Juggling Your Dates in October

There's a lot on the calendar in October and I thought a handy reference list might be in order, for me as well as anybody else scrambling to juggle all these dates. Let's get this October party started...

Tuesday, October 3:

• An all-female All the King's Men from Illinois Theatre continues at Krannert Center at the University of Illinois in the Studio Theatre at 7:30 pm. Through October 8.
• Illinois Wesleyan University's production of Dancing at Lughnasa opens with an 8 pm performance. Through October 8.

Wednesday, October 4:

• Professor Bill McBride brings Taxi Driver to the Normal Theater as part of a new Six Week Film School centered on the films of Martin Scorsese.

Thursday, October 5:

• Prairie Fire Theatre offers a sneak peek at its upcoming production of Starting Here, Starting Now from 5 to 8 pm during a special event at Satio Wine Bar in downtown Bloomington.
• Waiting for Godot begins at 7 pm from the TwinCitySquared company at Champaign's SoDo Theatre.
• Parkland Theatre's production of The Crucible continues with a 7:30 pm performance. Through October 8. 
• The Station Theatre opens its fall season with Title and Deed, starting at 8 pm. Through October 21.

Friday, October 6:

• Arts@ICC continues its production of Steve Martin's play The Underpants at 7:30 pm. Through October 8.
• Sticky in the Sticks and their pop-up bar plays return to Firehouse Pizza & Pub in Normal with an 8 pm performance.
• The new film Victoria and Abdul comes to the Art Theater in Champaign, with screenings at 5 and 7:30 pm. Through October 12.

Saturday, October 7:

• Illinois Voices Theatre's history walk continues at Evergreen Cemetery. Through October 8.

Friday, October 13:

• ISU School of Theatre and Dance offers Oedipus and All's Well That Ends Well in rotating rep in Westhoff Theatre through October 28.
• The Art Theater hosts an All-Nite Horror Movie Marathon in honor of Friday the 13th, starting at 10 pm.

Thursday, October 19:

• Little Women the Musical opens Bradley University's 2017-18 theatre season. Through October 29.
• University of Illinois Theatre brings Travesties to the Colwell Playhouse at 7:30 pm. Through October 29.

Friday, October 20:

• Prairie Fire Theatre offers Starting Here, Starting Now in the Young Lounge in IWU's Memorial Center, starting at 7:30 pm. Through October 21.

Wednesday, October 25:

• Young at Heartland's Fall Showcase begins at 7:30 pm at Heartland Theatre. Second showcase is at 2 pm on October 27 at the Normal Public Library.

Thursday, October 26:

• In the Next Room, or the vibrator play opens at 7:30 pm in the Studio Theatre at U of I's Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Through November 5.

Friday, October 27:

• The ISU School of Theatre and Dance production of She Kills Monsters begins its run at the ISU Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 pm. Through November 4.
• Fault Lines opens at 8 pm in IWU's Lab Theatre. Through October 29.

Saturday, October 28:

• The newly redefined Illinois Voices Theatre holds an open house from 3 to 5 pm at the First Christian Church of Bloomington.

And that's what I have so far. Check back for additions as we proceed through October.

It's That Time Again -- February Fever!

I'm late out of the gate, but February entertainment options are not. They're starting up soon, and you need to know to get your tickets, your DVR fired up, or your snacks ready.

Right now, Champaign's Art Theater Co-op is offering Trumbo, the biopic about blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, starring Bryan Cranston in the title role. A big part of the Dalton Trumbo story involves the Oscars, as his work won two of them during a time he couldn't take credit for it. An English writer named Ian McLellan Hunter "fronted" for Trumbo on the 1953 film Roman Holiday, which won an Academy Award for its writing, while Trumbo used the pseudonym "Robert Rich" for The Brave One in 1956, another Oscar winner for its story. And this year, Cranston is nominated for his work as an actor in Trumbo. You'll find the film at the Art tonight and tomorrow at 10 pm, with showings at 11:30 am on Saturday the 6th and 2:30 pm on Sunday the 7th and Wednesday the 10th. Yes, those are odd times, but Trumbo is worth a look.

On February 5, Illinois Wesleyan University's School of Theatre Arts presents Sarah Gancher's Klauzal Square, a ghostly story of bullying, religion, and the power dynamic among preteens, inspired by a real Budapest playground built on top of what was once a Nazi mass grave. IWU senior Tyler Stacey directs a cast of five, including sophomore Libby Zabit, who plays Klara, the one with a ghostly friend, along with Hailey Lechelt, Jackie Salgado, Kristin Solodar and Brooke Teweles. Performances of Klauzal Square run from February 5 to 7 in the E. Melba Johnson Kirkpatrick Lab Theatre on the Wesleyan campus. Call the box office at 309-556-3232 for ticket information.

Next week, Heartland Theatre kicks off the winter part of its season with Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris's Pulitzer, Tony and Olivier-winning play from 2010. The play, which functions as a companion piece to Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning A Raisin in the Sun, uses events in one Chicago house, shown in 1959 and then 2009, to illuminate the racial issues underlying where and how we live in America. In the 50s, Clybourne Park is a white, middle-class neighborhood, and a white couple named Bev and Russ are selling their home to a black family. When we see it again in 2009, it has become an all-African-American neighborhood, but white people are trying to move back in, pushing all the black people out and razing houses to the ground in the name of gentrification. The same actors play different people in the two timelines, giving them a chance to take on more than role, in some cases on opposite sides of the issues raised. Heartland Theatre's Artistic Director Rhys Lovell is at the helm of Clybourne Park, with a cast that includes John Bowen, Anastasia Ferguson, John Fischer, Joshua McCauley, Elante Richardson, Michelle Woody, Tim Wyman and Kristi Zimmerman-Weiher. For show dates and times, click here. For reservation information, try this page.

