On the strength of its quarter-million dollar, three-year grant from the Diana, Princess of Wales Fund, About Face Theatre has added staff and moved its administrative offices into larger quarters at 122 W. Wilson Ave. in Uptown. Performances will continue to be at the Jane Addams Center at Broadway and Belmont. The Diana grant will allow About Face greatly to expand its program for at-risk GLBTQ youth, perhaps taking the program to other states and cities.
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A gaggle of Tony Award-winning theater artists, all near and dear to out community (and several of them proudly OF our community), are in Chicago this month and next as Goodman Theatre rehearses the world premiere of a new musical, The Visit, based on the play by Friedrich Duerrenmatt. The stars are Chita Rivera and John McMartin; the authors are John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (lyrics) and Terrence McNally (book) ; the director is Chicagoan Frank Galati.
There can be no doubt that the hope and wish of the artists involved, and of the Goodman Theatre, is that The Visit will move to Broadway after its developmental try-out here in Chicago, but no one talks about such things publicly. As well-endowed as they may be, regional theatres such as the Goodman cannot afford to take on a musical project of this size and complexity without some behind-the-scenes financial assistance from a Broadway theatre producer. Called enhancement money, such support is standard operating procedure in professional theatre, bridging the gap between not-for-profit companies like the Goodman, and commercial theater interests. The Visit begins previews Sept. 21, opens to the press on Oct. 1, and runs through Oct. 27.
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Mark your calendars, my dears, for an opera queen’s dream! A free performance featuring Renee Fleming, Catherine Malfitano, Ben Heppner, Timothy Nolen, Gregory Turay, Susan Graham and more, accompanied by the Lyric Opera Orchestra under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis. Tra-la-la, indeed! The date is Sept. 8, and the name of the event says it all: Stars of Lyric Opera at Grant Park. Concert time is 7:30 p.m., but those who want a seat, or even a decent piece of grass (that’s “piece of grass,” everyone), better arrive much, much earlier for what is certain to be an overflow event.
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All through August, Bailiwick Arts Center has been celebrating Lesbian artists with a Monday Montage series of women representing various performance disciplines. The series concludes this coming Monday, Aug. 27, with an evening of dance featuring the work of choreogrpahers Julie Petrie, Pamela Fox, Amanda Amidei and others. The performance begins at 7 p.m., tickets are $10. For more information, call Bailiwick at 773-883-1090. Bailiwick is at 1229 W. Belmont.
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The current run of Oscar Remembered (see Rick Reed’s review elsewhere in this section) at the Theatre Building, presented by Speaking Ring Theatre, includes an Aug. 30 benefit performance for the Howard Brown Health Center. Half of that night’s box office take will be donated to HBHC. With tickets modestly priced at $15, it’s a good and affordable way to purchase some entertainment and help out one of the mainstay organizations of our community.
Oscar Remembered is a view of Oscar Wilde as seen through the eyes of his adored Bosie, Lord Alfred Douglas. The one-man show stars Aaron Cedolia, who cuts quite a nice, slim figure in his well-fitted trousers. Call 773-327-5252 for tickets. Showtime is 8 p.m.
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We report with pleasure that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), seems to be out of danger at last, after nearly a decade in the political wilderness. Many readers will know that the agency saw its budget slashed from $176 million in 1992 to only $98 million over the last few years. Conservative demagogues in Congress cut funding to punish the agency for a few thousand dollars in grants which some felt were blasphemous or obscene (read “anti-Christian or pro-gay”), such as support for an exhibit of the photographs of Robert Maplethorpe, or for performances by Karen Finley.
As recently as last year, a measure was introduced in the Senate to eliminate the NEA entirely.
The measure lost by an overwhelming vote of 84-16, with Illinois junior Sen. Peter Fitzgerald among the 16.
This year, arts advocates were pleasantly surprised when President George Bush proposed $105 million for the NEA, a modest increase. NEA supporters expected the worst from Bush, with his heavy Christian Right following, but didn’t get it. Further, both the House of Representatives and the Senate have proposed an additional $10 million for the NEA as part of their Interior Appropriations Bills, bringing total funding up to $115. This year, even Sen.. Fitzgerald voted in favor of the funding. We’d like to think he saw the error of his ways, but we doubt it.
It’s one of the ironies of recent politics that the National Endowment for the Arts received its highest levels of funding under two conservative presidents, Reagan and Bush, and lost 45% of its funding under a liberal leader, Clinton, owing to powers in Congress. A budget of $115 million still is far from where the NEA was before, and a very long way from funding at $1 per capita, which is the goal of arts advocates; but it’s a move in the right direction. The United States, by the way, spends $.40 per capita on arts funding; much, much less than any other industrialized nation.