out of otherwise-appalling scenarios. The people behind the headlines and the Uprising, deals with another sort of Take, for instance, Rakan Mayas’s Bonboné, rebellion, this one more central to the ongoing a fi lm that could legitimately be termed sexy The Chicago Palestine Film Festival provides a framework for understanding confl ict. Partly animated, the fi lm details the even if its plot deals with a Palestinian hus- recent events in the Middle East. courageous story of Naila Ayesh, a Palestinian band, who has been imprisoned by the Israelis woman whose participation in the First Inti- for unknown reasons, and wife trying to con- By K S fada begets even more stories of the import- ceive across prison bars. ant role women played in that insurrection, Laymun by Catherine Prowse and Hannah ast Wednesday Benjamin Netanyahu culture, experience, and vision of the artists.” women who were ultimately forced to return Quinn is another exceptional short. Beautiful- was reelected as Israel’s prime min- This is an objective that comes through in the to being second-class citizens after serving the ly animated, it shows a young woman tending ister, set to serve an unprecedented documentaries especially. cause. The animation is novel, but it’s the inter- a lemon grove amidst an unidentifi ed Middle fi fth term. Leading up to his victory, Two slant purely informative: Max Blu- views with Palestinian women that stand out. Eastern war zone. Mats Grorud’s animated Netanyahu promised to annex Israeli menthal and Dan Cohen’s Killing Gaza and Narrated by Iggy Pop, Marco Proserpio’s feature The Tower follows its young protag- Lsettlements in the West Bank, diminishing Rifat Audeh’s The Truth: Lost at Sea provide The Man Who Stole Banksy is a meditation on onist, Wardi, as she attempts to salvage hope hope even further for the future of a Pales- informative, if not graphic, overviews of their street art vis-à-vis the elusive artist’s 2014 trip for her great-grandfather by speaking with tinian state. Our country’s mainstream news respective topics. Independent journalists to Bethlehem with a smattering of other street her relatives about their family’s history. The media—which, like many of those in power, Blumenthal and Cohen document the events artists. Among their pieces was a painting by fi lm spans the history of the Israeli-Palestinian favor an Israeli perspective—play down Net- and aftermath of the 2014 Israel-Gaza confl ict, Banksy that depicted an Israeli guard checking confl ict dating back to al-Nakba (or just “the anyahu’s transgressions, thus depriving many during which Israel launched a 51-day assault a donkey’s identifi cation papers, rendered in Nakba”) in 1948, when more than 700,000 Americans the chance to see their impact on against the Gaza Strip that claimed the lives of his signature silhouette style. Intended to be Palestinians were removed from their home- the Palestinian people. When viewed in total, more than 2,000 Palestinians and destroyed a commentary on the undue diligence with land. Its animation, a mix of di© erent styles, the eight features and ten short films in the almost 20,000 housing units. which Israeli forces police the occupied area, is breathtaking, the labor an appropriate hom- 18th annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival Audeh’s The Truth: Lost at Sea is straight- some Palestinians nevertheless found it to be age to the struggles it depicts. Though both provide a necessary framework for under- forward but needs not overemphasize to o© ensive, thinking that Banksy was compar- these fi lms are feats of craft, neither oversen- standing dire recent events. The selections astound. Audeh was a participant in the 2010 ing them to the oft-maligned animal. The fi lm timentalizes its subjects; larger violence and comprise an exhaustive, and often emotion- Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of six civilian ships evolves into a rumination on who owns street the smaller unglamorous parts of daily life are ally exhausting, look at Palestinian life, both that attempted to provide aid to Gaza in spite art and, correspondingly, who can sell it. Its animated with equally impressive honesty. historical and contemporary. of the Israeli blockade. Israeli forces attacked message is somewhat unclear, but the pairing That’s a dichotomy that could be said to de- Six of the eight features are documentaries, in the night, traversing international waters of a seemingly trivial issue against a much scribe the festival as a whole—audiences of all which seems appropriate to the festival’s to harangue activists and aid workers aboard more signifi cant one—living in a place where backgrounds should come away with greater mission per its website: “to present a fi lm fes- the ships. Using footage shot by himself and one’s citizenship is constantly scrutinized by insight into the complexities of Palestinian tival that is open, critical, and refl ective of the others on the fl otilla, Audeh utilizes fi lm as a occupying forces—illuminates both concerns. life. v 18 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESN NEWF
Get showtimes at chicagoreader.com/movies. FILM
Little
ome dance with one C of Chicago's premiere NOW PLAYING Capernaum youth dance organizations Babylon R Shot over six months, Capernaum is documen- A new restoration of this 1980 British cult classic makes tary in feel, based on years of research and interviews this summer. plain that its themes of disaff ection and racial discord in director Nadine Labaki and her collaborators conducted south London are still relevant nearly four decades later. with refugees and neglected, abandoned, and/or incar- Through the perspective of a DJ for a local reggae crew cerated minors. It off ers an immediacy and authenticity (Brinsley Forde), the city’s heated Jamaican subculture that would not have been possible without its nonpro- We have youth dance classes unfurls. It’s an intricate network, infl uenced by poverty fessional performers improvising versions of their own and intraracial rivalry as much as anti-Black racism and experiences. In this story of an abused street child who for every age in ballet, jazz, tap, police misconduct. The drama is notable for its cast of sues his monstrous parents for bringing him into the mostly young Black musicians and its refusal to shy away world, no one is more compelling than Zain Al Rafeea, hip hop, contemporary and more. from troublesome territory. The movie also features a the youngster who plays the protagonist (also named wellspring of talent behind the camera, from late direc- Zain), a real-life refugee from Syria’s civil war who was tor Franco Rosso to cinematographer Chris Menges only 12 years old and barely literate when the director (who went on to win an Oscar for The Killing Fields) to met him. He is also small for his age, a result of malnutri- reggae producer Dennis Bovell, who supplies the fi lm’s tion; with haunted eyes and a stunted frame, he’s every propulsive score. In English and Jamaican patois with inch the heartbreaking urchin. In Arabic with subtitles. subtitles. —L P 95 min. Fri 4/19, 4 and 8 PM; —A G R, 121 min. Sat 4/20, 7 and 9:30 Celebrating Sat 4/20, 5:30 PM; Sun 4/21, 3 PM; Mon 4/22, 6 PM; Wed PM; and Sun 4/21, 4 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films 4/24, 8 PM; and Thu 4/25, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Devi The Big Sleep One of Satyajit Ray’s greatest early fi lms (1960), full of Uniqueness. R A very good movie (1946), and by far the sensuality and ironic undertones, Devi is suffi ciently criti- best Raymond Chandler adaptation, but it isn’t one of cal of Hindu superstition that it was banned from foreign Howard Hawks’s most refi ned eff orts—it lacks his clarity distribution until Nehru interceded. The plot concerns a of line, his balance, his sense of a free spirit at play wealthy and devout landowner in the 19th century who Every Day within a carefully set structure. What you remember believes his daughter-in-law (Sharmila Tagore) is the here are moments: Bogart’s line about Martha Vickers reincarnation of the goddess Kali and convinces her that (“Ain’t she been weaned yet?”), Dorothy Malone in the he’s right. With Soumitra Chatterji and Chhabi Biswas. In bookshop, the broken roll of quarters pouring from a Bengali with subtitles. —J R 93 min. Learn more about Extensions Dance Company and hood’s fi st, Bogart and Bacall’s racetrack dialogue, the 35mm archival print. Wed 4/24, 7 and 9:30 PM. Univ. of romance that is charted in the borrowing, lighting, and Chicago Doc Films Extensions Dance Center at extensionsdance.com. puffi ng of cigarettes. If you can fi gure out who killed the chauff eur, the world is waiting for the answer. With Duel in the Sun John Ridgely, Regis Toomey, and Elisha Cook Jr.; from A big, big western (1946) from producer David O. a script by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Selznick, with Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Furthman. —D K 114 min. 35mm. Sat 4/20-Sun Barrymore, Gregory Peck, Lillian Gish, Herbert Marshall, 4/21, 11:30 AM. Music Box Walter Huston, Harry Carey, and Butterfl y McQueen. Selznick enlisted King Vidor—one of the few directors Le boucher with the logistical know-how to handle such a sprawling One of the best of Claude Chabrol’s attempts to fi lm—and tried to duplicate the success of his Gone With recapture the eff ects of a Hitchcock thriller in an anti- the Wind. What Selznick got instead was a screaming thetical context of naturalistic performances and closely Freudian fantasy, full of the dark sexuality characteristic observed social detail (1970). Jean Yanne is the village of Vidor’s late career (Beyond the Forest, Ruby Gentry). butcher with a sinister secret, and Stéphane Audran is Contemporary wits called it Lust in the Dust, and there’s the schoolteacher who loves him. In French with subti- no doubt that it goes too far in almost every direc- tles. —D K 95 min. 16mm. Mon 4/22, 7 PM. Univ. tion—but that touch of obsession is exactly what saves of Chicago Doc Films it. —D K 129 min. 35mm archival print. Fri 4/19, 7 PM, and Sun 4/21, 1:30 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films continued on 22 3933 N. Elston Avenue • Chicago, IL • 773-299-9202 ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 19 WE ASKED: Can a community-centered independent paper survive in this environment? THAT’S UP TO
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20 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll ll APRIL - CHICAOREADER 21 FILM Get showtimes at chicagoreader.com/movies.
continued from 19 of the frame. Audaciously structured, the fi lm runs 135 it so hard you almost expect a laugh track. More who do indeed get trapped two miles underground is minutes and consists of just fi ve scenes, with each one impressive are the adult characters: Allison Janney and not the fi rst to show the dangers that await men and Easter Parade depicting a diff erent stage of the heroine’s downfall and J.K. Simmons are ruefully funny as the girl’s practical women who go to work beneath the earth: the 2015 fi lm A modest, slightly lumpy, but eff ective MGM musical eventual rebirth. Perry uses extended duration to make parents, and as the yearning adoptive mother, Garner The 33 brought to theaters the true story of 33 Chilean (1948) by the studio’s least obtrusive talent, Charles viewers feel trapped with the characters and long for proves that even a limited actress can really connect miners who made international headlines when they Walters. Fred Astaire is a dancer whose partner (Ann them to see beyond themselves. With Agyness Deyn, when given the right role. —JRJ PG-13, 96 min. became trapped underground. But Mine 9 is grittier, Miller) is getting too big for her tap shoes; he grooms Dan Stevens, Cara Delevingne, and Eric Stoltz. —B Fri 4/19-Mon 4/22, 11 PM. Logan with an eerie score that will make viewers wonder if Judy Garland as a replacement. The Irving Berlin score S R, 134 min. Ross attends the 8 PM Saturday and they’re watching a horror fi lm. Unfortunately, the fi lm is bright, and Walters is one director who knows when to 1:45 PM Sunday screenings. At Music Box Theatre. Visit Life of Brian begins to lose its once-solid footing in the third act, leave Astaire to his own devices. —D K 107 min. musicboxtheatre.com for showtimes. Originally titled Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory, this Monty leading to a rushed and disappointing ending. —N 35mm. Sun 4/21, 7 PM. Music Box Python parody of the New Testament (1979) stars Gra- D L 84 min. Mensore attends the 7 and 9 PM NHotel by the River ham Chapman as the title character, a nebbish who’s Friday and 3, 5, and 7 PM Saturday screenings. Facets Fantastic Planet R An aging poet, enjoying an extended stay at acclaimed by the rabble as a messiah and put to death Cinémathèque A 1973 Czech animated feature, directed by a French- the title location, calls on his two grown sons to visit him by the Romans. Some Python fans swear by this, but I’ve man (Rene Laloux) and scripted by a Pole (Roland a er he has a premonition he’s going to die; meanwhile, always considered it the group’s nadir: with a few excep- The Other Side of the Wind Topor). It tells of a race of 39-foot-tall giants with red another guest at the hotel receives a visit from her tions (Michael Palin’s lisping Pilate, the cheery musical R Orson Welles shot this self-referential (and eyes—called Draags—and their eventual war and concili- best friend, who promises to help her get over a recent number during the crucifi xion) it’s silly but toothless, o en satirical) drama between 1970 and 1976, but due to ation with a subjugated race: tiny humanlike pets of the breakup with her married lover. Hong Sang-soo’s second sidestepping its ostensible target in favor of academic extenuating circumstances, was never able to complete Draags, called Oms. Obviously intended as a parable fi lm of 2018 (a er Grass) begins as one of the South riff s on Pharisaic hairsplitting and pre-Christian cultism. it; only in 2017 did a team of fi lmmakers embark on (the Draags have reached the pinnacle of scientifi c Korean writer-director’s calmest and loveliest works, as The group came roaring back four years later with the assembling a feature from Welles’s footage, proceed- knowledge, knowledge that several rebellious Oms put Hong relaxedly introduces the characters and observes more aggressive and inspired The Meaning of Life. Terry ing according to the many notes he le behind. It’s to their own use), the fi lm has a fl at quality that cannot them quietly passing time together, but there are hints Jones directed. —JRJ R, 93 min. Thu 4/18, 7 PM. impossible to say whether the resulting product is what entirely be overcome by the sensational animation and of disquiet beneath the surface. Shooting handheld Century Centre Welles would have created, but what exists certainly the obvious good intentions of its creators. In French for the fi rst time, Hong injects a sense of instability provides much food for thought. The story takes place with subtitles. —D D 72 min. 35mm. Fri 4/19, into the pleasant interactions, and the black-and-white NLittle over a 24-hour period during which a lauded, Hem- 4 and 8 PM; and Mon, 4/22, 6:15 PM. Gene Siskel Film cinematography (like that of his 2017 feature The Day The plot of Tina Gordon’s Little is nothing new: it’s a take ingwayesque fi lmmaker (John Huston) celebrates his Center A e r ) conjures up an air of stinging loneliness. When on the body-swap comedies that fl ourished in the 1980s. career, presents rushes of his new fi lm, and fends off the characters get drunk and confess their true feel- Here, aggressive tech boss Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall) journalists, protégés, and various hangers-on. The rapid, For All Mankind ings—as they inevitably do in Hong’s fi lms—you may not wakes up one day as her 13-year-old self (Marsai Martin). dizzying montage—similar to that of Welles’s F for Fake Al Reinert made this 1989 fi lm about the Apollo moon be surprised to learn how unhappy they are. In Korean The solution is nothing new either: Jordan learns to be (1975)—is so overwhelming that you may have trouble missions by si ing through thousands of hours of NASA with subtitles. —B S 96 min. Fri 4/19, 2 and 6 PM: kind and accept her inner child and only then does she keeping track of the numerous characters and highly footage and recording almost 80 hours of interviews Sat 4/20, 3:15 PM; Sun 4/21, 5 PM; Mon 4/22, 8 PM; Tue switch back to her adult self. What makes the fi lm feel personal themes, which range from artistic integrity to with the astronauts, then confl ating multiple missions 4/23, 6 PM: Wed 4/24, 6 PM; and Thu 4/25, 8 PM. Gene fresh, however, are the performances from Martin and sexual anxiety to the diff erences between our public into a single trip. The astronauts playfully mug for the Siskel Film Center Issa Rae, who plays Jordan’s assistant. The two play off and private selves. Yet Welles’s bitterness about Hol- camera, and the footage is spectacular, from