The musical Ragtime takes the stage at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts on February 11 for just one show at 7:30 pm. It's not clear from the BCPA site who is performing this Broadway musical, which played for two years before the turn of the 21st century and earned three Tony Awards, including a Featured Actress win for Audra McDonald, who only had two Tonys back then. Ragtime was her third, but she has six now, if you're keeping track. Ragtime is based on the E. L. Doctorow novel, showing a swirling series of events in American history that involve people from disparate parts of society -- the upper and lower classes, a jazz musician, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe -- against a backdrop of a very American form of music. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty wrote the score, while Terrence McNally wrote the book.

The Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance also kicks off its 2016 theatre season next week, with Illinois Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Kevin Rich directing... Shakespeare! It's Romeo and Juliet this time, that timeless tale of star-crossed lovers who fall for each other in spite of parental disapproval and a climate of feuds and fighting in old Verona. Romeo and Juliet opens in Westhoff Theatre on February 12, with James Keating and Kaitlyn Wehr as R and J. Performances continue through the 20th, including a 2 pm matinee on the 14th if Romeo and Juliet is your idea of a cool Valentine's date. For more information (including a link to buy tickets), check out this ISU press piece.

If Hamlet is your favorite Shakespeare play (and it is mine), you're in luck. Illinois Wesleyan University's School of Theatre Arts is putting Hamlet on stage at the Jerome Mirza Theater in McPherson Hall on February 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 at 8 pm and February 28 at 2 pm. IWU professor Christopher Connelly directs Shakespeare's longest play, the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark as he muses on life, death, revenge, and what to do about the rotten state in which he lives. No poster for this one that I could find, so let's content ourselves with a picture of David Tennant as Hamlet on a British stamp from 2011.

Street Scene on Broadway in 1947.

ISU Theatre is back on February 26 with the opera version of Elmer Rice's Street Scene, directed by new faculty member Robert Quinlan. Rice wrote the book of the musical, too, moving the action from a sweltering day on the front steps of a tenement in a "mean quarter of New York" in the 1920's to the same hot spot in 1946. The plot involves various residents of the building, as they gather to gossip, flirt, fight and generally push against each other in their small square of real estate. The opera's music was written by Kurt Weill, while poet Langston Hughes provided the lyrics. The 1947 Broadway production won Tonys for Weill and its costume designer, although it has never been revived on Broadway. When casting was announced, Quinlan's ensemble included Rebecca Crumline as Anna Maurrant, an unhappy woman who lives in the tenement behind the stoop; Joshua Ramseyer as her violently jealous husband; Morgan Melville as their daughter, Rose; and Kevin Alleman as Sam Kaplan, a Jewish boy who's in love with Rose. Street Scene is scheduled for performances in the ISU Center for the Performing Arts from February 26 to March 4. 

Closing out the month, Arts at ICC will present The Dead Guy by Eric Coble, with performances from February 26 to March 6. Coble's 2005 play looks at the continuing appetite for reality TV and the moral price we pay, focusing on a show (also called The Dead Guy) with a shocking premise. Contestant Eldon Phelps gets a cool million dollars to appear on the show, but... There's a big but: Eldon is required to spend the entire amount during one week, with his death looming at the end of it, live and on TV. As he goes through his spending-a-million week, the audience is busy voting on how he should kick his reality TV bucket. Ouch. ICC Theatre is giving you six performances to catch The Dead Guy, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm starting February 26. I am also without a poster for The Dead Guy at ICC, but Proper Hijinx Productions in Texas has a nifty one for their current production that you can see here.

Cabin Fever? Get Out and Find February

I've been on a little vacation and away from my blog, but I know there are all kinds of February things happening that I need to tell you about before it's too late. February be a short month, but it has Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day, African-American History Month, and this year the Olympics. That's a lot to squeeze into 28 days. Especially when you consider these entertainment options:

Lost Lake, the new David Auburn play getting a try-out under the auspices of the Sullivan Project, opens February 5 at the University of Illinois Krannert Center in Urbana. Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan will be at the helm of this new work from Auburn, the playwright behind Proof, a Chicago-based play about a math genius and a supposedly unsolvable problem that won Auburn the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This time, Auburn is writing about a woman named Veronica (Opal Alladin) who is looking for an escape from the city by way of a vacation home in the middle of nowhere. But when she comes into contact with Hogan (Jake Weber), the man who owns the place, she finds that her idea of escape may be more complicated than she envisioned. Lost Lake begins its short run of performances on the 5th, but last time I looked, that one was sold out. It continues on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th at 7:30 pm, with 2 pm matinees also on the 8th and 9th. For ticket information, click here.

Champaign's Art Theater Co-op is offering Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell and their furry friend in wonderful Groundhog Day on February 5 at 10 pm. If you don't own a copy on DVD -- or even if you do, but you want to revisit Groundhog Day on the big screen -- it's definitely worth a look at the Art in downtown Champaign. They're also offering Bogie and Bergman in Casablanca, one of the most romantic films of all time, as a Valentine's Day treat, along with The Princess Bride, that wry and wonderful fairytale from director Rob Reiner, with a screenplay from William Goldman based on his book. And that is some fine Valentine's fare. Check with the Art for showtimes.

On television, the Winter Olympics begin on the 7th on NBC, the same night Jay Leno bids goodbye (or perhaps au revoir) to The Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon starts his Tonight Show on the 17th, Seth Myers takes up the reins of Late Night on the 24th, and The Walking Dead (9), House of Cards (14), The Amazing Race (23), The Voice (24) and Scandal (27) all come back. The numbers in parentheses are the dates you can expect to find them. Note also that Downton Abbey finishes up its season on the 23rd. Phew. Better fire up the DVR now.

