ART
DEBATING AMERICAN MODERNISM
Seventy works of art explore the early 20th Century quest to define American Modernism; opens Saturday at the Terra Museum of American Art, 666 N. Michigan Ave.; free; 312-664-3939.
— Alan G. Artner
CLASSICAL
LEIF OVE ANDSNES
The gifted Norwegian musician brings his excellent Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, conducting concertos by Mozart and Haydn from the keyboard, as well as leading Mozart’s 40th Symphony and a suite from Rameau’s “Dardanus”; 8 p.m. Monday at Ravinia Festival, Lake Cook and Green Bay Roads, Highland Park; $25-$40; $10 lawn; 847-266-5100.
CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR
Olivier Messiaen’s complex, beautiful and transcendent “Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant-Jesus” (“20 Contemplations of the Child Jesus”) was one of the major events of last season’s Orchestra Hall season. Here it is again, played by one of the most compelling young American pianists around; 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Martin Theatre of Ravinia Festival; Lake Cook and Green Bay Roads, Highland Park; $25-$40; $10 lawn; 847-266-5100.
BERLIOZ WITH A TWIST
Climaxing Ravinia’s “One Score, One Chicago” exploration of Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” is a unique multimedia production by the incomparable puppeteer Basil Twist. Think of an underwater fantasy taking place in a 1,000-gallon tank specially constructed at Bennett-Gordon Hall. Think of pianist Christopher O’Riley playing Liszt’s wild transcription; 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, also at 1 p.m. Saturday and Aug. 31 for the family trade, at Ravinia Festival, Lake Cook and Green Bay Roads, Highland Park; $30, Thursday and Friday; $10, Saturday and Aug. 31; 847-266-5100.
— John von Rhein
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JAZZ
`A TRIBUTE TO ART BLAKEY’
This year’s Chicago Jazz Festival opens indoors, featuring ticketed performances by the Branford Marsalis Quartet and the Jazz Messenger Alumni All-Stars in a homage to percussionist Art Blakey. Marsalis is playing more vibrantly than ever these days, and he’ll be joined by such formidable improvisers as trumpeter Terence Blanchard, trombonist Curtis Fuller, alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Winard Harper; 8 p.m. Thursday at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. For ticket availability and prices, phone 312-294-3000.
— Howard Reich
MOVIES
`AMERICAN SPLENDOR’
Paul Giamatti plays comic book scribe and Robert Crumb collaborator Harvey Pekar. The real Pekar also appears, commenting freely on life and the movie, and Hope Davis plays Pekar’s wife, Joyce; at selected theaters.
HEPBURN’S `SUMMERTIME’
In David Lean’s ravishingly shot 1955 Venice-set romantic drama, Katharine Hepburn has one of her supreme roles and films: as the American spinster on a holiday fling with Italian philanderer Rossano Brazzi. Saturday and Tuesday at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.; $8; 312-846-2600.
— Michael Wilmington
ROCK
B.B. KING AND JEFF BECK
Rare opportunity to see these two string-bending giants go head-to-head; Tuesday at Arie Crown Theatre, 2301 S. Lakeshore Drive, $42.50-$67.50; 312-559-1212.
HEAD OF FEMUR
An expanded, 17-piece version of Head of Femur will perform the band’s ambitious orchestral-pop debut, “Ringodom or Proctor,” in its entirety; Thursday at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport Ave.; $10; 773-525-2508.
SEX PISTOLS
Reunion of the original British punks who upended the world, now trying to upend nostalgic consumers’ wallets; Friday at the Aragon, 1106 W. Lawrence Ave.; $47; 312-559-1212.
— Greg Kot
THEATER
THE ADDING MACHINE
The Hystopolis Productions’ rendition of “The Adding Machine” is a clever and lively affair, extracting a lot of humor from Mr. Zero’s number-crunching, soul-numbing plight, before and after he murders his boss, without neglecting his more pathetic (and racist) side. When Mrs. Zero’s domestic harangue is depicted by an ever-larger series of big red lips, the production reaches its visual high point; extended through Sept. 13 at Stage Left Theater, 3408 N. Sheffield Ave.; $15-$20; 312-787-7387.
ANY WAY YOU WANT IT
A corkscrewy but worthwhile meander from writer-performer Kristin Garrison, complete with songs and Shakespeare vignettes. Garrison offers free-associative musings on Britney Spears, homeland security and teenage crushes on John McEnroe. It’s part of Live Bait Theater’s annual Fillet of Solo Festival; through Saturday at Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark St.; $10; 773-871-1212.
HOMEBODY/KABUL
A fascinating, mixed-up provocation from Tony Kushner. The author of “Angels in America” began this piece as a stand-alone monologue, delivered by a hermetic London woman (superbly played in director Frank Galati’s production by Amy Morton). An encounter with an Afghan shopkeeper prods her into life-changing action; the rest of the 3 1/2-hour play follows the woman’s husband and daughter to Kabul, in search of the missing (Dead? Alive?) homebody. The play is full of outlandish gaps in logic and some strangely pulpy detours. Kushner’s abrasive lost souls are tough company. Yet the play’s rhetorical and political eloquence is often dazzling. At its mournful best, “Homebody” reminds you how good Kushner can be; through Aug. 31 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; $35-$50; 312-335-1650.
THE MOUSETRAP
For 51 years, Agatha Christie’s snowbound murder mystery has been playing its crafty shell game all over the world, on stages large and small. Set among a deeply suspect group of travelers stuck in Monkswell Manor, with a killer among them, “The Mousetrap” minted a host of whodunit cliches, while drawing on dozens more from earlier mysteries, Christie’s own and others’. The Drury Lane Oakbrook rendition is zestily acted and nicely paced; through Oct. 5 at Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace; $19-$25 (dinner theater packages from $38.75); 630-530-0111.
MATERIA PRIMA
A lively insomniac parental bull session from cheerily sarcastic writer-performer Stephanie Shaw. She talks about her daughter’s potty-training issues and night tantrums, which together lead Shaw to believe she may have an “Exorcist” kid on her hands. It’s part of Live Bait Theater’s annual Fillet of Solo Festival; through Saturday at Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark St.; $10; 773-871-1212.
— Michael Phillips
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LOST IN YONKERS
“Lost in Yonkers,” the object of an intriguing and enjoyable little Eclipse Theatre revival from director Steve Scott, remains Neil Simon’s most revelatory and complex comedy about familial agony. It’s CeCe Klinger who shines most here: Her gutsy Bella is like a squishy piece of Jell-O in the July sun, wobbling and rebelling in the burning face of Grandma Kurnitz’s maternal tyranny; through Aug. 31 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., $12-$22; 773-871-3000.
PINAFORE!
The Los Angeles-based Mark Savage is a clever and funny writer, and his gay parody of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pinafore!” is a very witty and closely detailed inversion of the original, even down to much fun with the famous line “Hardly Ever.” The new lyrics are deft and savvy, and fine comic performers such as Jamie Axtell (who plays the captain, a man of complex sexuality) know what to do with the material; ends Sunday at Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., $20-$30; 773-883-1090.
PANTS ON FIRE
Mendacity may be older than the Republic, but this still is an unusually fertile time for this lively, exuberant and very funny new comedy revue at the spunky Second City e.t.c., which, thanks to an especially talented current cast, continues to beat the pants off the more staid Second City mainstage. Director Joshua Funk and his youthful coterie see and debunk liars — be they personal or professional — everywhere; open run at Second City e.t.c., 1608 N. Wells St.; $17-$19; 312-337-3992.
— Chris Jones