a fi ery li - of each other excellently, and Rae is as charming as she lywood is unmistakable, as is his enthusiasm about the off montage to familiar but lovely shots of the earth from Julie & Julia is in everything else. Unfortunately, the script, which too possibilities of fi lmmaking in the poststudio era. With space to the moon’s mysterious gray surface. But it’s Writer-director Nora Ephron combines two cooking o en errs on the side of caution, needs more comedic Peter Bogdanovich and Oja Kodar (who cowrote the telling that a description of the problems of defecating memoirs, Julia Child’s My Life in France and Julie Pow- moments that would allow the fi lm to thrive. When the script). —B S R, 122 min. 35mm. Former Reader in zero gravity is more interesting than astronauts’ trite ell’s Julie and Julia, stirring briskly to keep them from fi lm is funny, it’s hilarious, but the comedy is too spread fi lm critic Jonathan Rosenbaum lectures at the Tuesday musings on “out of this world” views, and the ahistorical separating in the bowl. The main reason for seeing this out, and not even the central performances can save screening. Sat 4/20, 3 PM, and Tue 4/23, 6 PM. Gene editing is occasionally irritating. —FC 79 min. is Meryl Streep’s de comic performance as the fl uttery it. —M DL C PG-13, 109 min. Block 37, Siskel Film Center Fri 4/19, 7 PM. Northwestern University Block Museum TV chef, shown here in the 1950s as she learns her cra Chatham, Ford City, 600 North Michigan, Roosevelt of Art F and sets out to publish a cookbook of French cuisine Collection Shall We Dance? for Americans. The other half of the story stars Amy Its paper-thin characters turned into caricatures by A Hard Day’s Night Adams as Powell, who made a name for herself in 2002 Major League egregious hamming, this 1996 Japanese comedy-drama R In the Beatles’ 1964 screen debut the four with a yearlong project to prepare and blog about every A baseball movie (1989) set in Cleveland, with Tom Ber- about shy ballroom dancers is sentimental goo and lovable adenoidal lads day-trip through a press party, a recipe in Child’s book. The parallels are interesting up enger as a seasoned catcher, Charlie Sheen as a rookie downright interminable. Clearly pitched to the Strictly televised concert, and a helicopter ride to Wolverhamp- to a point, but as Ephron cuts between the two women, pitcher, and Corbin Bernsen as a third baseman, written Ballroom market, it’s strident and glib enough to corner ton. American-born director Richard Lester serves up a Powell’s self-pitying spats with her husband (Chris and directed by David Ward. The plot suggests an unac- it. Good luck and all that, but count me out. Written and helping of what, on this side of the pond, we came to Messina) settle at the level of Ephron’s crowd-pleasing knowledged remake of The Producers: the Cleveland directed by Masayuki Suo. In Japanese with subtitles. think of as kicky, mod British fi lmmaking. —D D rom-coms (Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail) even Indians are inherited by a former showgirl (Margaret —J R PG-13, 136 min. 35mm archival 85 min. Thu 4/25, 9:30 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films as Child’s loving marriage to U.S. diplomat Paul Child Whitton) who wants to move the team to Miami, but can print. Sun 4/21, 7 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films (Stanley Tucci) grows more rich and complex. One only do so legally if it plays so badly in Cleveland that NHer Smell keeps waiting for the title characters’ lives to intersect, attendance collapses. The motley, eccentric team that Taipei Story R There have been plenty of movies about but when they fi nally do—with a reporter asking Powell she picks eventually gets wind of her scheme, and guess R A turning point in the history of Taiwanese cin- self-destructive rock musicians, but none quite like to comment on Child’s disparaging remarks about what? Unfortunately, this has none of the cynicism, ema, Edward Yang’s 1985 masterpiece suggests a rough this. Writer-director Alex Ross Perry isn’t that inter- her—Ephron scurries away from the moment and its humor, or energy of The Producers (or of Bull Durham, parallel with Abbas Kiarostami’s Close-up in relation ested in the creative process or the workings of the implications. —JRJ PG-13, 118 min. Wed 4/24, 7:30 for that matter); slick predictability is about all it has to Iranian cinema by virtue of featuring the other key music industry—his fi lm is a study in power dynamics PM. Beverly Arts Center in mind, down to the last trite freeze-frame. —R Taiwanese fi lmmaker, Hou Hsiao-hsien, in a leading role, at the microlevel, scrutinizing the ways that a drug- R, 107 min. Tue 4/23-Thu 4/25, 10:30 PM. Logan much as Mohsen Makhmalbaf is featured in Kiarostami’s addicted bandleader (Elisabeth Moss in a commanding Juno fi lm. Hou, who also collaborated on the script, plays performance) manipulates the people closest to her R Jason Reitman follows his pitch-perfect satire NMine 9 an alienated businessman working for a textile manu- and strategically avoids reckoning with her own bad Thank You for Smoking with another adventurous com- Early in Mine 9, there’s a scene in which a group of facturer who was an ace baseball player in his youth; behavior. This features Perry’s best, most distinctive edy (2007), though here the cleverness can be grating; Appalachian miners takes a vote on whether they should when his girlfriend (pop star Tsai Chin) loses her job at a dialogue to date: rich in wordplay, proclamations, and the movie’s real distinction lies in its complicated emo- continue working at a site that’s at risk of a methane computer fi rm, their relationship begins to crumble. But metered speech, it suggests the infl uence of nothing tions. A pregnant 16-year-old (Ellen Page) agrees to give explosion. “Paycheck ain’t going to mean shit if you die this couple’s malaise is only part of a multifaceted sense less than Shakespearean drama. Remarkably this doesn’t her child away to a prosperous couple (Jason Bateman two miles in, Kenny,” one declares. This scene serves of confusion and despair that aff ects three generations come off as mannered, since Perry grounds the action and Jennifer Garner) but later discovers the impending to set up our confl ict and introduce the ensemble cast, of Taipei residents during a period of economic boom, in an acute feeling for living in the present moment. adoption has become the fault line of their marriage. each character with a compelling enough background and Yang’s mastery in weaving together all his charac- Sean Price Williams’s camera is frequently in motion, Screenwriter Diablo Cody saddles her teenage heroine to pack an emotional punch once we see them cast this ters and subplots against a glittering urban landscape and confl icts are always bubbling up at the periphery with annoyingly glib dialogue, and Reitman hammers ominous vote. Eddie Mensore’s fi lm about nine miners anticipates the major themes of his subsequent works. 22 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll FILM
Essential viewing. In Min Nan, Mandarin, and Hokkien Michael Chaves. R, 93 min. ArcLight, Block 37, Century with subtitles. —J R 110 min. Thu 12 and CineArts 6, City North 14, Ford City, Galewood 4/25, 7 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films Crossings, Navy Pier IMAX, New 400, River East 21, 600 N. Michigan, Webster Place 11 NTeen Spirit R The fathomless yearning of teenage girls o en Daguerréotypes gets short shri , especially when their desire intertwines Agnès Varda directed this 1976 French documentary with art. Thankfully, the writing-directing debut of actor about the shopkeepers on the street she lived on. In Max Minghella validates one girl’s passion for music French with subtitles. 80 min. Introduced by Reader as more than essential to her being: it is her lifeblood. contributor Kathleen Sachs. Wed 4/24, 8 PM. Comfort A 17-year-old (Elle Fanning) who lives on the Isle of Station F STAFF PICK! Wight with her Polish immigrant mother enters a British singing competition and quickly advances through the Footwork on Film JuNo rounds. She meets an alcoholic ex-opera singer (Zlatko Cinema 53 hosts this shorts program of Chicago “foot- APR 19-22 AT 11 PM Burić) who becomes her manager, and they forge a bond work” dance fi lms by Brandon “Manny” Calhoun and that is improbably sweet. But more than the sterling Wills Glasspiegel. Calhoun and Glasspiegel attend the performances and Fanning’s clarion voice, it’s the fi lm’s screening. Followed by a footwork dance party DJ’d by visual language that sticks. When the teen performs, RP Boo. Wed 4/24, 7 PM. Harper Theater F there are no reaction shots. It’s her world the viewer enters, and cinematographer Autumn Durald lenses it NGirls of the Sun beautifully. Vivid colors and shimmering light communi- Eva Husson directed this French war drama about a cate the singer’s frissons and invite her audience to feel battalion of Kurdish women in northern Iraq fi ghting to them, too. —L P PG-13, 92 min. At Century retake their small town from extremists. In English and Centre. Visit landmarktheatres.com for showtimes. subtitled Kurdish, French, and Arabic. 115 min. At Cen- tury Centre. Visit landmarktheatres.com for showtimes. NWild Nights with Emily R Most biopics are not known for humor, but Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse MAJOR LEAGUE comedy frequently prevails in this sparkling indie based Lukas Feigelfeld directed this 2017 German horror APR 23-25 AT 10:30 PM on the life of Emily Dickinson. Adapted by writer- fi lm about a 15th-century witch who curses those who director Madeleine Olnek from her 1999 stage play tormented her as a youth with a devastating plague. and incorporating recent scholarship and scientifi c In German with subtitles. 102 min. Fri 4/19-Sat 4/20, For showtimes and advance tickets, visit research that debunks the long-held image of Dickinson midnight; and Wed 4/24, 7:30 PM. Music Box thelogantheatre.com (Molly Shannon) as a shy, chaste recluse, the movie Check out the latest lampoons 19th-century American mores and skewers The 1938 Amateur Movie Show: giveaways to win tickets the self-important writers and editors who couldn’t hold A Reconstruction to live theater, concerts, a candle to the Amherst poet they so smugly patron- and much more. ized. Far from being self-eff acing, this Emily knows her A program that partially reconstructs the International WIN worth and struggles to overcome discrimination against Amateur Movie Show, which was held at Columbia FREE VISIT female authors; she also gives herself unreservedly—if University in 1938. Six of the ten amateur fi lms screened CHICAGOREADER.COM/WIN by needs clandestinely—to the girlhood lover who later have been located and will be presented by Charles TICKETS for your chance to win! became her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert Dickinson (Susan Tepperman (University of Calgary; director of the Ama- Ziegler). The supporting cast excels, with Amy Seimetz, teur Movie Database). 83 min. Live vinyl mixing accom- Brett Gelman, Jackie Monahan, and Kevin Seal making paniment by WHPK DJ Bryce Prewitt. Fri 4/19, 7 PM. the most of the well-tuned dialogue. But Dickinson’s Univ. of Chicago Logan Center for the Arts F poems are hardly shortchanged: they appear through- out, inventively presented, revealing previously hidden Spell Reel facets of an extraordinary artist. —A G Filipa César directed this 2017 French/Portuguese doc- PG-13, 84 min. At Century Centre. Visit landmarkthe- umentary that uses footage of the 1960s Guinea-Bissau atres.com for showtimes. independence movement and contemporary engage- ments with that vintage material by surviving fi lmmakers Willy Wonka and the Chocolate and attendees at public screenings. In English and sub- titled French, Fulah, and Portuguese. 96 min. Thu 4/25, Factory 7 PM. Northwestern University Block Museum of Art F Sinister 1971 children’s fi lm, taken from a book by Roald Dahl. Gene Wilder, a candy magnate, takes a group of Stuck kids on a tour of his factory, which is manned by dwarfs Michael Berry directed this 2017 musical/drama about and fi lled with cra y machinery for the punishment of a group of people trapped on on a New York City childhood vices. The crazy color schemes and visual subway train. With Giancarlo Esposito, Amy Madigan, eff ects once made this a popular head picture, though and Ashanti. PG-13, 90 min. At River East 21. Visit amcthe- you’d have to be stoned to tolerate the score, which atres.com for showtimes. includes “The Candy Man.” Mel Stuart directed. —D K G, 100 min. 35mm. Screens as part of the Music Tough Luck: Detroit Stories Box Easter celebration, with audience participation. Sat Mary Sommers directed this documentary about 4/20, 2 PM. Music Box Detroit, presented as oral history stories by residents. Thu 4/25, 6 PM. Logan ALSO PLAYING Women’s View Film Festival A one-program festival of eight short fi lms from six NThe Curse of La Llorona countries curated by female detainees at Cook County A widowed social worker and her children are targeted Jail. Preceded by a 6 PM reception. Sat 4/20, 7 PM. by a supernatural entity in this horror fi lm directed by International Children’s Media Center v ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 23 THEATER R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESF
Cambodian Rock Band LIZLAUREN into a drama that constantly surprises, even when you can see what’s coming. All the actors play their own instruments crunch of tanks. The Khmer Rouge is marching onstage, giving Cyclos a sound that veers from into Phnom Penh. Over the next four years, giddy melodic joy to dissonant nihilism. Wilt- more than two million Cambodians will die. shire’s vocals soar about the wailing strings Among the fi rst to be targeted in the genocide and pounding percussion like a hard-rock that ensued after the Americans pulled out of benediction. As Leng, Cyclos’s lead guitarist, Cambodia and left it to twhe Khmer Rouge will Matthew C. Yee delivers a star turn that melds be the artists. flawless technique with scorching emotion Cambodian Rock Band doesn’t fl inch from (Christopher Thomas Pow takes over the role portraying Cambodia as the killing field it April 22). As Chum, Watanabe hammers home became under Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. Yee puts the bass and creates a character that surprises torture on stage as well the aftermath that has and takes on new dimensions with every word scarred generations. But as the story moves he utters. Chan’s Duch is disarmingly charis- between 2008 and the 1970s, Yee accom- matic, a war criminal with an irresistible smile plishes something extraordinary: Cambodian and a morally murky backstory. Rock Band becomes a huge-hearted comedy At the intersection of tragedy, rock, and as much as a horrifying depiction of human- comedy, Victory Gardens has launched one kind’s potential for destruction. The comedy of the best plays of the year. As for the sound doesn’t exploit or diminish the atrocities the of Cyclos, it will have you wishing that album Khmer Rouge infl icted. Instead, it lives along- really existed. v side them as a stunning reminder that while ear the end of the first act of Lauren joy and art can be silenced, they cannot be @CateySullivan Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, the cast extinguished. Marti Lyons’s skillful direction REVIEW Ndelivers a blazing cover of the real-life makes joy blare from the amps even as tragedy Cambodian-American rock band Dengue screams from the dialogue. Cambodia rocks Fever’s “One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula.” The plot follows Neary (Aja Wiltshire), the C R B Cambodian Rock Band blends It’s the kind of music that makes your syn- U.S.-raised daughter of Chum (Greg Wata- R Through /: Wed-Fri : PM, tragedy and joy into one of the apses light up like fi recrackers sparking over nabe), a survivor of the Khmer Rouge. Central Sat and : PM, Sun PM; also best plays of the year. a riptide of endorphins. It’s April 1974. We are to Chum’s story is Duch (Rammel Chan), over- Wed / , PM, and Tue /, : PM; no performance Wed / , : in Cambodia. The band is called Cyclos, and seer of the S-21 interrogation and detention PM, Victory Gardens Theater, N. By C S its members know exactly how good they are. center. Numbers vary, but somewhere between Lincoln, --, victorygardens. Their future is incandescent. 12,000 and 20,000 people were imprisoned in org, $ -$. Except it isn’t. Cyclos’s next number is S-21. Only 12 survived. Yee uses those numbers backed by helicopter rotors and the thumping to propel the plot, weaving history and fi ction
TH ANNUAL SPRING SHOW Fri Sat Sun Apr 26 Apr 27 Apr 28 11am - 8pm 10am - 7pm 10am - 5pm
The One of a Kind Spring Show returns to The Mart from Produced by April 26-28 with more than 300 talented artists and makers from across North America. Enjoy a one-of-a-kind experience while browsing and shopping from a variety of categories of handmade work. For details and tickets, visit oneofakindshowchicago.com.