On stage, Illinois Wesleyan welcomes 2014 with Caridad Svich's Twelve Ophelias (a play with broken songs), directed by Assistant Professor Dani Snyder-Young, with Sarah Menke as the No. 1 Ophelia. 12 Ophelias will be performed at McPherson Theatre from February 11 to 16, showcasing Svich's unique take on Hamlet, where the central Ophelia is reborn from her drowning pool into a mysterious pseudo-Appalachian world with rock 'n' roll, a Rude Boy who just may be Hamlet and a woman named Gertrude who runs a brothel. Svich's "mirrored world of word-scraps and cold sex" definitely represents a refocused and unexpected way to look at Shakespeare.

Heartland Theatre has performed the work of playwright Jon Robin Baitz very nicely in the past, so Baitz's newest piece, Other Desert Cities, should be a perfect fit. This one looks at the cracks forming under the foundation of a wealthy family in Palm Springs, California. The Wyeths have ties to the entertainment world as well as politics, since patriarch Lyman was a movie star back in the day, before he got an ambassadorship courtesy of his pal Ronald Reagan. Lyman and Polly had three children: wild child Henry, fragile daughter Brooke and easy-going Tripp. Henry is gone, Tripp is happily working on a TV judge show, and Brooke... Well, Brooke has come home with a memoir she's written, a tell-all that may just tear the family apart. Sandra Zielinski directs Other Desert Cities with a cast that includes Joe Penrod and Connie de Veer as Lyman and Polly, Carol Scott as Polly's free-spirited sister Silda, Joey Banks as Tripp, and Jessie Swiech as Brooke. The show opens February 20 with a special pay-what-you-can preview, followed by performances through March 9. Click here for reservation information.

Illinois State University opens its winter theater season with Diana Son's Stop Kiss, opening February 20 at Westhoff Theatre, and the Benjamin Britten/Peter Pears opera version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, opening February 21 in ISU's Center for the Performing Arts.

Stop Kiss, which involves a couple violently assaulted when they share a kiss on the street, was first performed at New York's Public Theatre in 1998. Its premiere cast included Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy) and Jessica Hecht (Breaking Bad, Friends) as Sara and Callie, the couple at the center of the storm. Leah Cassella directs Stop Kiss for ISU, with Nina Ganet and Bethany Hart as Callie and Sara, Eddie Curley as Callie's friend George, Jimmy Keating as Sara's ex-boyfriend Peter, Matt Hallahan as the detective assigned to the case, Angie Aiello as a witness, and Lauren Partch as a nurse who tries to help Sara when she is hospitalized.

A Midsummer Night's Dream as interpreted by composer Benjamin Britten couldn't be more different, taking audiences into a whirl of fairies, amateur actors and mismatched lovers inside the Athenian forest. ISU has been celebrating Britten's centenary since last October, and this production, directed by ISU Professor Paul Dennhardt, serves as another piece of the celebration. Britten's musical styles separate the fairies and their magical world from the simple folk (the Mechanicals) and the romantically inclined lovers, with more focus on the fairies than in Shakespeare's original. The part of Oberon, the King of the Fairies, was written for a countertenor, an unusual occurrence in opera. For ISU, Landon Westerfield will sing Oberon, with Kristin Moroni as his queen Tytania and Colin Lawrence as his impish servant Puck. Michael Guttierez and Adriana Ladage will play Theseus and Hippolyta, whose royal wedding brings the players together, while Audra Ferguson, Robbie Holden, Sidney Megeff and John Ramseyer form the quartet of young lovers. As Bottom, Josh Ramseyer leads the Mechanicals, joined by Eric Rehm, Lucas Tuazon, Ben Wright and Jeff Wright. Add a company of 30+ fairies, and you have the world of this Midsummer. I haven't seen a poster for it yet, so I will offer a pretty image from the Lyric Opera of Chicago's recent production (up there at the top of this paragraph).

Click here for more information on ISU's winter season.

The Illinois Symphony Orchestra will join with performers from the Illinois Shakespeare Festival to create "Shimmering Shakespeare" on Friday, February 21 at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts and on Saturday, February 22 at Springfield's Sangamon Auditorium. Actors from the Illinois Shakespeare Festival will perform short scenes between movements of Prokofiev's opera Romeo and Juliet. The evening will also feature Silk Road Ensemble percussionist Joseph Gramley performing Chen Yi's Percussion Concerto. Tickets for the Bloomington performance can be purchased at the BCPA box office at 309-434-2777, while tickets for the Springfield performance are available at the Sangamon Auditorium at 217-206-6160. For more information, you can also visit the Illinois Symphony Orchestra online at www.ilsymphony.org.

Eureka College Theatre did Aristophanes' The Birds a few years ago, so it's only fitting they would take on The Frogs, also by Aristophanes. Holly Rocke directs this classical Greek comedy updated for Eureka with puppets. Performances begin February 25 and finish up March 1. Please note that this is Aristophanes, not the Stephen Sondheim musical (see image at left) set in a swimming pool. For Aristophanes, it was Euripides battling Aeschylus for Best Poet honors. For Sondheim and Shrevelove, it's Shaw vs. Shakespeare. Plus, of course, music. And a pool. Eureka will be going Greek with this one.

And that's just a sampling of February's many options. With the Oscars coming March 2, you will also want to take in a few movies here and there. If you have time!

Jumping Into June!

