CHICAGO’SFREEWEEKLYSINCE | MARCH | MARCH CHICAGO’SFREEWEEKLYSINCE Election analysis Maya Dukmasova 6 Ben Joravsky 4 B-ball phenom Markese Jacobs Patrick Z. McGavin 9 Rapper Brittney Carter Matt Harvey 26 All yesterday’s parties The Bearded Lady and the heady days of Dugan’s Bistro, a River North club at the heart of the neighborhood’s glittery 1970s queer scene, are the focus of a new book. By DC 15 THIS WEEK CHICAGOREADER | MARCH | VOLUME NUMBER A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR TR - ­ ­ WHATEVER ELSE IT does include, the new was all glam, glitter, and LGBTQIA—who used Writer Brianna Wellen looks at a live-lit-style @ normal at least does not include another to hang out at a club called Dugan’s Bistro. comedy show called Freshman, about bad, Mayor Daley. What a time to be alive! This Oh, we’ve still got politics. Maya Duk- early art. PTB EC AEM must be how the French felt long about 1792. masova digs into 14 races’ worth of runoff All capped off with our original weekly M E PSK But as I promised, this issue isn’t so much data in advance of Election Day, April 2, comic strips. Have a favorite yet? I love John M E D KH about the next mayor. It’s about the city we while Ben Joravsky considers the troublingly P., don’t get me wrong, and no one is more DEKS CLSK will soon choose a progressive black woman low—although not worst-ever—February dear to my heart than Violet, the pet-crime- D P JR to lead. It’s chock-full of Chicagoans past, 26 turnout. solving girl detective. But nothing makes me CEAL M EPM present, and future. It’s about what we get up We’ve also got a two-page comics report on more excited about the continued future of A EJL to when we spend time together. Chicago’s (lack of) accessibility for folks with independent comics than the superweird, SWDI BJ M S Rising basketball star Markese Jacobs and disabilities. We look at ShawChicago, a 25 downright disgusting P.L. Dermes. S WMD LG up-and-coming rapper Brittney Carter are year-old readers’ theater that’s currently set So read up, Chicago. You don’t have G D D C S MEBW profi led in this issue, while our cover feature to close at the end of June. Culture reporter to start thinking too hard about the next M L C is on the Bearded Lady, a 1970s River North Deanna Isaacs brings us Stanley Tigerman’s election yet. You have a couple weeks. LC SC-J FL CP F scenester—from back in the day when the area latest controversial opinions on architecture. —AEM TA ECS CNB D C D CLC C C J F SF I GA G J H J H IH IN THIS ISSUE DJ MK S K MMBMJRN 20 Playsofnote DoubtAParable 36 EarlyWarningsNeurosisJane M O Y P CITYLIFE LP A R KS 03 StreetViewBirdofParadise explorestheCatholicChurchin SiberryJamilaWoodsandmore BS DS AW meetsMarchesaLuisaCasati crisisSouthernComforttoasts justannouncedconcerts ---------------------------------------------------------------- queerjoyandWeAreProudto 36 GossipWolfTheMosesGun D D PresentaPresentationgivesa droptheirbestrecordyetHanif JD D P E &P voicetoaforgottenpeople Abdurraqibreadsfromhisbookon K K ATribeCalledQuestandmore O M SNL CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING FOOD&DRINK 37 Jobs -- - @ 14 RestaurantReviewChinatown 37 Apartments&Spaces C @ spotswarnofthecomingnorthern 37 Marketplace SM PF barbecueoutbreak SA R OPINION AM A R NEWS&POLITICS 37 SavageLoveDanSavageoff ers LM-HNS 04 Joravsky|PoliticsBen adviceformenwhocarryaheavy CRM T P Joravskypondersvoterturnout loadonfi rstdates NA 05 Isaacs|CultureContrarian FILM VM G--- architectStanleyTigermanonthe 21 ReviewFinallyMarvelmakes futureofarchitecture asuperheromoviewithatough JL SB 06 Dukmasova|PoliticsMaya multifacetedwoman ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dukmasovalooksatthemany 22 MoviesofnoteTheBoyWho DC wardlevelrunoff contests HarnessedtheWindisdirector [email protected] -- ChiwetelEjiofor’sstellardebutThe ARTS IceKingoff ersamovingportraitof STM READER LLC &CULTURE BPDRL 15 LitAnewbookexploresthe fi gureskatingandRubenBrandt TER BeardedLadyofRiverNorth’s Collectorisavisualfeast S J S queerheyday A- S V 16 ComedyAvarietyshowabout MUSIC&NIGHTLIFE CCEB hilariousearlyworksbycreators RapperBrittneyCarter 26 Feature COMICSSERIALS ---------------------------------------------------------------- nowsuccesfulinotherfi elds isoneofChicagohiphop’sbest 39 ComicsYourindiefaves R ISSN-­ 17 TheaterA eryearsthe keptsecrets areback!Andweird!Orfunny STMR LLC curtainfallsonShawChicagoThe 31 InRotationPhotographerJulia SometimescharmingMaybeall SM SC IL -- 09 FeatureMarkeseJacobswas RuseofMedusacontainsmonkeys Dratelonasoundartistwithan three? Chicago’shottestrisingyoung surrealismandmultitudes earforecologyandmoremusical C ©C R athleteWillhebeagain? 