24 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll THEATER
A Chorus Line Hannah spends most of the play standing up for celebrity idolatry and the lack of consequence so many MICHAELCOURIER Martin, an insane act of moral tight-rope walking, with power have maintained, as well as the dangers of although Gorman doesn’t appear to take the same plea- living for others versus ourselves. With timely, ambitious sure in baiting her opposition that the real Arendt did. productions, Otherworld Theatre is defi nitely one to She can make her case as a crusader for the autonomy watch. —JF M UThrough of the intellect to whoever is listening, but when faced 5/18: Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat-Sun 2:30 and 7:30 PM with the accusation that her feelings for the Nazi rector (running in repertory with Corona), Otherworld The- of Freiburg University are occluding her judgement, she atre, 3914 N. Clark, 773-857-2116, otherworldtheatre. comes close to backing down. Grimm’s Heidegger is org , $20 or pay what you can. commanding and memorable, but much too much of a scold. Louis Contey directs. —M M H East Texas blues M Through 5/25: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun R Utility shows the high cost of living in 3 PM; also Sat 5/25 3 PM; no performance Fri quiet desperation. 5/17, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, 773-975-8150, sgtheatre.org , $39, $30 seniors, $20 under 30, $15 Interrobang Theatre Project presents the midwest pre- students. miere of Emily Schwend’s low-key, but surprisingly substantial drama about a working-class woman fi ghting NOW PLAYING myth, it hits every great sci-fi trope: a computer gone A really bad hair day like hell just to keep the lights on. Amber (a seething, bad, a spaceship with a monster, a Kirk-like dude who R Medusa Undone posits that the snakey- world-weary Brynne Barnard) lets her deadbeat wander- One! singular sensation wants some space sex, and an alternative mission only haired one was another victim of rape culture. ing husband, Chris (Patrick TJ Kelly), back into her life, R Unlike dancers’ bodies, A Chorus Line one person knows. There is humor, mystery, fi ghting, but can never decide whether his presence makes life holds up. gods, sacrifi ces, and a bit of bestiality. Oh, those Greeks! Greek myths are essentially ancient soap operas, and easier or harder. Chris’s older brother, Jim (Kevin D’Am- Focusing exclusively on sci-fi and fantasy, Other- such is the case with Medusa Undone, which reexamines brosio, carrying the emotional weight of the whole play), On a bare stage, a sea of spandex roils, shining with world Theatre does a lot with very little in terms of stage the origin of the well-known monster but told through is always hovering around Amber’s house, going out of that 1970s luster. A director calls out counts and steps design, costumes, and special eff ects in artistic director a modern feminist lens. Here the gods Athena and his way to do her favors. Her mother, Laura (Barbara and the group moves in rough coordination—a dropped Tiff any Keane Schaefer’s staging. Hannah Beaudry’s Poseidon are cast as monsters and Medusa is a timid sea Figgins), helps out too, but charges a heavy premium, step here, a stumble there, pirouettes, jazz hands, spacecra set is sparse but magnifi cent, enhanced by nymph who just wants to serve Athena and is afraid of with sighs and side-eye at the smallest request. pelvic thrusts. He refers to them individually by number, Claire Sangster’s lighting that creates fourth-wall com- incurring the wrath of the gods. As Medusa leaves her The event around which the story revolves is an collectively as “the kids.” It’s an audition, and everyone puter screens. True to genre, the costumes and props terrible family life (her sisters are Gorgons, a er all) and eight-year-old girl’s birthday party, but its dramatic is dancing for permission to dance, and their thoughts, are at once beautifully ethereal and wonderfully cheap. follows her spiritual passion to become a priestess, she peak comes before the cake is brought out, when Jim like the steps, are mostly the same: “God, I hope I get it,” Stephanie Mattos is commanding as Ariadne, whose fi nds herself caught betwixt Athena and Poseidon in a awkwardly attempts to tell Amber how he feels about “God, I really blew it,” “I really need this job.” duality is explored in various ways, most interestingly as classic love triangle, which ends quite badly for her (not her. Schwend is very good at giving voice to characters A Chorus Line, originally conceived, directed, and she vacillates from stoic stillness to an explosive dance to mention leaving her with one terrible hairdo). who are barely verbal. The evident pain with which Jim choreographed by Michael Bennett, with a book by routine (a nod to Uhura’s Star Trek V fan dance). Lonely Writer Bella Poynton frames the story as a critique struggles to express his emotions is the heart of the James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin and seeking friendship, Ariadne connects with Pneuma of rape culture and presents Medusa as a victim, too entire play. By keeping things bottled up, rather than Hamlisch, and lyrics by Edward Kleban, is a salute to (Gaby Hernandez), healer and comic relief, and hand- trusting of Poseidon’s friendship to maintain agency exploding into melodrama or tragedy, the quiet desper- the brief and mostly anonymous lives of dancers who some prince Theseus (Bill Gordon), who brings his best over her decisions in the face of his aggressive behavior. ation of these people is all the clearer. spend hours practicing, hustling, hoping, and cease- Peter Quill to bear as he meatheads his way around both Athena, played with divine strength by Jessica Goforth, According to the program, the play is set in east lessly laboring against the ravages of time, weight women. Overseeing the ship is DY-O (Scott Olson), an lashes out at Medusa a er she’s assaulted by Poseidon, Texas, but the southern accents in this production fl uc- gain, injury, unemployment, and other forms of bad OS who, like Vision, goes from CPU to sentient android. exemplifying the victim-blaming all too familiar these tuated too much for me to peg it to any particular locale. luck. Developed in workshops with real-life Broadway Without spoiling the story, the choice to cast the days. Although her acting chops are not quite on par It’s the only false note in an otherwise-resonant portrait hoofers, the Tony-winning musical off ers the opportunity one Black actor as Ariadne unintentionally evokes some with the rest of director Tiff any Keane Schaefer’s ensem- of family life deep in the shadows of the American to hear the voice of each member of a cast of dancers of America’s racist history, which unfortunately is never ble, Mary-Kate Arnold’s Medusa is the sort of vital fem- dream. Georgette Verdin directed. —D S whose individual histories intersect in a mutual desire to addressed. —JF C Through 5/18: inist character not seen enough onstage. Michael Jay U Through 5/4: Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 win a spot for an instant in an unforgiving industry. The Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat-Sun 2:30 and 7:30 PM (running Bullaro’s Poseidon perfectly embodies the self-serving PM, Mon 8 PM, Rivendell Theatre, 5779 N. Ridge, beauty of the ensemble emerges in potently sketched in repertory with Medusa Undone), Otherworld arrogance of an abuser who imagines himself sensitive. 312-219-4140, interrobangtheatreproject.com, $32, details—Sheila escaping an unhappy home at the ballet Theatre, 3914 N. Clark, 773-857-2116, otherworldthe- The god-human relationship here is a metaphor for $16 students. v studio, Paul discovering his identity by imitating Cyd atre.org , $20 or pay what you can. Charisse—every one chiseled into a distinct humanity by the friction of circumstance and love. Help! I’m dating a Nazi! Porchlight’s production, featuring a fantastic cast The story of Hannah and Martin, two directed by Brenda Didier, with choreography by Chris- philosophers in love topher Chase Carter and music direction by Linda Madonia, brings each character to life in wonderful- Wasting away on a student’s diet of crackers and boiled ly high resolution. —I H A C L eggs, young Hannah Arendt (Christina Gorman) sub- Through 5/31: Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 4 and jects her latest essay on neighborly love in Augustine to 8 PM, Sun 2 PM; also Wed 5/1 and 5/29 and Tue the chilly scrutiny of her married teacher, Martin Heide- 5/28, 7:30 PM, and Sun 5/26, 6 PM; no performance gger (Lawrence Grimm). Probably the two most brilliant Thu 5/23, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. people in Germany at that time, they fall in love, and Utility Dearborn, 773-777-9884, porchlightmusictheatre. in due course fi nd themselves huddled clandestinely org , $51-$66. together in Martin’s hut in Todtnauberg. At fi rst, Hannah EVAN is such a pale bundle of nerves there in her hero’s HANOVER Greeks bearing gifts rooms that it feels playful of Martin to compare her to Corona boldly goes where mythology has never the mouse she’s seen nosing around her little grubby gone before. student apartment. Playful, that is, until terminology crops up later on in the play comparing Jews, of which Campy and fun, Elizabeth A.M. Keel’s Corona follows Hannah is one, to rats—and Martin’s philosophy, thrilling the voyage of the starship Corona Borealis and its cap- wilderness of abstractions though it may be, starts tain, Ariadne, on a mission to bring 14 sacrifi ces to the looking like one charismatic German professor’s vast minotaur on planet Crete. A spin on the classic Greek intellectual defense of the Third Reich. ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 25 ARTS & CULTURE
Debbie Turner EMILYMCTAVISH Many of the players are beginners, and it’s another language they are learning as they COMMUNITY move the tiles across the table. They call out their tiles—shortening “bamboo” to “bams” and “characters” to “cracks”—and name the Meeting up directional winds, or dragons. “It sounds good. It’s nice when they clack together,” Turner says. “There’s something M P P S for mahjong satisfying about playing with tiles.” Thu /, PM, When Turner, now 46, came to Chicago in Ambassador Public House, The classic Chinese tile game is 2011, she had a di cult time fi nding a group S. Halsted, -- , meetup.com. F having a renaissance downtown. to play mahjong with, especially the type of mahjong she learned in Mexico City, which By E M T was a hybrid variation of Chinese and other versions. She was at fi rst reluctant to learn the American style, which differs from Chinese mahjong in that players have to commit to a he climax of last summer’s hit movie certain sequence early in the game and there Crazy Rich Asians featured a tense can be fewer options to switch. She was also game had been explained in another way, she “I’m an old woman so I wanted to do some- Texchange between two characters over turned o© by the cards from the National Mah might have grasped it better, and it gave her thing where I could sit for a while and use my a round of the Chinese tile game of mahjong. Jongg League outlining the plays. the inspiration to teach. brain,” Beaty says. Mahjong games here in Chicago, though—at Turner did fi nd other women to teach her, Since then, she has been organizing games The Meetup group now has 84 members. least those organized by Debbie Turner—are though, and she had her moment when ev- through the website Meetup. When she fi rst Turner’s pupils are mostly retired women, but more congenial and less intense. erything fell into sync. She realized that if the began looking at the site, she found there were she has recently gotten more interest from few people willing to teach newcomers. women and even a few men in their 30s and “There’s all these Meetups for interme- 40s. Mahjong has not always been a game for diates [but] no beginners,” Turner says. “I retirement-aged people, though. thought, well, this is a perfect chance.” The origins of mahjong in the United States This past January, Turner started a new are rooted in Jewish-American culture, ac- meetup for novice mahjong players meeting cording to the Museum of Jewish Heritage at both the Renaissance Court at the Chicago in New York, which ran an exhibit about the Cultural Center and the WeWork location on game in 2010. Joseph P. Babcock is credited West Illinois Street; it attracted players from with popularizing it in America in the 1920s all over the city. (The game in the Cultural after learning to play in China while working Center also attracted spectators, but the for Standard Oil as an engineer. group had to leave in March due to complaints The National Mah Jongg League was found- about the noise of the tiles.) ed in 1937 when a group of players, mostly Turner was shocked by how many people Jewish women, met in New York to standard- were interested in learning mahjong. ize the American way of playing and the rules. “When I started, I really just wanted every- The league now formats a new playing card body to know this game,” she says. “I knew it each year for purchase, and donates the pro- was out there, but people didn’t know about it. ceeds to various charities across the country. Well, let me teach you.” Just in time for the release of the 2019 Novice player Anne Winship is now in Turn- American mahjong cards (they’re sched- er’s second stage of learning, which focuses uled to ship this week and Turner has made on strategies. During the fi rst strategy lesson, peace with them), Turner is organizing new Winship says, the players would just draw the sessions for beginners and playing times at tiles to fi gure out what hands could be played WeWork and the Ambassador Public House in without actually playing through a game. Greektown. “We kept saying, ‘Let’s play a game,’” says One of Turner’s intentions when she orga- Winship, a board game enthusiast. “There’s a nized the gatherings was to have people teach- turning point where your brain will get that ing di© erent variations of mahjong. While this challenge, but I’m not sure if I’m there yet.” hasn’t happened yet, she is still hopeful. Sandra Beaty, a retired clinical psycholo- “I want everyone to see this game,” she says. gist, wanted to learn mahjong not only as a “I think it’s time for it to come out.” v social activity but also in part, she jokes, to feed a stereotype. @EmMcT 26 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll L D F F F O I I O By David Ranney (PM Press) ARTS & CULTURE