When June hits, we usually begin to talk about summer theater options. This year, it feels a lot more like early spring around here, not summer, but I guess we'll cope. And I hope all the outdoor theater people have umbrellas!

Two notes about June that are different from previous years: The mainstage plays at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival won't start till July and the University of Illinois has benched its summer rep completely. But don't fret -- you'll still find plenty of June options to entertain you.

An Australian movie called The Sapphires is currently playing at Champaign's Art Theatre Co-op. Its "girl group goes to Vietnam" sounds a bit like Dreamgirls meets The Commitments meets Shirley Lauro's A Piece of My Heart, except not sad. Inspired by "an incredible true story," The Sapphires involves a girl group of aboriginal sisters from a small, remote mission town who take their act into the middle of a war to entertain American troops. Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd, Bridesmaids, Family Tree) plays their well-meaning manager, while Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell are the Sapphires. Check out the trailer here. The Art has The Sapphires scheduled for performances tonight through Thursday at 7:30 pm.

Eureka College continues the Central Illinois Stage Combat workshop through June 7, plus Eureka's new high school play competition is underway, with a July 1 deadline. They're looking for ten-minute plays written by high school playwrights, with six winning scripts to be performed by Eureka College in conjunction with the Peoria Live Theatre League.

And speaking of ten-minute plays... Heartland Theatre's very popular annual 10-Minute Play Festival, this year centered on plays with packages, parcels and presents front and center, opens this Thursday, June 6, with a special pay-what-you-can preview performance. The festival continues through June 30, with all the details on the eight winning 10-minute plays here and the schedule of performances here. Call 309-452-8709 to reserve tickets.

Although Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors and Failure: A Love Story don't start till July, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival will offer its Theatre for Young Audiences choice -- The  Magical Mind of Billy Shakespeare, written by artistic director Kevin Rich -- on Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout June. Performances will take place either on the grounds of Ewing Manor, the Bloomington Farmers Market, Lincoln Park or the Children's Discovery Museum. The Improvised Shakespeare Company will also perform their spur-of-the-moment Shakespearean hijinks at 8 pm on June 6 and 13 in the theatre at Ewing Manor. More information on all the Festival goings-on is available here.

And even though U of I is no longer in the summer rep business, Urbana's Station Theatre is. You can see Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts and something called Evil Dead the Musical this month, with performances from June 6-15 for Donuts, directed by Thom Schnarre, and June 27 to July 13 for the Evil Dead, whose spoofy musical adventures will be directed by Aaron Kaplan for the Station. Click here for all the details.

 

New Route Theatre presents Dael Orlandersmith's The Gimmick from June 7 to 16, complete with a very nice "gimmick" of their own -- librarians and teachers get in free! New Route artistic director Don Shandrow directs local favorite Jennifer Rusk as Alexis, a young girl struggling with the life she's been handed, which includes an alcoholic mother and a very bad neighborhood. But Alexis's world is opened up by a librarian who reaches out to her. And that's why librarians and teachers get free admission to this play! The Gimmick will be presented at the McLean County YWCA located at the corner of Hershey and Empire. Call 309-660-2275 or visit New Route's Facebook page for details.

Area students will come out to play at the Connie Link Memorial Ampitheatre when Normal Parks and Recreation's summer musical season begins June 13. This year's June offering is The Secret Garden, a beautiful musical based on the children's book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, with book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon (Carly Simon's sister). Normal's cast includes Caroline McKenzie as Mary Lennox, the girl who discovers the magical garden, Ryan Groves as her uncle, Archibad Craven, and Zachary Mikel as her cousin Colin.  For news about Normal Parks and Rec and their summer shows, check out their Facebook page here.

The Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company offers its summer student production of Urinetown from June 13 to 23 at the Parkland College Theatre in Champaign. Quinn Murphy stars as our hero, Bobby Strong, with Jenna Conway and Kate Meyers sharing the role of his sweet and adorable love interest Hope Cladwell. Urinetown is a very funny, very pointed satirical show, showing a neo-Brechtian dystopic world where water is scarce and "it is a privilege to pee." You can check out the whole cast list here and check in on the CUTC Urinetown blog here.

C-U's PENS TO LENS Brings Kids' Ideas to the Big Screen

Earlier this year, the Champaign-Urbana Film Society invited kids from Champaign County in grades K-12 to submit their original screenplays in a competition they called Pens to Lens. Entries were due in February, with nine winners chosen whose stories were turned into actual, real-live short films by area directors and actors. Pens to lens, get it? Outside the nine big winners, other students who sent in screenplays were given the gift of movie poster art created by artists at CUDO, the Champaign-Urbana Design Organization, to reflect the ideas in their scripts.

And all of that art -- movies and posters -- will be on display at C-U's Art Theater tonight at the boffo Pens to Lens Awards Gala, with red carpet arrivals and everything! The winners will walk the red carpet at 6 pm, with showings of the films at 7 and 9:30. Because they are expecting a full house at 7, you are encouraged to try the 9:30 pm show if you can.

The films based on winning screenplays (as listed at the Pens to Lens site) are:

The Devil Uses Purell by Ella G.
Cassie trades the devil her soul for a hamburger but the devil makes a big fuss over it because it's not clean so Sammi and Danielle have to save Cassie from herself.

Dinner Party Antics by Aly.
 Jim and Jenna are waiting outside of Jim's cousin Dave's home and are reminiscing of prior "Dinner Parties."

Even and Odd by Iona H.
Ivy and her dog Idris are invited into a parallel world by her unconscious self to help finish a quest.

Fluffystein by Maya, Madely and Taquia
A little girl's beloved toy bunny goes missing and is used for malicious purposes.

Into The Mine by Blake P. and Logan L.
Two boys are ready to mine, but someone's watching them and they don't know who.

