Theater
The enterprising performing arts series of the Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting the world premiere of “Jennie Richee,” a multimedia music-theater piece based on the works of Chicago outsider artist Henry Darger (1892-1973). Developed over the last two years by the Ridge experimental group in New York, the work uses 16 performers, plus film and slide projections, in a saga inspired by but not actually copying the imagery of Darger’s extraordinary fantasy creation about the seven virginal Vivian Girls and their battle with the forces of evil. Script is by Mac Wellman, with direction by Bob McGrath and music by Julia Wolfe of Bang the Can. The play, set in a world evoking what that Darger called “the realms of the unreal,” is among “the most expensive productions” yet staged at the MCA’s 300-seat theater, according to Peter Taub, the museum’s director of performance programming. But, he adds, “It also gives us an important opportunity to work as a catalyst in the creation of a new project.”
“Jennie Richee” plays Thursday through Feb. 4 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; 312-397-4010.
— Richard Christiansen
Rock
Neko Case: The country-soul singer finishes up a tour at home sweet home with the rip-roaring Kelly Hogan as a backing vocalist; Monday at the Hideout; 773-227-4433.
Loraxx: Chicago noise-rock is alive and well, thanks to this flamethrower trio; Saturday at Fireside Bowl; 773-486-2700.
— Greg Kot
Film
Highlights: One of the great Polish films, Andrzej Wajda’s “Man of Iron” (1981) at the Gene Siskel Film Center, is political filmmaking at its bravest and best, a dramatic portrayal of the Solidarity movement, with 12 long-missing minutes restored. Among newer films, David Gordon Green’s low-budget gem “George Washington” is at the Music Box. For fans of classic noir, Robert Siodmak and Cornell Woolrich’s “Phantom Lady” plays Saturday as part of LaSalle Bank’s “Son of Noir” series. Siskel Film Center, Columbus at Jackson (312-443-3737); Music Box, 3733 N. Southport Ave. (773-871-6604); LaSalle, 4901 W. Irving Park Rd. (312-904-9442).
— Michael Wilmington
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Classical music
Brentano String Quartet: Brilliant, award-winning string quartet performs works by Haydn, Beethoven and Charles Wuorinen in a concert presented by the Chamber Music Society of the North Shore, 3 p.m. Sunday at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Evanston; 847-835-5084.
Elgin Symphony Orchestra: Richard Stoltzman is the soloist in Copland’s Clarinet Concerto and Debussy’s Clarinet Rhapsody, with guest conductor Apo Hsu also leading Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” Symphony; 8 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Feb. 4 in Hemmens Theatre, Elgin; 847-931-5900.
Takacs String Quartet: Celebrated Hungarian ensemble performs works by Mozart, Bartok and Beethoven (the Opus 130 quartet with “Grosse Fuge”), 3 p.m. Feb. 4 at Symphony Center; 312-294-3000.
P.D.Q. Bach Meets Julia Child: Light-hearted benefit concert for the Bach Week Festival (May 4-13) features such dubious creations as the cantata “Iphigenia in Brooklyn,” plus mezzo-soprano Emily Lodine portraying Child in the satirical “Bon Appetit”; 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4 at St. Luke’s Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston; 847-236-0452.
— John von Rhein
Jazz
Larry Coryell: The protean guitarist leads a trio; Thursday through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; 312-670-2473.
Chicago Underground Duo with Isotope 217: An avant-garde double-bill; 10 p.m. Saturday at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.; 773-276-3600
— Howard Reich
Art
“After the Crash: Picturing the United States, 1930-1943”: Photographs, prints and books produced during the Great Depression; closes Sunday; Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-443-3600.
August Strindberg: Photographs of and by the Swedish playwright, novelist and short-story writer; North Park University Carlton Gallery, 3225 W. Foster Ave.; 773-244-5567.
Edward Ruscha: Final week of retrospective; Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; 312-280-2660.
— Alan G. Artner
Architecture
Lecture: Rem Koolhaas’ controversial design for a campus center at the Illinois Institute of Technology is discussed by Donna Robertson, dean of IIT’s school of architecture, Anne Filson, project architect for Koolhaas’ Office of Metropolitan Architecture; 12:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, 224 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-922-3432.
— Blair Kamin
Theater
“Bash: Latterday Plays”: Three confessionals of escalating horror are brilliantly enacted by Kyle Hall, Louise Lamson, Armando Riesco and Lisa Velten in director Eric Rosen’s scalpel-sharp staging of the Midwest premiere of Neil LaBute’s exploration of dark passions amid the sunny landscape of contemporary middle-class America; through March 4 at About Face Theatre, 3212 N. Broadway; 773-549-3290.
“Coyote on a Fence”: Bruce Graham’s prison drama, grappling with the issues of guilt, evil and capital punishment, is vivified by Joe Forbrich and Steve Key as two contrasting inmates of Death Row and by the director Dado’s intense, pressure-cooker production; through March 4 at Shattered Globe Theatre in the Victory Gardens upstairs studio, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-871-3000.
— Richard Christiansen