from some politicians and pundits. What do Reading about all the diff erent groups that you mean by that? came out and supported the strike, it seems LIT It’s not just that we probably will never have like there was a really vibrant, if fractured, manufacturing at the level that we have— le ist world in Chicago at the time. On Living and Dying there were a million-and-a-half manufactur- Oh yeah, really, really vicious. ing workers in the area. It’s also that I don’t I was in the Sojourner Truth Organization on the Factory Floor want people to have to work at jobs like that. for a time and we had a number of people David Ranney has no nostalgia There’s nothing “middle” about it. A lot of it’s that worked at a plant called Stewart-War- for the days of middle-class really awful. ner on the north side. And every le group manufacturing jobs. At that time, workers really could run the had people in Stewart-Warner, because it factories. I mean, there was enough knowl- was one of the few plants where the work- By C B edge there that they could do that. The ers entered from the sidewalk into the plant. autoworkers could have run a plant. So one And the parking lot was across the street. point of view is: OK, workers will take over all And so you could leaflet people as they n the mid-70s, David Ranney quit his position 15 seconds to do it.” So I just jot these down, these factories and run them. But the other came in. at the University of Iowa, where he was a and they were all deaths. One was a kid that, truth is that a lot of them hated their jobs and At the end, all these diff erences really do Itenured professor of urban planning, and when I was in fi h grade, got hit by a car. My didn’t want to do that. So what is our goal come out. This Marxist-Leninist group wrote moved to Chicago for a job at the Workers’ dad died when I was a senior in high school. as radicals: Do we want to help workers run a critique of how we behaved in the Chica- Rights Center, a free legal clinic for industrial But the third one was the death of Charles these factories for the other society, or do we go Shortening strike. It was quite fascinating, workers run out of a southeast Chicago store- Sanders. [Sanders was an employee at Chica- want to just get rid of those jobs and get rid really. They were totally critical because, you front. When money got tight, Ranney decided to go Shortening who was stabbed to death by of work altogether? At Chicago Shortening know, we didn’t see ourselves as a vanguard look for work at one of the many factories in the a scab worker shortly a er the strike ended.] it was the second thing—those workers hated party and we didn’t take [the plant] over and neighborhood. Armed with a made-up work his- And that really surprised me, and I realized that place. They called it “the job.” And they organize it better. They thought that we had tory and a couple of friends willing to act as fake that his death was about more than just his were always doing little petty acts of sabo- made this huge mistake. v references, he landed a position at a shop that death although that was very, very traumatic. tage, or they were drunk or stoned. They had built centrifuges. Over the next seven years, he’d You know, he’s a person who had some no desire to, you know, make shortening. @chrbelanger bounce from factory to factory, working at a box rough edges, you might say. But during the maker, a freight car manufacturer, a steel fab- strike, he sobered up. I never saw him high ricator, and the Solo Cup Company. Burned out during the strike. And it meant a lot to him, to and nearly broke, Ranney eventually made his stand up to these fuckers. way back to academia after a chance encounter The things that happened at the plant that at a cocktail party led to a position at a commu- really shed a lot of light on the relationship of nity research center a liated with UIC, where race and class, immigration policy, class poli- he’s now a professor emeritus. cy, this whole idea about middle-class jobs Living and Dying on the Factory Floor, as seen through the eyes of not just me, but released earlier this month, is Ranney’s ac- workers that I encountered over a period count of his time spent laboring in southeast of seven years. And so that’s not exactly a Chicago and northern Indiana. At the heart memoir. of the book is the story of a year-long stint at Chicago Shortening, where Ranney helped One person at Chicago Shortening that organize and lead a prolonged wildcat strike. really interested me was Heinz, the avowed While the strike ultimately failed, Ranney says Nazi. Can you explain what was going on the experience was illuminating: within the with him? racially charged environment of the factory, Well, Heinz took on all the symbols of fascism, the action was able to, however briefl y, bring you know. He had swastikas, he had Confed- together di© erent groups of white, Black, and erate flags on his jacket and on his motor- Latinx workers in solidarity. At his apartment bike. But he hung out with the Black workers. in Pilsen, where he’s lived for the last 35 years, And he’d come down the hall and they’d all go I spoke with Ranney about Living and Dying. “Sieg heil, Heinz, sieg heil!” They’d laugh and This interview has been condensed and edited so forth. And he was very militant during the for clarity. strike. He was solidly working class, and he saw all the other workers as his allies. But why In the introduction, you write that the book he did the other thing? I don’t know. He was isn’t a memoir. Can you explain what you just a real contradiction. mean by that? I went to a memoir class, and the teacher You mentioned earlier, and in the book, that said, “Write down three events that you think you’re really annoyed by the rhetoric around were transformative in your life. And you have bringing back “middle-class jobs” to the U.S. 315656_4.75_x_4.75.indd 1 3/22/19 11:05 AM ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 27 You know what you need ... N for listening or Directed by Jacqui Morris and David Morris. background for events min. Tue / , PM, Century Centre LIVE MUSIC Cinema, N. Clark, - -, Acoustic piano or synthesizer/keyboard ARTS & CULTURE landmarktheatres.com, $. Classical, jazz, standards, and ’60s, ’70s and ’80s “ ... excellent, and his performance is joyous.” -Chicago Magazine [email protected] JeffManuelPianist.com
24 lumpenradio.com DANCE 7 coprosperity.org The real Lord of the Dance Nureyev tells the epic story of the Soviet-born dancer’s extraordinary life and tumultuous times. By I H
Nureyev
e moved with a feral grace, with a heat dancer to defect from the USSR during the that blazes through the grain of the fi lm Cold War, Nureyev “was born in Stalin’s Russia Hthat remains, with a virtuosity that never and ended up one of the most famous people in disguises—but rather illuminates—the sheer the world,” says Jacqui Morris. “His life story risk of dance, the insolence of a human daring reads like a sprawling epic novel.” Combining to fl out the laws of gravity, time, and space to never-before-seen footage of rehearsals and attain a momentary immortality. He lived with performances with interviews and scenes furious energy, inspiring multitudes, consort- (choreographed by Russell Maliphant) that ing with celebrities, infuriating authorities. tell Nureyev’s story through dance, Nureyev “He was Mick Jagger before Mick Jagger. . . . portrays the dancer’s life in the context of a He was the most beautiful man you could ever tumultuous history that includes persecution imagine,” said Elizabeth Kaye, one of his many by KGB o cers, torrid relationships on and o© biographers, on the Esquire Classic podcast. the stage (including a legendary partnership “He was a figure who was so enormous, he with prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn at the transcended everything—fashion, dance, Royal Ballet and a loving rivalry with Danish celebrity, politics. We wanted to recreate why danseur noble Erik Bruhn), the personal heart- he was such a cultural icon,” says David Morris, break of exile, and the global disaster of AIDS. Music, Shows, WLPN 105.5 ON who, with his sister Jacqui Morris, spent three “People loved him,” says Jacqui Morris. years in pursuit of the essence of a dancer his- “Mobs queued up around the block. Ballet was Art Events LP FM AIR tory has never replaced. The result is Nureyev, more for the masses than it is now.” Nureyev a documentary fi lm that tells the story of the brings that heady period to life. Evoked as man some called the “Lord of the Dance.” much in the unexpectedly racy rendition of Rudolf Nureyev was born on the Trans- Swan Lake he performed with Fonteyn as in Siberian Railway in 1938, “shaken from the footage of their fabulous arrest in a drug bust womb,” as he says in a vintage clip reproduced at a party in San Francisco (her adjusting a fur Half-Price Theatre in the Morrises’ fi lm, into a lifetime of motion. coat, him winking at the camera) before Nure- En oy your city. Ignite your soul. Stretch your dollars. The son of a Red Army commissar and raised yev’s illness and death from complications of by his mother in a Tatar Muslim household, he AIDS, the nostalgia in this fi lm is strong and Chicago's best theatre deals: HOTTIX.ORG was determined from an early age to become bitter. His eyes burn with hectic life in every a dancer and ran away—first from his home frame, too quickly here and gone. v Hot Ti is a ser ice o the non- ro it League o Chicago Theatres. Learn ore a out Chicago s theatre co unity at CHICA OPLAYS.CO . in the central Russian city of Ufa, then from the Soviet Union—in order to do so. The fi rst @IreneCHsiao 28 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll Lisa Alvarado and Joshua Abrams work in studios joined by an open doorway in their shared home. CHARLIEGROSS
occupy adjacent rooms joined by an open doorway—so the acts of painting, playing, and composing can intermingle when they occur simultaneously. “I work in a home studio, where rehearsals and recordings happen,” says Alvarado. “For me the context of where a
N I S Fri 6/28, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $15-$17. 18+
work is made and how it is used is integral to its meaning and energy. The sounds of many great musicians, including Hamid Drake and Ari Brown, fi ll our home and vibrate the walls of my studio while I work. Experiencing re- hearsals in front of my works showed me how well they could work onstage.” Abrams hopes the paintings can provide a focal point for the audience, and he enjoys having them onstage. “Sometimes they’re hung way above us, but it always kind of changes the environment,” he says. “For me Natural Information Society make the that’s a way to make whatever stage we’re on feel more comfortable, more at home—and to give that signal that this might be a di© erent stage a home—and vice versa sort of experience than is typical.” In a recent article that Alvarado wrote for Joshua Abrams and Lisa Alvarado help give this Chicago collective’s transcendent minimalism a family feeling. the Wire, she credited this concept—“the stage as a home, and the home as a stage”—to By B M one of Natural Information Society’s inspira- tions, the artistic partnership of Don Cherry and his wife, Monika “Moki” Cherry. Don fi rst hicago composer and musician But Abrams plays some of his most personally and Tbilisi, Georgia, but NIS has given her became known as the pocket-trumpet-playing Joshua Abrams likes to compare signifi cant music on the guimbri. “I think it’s the chance to share her work with people who foil to Ornette Coleman on Coleman’s ground- the guimbri (aka gimbri, guembri, a very sophisticated instrument for centering might never make it to an art show. Her large- breaking late-50s and early-60s free-jazz re- or sintir), a traditional three- and focus, and that’s been an aim or concern scale paintings, whose intricate, repetitive cordings for Contemporary and Atlantic, and string bass lute associated with with presenting music that can o© er that pos- geometric patterns rhyme with the hypnotic he subsequently traveled the world, picking CMorocco’s Gnawa people, to the Roland TR- sibility for the listener,” he says. “For me it just rhythms and interwoven tone colors of NIS’s up ideas and instruments that he used to make 808, an early-80s drum machine that became became the locus to bring many di© erent mu- music, appear as stage backdrops and album increasingly genre-transcending music. In the foundational to hip-hop, Chicago house, and a sical interests together. Sometimes inspired covers. early 70s he and Moki, an artist and musician, long list of other genres. “Sometimes I’ll joke by very old or traditional music, sometimes “Our aesthetic and our sensibilities worked formed the Organic Music Society, which that it’s the original 808, because it has a per- inspired by contemporary music, electronic so well together and kind of reflected each performed with an international assortment cussive skin mixed with a bass tone,” Abrams music, popular music—and that musical amal- other, and now they’re intertwined and in- of jazz and folk musicians (as well as Swed- says. “It has a strong sub-bass too.” gam is central to the project’s character.” form each other,” Abrams says. “Also on a ish summer-school students) and preferred Abrams is widely known as a bassist, play- The project he’s referring to is Natural life-decision level, sometimes people need to communal, public settings to conventional ing jazz, freely improvised music, indie rock, Information Society, a constantly evolving pursue very separate paths. You can be very jazz clubs. When they