Super Duper Low by Quinn.
Super Quinn teaches Mr. Machine about diabetes during their fight.

Susan and Daisy's Adventure: Episode I by Beatrice, Catherine, David, Dennis, Jonathan, Reuben, & Saewoong
Two poor people need money to get a house so they catch an eel.

Tunnel To Greenland by Ruth C.
 A young girl and boy try to dig a tunnel to Greenland to see snow and ice during the summertime.

Unexpected Trip by Jose, Taeyoon and Dafeny.
The story is about a Mexican family that experiences poverty and immigration problems as they come to the U.S.A.; it is based on a true story and it talks about the lives of illegal immigrants and what they go through.

Because I tend to fall on the theatrical side of things, I've heard about quite a few playwriting competitions for kids, as well as theaters who work with children all year long to put their work on the stage. But making movies -- in our area, at least -- is a great idea, since kids are more likely to be familiar with what a movie looks like and can accomplish. Plus, Pens to Lens offered screenwriting resources geared to specific age groups to help teachers help their students as they worked toward entering the contest. All around, pretty nifty.

You can read more about Pens to Lens at their website, in Melissa Merli's piece for the News-Gazette, or in Mathew Green's article at Smile Politely. They received 120 entries this year in the first ever Pens to Lens competition, but next year, who knows how many budding screenwriters will enter?

Say Hello to 2013!

It's January 2. I took a whole day off! That's a reflection of my new 2013 unhurried, unscheduled blogging technique.

But, of course, there are things to do and see, even in January, which is traditionally a slow month for theaters and hotels, if not for restaurants or shopping malls.

So what's to do in January, now that your holiday sugar rush is wearing off, It's a Wonderful Life is put away and everybody's Nutcrackers have danced over the fiscal cliff?

Champaign's Art Theater is showing a film called The Other Dream Team, about the intersection of basketball, politics and pop culture (including the Grateful Dead) in 1992, when the Lithuanian national basketball team made their first-ever appearance in Olympic competition. Yes, that's the same year the real Dream Team, with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan on board, was formed. They cruised to a gold medal. But the Lithuania team was there, recording triumph of its own and making a stand for freedom from Soviet oppression. The Other Dream Team tells that story, and the Art is showing it tonight and tomorrow.

Hyde Park on Hudson, a portrait of FDR and one of his lady loves during a weekend in the country when the King of England came to visit, follows The Other Dream Team at The Art. The other president (Lincoln) in this year's film crop is expected to steal all the Oscar glory, but you never know. Bill Murray's Franklin Roosevelt may just sneak in there for a nomination of his own.

Illinois State University doesn't open its first production of the winter till February, but in the meantime, they're taking last semester's Mother Courage and her Children to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional event in Saginaw, Michigan, from January 8 to 12. Break a leg, MoCo & Co!

The American-history-as-outrageous-rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson hits the black box running at Urbana's Station Theatre on January 17. Mikel L. Matthews, Jr. directs this provocative cowboys-and-Indians show that features music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and a book by Alex Timbers. It's all about America's 7th president, imagined as a sulky, sexy rock star (usually portrayed in leather pants) who works to put himself in power and annihilate Native Americans as a form of populism by way of greed and ignorance. Matthews' take on Andrew Jackson plays from January 17 to February 2, with all shows at 8 pm.

Booker T. Jones, the same Booker T. of Booker T. and the MGs, is coming to the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts on January 19. Booker T. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He's made the charts as a solo artist as well as a producer, and he still plays with the MGs and his own Booker T. Jones Band, winning a Grammy for his 2011 album "The Road to Memphis."

The Russian National Ballet Theatre brings Don Quixote, Chopiniana, Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake to the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana on January 22 (Quixote), 23 (Chopin and R & J), and 24 (Swan Lake). Elena Radchenko and her company will perform in Krannert's Tryon Festival Theatre at 7 pm each night. You are invited to "Get swept away by Cervantes’ imperfect hero, Siegfried’s misplaced affections, the neighborly struggles of the Montagues and Capulets, or the simple poetry of Chopin-inspired dance with the Russian ballet tradition."

The Pavilion, by Craig Wright, plays at Eureka College from January 24 to 26, in a production directed by Eureka student Erin Cochran. The Pavilion involves Peter and Kari, once sweethearts, as they see each other again at a 20th high school reunion. She's married to someone else now, she has resentments about how they parted in the past, and nothing is the same as it was. "Wright's perceptive, gently witty writing...makes this familiar situation fresh and thoroughly involving," said the Philadelphia Inquirer. You can call the box office at 309-467-6363 or email boxoffice@eureka.edu for more information.

Community Players opens Lend Me a Tenor, the Ken Ludwig farce about too many tenors on the loose at the Cleveland Opera, on January 25, with performances continuing through February 3. Players' Tenor stars Tom Smith and Brian Artman as the two tenors in the piece, with Joe Strupek, Hannah Kerns, Opal Virtue, Thom Rakestraw, Wendi Fleming and Reena Artman adding to the general hilarity. For ticket information, click here.

And don't forget that Heartland Theatre will accept entries in their Package, Parcel & Present 10-Minute play contest through February 1. Get your entry in now if you want to have a chance at seeing your words on stage next summer. But remember: It needs to be ten minutes long, and it needs to have a package or parcel of some sort involved in the play. We're talking an actual, physical box, bundle, carton, container, crate... Not a metaphorical one. But a real, live package, parcel or present. The kind of thing that was arriving at your door for Christmas a few weeks ago. If you've got a play about one of those in your back pocket, take it out and send it in. Details here.

No Turning Back Now -- It's December!

