`Does your mama know?”
The question’s insistent. C.C. Carter, the cocky young woman to whom it’s directed, tries to toss it off.
“Does your mama know?” Patricia Mickey, a sweet-faced baby butch, asks again.
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Carter gets a little nervous this time. Mickey’s playing her lover, and in this quick sketch from A Real Read’s script for this weekend’s performances at Randolph Street Gallery, Carter’s supposed to be on her way to the ritual Sunday dinner with her family.
“Well . . . does she?” Mickey presses.
The fact is that Carter’s
mother, played by Shannon Sudduth, knows all too well about Carter’s relationship with Mickey — Mickey herself has seen to it with a call to give her the lowdown.
And if Carter is surprised by her mother’s sudden knowledge, other aspects of her response are more predictable. Carter’s mother, like so many others, is having a little homophobia attack.
But Carter’s reaction to it isn’t one of anger or flag-waving, but rather, contemplation. In the end, after all the trouble of keeping the secret for so long, Carter realizes all she ever needed was for her mother to know.
This is just one of the many scenes that A Real Read, “Chicago’s African-American Lesbigaytrans Performance Ensemble” (as they call themselves), have been playing out before audiences as varied as the Black Ensemble Theater’s and Bailiwick Repertory’s pride series.
Founded by local actor Byron Stewart after he attended a workshop at Randolph Street Gallery led by members of Pomo Afro Homos, A Real Read merges both African-American and gay sensibilities.
And some of its members — notably Carter, Stewart himself and Lynnell Long — really know how to kick.
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The Uptown-based Neo-Futurists — crazed this year with the success of founder Greg Allen’s “K” here and in New York and Greg Kotis’ “Jobey and Katherine” — are going to do things a little different this year. First, they’re not having a New Year’s Eve show. That’s right — don’t go to the Neo-Futurarium to celebrate at the end of the year or you’ll be celebrating all alone. And this time around, there won’t be any 8 p.m. holiday performances, either.
What you will find at the Neo-Futurarium is the annual “Best of” show, which winds up this weekend. And you can get the brand new “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” CD, which drove producer Dave Awl more insane than usual, for that perfect holiday gift.
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Matthew Heaton can usually be found as part of Orquesta Atipica or sometimes jamming with musicians such as Andrew Bird. But this Sunday afternoon, Heaton — who’s a smooth purveyor of Piazzola — will be holding court at the Trowbridge Guitar Studio for a concert of solo tangos.
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This fall, Carlos Ortega — the heart behind Casolando, probably the city’s best tropical-salsa band — found himself with some very strange sensations taking over his body. And these weren’t the kind of pleasurable waves he’d gotten from prancing on stage. These, he would later discover, were nasty.
The result was a monthlong residency in the fourth floor neurological wing of the Rehabilitation Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The good news is that Ortega will make a full recovery and be back on stage soon enough.
The bad news is that Ortega, like most working musicians, is uninsured. That means the hospital bills are sky high. And living expenses during his convalescence are piling up.
But you can help — by joining Ortega’s buddies at the “I Survived the 4th Floor World Tour” benefit show Monday at the Double Door. It’s $20 straight to Ortega’s pocket for an iconoclastic musical revue.
Featured will be a bunch of Ortega’s favorite musicians — including Richard Knight and Victor Salvo of Samba Samba, hardcore rockers Dummy, The Drapes, cowboy punkers Black Family, The Bells (featuring Chris Connelly, formerly of Ministry and Revolting Cocks), bluegrassers Moonshine Willy, members of Casolando (of course) and others.
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Redmoon Theater’s “Winter Pageant” happens to fall during the holiday season, but it doesn’t concern itself much with the usual religious fare. Borrowing from medieval pageantry more than from traditional holiday stories, it features Redmoon’s trademark puppets, masks and stilted performers. This year, the pageant will also feature a raffle for Redmoon-created artifacts. It’s all this weekend.
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the facts
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, A Real Read, Randolph Street Gallery, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave. Call 312-666-7737. The gallery is wheelchair accessible.
7:30 p.m. Friday, 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 5 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, “Winter Pageant” by Redmoon Theater, Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie. Call 773-388-9031.
11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m Sunday, the Best of “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” by the Neo-Futurists, Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. Call 773-275-5255.
3 p.m. Sunday, Matthew Heaton, Trowbridge Guitar Studio, 1748 W. Balmoral Ave. Call 773-275-7058.
8 p.m. Monday, “I Survived the 4th Floor World Tour,” a benefit for Carlos Ortega, Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. Call 773-489-3160. Double Door is wheelchair accessible.