played at schools or and hip-hop with the likes of Nicole Mitchell, collective that adopted that name in 2010. It supportive, and you do your thing and I’ll do museums, for instance, they discovered that Mike Reed, Dave Rempis, Will Oldham, Pre- also involves his wife, artist and musician Lisa mine, and we come together to support each people interacted with their output in di© er- fuse 73, and the Roots. During a long associa- Alvarado, and it’s very much a family affair: other. But for us it seems more fun to pursue a ent ways. Moki painted the gatefold cover of tion with Kartemquin Films documentary di- Abrams composes the music, while Alvarado thing together. Then we would be in it togeth- the project’s double LP; look inside and you’ll rector Steve James, he’s created soundtracks handles the Society’s visuals. Currently repre- er and be on the road together.” fi nd photos of Don jamming with their kids. for James’s Life Itself (2014), The Interrupters sented by the Bridget Donahue gallery in New In the couple’s home, which they share In the Wire, Alvarado acknowledges the (2011), and the series America to Me (2018). York, she has exhibited in Chicago, Glasgow, with a three-year-old daughter, their studios precedent of Moki’s colorful paintings and J ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 29 continued from 29 talismanic banners. Her article also includes a 1978 photo of a young drummer who’d re- cently started playing with Don, reclining on a couch in the Cherrys’ house in front of one such banner: Hamid Drake. Renowned for his work with Peter Brötzmann, Bill Laswell, William Parker, and Michael Zerang, among many others, Drake needs little introduction. Based in Chicago but active around the world, he’s been a key fi gure in the development of Natural Information Society—and not just because he’s one degree removed from the Cherrys. He’s contributed as both a spiritual guide and an active participant, joining the band onstage occasionally and playing on two of its albums, including the brand-new double LP Mandatory Reality , released April 12 by Eremite Records. Drake and Abrams have played togeth- er since the 1990s, when they shared the stage with venerable tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson. Once Drake knew that Abrams had a guimbri, he kept track of the bassist’s prog- ress on it. Abrams’s first recording with the guimbri appears on a 2007 album by Anderson and Drake, From the River to the Ocean (Thrill Jockey). He subsequently played it in Drake’s reggae-informed group Bindu. “Those expe- riences were very important,” Abrams says. “They encouraged me to practice so that I got comfortable playing the instrument, and to let the music be the guide rather than arrive at a position that was solely intellectual.” It took more time and scrupulous exper- Lisa Alvarado’s large-scale 2011 painting Represencing (pictured here in the 2015 MCA imentation for Abrams to sort out how he exhibit “The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now”) has served as a stage backdrop for Natural Information Society. Similar patterns occur in her wanted to use the guimbri in his own music. artwork for the NIS album of the same name. NATHANKEAY©MCACHICAGO Among the records he’s made under his name or leadership, he fi rst used it on the 2010 re- Information, refl ecting the fl uid membership nality (Eremite), Ben Boye’s radiant Autoharp lease Natural Information (Eremite), which of the nascent NIS. But subsequent lineups and dense, winding keyboard figures sync combines solo home-studio creations, an have been relatively stable (from song to song, up with terse guitar and drum-kit grooves, electric trio session with guitarist Emmett if not from album to album), made up of mu- demonstrating a trance-inducing common Kelly and drummer Frank Rosaly, and record- sicians capable of maintaining their individu- ground between minimalist composition and ings where Abrams plays bass with two jazz ality while connecting the disparate infl uences Krautrock beats. comrades, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewiecz that feed into the collective’s sound. In June 2017, NIS returned home from a and drummer Nori Tanaka. Linking these dis- “Everyone playing on any of the records is U.S. tour and played a record-release show parate elements is a meditative quality that’s there because I love what they do and they for Simultonality at Constellation. Abrams reinforced by the weighty resonance of the were interested in the project,” explains used the show to debut a new approach: For guimbri and by the accompanists’ willingness Abrams. “I like to work with musicians who its extended final piece, a three-piece horn to rein in spotlight-grabbing impulses in ser- have distinctive sounds and approaches, and I section (alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, vice to the centering insistence of Abrams’s want the music to have room for their voices.” cornetist Ben LaMar Gay, and bass clarinetist rhythms. Portions of 2015’s Magnetoception (Eremite), Jason Stein) joined the touring ensemble Alvarado fi rst appears on Natural Informa- which features Kelly and Je© Parker on elec- (Abrams, Alvarado, Boye, and drummer Mikel tion’s successor, 2012’s Represencing (Ere- tric guitars as well as Drake on hand and kit Patrick Avery) and guest percussionist Hamid mite), and though she’s on only half the album, drums, could almost pass for a late-night Drake. The piece was built, like many NIS her droning harmonium (a bellows-driven meet-up between the Velvet Underground and compositions, around the guimbri’s patiently reed organ) and clustered gong strikes preternaturally eclectic multi-instrumentalist ascending-and-descending lines. At first the enhance the music’s ceremonial air. The Sandy Bull. On 2015’s Autoimaginary (Drag horns and keyboards followed Abrams’s steps, personnel on Represencing vary even more City), a collaboration with Chicago synth-and- but soon the instruments branched out to fol- from track to track than they do on Natural reeds trio Bitchin Bajas, and 2017’s Simulto- low coordinated but independent paths. Their 30 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll 3730 N. CLARK ST METROCHICAGO.COM @ METROCHICAGO
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Natural Information Society open for Body/Head at the Art Institute in March 2019. JULIADRATEL
interwoven lines fi t together like the repeating “I think working in between the cracks of abstract shapes in one of Alvarado’s paintings, established genres has potential to fi nd new and the occasional solo interjections accented forms,” Abrams says. “My ongoing focus for the billow and fl ux of the larger patterns like the group is creating structures that might the metallic paints she uses to throw matte not be so obvious upon fi rst listen. Sometimes colors into relief. Two days after the concert, that gets mistaken for no structure. We’re that eight-piece version of Natural Informa- trying to arrive at something different, and tion Society went into Chicago studio Electri- that’s where the energy comes from—both cal Audio to record a 40-minute version of that through the process of finding and through piece, “Finite,” as well as the three other com- inhabiting a sound world that doesn’t easily fi t positions that comprise Mandatory Reality. categorization.” “On this record, the music is more specif- The balance of patient ensemble devel- ic—there are clearly systems at play,” says opment and strategically complementary Abrams. “I wanted the album to focus on individual contributions that characterizes extended duration and slowness, to create “Finite” is also evident on the album’s side- a space and timing where the musicians can length opener, “In Memory’s Prism.” Abrams actively listen and make choices based on that wrote it to soundtrack the fi lm component of listening. I wanted to write for multiple horns artist Simon Starling’s Project for a Rift Valley in the group but maintain NIS’s interwoven Crossing. “The fi lm is of a canoe trip across the dynamic. In NIS the orchestration lives within Rift Valley in a boat made of the magnesium SMARTBARCHICAGO.COM the sound of the guimbri—the low tones are derived from the water which it is traversing,” 3730 N CLARK ST | 21+ the soil from which the other sounds grow. says Abrams. “That’s a beautiful metaphor for The challenge of adding horns is that they can this music to accompany.” easily take over the sound of a group, so I tried Natural Information Society plays a concert to write in a way that blends their timbres to celebrate the release of Mandatory Reality with the other instruments. Everyone has the at Constellation on June 28. Between now opportunity to take their time to listen across and then, Alvarado will help keep the group’s the ensemble and focus on how they approach sounds circulating. In May she’ll have a booth the notes they are asked to play.” at gargantuan international art fair Frieze “Finite” is the album’s center of gravity, and New York, and NIS will be with her in sound for going on two years it’s been the mainstay and spirit. “I’m going to be showing some of the Society’s live sets, where it can last new pieces that I have, some smaller-scaled from 30 minutes to more than an hour. On a works that are longer in scale. Maybe you’ve recent European tour, a quartet version of NIS seen one from photos on this last tour. But DJ SET (Abrams, Alvarado, Stein, and Avery) played there’s also going to be a sound piece that HIJO PRÓDIGO DASANI BOYS it every night. Avery puts a quick backbeat Josh and I have been working on—that’s APRIL 26 behind the piece, turning some concerts into going to be something di© erent for an art-fair prolonged dance parties. environment.” v TICKETS AVAILABLE VIA METRO + SMARTBAR WEBSITES + METRO BOX OFFICE. NO SERVICE FEES AT BOX OFFICE! ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 31 Recommended and notable shows and critics’ insights for the week of April 18
MUSIC b ALLAGESF
the album’s sequence of gracefully winding melo- THURSDAY18 dies, and its gorgeous production (from Chicago- PICK OF THE WEEK based multi-instrumentalist James Elkington, who’s Pink Avalanche Anatomy of Habit and worked with the likes of Jeff Tweedy, Richard Djunah open. 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Thompson, and Brokeback) delivers one perfectly Drone titans Sunn O))) play two shows Western, $8. 21+ placed detail a er another. The Unseen In Between also includes some of Gunn’s most emotionally res- at Rockefeller Chapel and release the Fronted by Chicago music-scene staple Che Arthur onant lyrics to date; “New Familiar” conveys both (former member of Atombombpocketknife, some- the comfort and the inadequacy of nostalgia when times Bob Mould backup singer, and sound guy dealing with a turbulent present, and in “Vagabond” beautiful new Life Metal extraordinaire), Pink Avalanche have been crank- he searches for evidence of his late father’s love ing out wiry, moody postpunk since 2013. Formed and guidance in his memories upon accepting that by Arthur and a longtime partner in crime, drum- calling him up is no longer an option. Though the mer Adam Reach, as a way to further their musi- album focuses on songwriting, Gunn is also a splen- cal and personal connection, the band fl eshed out did guitarist who can blend lilting country melody, their lineup with second guitarist Kortland Chase Saharan-influenced drone, and bracing noise into and bassist Pete Croke, and set about making two a single captivating line. Backed by a lean combo records of angular midwestern punk rock that’s as that includes second guitarist Paul Sukeena (Spa- catchy as it is aggressive. It’s been fi ve years since cin’, Angel Olsen, Chris Forsyth’s Solar Motel Band), Pink Avalanche released The Luminous Heart of Gunn will have plenty of room to tell tales with his Nowhere, and their new album, III, comes follow- fi ngers as well as his words. —B M ing a shi in lineup: last year Croke le the city to start a new life in Puerto Rico, and Chase moved to bass. As a trio, Pink Avalanche show that having Sunn O))) See Pick of the Week at le . See fewer members doesn’t necessarily push a band also Monday. Papa M opens. 7 PM, Rockefeller into a “less is more” approach. In fact, the tracks on Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn, sold out. 17+ III off er little breathing room; they’re dense, knotty, and layered with acrobatic guitars, terse rhythms, and Arthur’s catchy but downer vocals. The sound is rooted in Chicago’s tradition of heavy moods SATURDAY20 and equally indebted to the city’s current rock cli- mate. This show is a release party for III. —L Dave Davies See also Sunday. For this show, C Davies will be backed by members of Frisbie. 8 PM, SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston, sold out. b FRIDAY19 Whenever folks discuss the great guitarists of RONALDDICK the British Invasion, names such as Eric Clap- S OP M Steve Gunn Gun Outfi t opens. 9 PM, Lincoln ton, George Harrison, and Pete Townshend reli- Fri / and Mon / , PM, Rockefeller Chapel, S. Woodlawn, $, Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, $20. 18+ ably come up, but one rocker always seems to get Friday sold out. + short shrift: Dave Davies of the Kinks. I’d argue Steve Gunn’s new album, The Unseen In Between that Davies is the most infl uential of them all. The (Matador), contains the most assertively outgoing Kinks tunes “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and music of the Brooklyn-based guitarist’s career. All of the Night” were the garage-band shots heard IFYOU’VEEVERHEARD the music of dark-hooded dronemeisters Sunn O))), you may have It grabs the listener right out of the gate with the around the world—the simple but urgent riff age and soaring strings, reverberant electric guitar, and lustful, sweaty teenage lyrics were clumsily copied reached the conclusion that its core members, Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, have swinging upright bass (played by Bob Dylan band- in a million basements by 60s teens while the Beat- a di© erent sense of time than the rest of us. Their tectonically slow-paced music certainly leader Tony Garnier) of “New Moon.” Gunn has les were still making jangly pop music and singing seems dense enough to warp the space around it. Still, it’s been four years since they put never sounded as confident as he does singing about holding hands. Davies’s raw, overdriven ax out their seventh full-length, Kannon, and the duo have seen fi t to reward us for our pa- tience with not one but two new studio albums in 2019—both of which were recorded last year at Chicago’s Electrical Audio with Steve Albini. The fi rst, Life Metal, comes out April 26, though a limited-edition double LP was available for Record Store Day on April 13. This time out, the band’s themes and aesthetics have a spiritual, life-a rming quality (also em- bodied in gorgeous cover art by Samantha Keely Smith), but fear not—their music hasn’t lost any of its characteristic weight. O’Malley and Anderson’s crew of collaborators on Life Metal include Australian composer Anthony Pateras (who plays pipe organ on “Troubled Air”), Chicago bassist and baritone guitarist Tim Midyett (known for his work in Mint Mile, Tatiana Hazel NOLISANDERSON Bottomless Pit, and Silkworm), and Icelandic polymath Hildur Guðnadóttir, whose voice, electric cello, and electroacoustic banjo hybrid (known as a “halldorophone”) add haunt- ing beauty to the epic 25-minute “Novae.” The second album from the Albini sessions, Pyroclasts, is due this fall, and between releases Sunn O))) will celebrate their 20th year with an epic American and European tour. Their two Chicago shows, which take place in the acoustic wonderland of Rockefeller Chapel, should be unforgettable experiences. —M K