So today is 12-02-12. I believe there is a theory of some sort that says the world will end this month. Mayan prediction, 12-21-12, etc... Never mind the fact that the Mayans are long gone and have no reason to have predicted the end of anything a thousand years after they were gone, and if they were going to predict, wouldn't they have chosen to predict (in order to guard against) the end of their own civilization? Okay, never mind. I don't know anything about any of this and I don't watch disaster movies, so I didn't see 2012, either. But in honor of this eschatological theory (gotta love the word eschatological), I am commemorating your What to Do in December post with the poster from the Roland "King of Crackpot Theories" Emmerich movie that pushed the End of Days '12 idea. As far as I know, no one is showing that movie on 12-21 or any other night, so you'll have to find it yourself for your 12-21-12 Eschatology viewing party.

No 2012 on the schedule, but Champaign's Art Theater is showing a 2011 version of  Wuthering Heights directed by Andrea Arnold and shot on location in Yorkshire, England. That's playing now through December 6, and will be followed by the new version of Anna Karenina with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard. Keira Knightley stars as Anna, with Jude Law as her stuffy husband and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as dashing Count Vronsky, the one she can't stay away from, even though it will ruin her life. Watch out for that train, Анна Каренина!

Also in Champaign-Urbana... The Station Theatre continues its production of Lee Blessing's Independence through December 9 -- you can read more about the play here -- while Parkland College welcomes a Bah Humbug production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever from December 14 to 23.

Community Players' White Christmas, the stage musical version of the classic Bing Crosby film, opened last week and continues through December 16th. Deb Smith directs for Community Players, with a cast that includes Ray Rybarczyk and Jason Strunk as the song-and-dance men who fall for a pair of pretty sisters, played here by Lindsey Kaupp and Larisa McCoy. Click here for ticket info for White Christmas and other upcoming Players shows.

The other White Christmas, the Bing and Danny Kaye film one, starts December 7 at the Normal Theater, with showings on the big screen till December 9. After that, the Normal Theater offers holiday favorites National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life to finish up 2012.

Illinois State University's Fall Dance Concert is scheduled for December 6 through 8, with three evening performances and one matinee.This concert promises to be a "celebration of movement, costumes, light, and music, featuring new choreographic works by faculty in the School of Theatre and Dance and invited guest artists." And don't forget to bring canned goods or other non-perishable food items to donate to the Redbird Giving Tree.

Ian Mairs' Our David, a play about sparring neighbors who find common ground over a tacky statue of Michelangelo's David, comes to New Route Theatre at the Bloomington YWCA beginning December 7. This David is directed by Bridgette Richards and stars Nathan Bothorff and Carol Scott as Clyde and Velma, who couldn't be more different and yet turn out to be strangely alike.

You also have a choice of the Holiday Spectacular at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts from December 7 to 9 or a variety of Nutcrackers in different cities at different times.

It's Barbara Stanwyck Month (on Wednesdays, anyway) over on Turner Classic Movies, with two of my favorites, The Lady Eve, from director/screenwriter Preston Sturges, and Ball of Fire, a Howard Hawks' gem, on December 12. Both movies came out in 1941, which may just be the best year ever for Hollywood movies. In The Lady Eve, Stanwyck is a con woman who woos a befuddled Henry Fonda, loses him, and then pretends to be another woman who looks just like the first one to pull the same scam on the same guy, while in Ball of Fire, she's a jazzy mob moll version of Snow White hiding out with seven pointy-headed encyclopedia writers (including Gary Cooper) who function as her Seven Dwarfs. It's adorable. It's screwball. It's fabulous.

Heartland Theatre is still accepting entries in its annual 10-minute play contest. This year's theme is The Parcel, the Package or the Present, and each play must include a package of some sort that fuels the play. All of which means that the holidays are a perfect time to come up with a play, what with all those parcels and packages arriving at your door. What's inside that box? Will it be a dream or will it be a dud? Will it go BOOM? You have a maximum of four characters and ten minutes to tell your Parcel/Package/Present tale.

Failure: A Love Story, a new play by Philip Dawkins, will be part of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival next summer. If you want a sneak peek or to set up a compare/contrast situation when it plays here next year, you can see the play now in its premiere production at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater. Failure finishes up at Victory Gardens on December 30.

Jumping Into June!

It's June, which usually means days are getting longer, summer rep is beginning, pools are starting to open, and movies are getting more competitive when it comes to animation, explosions, spooky stuff, and any other popcorn-friendly commodities.

Before you jump off the diving board into "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" or that cheesy-looking "Rock of Ages" movie musical (Seriously, Tom Cruise. You are not believable as a rock star.), there are lots of other options to consider.

The University of Illinois' Summer Studio Theatre is first out of the gate, with "Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougement (As Told By Himself)" opening tonight and continuing in repertory through June 22. This fantastical theatrical piece was written by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies ("Dinner With Friends," "Sight Unseen," "Collected Stories") with the emphasis on high seas adventure and tall tales.

The second Summer Studio choice, "Gone Missing," opens next Thursday, June 7th, alternating with "Shipwrecked!" until June 23. "Missing" mixes songs and scenes to plumb the depths of where things go, whether what's gone is a shoe, a fortune or an arm or a leg. Summer Studio is also offering "Sprung and Awakened: a Cabaret About Change," on June 16 and 17. Kent Conrad and Paul Johnston muse on the issue of change through music and monologue, with Conrad providing vocals and Johnston on piano.