18 OperaBikerssexandpole obsessions P C IL dancingpuppetsradicalize 32 ShowsofnoteBody/Head A C R R O PC RR T ® FEATURE Handel’sAriodante VinceStaplesStrangesbenefi t SFS’ 12 ComicsWhyisthecityso 19 DanceAlvinAileyreturnstothe forJerryBryantandotherexcellent unfriendlyforfolkswithdisabilities? AuditoriumTheatre showsthisweek 2 CHICAOREADER - MARCH ll CITY LIFE “FAUX FUR SNAKE SKIN hooflike heels, and other abstract signifi ers of animality have played a key role in my daily self-fashioning,” says Danielle Rosen. The 30-year-old visual artist, photographed at the Garfi eld Park Conservatory, is fascinated by the relationship between human and nonhuman animals, and has spent time working on an Icelan- dic sheep farm in Vermont. There she performed daily massages on three sheep—Luna, Aurora, and Juniper—to remove burrs from their wool. Rosen complements the lush vegetation of the conserva- tory with a look that she describes as “Bird of Par- adise meets Marchesa Luisa Casati.” To match her canary-yellow faux-fur coat from Topshop, she ISAGIALLORENZO sports a burst of yellow eyeshadow from MAC. From her left ear dangles a string of small color- ful sculptures she designed herself, paired with a Street View black hoop from local favorite Hvnter Gvtherer. For Rosen, style can be a form of armor. “Fashion allows Spirit animal me to molt and to build new permutations of being,” Channeling the power of she says. “It is a form of world building and a way to nonhuman companions carve out new spaces for our bodies.” —IG ll MARCH - CHICAOREADER 3 NEWS & POLITICS Sixty-fi ve percent of Chicago voters didn’t election Epton, a moderate Republican, was take part in this year’s mayoral election GEOFFMARSHALL turned into the “Great White Hope” trying to “save” Chicago (his tagline was “before it’s too late”) from Washington, who’d defeated Jane Byrne and Richard Daley in the Democratic primary. It was black people voting with pride and white people voting out of fear. Either way, it was the high point of voter participa- tion for a mayoral election in Chicago. Then, of course, there’s the weather. Elec- tion Day was a typically cold and dreary day in February. You’d think that after 182 years (to be exact), the powers that be would have figured out that we have something called winter in Chicago. And that it’s not a good time to have an election—unless you want a low ably a low point in the ongoing experiment of turnout to help incumbents win. democracy in Chicago. Guess we just fi gured out why there’s never I will now o¢ er several of my own theories been an effort to change the state law that for the abysmal turnout, starting with . Don- mandates mayoral elections in February. ald Trump. Beyond that there’s something more insid- Usually, I’m blaming him for the vile and ious going on. Many Chicagoans have clearly nasty things he does. But in this case I’m pin- given up hope that a mayoral election has any pointing something he didn’t do. He wasn’t on worthwhile meaning. Politicians and political the ballot. campaigns come and go, and nothing seems to For better or worse, Trump’s the great ener- change, so why bother? POLITICS gizer in politics these days. Chicago’s turnout It’s a vicious cycle. Vote for the same old, in November’s gubernatorial election rose to same olds and nothing changes. So it’s easy to about 61 percent, largely ’cause so many Dem- conclude that you might as well not vote at all. The ruling 35 percent ocrats viewed voting as an act of resistance to And what’s the result? More of the same old, Trump—even if he wasn’t on the ballot back same olds. The vast majority of Chicago voters sit out another mayoral election. then either. It’s hard to make voting for mayor The apathy is highest in the black south and an act of resistance against Trump when all west sides. I’ve seen precinct after precinct— By BJ the candidates are already bashing him. like the third precinct in the Ninth Ward, or Then there’s my friend, good ol’ Mayor 1 the 23rd in the 16th, or the 15th in the 20th— Percent himself. I have a feeling turnout would where turnout was in the teens. have been higher had Mayor Rahm stayed No wonder Mayor Rahm feels free to take few days before last week’s elec- basically divided between those who passion- in the race rather than wimping—I mean, $1.3 billion intended for low-income neighbor- tion, I got a call from a local polit- ately care and obsess about Chicago politics— dropping—out in September. He’d have prob- hoods—like those in the Ninth, 16th, and 20th ical operative, freaking out over like me and Maya and that freaking-out politi- ably generated a larger turnout just for being Wards—and spend it on Lincoln Yards in an the fact that the lead items on the cal operative—and those, alas, who don’t. who he is—a symbol of cold indifference to already gentrifying north-side neighborhood. news were not about the upcoming And sad to say—these days it seems the inequality. As long as there are no repercussions at the Amayor’s race, but about the ongoing sagas of don’t-cares very much outnumber the do- In other words, Trump and Rahm represent polls, the inequities will continue. R. Kelly and Jussie Smollett. cares. On the bright side, however, the news candidates people might get fi red up to vote I’m not sure what I can o¢ er as a way of rem- “Nobody cares about anything except R.