32 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll ® Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard. MUSIC
Tatiana Hazel Part of Waldos Forever Fest. Big Freedia headlines; Tatiana Hazel, Jill Hopkins SPECIAL GUEST (DJ set), White Mystery, Air Credits, Maureen PARKER GISPERT Sandiego & Rachel Relman, Lucy Stoole & Ramona Slick, Akasha, and All the Way Kay This Monday! April 22 (DJ set) open. 4:20 PM (music starts at 10:50 AM), outside Dispensary 33, 5001 N. Clark, free with Park West RSVP at do312.com/waldosforeverfest, 18+. Later the same day, A. Chal headlines; Tatiana Hazel and Chava open. 10 PM, Concord Music Hall, 2047 N. Milwaukee, $20. 18+
Tatiana Hazel’s musical career put down its fi rst root a decade ago, when the Chicago Latinx artist taught herself to play guitar at age 11. Two years later, she started uploading acoustic, heart-on-sleeve orig- inals to YouTube—some of which have since been viewed more than 40,000 times. Hazel has evolved her sound over time, and a few years ago she began rolling out glossy pop material that brings togeth- er swooning R&B melodies, Caribbean riddims, and silken electronic production. Now 21, she demon- strates her skills, ambition, and confi dence on her self-released July EP, Toxic. She sings in English and Spanish, oscillating between the two languages on the clattering dance number “Por Ti.” And even Angela James JORDANMARTINS when Hazel addresses an unbalanced romantic rela- tionship, as she does on the pained, woozy “Can’t Help but Notice,” she always sounds completely in control of her style and her destiny. —LG tone basically signaled the primordial dawn of heavy rock way back in 1964, which should be enough to earn him a place in power-chording history. Dave’s Angela James Spectralina opens. 3:30 PM, brother Ray, Kinks singer and rhythm guitarist, got Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, $10. b most of the songwriting attention in the group, as his multifaceted tales broke new ground in their For most parents, the phrase “children’s music” sophistication. But Dave’s tunes were just as essen- triggers flashbacks to annoying sing-alongs—Raf- Friday, April 26 tial and kept the Kinks’ rock edge strong. The ode to fi ’s “Baby Beluga,” for instance, or anything by that Vic Theatre teenage isolation “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” has purple monstrosity, Barney. Fear not, though: Ange- been covered by countless groups who’ve homed in la James’s Quiet Night isn’t that kind of children’s April 27 show on its ominous, angsty vibe; “Susannah’s Still Alive” music. The singer-songwriter developed the album proved him capable of writing hits with bouncy jubi- while caring for her infant daughter and struggling is Sold Out! lance; “Death of a Clown” shows his knack for cre- with postpartum depression; its songs started out ating catchy, bitter sweet chamber pop. The two as melodic fragments she’d hum to try to get the Davies brothers famously did not get along, which baby to sleep. Jason Stein on bass clarinet, Charles kept the Kinks apart for decades a er their split in Rumback on vibraphone, and Katherine Young 1996. In 2018, they reportedly got together to begin on bassoon complement James’s velvety voice on work on a new studio album, but for the time being soothing, melancholy tunes that slide between at least, the only way to see them play these days sorrow and hope, sleep and waking. On “You’re is to catch each of them solo. In a live setting, Ray Always at Home,” James sings to her daughter, “I tends to sit and tell stories between bits of acous- don’t know what you know / I don’t need what you May 13 tic songs, whereas Dave knows his status as a rawk need,” even as she reassures her, “Though you may god and continues to stake his claim with Flying V feel alone / I’m just a room away.” And on “Sun and Vic Theatre in hand (though when I saw him at the Abbey Pub Moon,” she refl ects on the bittersweet duality that ages back, he’d tamed his guitar tone a bit, making one’s children are closer than one’s heart but start it a bit slicker a la ZZ Top’s Eliminator). Last year, drifting away as soon as they’re out in the world: Dave Davies’s sons unearthed some demos their “The center of my universe is wherever you are.” It’s dad had recorded at Konk Studios in the 70s, which not just a joyous sentiment but a terrifying one, no were released as Decade. Though that album sadly matter how gentle her delivery. James knows that features spanking-new overdubs, Davies continues in order for reassurances to work, you fi rst need to to shine as a multihued songwriter on melancholic acknowledge the dangers. Her album is a balm for Friday tracks such as “Cradle to the Grave,” with its last- children—and their parents too. —N B call-at-the-bar, scratchy-voiced Faces vibe. Accord- May 3 ing to recent set lists, he tends to play Kinks classics Park West rather than his recently unearthed solo material, but Mutant Beat Dance Part of the Function it’s a small miracle that he’s out there on the road series; Justin Aulis Long opens. 10 PM, Smart Bar, at all—he suff ered a stroke in 2004 and spent years 3730 N. Clark, $15-$18. 21+ BUY recovering from its eff ects. Go see this living legend TICKETS now, and pray that full Kinks reunion is still on its Local synth wizard Beau Wanzer formed outre AT way. —S K club-music group Mutant Beat Dance a decade J ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 33 Est.Est.1954 1954 Celebrating over 6165 years of service service to Chicago! 1800 W. DIVISION MUSIC (773) 486-9862 N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG . . Come enjoy one of Chicago’s finest beer gardens! THURSDAY, APRIL PM FEBRUARYSEPTEMBERJAAPRILNUARY 18 11...... 20 23 ...... MIKE DA BEERVID QUINN FLABBYTHE FELTEN BAND HOFFMAN SHOW 8PM SEPTEMBERJAAPRILNUARY 19 12...... 21 .....WAGNER SKIPPIN’ AMERICAN& MORSE ROCKS DRAFT Cerqua Rivera FEBRUARYSEPTEMBERJAAPRILNUARY 20 13...... 22 24 .....THE ..... CALIDIOUSDADYRKNAMOS DJRO SKIDOM TIMEBOMB LICIOUS MEN MILK INC. SEPTEMBERJANUARY 14...... 23 ....WHOLESOMERADIOWHITEWOLFSONICPRINCESSTONY DO DJRO NIGHTSARIO GROUP Dance Theatre MURPHY BALD THOMPSONCOW 9:30PM APRIL 22 RCMOJO BIG 49BAND 7PM JANUARY 17...... MIKE FELTENJAMIE WAGNER & FRIENDS Company Showcase & Sneak Preview • In Szold Hall JA NUARY 18...... RICK SHANDLING MIKE FELTON DUO 9:30PM APRIL 24 THE AMERICAN RON AND RACHEL TROUBADOUR SHOW NIGHT Dave Davies STEVEHOCKSTEIN/ FEBRUARYJANUARY 19...... 25 .....WHOLESOMERADIO SITUATION DAVID DJ NIGHT SEPTEMBERAPRIL 25 24 .....RC DJ BIG SKID BAND LICIOUS 7PM FRIDAY, APRIL PM HARVARDSTUDIOCOM FEBRUARYAPRIL 26 26 .....RC BIRDGANGS DEADLY BIGMAXLIELLIAM BUNGALOWS 9:30PMBAND 7PM ANNA JA NUARY 20...... TITTY THE CITTY BARB FIRST ANDWARD BARRETT PROBLEMS SHOW APRIL 27 THE POLKAHOLICS 10PM FEBRUARYJANUARY 21...... 28 .....PETERDUDE SAMETO CASANONY DO ROVASARIOQUARTET GROUP 8PM In Szold Hall SEPTEMBER 26 .....PETER LETTERBOMB CASANOVA QUARTET Jane Siberry JA NUARY 22...... UNIBROW RC BIG 6PMBAND 7PM MARCHSEPTEMBERJAAPRILNUARY 28 1...... SMILIN’ 24...... 27 .....DORIAN ERIC TAPETER PETERJ BO SCHWARTZ CASONOBBY ANDVA THEQUARTET CLEMTONES SEPTEMBERJA NUARY 25...... 28 ..... TO URS WHOLESOMERADIO THE WICK DJ NIGHT FRIDAY, APRIL PM MARCH 2...... ICEBULLY PULPITBOX AND BIG HOUSE JAMAYNUARY 1 26...... MORSE THE & WAGNER HEPKATS SEPTEMBERMAY 2 29 .....SOMEBODY’S SMILIN’SKIPPIN’ BOBBY SINS ROANDCK THE CLEMTONES MARCHMAY 3 3...... CHIDITAROD FEATURING THE POLKAHOLICS JOE LANASA AND TARRINGTON 10PM JAMAYNUARY 4 27...... STRAY THE BOLTS STRAY BOLTS Jonas Friddle MARCHSEPTEMBER 7...... 30 .....OFFJA THEMIE VINEWA 4:30PMGNER & FRIENDS JA NUARY 28...... NUCLEAR IRON RIVER WHOLESOMERADIO JAZZ QUARKTET BAND, FROM 7:30PM DETROIT DJ NIGHT Album Release Celebration for The Last Place to Go continued from 33 EVERYOPENEVERY MIC TUESD TUESD HOSTEDAY (EXCEPT BY MIKE 2ND) 2ND) &ATAT MIKE8PM8PM with special guest Sons of the Never Wrong ago with house producer Melvin Oliphant III (aka Ulthar Vukari, Barren Heir, and Ikaray open. OPENON TUESDAY MIC HOSTED EVENINGS BY JIMIJON (EXCEPT AMERICA 2ND) Traxx), and in a recent interview with music site 9 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $8. 17+ SATURDAY, APRIL PM Strange Sounds From Beyond, he likens their work to the fi lms of twisted, cheeky B-movie horror direc- The cover art for Cosmovore, the latest album from Erwin Helfer / tor Frank Henenlotter. “I show up with my deformed Oakland metal trio Ulthar, is immediately arresting: Siamese twin brother attached to my waist and Mel- it’s an illustration of a group of plantlike monstros- Elsa Harris / vin tries to pry it off me,” Wanzer says. “He can’t . . . ities that each appear to be vomiting nervous sys- Pastor Donald Gay so we use him to our advantage.” In a similar act of tems made of fibrous bundles and gaping maws. plus a special film screening of an interview brazen depravity—you might even call it sadistic— It’s from a work called The Mountains of Madness 3 and performance between Erwin Helfer & Mutant Beat Dance released their self-titled debut by fantasy artist Ian Miller, who got his start illus- Mama Yancey • In Szold Hall “album” this past November in the form of a six-disc trating the covers of paperbacks by horror author box (on Dutch label Rush Hour) containing more and noted racist H.P. Lovecra —though more peo- SUNDAY, APRIL PM than two hours of music. Wanzer and Traxx started ple might be familiar with his contributions to the collaborating in the mid-2000s and releasing music 1988 Games Workshop sourcebook Realm of Chaos Mary Flower In Szold Hall as Mutant Beat Dance a few years later. The group’s (a title Bolt Thrower borrowed for the album they members—who now include Steve Summers, a pro- released the following year). Ulthar also pulled their WEDNESDAY, MAY PM lifi c producer from the east coast who joined a er band name from a Lovecra story, and they expert- moving to Chicago a few years ago—all have indi- ly utilize the straight-ahead bludgeoning style per- From the Buena Vista Social Club vidual reputations in the international underground fected by Bolt Thrower as part of their multifaceted dance scene, which meant that their debut together approach to death metal. The title track of Cosmo-
Omara Portuondo would leave an impression regardless of its absurd vore (and what’s a cosmovore if not a “World Eater” Last Kiss / Ultimo Beso length (and painful price). On Mutant Beat Dance on a grander scale?) kicks off with a thrashy riff from the three producers create a smoldering, burbling, guitarist Shelby Lermo that’s soon joined by a fl ur- SATURDAY, MAY :PM constantly shifting concoction that occasionally ry of blastbeats from drummer Justin Ennis, former- sounds like a Frankensteined synthesizer’s last hur- ly of Tombs and Mutilation Rites—who then nimbly Michael J. Miles rah before the Dumpster—yet they usually inject a shi s into a punishing groove fl anked by ominous A Pete Seeger Centennial Celebration: pulse that could get even the most stoic clubgoer tremolo effects. The guttural vocals mirror the Years of Protest! moving. Wanzer, Oliphant, and Summers are all drumming as they shift from percussive howls to experimental-minded weirdos, but the MBD box set prolonged screams. It’s a tiny microcosm of extreme SUNDAY, MAY PM is so massive that they were almost guaranteed to metal, mixing black, death, grind, and thrash in the hit less-subversive sweet spots on a few songs—such space of a dizzying 30 seconds. Ulthar maintain California Guitar Trio/ as “Feed the Enemy,” which rides a sinister, straight- this concise inventiveness throughout the rest of forward rhythm beefed up by LCD Soundsystem the song, and indeed the rest of the album—making
Montreal Guitar Trio multi-instrumentalist Tyler Pope and drummer Pat- it one of the most exciting death-metal releases in In Szold Hall rick Mahoney. —LG recent memory. —EB
THURSDAY, MAY PM Wild Belle LESLIEKIRCHHOFF Willie Watson
ACROSS THE STREET IN SZOLD HALL N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL Pete Seeger Birthday Barn Dance Della Mae Global Dance Party: Las BomPleneras
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34 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard. MUSIC
SUNDAY21 Dave Davies See Saturday. White Mystery opens. 8 PM, City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph, $45-$65. b