If musicals are your thing, you'll want to check out Sullivan's Little Theatre on the Square, a summer rep institution that just keeps on keeping on. Their June offerings are "Grease," the summer-lovin' special, and "7 Brides for 7 Brothers," a stage remake of the old MGM movie, with added power ballads for some bride/brother angst. You can call the Little Theatre box office at 217-728-7375 to order tickets to "Grease," which opens on June 6, or "7 Brides," which begins June 20.

A project that's close to my heart -- Heartland Theatre's annual 10-Minute Play Festival -- opens June 7 and runs through July 1. This year, the theme for the playwriting competition was "Playing Games," with Scrabble, Bingo, Tag, Rummikub and Tug-of-War among the games chosen by the winning playwrights.

You'll see eight short plays, all new and fresh off the press, and all performed in under two hours by a cast of 15 actors under the direction of 8 different directors. You can see all the details here and here. It's always a fun and popular event, so best to make your reservations now.

Urbana's Station Theatre has a three-show summer season going on, with Jacques Offenbach's "The Game of Love" up first, opening June 7.  That's directed by Steve Fiol, and stars David Barkley, one of the best voices in town, as Max, the narrator of this Viennese pastry about, you guessed it, love and romance. "Love" will be followed by a special two-nights-only staged reading of "8," the true-to-life story of California's Proposition 8 and its constitutionality, in July. And the last summer show for the Station will be the popular 90s musical "Rent," about artistic integrity vs. selling out, about paying the rent vs. hanging out, about drugs, sex, love, rock 'n' roll and the challenges of surviving in New York's Alphabet City.

If you grew up in the 60s, your idea of a perfect dad was probably at least partially formed by Fred MacMurray, the father in "My Three Sons" on TV. I don't know if that TV Dad/Father's Day connection is why the Normal Theater has chosen two Fred MacMurray films as we come up on Father's Day, but I wouldn't be surprised. These two are family friendly Disney movies, with "The Shaggy Dog" from 1959 and "The Absent-Minded Professor" from 1961. In the former, there's an ancient curse that turns a kid into a sheepdog, while the latter has MacMurray as a scientist who invents Flubber, a bouncy substance that defies gravity, turning his college town upside-down. Although it's quite late for black and white, both movies were filmed that way and then colorized much later. It's a safe bet that the Normal Theater will show the original black-and-white prints, however. "Shaggy Dog" is set for the June 7th and 8th, with "Professor" on the 9th and 10th.

The Art Theater in Champaign has a busy month planned, with all kinds of goodies for film and theater fans. To open June, they're running "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," an Anglophile's dream movie, which showcases Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton as part of a group of senior citizens who travel to India and find more than they bargained for in the titular hotel, directed by "Shakespeare in Love" director John Madden; "The Cabin in the Woods," the horror movie to end all horror movies, from the fertile brains of Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon (both of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fame), which features IWU's own Richard Jenkins in the cast; and the two sides of "Frankenstein" (doctor/monster) portrayed by Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch, who rotate in the roles. I unabashedly love the Art and what owner Sanford Hess is trying to accomplish with it, so the drive to Champaign is more than worth it.

Also over in Champaign, the CUTC is offering "Thoroughly Modern Millie," the delightful 1920s-flavored musical that made a star out of Sutton Foster on Broadway, with performances June 14-24. CUTC's "Millie" stars Caitlin Caruso-Dobbs as Millie, the small-town girl who comes to New York to make her way; Tommy Howie as Jimmy, the boy she meets on her first day in the city; Sophia Magro as Miss Dorothy, her new best pal; and Janjay Knowlden as Trevor Grayden, the handsome businessman she gets a job with. I love the bright, breezy score (with new songs from Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan), the tap-happy dance numbers, and the overall campy fun of the show.

New Route Theatre brings back "The Ladies: A Musical Love Letter," a piece they performed in a workshop version last year, with performances in their new space at the YWCA in Bloomington on June 15, 16 and 17 and 22, 23 and 24. Jennifer Rusk, the fabulous vocalist who just brought down the house in Community Players' "Hairspray," will be front and center for "Ladies," which ought to be enough of an enticement right there. This musical love letter was conceived and is directed by Phil Shaw, with Ms. Rusk's vocal talents, Dave Shields on piano and Myles Singleton on trumpet. You can reserve tickets by emailing new.route.theatre@gmail.com

As part of its 40th anniversary celebration, Normal Parks and Rec Summer Music Theatre is staging "Les Miz," the school edition, at the Connie Link Ampitheatre on the Constitution Trail under the direction of Susan Morse Cortesi. There are 60-some roles in this musical version of the classic Victor Hugo novel about crime, justice, social unrest, greed, and compassion, and they'll all be performed by high school and younger students. You can expect to see Garrett Medlock from University High School as hero Jean Valjean; Matthew Henry of Olympia as his nemesis, Javert; Megan Riley of Bloomington High School as vulnerable Fantine, trying to survive as best she can; Ryan Groves of Normal Community West as Marius, a handsome young student caught up in the fight for liberty; Miranda Harris of Normal Community West and Larissa McCoy of Normal Community as Eponine and Cosette, two young women in very different circumstances who grew up together; and Ramsey Hendricks and Mackenzie Buob, both of Bloomington High School, as the villainous Monsieur and Madame Thenardier.

According to their Facebook page, performances are scheduled for June 28 to July 1, July 5 to 8, and July 12 to 15. You can check out that page for further info.

Prairie Fire Theatre is back in business late in the month with "Tell Me on a Sunday," one woman's musical journey across America in search of love and romance. Natalie K. Stephens will play the woman at the center of "Sunday" in three performances June 29th and 30th and July 1, all to be staged at the St. John’s Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall.