WilD Belle Jeff ertitti’s Nile opens. 9 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, $25. 18+
As Wild Belle, siblings and Chicagoland natives Natalie and Elliot Bergman construct a tropical pop sound that draws from rocksteady, reggae, dub, dancehall, West African music, and more. The eclec- tic mix is unified by Natalie’s smoky, sultry voice and Elliot’s equally sexy baritone saxophone and electrifi ed kalimbas. For their brand-new third LP, Everybody One of a Kind, the Bergmans eschewed outside producers, opting to work almost exclu- sively on their own in Elliot’s Chicago and LA stu- dios. The result is what Natalie recently described to me as a “fully realized” version of Wild Belle—one La Dispute POONEHGHANA that’s more airy, more down-tempo, and even more eclectic. Album opener “Rocksteady” is a breezy, jazz, even the most irregular constructions imply a spacey jam that builds off a steady bass groove sense of swing. Webber displays a similar commit- and Elliot’s infectious baritone hooks while Natalie ment to structural integrity and timbral complexity croons about being whatever her lover needs. A er through her fl ute and tenor saxophone playing, so two more colorful numbers that sound like they even though she won’t be bringing her sextet out were recorded in a rain forest, the pace slows with to Chicago, you can expect music that’s just as rig- “Tumbleweed,” a sorrowful yet seductive ballad orous and complete as if presented by the whole where Natalie sings of two performers kept apart group. For this concert, part of Experimental Sound by demanding travel schedules: “When the sun Studio’s Option series, Webber will perform solo, goes down / That’s when I need you the most / On then improvise with bassoonist Katherine Young; to the top of this hill / I see the world, but I’m alone.” close the evening, she’ll participate in a salon-style Everybody is a playfully subdued ode to love, lust, discussion of her work. —B M and life that fits the vibe of the Bergmans’ new home base in Los Angeles. For their homecoming show at Metro, the siblings will be joined by their talented backing band. —S M TUESDAY23 La Dispute Gouge Away and Slow Mass open. 6:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, $22.50- MONDAY22 $35. b Sunn O))) See Pick of the Week, page 32. See A little more than 18 miles separate Grand Rapids, also Friday. Papa M opens. 7 PM, Rockefeller Michigan, and Lowell, a small manufacturing town Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn, $36. 17+ to its east. Fulton Street is a patch of state high- way M-21 that connects the two, and Jordan Dreyer, front man of celebrated Grand Rapids posthardcore Anna Webber Webber opens with a solo band La Dispute, frequently traveled along it to visit set, then plays a duo set with Katherine Young. his partner outside Lowell. His trips gave him plen- 7:30 PM, Experimental Sound Studio, 5925 N. ty of opportunities to consider his surroundings. On Ravenswood, $10. b “Fulton Street I,” which properly opens La Dispute’s recent fourth album and Epitaph debut, Panorama, Invoking the clock in a musical context raises cer- Dreyer quietly contemplates the 1997 discovery of a tain expectations about timekeeping, but composer woman’s skeleton along Fulton smack-dab between and woodwind player Anna Webber subverts them Lowell and Grand Rapids. More than 20 years later, on her new Clockwise (Pi). She rarely has percus- the deceased’s identity remains unknown, and as sionist Ches Smith play a steady groove for long— Dreyer spikes the increasingly anxious song with instead he rushes the tempo, changes cadences, incensed but empathetic howls, he brings depth drops in brief silences, and switches constantly and poignancy to the questions surrounding the among vibes, timpani, and drum kit. The rest of the case that linger to this day. This sort of approach six-piece ensemble negotiates similarly unpredict- is par for the course for La Dispute, whose sprawl- able terrain. But the album remains true to its title in ing albums build a self-contained world with its this respect: its pieces could not unfold in any other own center of gravity from mighty, massive songs sequence. Inspired by the percussion music of con- whose fragility and vulnerability belie their bulk. On temporary classical composers, including Edgard Panorama, La Dispute continue as they have since Varèse, John Cage, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, 2004—showing that even a familiar path can yield Webber’s intricate compositions are full of move- profound insights when explored with an engaged ment and color. But since she is equally indebted to mind. —LG v ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 35 CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME
EARLY WARNINGS b ALLAGESF WOLFBYKEITHHERZIK Spill Canvas 6/16, 8 PM, City Winery b Never miss Sugarhill Gang 5/11, 7 PM, City Winery b a show again. Joanne Shaw Taylor 5/20, Sign up for the 8 PM, City Winery b newsletter at Teen 5/15, 8:30 PM, Empty GOSSIP Bottle chicagoreader. Test Dept, Severed Heads, com/early Adult., Kaelan Mikla, Twin WOLF Tribes 9/21, 7 PM, Metro, part of Cold Waves VIII, 18+ 9 PM, Empty Bottle A furry ear to the ground of Leon Vynehall 5/10, 10 PM, Mikal Cronin 6/1, 8:30 PM, Smart Bar Empty Bottle the local music scene Greg Ward’s Rogue Parade, Crumb 5/2, 7:30 PM, Thalia Ben LaMar Gay’s Learn From Hall b WHENT S ELIOT wrote “April is the cru- Ghost with Sam Pluta and Dehd, Hecks, Mavis the Dog Jason Stein, Makaya McCra- 5/10, 9 PM, Empty Bottle elest month,” he wasn’t thinking about ven (DJ set) 5/22, 8:30 PM, Downlink, Al Ross, Eliminate, what passes for spring here. But this time Empty Bottle Phiso 6/14, 8 PM, Concord every year, Gossip Wolf breeds lilacs and We Are One X-Perience Music Hall 18+ grudgingly mixes memory and desire— honors Maze and Frankie Drab Majesty, Facs 5/17, Beverly 8/3, 7 and 10 PM, 6:30 PM, Garfi eld Park Con- while listening for new jams that sound City Winery b servatory b like warmer weather. Singer- songwriter Yacht & Bothered Boat Series Guerilla Toss, Blacker Face, Danielle Sines and her beach-ready Teen HANNAHWHITAKER with George Fitzgerald 7/27, Good Willsmith 4/25, 8 PM, jangle- pop project, Impulsive Hearts, reli- noon, DuSable Harbor Sleeping Village Yacht & Bothered Boat Series Judas Priest, Uriah Heep 5/25, ably provide! Last month, Sines and the of Folk Music b City Winery b with Habstrakt 5/26, 6 PM, 8 PM, Rosemont Theater, band (drummer Dan Julian, bassist Doug NEW A.J. Croce 7/10, 8 PM, City Juice 7/12, 7:30 PM, Subter- DuSable Harbor Rosemont Hoyer, violinist Jess LeMaster, and saxo- Winery, on sale Thu 4/18, ranean, on sale Fri 4/19, Juice Wrld 5/30, 6:30 PM, phonist Fallon McDermott) dropped the Joshua Abrams’s Natural noon b 10 AM b Aragon Ballroom Information Society 6/28, Crude S.S., Riotous, Henry- Sonny Landreth 7/28, 8 PM, UPDATED Oliver Kennan 5/21, 7:30 PM, sun-dappled four-song cassette MeToo: 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ xChinaski, Warfi lth 4/27, City Winery b Schubas b A Benefit for Resilience, proceeds from Joey Alexander Trio 6/28, 7 6:30 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Lauv, Bulow 10/13, 7 PM, Riv- Jim James 5/23, 7:30 PM, the Killing Joke, Pink Slips 5/18, which will support Chicago nonprofit and 9:30 PM, City Winery b Charlie Cunningham 9/24, iera Theatre b Vic, venue change; tickets 8 PM, Bottom Lounge Resilience, which helps victims of sexual Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, At 8 PM, Schubas, 18+ Lindsay Lou 6/13, 8 PM, City purchased for the Riviera Stephen Marley, Mystic Marley the Gates, Grand Magus 10/7, Demons & Wizards, Lizzy Winery, on sale Thu 4/18, Theatre will be honored at 6/9, 7 PM, Park West, 18+ violence . Impulsive Hearts will have copies 7 PM, Riviera Theatre, on sale Borden, Tyr 8/28, 6:30 PM, noon b the Vic Theatre, 18+ Johnny Marr 5/13, 7:30 PM, at their free Empty Bottle show on Mon- Fri 4/19, 10 AM, 18+ Concord Music Hall, 17+ Mike Love 7/17, 8 PM, SPACE, Van Morrison 4/23-25, 7 PM, The Vic, 18+ day, April 22, with Bike Cops and Gal Gun . Finn Andrews 6/15, 8 PM, Szold Digital Freshness with Khary, Evanston, on sale Fri 4/19, Chicago Theatre, Thu 4/25 Mary Ocher + Your Govern- On Wednesday, April 24, the Harper Hall, Old Town School of Folk One Punch, Curtis Roach, DJ 10 AM b show added b ment, Forced Into Femininity Music b RTC, DJ Ca$h Era, DJ Scend Mako Sica, Stander, Imelda Damo Suzuki’s Network 5 /4 - 5/21, 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle Theater in Hyde Park hosts Footwork on Roy Ayers 5/22-23, 8 PM, City 5/2, 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle Marcos 5/1, 8:30 PM, Empty 5, 8:30 PM, Constellation, New Found Glory, Real Film, a program of shorts devoted to the Winery b Do Division Fest with Russian Bottle canceled; refunds available at Friends, Early November, Chicago-born dance and sound. Bran- Jon B. 6/14, 7 and 10 PM, City Circles, Why?, Skatalites, Marías 7/26, 8:30 PM, Thalia point of purchase, 18+ Doll Skin 6/23, 6 PM, Con- don “Manny” Calhoun and Wills Glass- Winery b Meat Puppets, and more Hall, on sale Fri 4/19, 10 AM, Yann Tiersen 5/17-18, 8:30 PM, cord Music Hall, 17+ Band of Skulls 9/24, 8:30 PM, 5/31, 5 PM; 6/1-2, 1 PM, Divi- 17+ Thalia Hall, Fri 5/17 show NRBQ 6/21-22, 8 PM, Hideout piegel of footwork crew the Era (which Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 4/19, sion between Damen and Nargiz 5/9, 7 PM, Concord added; Sat 5/18 sold out, 17+ Ohmme, Bunny, Cold Beaches has also branched out into rap ) will screen 10 AM, 17+ Leavitt b Music Hall, 17+ 4/27, 8 PM, Sleeping Village fi lms they’ve made while researching the Black Pumas, Los Coast 7/19, Dumpstaphunk, Magnolia Bou- Carrie Newcomer 6/9, 7 PM, Anderson .Paak & Free scene and its history; University of Chica- 9 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on levard 6/15, 11 PM, Metro City Winery b UPCOMING Nationals, Noname, Thunder- sale Fri 4/26, 10 AM b Eluveitie, Korpiklaani, Gone Nite, Panic Priest, Ghost Twin, cat 6/4, 7:30 PM, Huntington go music professor Seth Brodsky will lead Brian Blade’s Life Cycles in April 10/6, 6 PM, Concord DJ Vincent 5/19, 8 PM, GMan Acid Dad 5/14, 9 PM, Empty Bank Pavilion a discussion. Footwork originator RP Boo 9/26, 7 and 9:30 PM, SPACE, Music Hall, 17+ Tavern Bottle Maceo Parker 6/13, 7 and 9 PM, caps off the night with an all-vinyl set. The Evanston, on sale Fri 4/19, Filter, Pig, Paul Barker’s Min- Nitzer Ebb, Haujobb, Light Cisco Adler 4/30, 7 PM, SPACE, Evanston b free, all-ages event starts at 7 PM. 10 AM b Dub Soundsystem, Street Asylum, Klack, Wingtips Schubas b Picture This 5/5, 7 PM, Lincoln Bonelang 6/21, 9 PM, Metro b Sects, Haex 9/22, 7 PM, 9/20, 7 PM, Metro, part of Ages and Ages 5/31, 9 PM, Hall b Beloved Avondale bar and venue BoomBox 5/3, 11:15 PM, Con- Metro, part of Cold Waves Cold Waves VIII, 18+ Schubas, 18+ Jesse Rutherford 5/3, 8 PM, Reed’s Local just turned fi ve, and begin- cord Music Hall, 18+ VIII, 18+ Conor Oberst, Joanna Stern- Ziggy Alberts, Garrett Kato Subterranean ning Thursday, April 18, it celebrates with Chicago House Music Festival Freestyle Forever: Tim Spin- berg 7/24, 8:30 PM, Thalia 6/27, 8 PM, Concord Music Saicobab 5/6, 8:30 PM, Con- Reed’s Fest 2019. Gossip Wolf loves pret- day one with Mr A.L.I. & nin’ Schommer’s Birthday Hall, on sale Fri 4/19, 9 AM, Hall, 18+ stellation, 18+ Carla Prather, Chip E, Bash with TKA, Safi re, Pure 18+ Art Alexakis, Chris Colling- John Scofi eld’s Combo 66 6/27, ty much all the 14 acts set to play across 8FatFat8 5/24, 6:30 PM, Pleazure, Chase, Mark Milan, Joan Osborne 5/19, 5 and wood, Max Collins, John 7 PM, SPACE, Evanston its three nights. “Flower punks” Flesh Pan- Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Sammy Zone 5/24, 8 PM, 8 PM, City Winery, perform- Wozniak 6/5, 7 PM, City Television 5/10, 7 and 10 PM, thers kick off Thursday, warming up for Park F b Concord Music Hall ing songs of Bob Dylan b Winery b Maurer Hall, Old Town School the likes of Mama and Lasers and Fast Chicago House Music Festival Bill Frisell 9/20, 8 PM, SPACE, Paper Kites 10/14, 8:30 PM, Architects, Thy Art Is Murder, of Folk Music b day two with Gene Hunt, Evanston, on sale Fri 4/19, Thalia Hall, on sale Thu 4/18, While She Sleeps 5/25, Whitechapel, Dying Fetus and Shit; Platinum Boys headline Friday’s Reel People Live, Tony Hum- 10 AM b 10 AM, 17+ 6:30 PM, Concord Music 4/25, 5 PM, Concord Music bill, which also includes Das Dotz (formerly phries, First Lady, and more Gloria Gaynor 8/9, 7 and Pop Will Eat Itself, Chemlab, Hall b Hall, 17+ Jen & the Dots); postpunks No Men close 5/25, 2 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, 10 PM, City Winery b Acumen vs. 16Volt, Curse Juan Atkins 5/1, 9 PM, Thalia Lizz Wright 5/14, 8 PM, City out Saturday, alongside Salvation, Bow & Millennium Park F b Terisa Griffi n 7/13, 8 PM, City Mackey, Bootblacks 9/19, Hall, 18+ Winery b Chicago Philharmonic Cham- Winery, on sale Thu 4/18, 7 PM, Metro, Part of Cold Toronzo Cannon 6/29, 8 PM, Yheti, Nastynasty, Eazybaked Spear, and more. Music starts at 8 PM ber Players 4/28, noon, City noon b Waves VIII, 18+ SPACE, Evanston b 5/3, 10 PM, Bottom Lounge, every night; admission is a $5 donation per Winery b Hot Chip 9/13, 7:30 PM, Riviera Resonate with Derrick Carter, Neko Case, Shannon Shaw 17+ show (or $10 for a three-night wristband). Cinematic Orchestra 11/12, Theatre, 18+ Roy Davis Jr., MC Question 4/26-27, 7:30 PM, The Vic, Yo La Tengo, Minus 5 6/23, —JRN LG 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Griffi n House 10/4, 8 PM, Mark, Dojo, and more 4/26, 4/27 sold out, 18+ 7 PM, Temperance Beer Com- Fri 4/19, 10 AM, 17+ SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 9 PM, Metro Rosanne Cash, Ry Cooder 6/18, pany, Evanston, 18+ Cracker, Ike Reilly 7/11, 8 PM, 4/19, 10 AM b Sons of F.U.N.K. 6/14, 11 PM, 8 PM, Chicago Theatre b Zveri 5/31, 7 PM, Concord Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail Maurer Hall, Old Town School Morgan James 6/2, 5 and 8 PM, GMan Tavern Chasms, Devon Church 5/24, Music Hall, 17+ v [email protected].
36 CHICA O READER - APRIL ll SURF ROCK SUNDAY WITH DJ MIKE SMITH
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60 MINUTES FREE TRIAL : When I fi rst started dating my girlfriend, I asked her about past boyfriends and she said she hadn’t met the right guy yet. A er THE HOTTEST GAY CHATLINE dating for nine years, I found out about a past boyfriend and looked through her e-mails. 1-312-924-2082 I found out she dated her married boss More Local Numbers: 800-777-8000 www.guyspyvoice.com for three years. She broke up with me for Ahora en Español/18+ looking and for judging her. I feel like she lied, and she thinks it was none of my business. We’ve been broken up for fi ve months. She’s reached out, but I can’t get over my anger or disgust that she was someone’s mistress. Am I a bad person? —S A A D A: Yup. “Haven’t met the right guy yet” ≠ “Haven’t met any guys ever.” Almost everyone has done something they regret doing—although it’s possible your ex-girlfriend doesn’t regret fucking her married boss for three years, SAAD, and it’s possible there’s no need for regret. Some- times people have affairs for all the right rea- Meet sexy friends sons. Sometimes abandoning a spouse and/or who really get your vibe... breaking up a home with kids in it, aka “doing the right thing” and divorcing, is the worse Try FREE: 312-924-2066 choice. Life is long and complicated, and it’s More Local Numbers: 1-800-811-16331-800 1633-811- possible for a person to demonstrate loyalty and commitment with something other than their genitals. Sometimes people do what they must to stay married and stay sane, and their vibeline.com 18+ affair partners are doing good by being “bad.” It’s also possible that your ex-girlfriend made an impulsive, shitty, selfish choice to fuck someone else’s husband. It’s possible he’s a serial philanderer, a cheating piece of shit, and then, after fucking him that one time, your girlfriend felt pressured to keep fucking him and wound up having a years-long affair with her married boss. And then, when it was all over, she stuffed it down the memory hole 24 lumpenradio.com because she wanted to forget it. It’s also possible she didn’t tell you about this 7 coprosperity.org relationship when you asked because she intu- ited—correctly, as it turned out—that you are, in your own words, a bad person, i.e., the kind of guy who would punish his girlfriend for hav- ing a sexual history, for making her fair share of mistakes, and for deciding to keep some things private. (Not secret, SAAD. Private.) Finding out about a past boyfriend doesn’t give you the right to invade your partner’s privacy and dig through their ancient e-mails. Music, Shows, WLPN 105.5 ON Your girlfriend was right to break up with you for snooping and judging her so harsh- Art Events LP FM AIR ly. And she didn’t even lie to you, dude! Her boss clearly wasn’t “the right guy,” seeing as
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(773) 761-4318. as Internet Mrktg Consultant, Req.: master in Business high-performance machine exp reqs. No Calls. Send www.lakefrontmgt.com Analytics. Send resume to: Administration; have learning algorithms to automate resumes & proof of license to VNC Communications, Inc., knowledge or skilled with the strategy optimization; 2) dsgng, Epstein & Sons Int’l (Epstein), : I’m a few months into OkCupid dating, 35 W Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL, following (acquired through dvlpg, implmtg & backtesting ATTN: M. C. – HR Dept., 600 W 60601, Attn: H. Blackston. either education, training, quantitative trading models Fulton, Fl 9, Chicago, IL 60661. MARKETPLACE and it’s going well! I’ve stuck to two internship or prior work): for equity index derivatives; & Send resumes to No calls. Personal Driver/ Assistant management information 3) dvlpg & deploying software GENERAL “automatic pass” rules: anyone who mentions needed. Candidates must be systems; data mining and interface & analytical tools for my looks and nothing else in the fi rst driven to provide the highest data analysis; Adobe Creative market data processing, risk FOR SALE levels of customer service, Suite; financial management; monitoring & latency reduction. as well meet the following cost-benefi t analysis; fi nancial Exp can be gained through 2007 mini cooperS 2D message and anyone with no face pic. It’s guidelines: Clean Driving / CLASSIFIEDS reporting; international employment or graduate-level hatchback $6,500. Call Criminal Background Check, REAL worked out great so far. But I’ve noticed that accounting. research. In lieu of master’s 312-493-7058 Extensive geographical $67,850/year. Job & Interview: deg plus 1 yr of exp, will accept most kinksters on OKC don’t post face pics. knowledge, Courteous with a Chicago, IL. Contact: bachelor’s deg plus 5 yrs of ESTATE professional attitude, Must be Wei G. Huang, President, exp in same fields. Interested RENTALS I can understand this. I once came across at least 20 years old. Excellent Sunshine Supply Company, candidates should send resume SERVICES income potential. Contact 4501 S. Knox Avenue, to: [email protected] a coworker on the site—didn’t look, passed [email protected] Chicago, IL 60632 or email with “Quantitative Trader” in GENERAL EVENTS [email protected] subject line. ANOTHER CHANCE TO LIVE immediately—and I can imagine nobody Groupon, Inc. is seeking a JOBS where you can walk to beach, Event Name: Sip ‘n’ Shop Product Designer in Chicago, IL Mental Health Counselor: Project Architect (Licensed)- bus, red line and shops. for Wives, Brides, Proms & wants their boss or coworkers to know w/ the following responsibilities: Provide mental health Chicago, IL - Under direct Awesome living room. Big Moms drive end-to-end product ADMINISTRATIVE counseling w/emphasis supv of mangr, plan integration bedrooms with walk in closets. Date/Time: Saturday, April 20, they’re looking for puppy play and CBT. Not design, incl defi ning problems, on nexus of mental health, of architectural activities & $1500 with heat plus 2019 | 11 AM - 5 PM CST brainstorming product everyone has the luxury of taking a risk like SALES & trauma, substance abuse & the developt project deliverables. patio,laundry and parking Location: Juicy Luzy Sangria | vision, designing workflows, LGBTQ community. Chicago, Support proposals, assist w/ available. Call 773-275-3216. 5435 West 110th Street #2, Oak MARKETING interacting & visualizing while that. So I’m tempted to drop my “no face pic IL location. Reqs MA in Couns Lawn, IL 60453 working alongside talented Psych w/spec in Rehab Couns Description: Getting married? researchers & content = pass” rule for kinksters. But then I imagine FOOD & DRINK & 2 yrs exp in job or Outreach Preparing for prom? Looking strategists. Apply on-line at Worker. Send resume to: Live for the perfect Mother’s Day how that would go: “Chat, chat, chat. ‘Hey, https://jobs.groupon.com/jobs/ SPAS & SALONS Oak, Inc., 1300 W Belmont, Ste gift? Join us for a special Sip R20168. can I see a face pic?’ Oh no, I’m not physically 300, Chicago, IL, 60657, Attn: Stretch your dollars. Ignite your soul. ‘n’ Shop pop-up shopping BIKE JOBS O. Adeyinka. experience! FREE ADMISSION! Groupon, Inc. is seeking a RSVP URL: https://www. attracted to this person!” Then I have to Senior Financial Analyst in GENERAL Hardware Engineer sought eventbrite.com/e/sip-n-shop- Chicago, IL w/ the following awkwardly un-match and feel terribly shallow by IMC Americas, Inc. in for-wives-brides-proms-moms- responsibilities: design Chicago, IL to use FPGA Half-Price tickets-58463905114 and guilty for a while. So do I keep my rule & create data models as technology to achieve the a solution to complex lowest possible latencies to and pass on some very promising profi les REAL problems, rooted in data & keep IMC’s trading strategies Theatre analytics. Apply on-line at best-in-class. This position LEGAL NOTICE without face pics to avoid hurting someone’s https://jobs.groupon.com/jobs/ ESTATE reqs a Master’s deg in electrical R20169. or comp engg, comp sci, or Notice is hereby given, feelings? Or do I bend the rules? I’m just not Tickets pursuant to An Act in relation related technical fi eld & 1 yr of looking to hurt anyone in a bad way. —N RENTALS Groupon, Inc. is seeking a exp in FPGA/ASIC hardware to the use of an Assumed Product Designer in Chicago, IL engg or graduate-level research Business Name in the conduct T K OS FOR SALE w/ the following responsibilities: in electrical or electronics engg. or transaction of Business in conduct competitive analysis Must have some exp with each the State, has amended, that & UX trends research to of the following: (1) dsgng & a certification was registered NON-RESIDENTIAL understand context & optimizing parallel computing by the undersigned with the A: Lead with your truth, NTKOS: “Hey, we investigate user problems and algorithms to analyze high- County Clerk of Cook County ROOMATES needs in collaboration w/ UX dimensional data using C++, on April 9th, 2019 Under the share a lot of common interests—BDSM, CBT, researchers & data scientists Java, Python; (2) dsgng & Assumed Business Name through in-context interviews optimizing high-throughput, of VICKY’S BREAKFAST TT—but I usually require face pics before I w/ end users, observational low-latency accelerators using with the business located at: chat. 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[email protected] with romantic match, every kinkster needs some Position requires occ. travel “Hardware Engineer (HEJX2)” in INSTRUCTION w/in the U.S. To apply, subject line. kinky friends!” v please email your resume to MUSIC & ARTS [email protected], Hardware Engineer sought Please reference “JOB ID: by IMC Americas, Inc. in NOTICES 19-9009” in the subject line to Chicago, IL to dsgn & dvlp Send letters to [email protected]. be considered. fi eld-programmable gate array MESSAGES (FPGA) projects, including please recycle this paper Download the Savage Lovecast every Relativity (Chicago, IL) seeks improving & adapting current LEGAL NOTICES a Software Engineer to be dsgns. This position reqs Tuesday at thestranger.com. part of our development of a Master’s deg in electrical @fakedansavage ADULT SERVICES e-Discovery platform. Must engg, comp engg, or comp sci ll APRIL - CHICA O READER 39 EMPORIUM LOGAN SQUARE FRIDAY, APRIL 19TH HERBAL NOTES POP-UP CBD DINNER & CBD COCKTAIL BAR
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