And don't forget the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, which sneaks "As You Like It" and "Othello" into the end of the month, opening on the 28th and 29th, respectively. We know they're bringing back John Sipes, former artistic director, to helm "Othello," and Dylan Paul, last year's Romeo, as Orlando in "AYLI" and Captain Jack Absolute in "The Rivals" in July. And we know there will be surprises. There are always surprises under the stars at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival!

With April Upon Us...

I am a day late in setting up your theatrical options in April, but at least this way you know I'm not making it up. Everything here is really scheduled to happen on area stages and screens in April. Put on your roller skates. It's going to be a busy month!

First up, tomorrow night we've got "Promenade," the absurdist musical about two prisoners (played by IWU students Will Henke and Isaac Sherman) escaping into a world that seems crazier than the one they left, at Illinois Wesleyan's McPherson Theatre. "Promenade," with music and lyrics by Cuban-American avant garde artist María Irene Fornés and book by Al Carmines, is directed by Jean Kerr, associate professor and choreographer at Illinois Wesleyan. If you want to see "Promenade," you'll need to get to McPherson Theatre this week, as the final performance is Saturday the 7th at 2 pm.

"Picnic" continues at Illinois State University's CW 207 through April 7,  with "La Bohème" in the Center for the Performing Arts, also through the 7th. "Picnic," directed by Lori Adams, has been selling out (it's in a small venue) so you are well-advised to make reservations if you can. And Connie de Veer's take on "La Bohème" is not to be missed, either, even though the CPA allows a little more breathing room when it comes to available seats. Just in case you still don't have your fill of ISU Theatre, Shakespeare's timeless political drama "Julius Caesar," directed by Christopher Dea, opens on the 5th, with performances until the 14th. See "Picnic," "La Bohème" or "Julius Caesar" now; do your taxes later.

The Art Theater in Champaign is showing lots of amazing things this month, including a restored print of Georges Méliès' "A Trip to the Moon," which was showcased in last year's "Hugo," at 7:30 pm on April 4. The Art is also offering "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," Werner Herzog's documentary about the drawings inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France, "capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting." This cave painting documentary comes to the Art on April 7 at 5 pm and April 8 at noon. On Sunday, April 15, look out for the filmed version of Oliver Goldsmith's comic romp "She Stoops to Conquer" from Britain's National Theatre Live program. I'm guessing that will also be a noon show, as their other National Theatre Live programs have been.

Here in Normal, the Normal Theater continues to highlight Oscar-nominated (and winning) films, with boffo Best Picture winner "The Artist" back on screen from April 5 to 8. All shows are at 7 pm. That's followed by "Albert Nobbs," the cross-dressing Glenn Close pic about a woman in Ireland in the mid-19th century who remakes herself as a man in order to find work in an uncertain world. "Albert Nobbs" runs April 12 to 15. The Tilda Swinton showcase "We Need to Talk About Kevin," a searing examination of parenthood and children who go wrong, is up next from April 19 to 22.

Heartland Theatre opens its production of Tracy Letts' "Superior Donuts" on April 12 with a special Pay-What-You-Can preview, with performances continuing through April 29. This "sharp little bite of Uptown life" is set in Chicago, and it involves the owner of a faded doughnut shop and the eccentric little family he's created for himself, including the Russian down the street, a couple of cops, and a homeless woman who isn't all there. Arthur Przybyszewski (pronounced more like Shubershevski) and his Superior Donuts have settled into a world-weary rut, but then new employee Franco Wicks comes along, bringing a spark of life and the hard reality of the outside world into Arthur's doughnut shop. Michael Pullin stars as Arthur, with Gregory Hicks as his new pal Franco. "Superior Donuts" is directed by Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson.

Also opening on the 12th over in Urbana is the Station Theatre's production of John Logan's "Red," about painter Mark Rothko and his tortured relationship with art and artistic integrity. Will he paint a mural commissioned for New York's posh Four Seasons restaurant, with its huge commission and murky ethical waters? Or will he try to keep his art above the petty demands of financial gain? Celebration Company Artistic Director Rick Orr directs Gary Ambler as Rothko and Jesse Angelo as his assistant in the two-hander that won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play.

On Saturday, April 14, the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts offers "Say Goodnight, Gracie," a one-man show featuring Alan Safier as George Burns, telling stories about his long life and his lifelong love for his comedy partner and wife, Gracie Allen.

"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," a musical stage adaptation of Judith Viorst’s award-winning children’s book, comes to Eureka College Theatre April 17 to 21. All performances are scheduled for 7:30 pm in Pritchard Theatre on the Eureka College campus. "Alexander" is directed by EC Theatre Professor Holly Rocke, someone you may've seen acting on area stages. (She's very good.) Her direction is also excellent as a matter of course and should create interest in the show whether you have children or not.

David Sedaris, billed as a "best-selling author, humorist and contributor to This American Life," brings his wry and entertaining musings to the Peoria Civic Center on Friday, April 20, celebrating the release of his newest book, "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary." The book, which was released in September 2010, contains "acerbic, outrageously funny fables, featuring animals with unmistakably human failings." This "Evening with David Sedaris" is a one-night only event, and tickets are available at the Peoria Civic Center box office, online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000. Travelzoo is also offering a discount on tickets if you don't have yours yet.

I have no particular information on anything happening to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, usually attributed to April 23, but maybe we can rustle up a cake with 448 candles. I myself will be going to Chicago to see Simon Callow's one-man Shakespeare show, not on the 23rd, but close. Another option would be to take that day to order your subscription or single tickets to this summer's Illinois Shakespeare Festival, which will be offering "Othello" and "Comedy of Errors" from Shakespeare and Sheridan's "The Rivals," as well.

And that is most of April. I'm sure I will be adding things as the month progresses, so stay tuned.