ART
`REGARDING SEAS AND SKIES’
Fifty seascapes by the 19th Century French master and contemporary photographers Gustave Legray, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Dodo Jin Ming from Japan and China; opens Saturday at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave.; $10 suggested admission; 312-443-3600.
`ASAPH BEN-MENAHEM: MONUMENTAL WOODCUTS AND RELATED WORKS’
Neo-expressionist prints and related works by a master printmaker; closes Friday at the Oakton Community College, 1600 E. Golf Rd., Des Plaines; free; 847-635-1813.
`ALICE NEEL DRAWINGS’
Works on paper by the idiosyncratic American artist who called herself a “collector of souls”; final weeks at the Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario St.; free; 312-787-3997.
— Alan G. Artner
CLASSICAL
CALLISTO ENSEMBLE
Experience a breath of fresh air in chamber music this week when a new instrumental group makes its debut in the first program of a five-concert series. With Cliff Colnot as conductor and the Jupiter Trio (formerly resident in San Francisco) as its nucleus, the ensemble of strings (Stefan Hersh, Robert Waters, Julian Hersh, Stephen Balderston) and piano (Aglika Angelova) is dedicated to exploring a diverse repertoire of old and new music, as is evident from its debut program of Mozart, Schoenberg, John Harbison and George Crumb; 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the DePaul University Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave.; and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave.; $15 and $6 (students); 312-566-9318.
SYMPHONY II
Victor Yampolsky, music director of the Omaha Symphony and director of orchestras at Northwestern University, guest conducts the orchestra of Lyric Opera musicians. Cellist Mark Kosower will appear as soloist in Dvorak’s Cello Concerto on a program that also holds the Sibelius First Symphony; 7 p.m. Sunday in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern University, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; $25-$50; 847-866-6888.
KEYBOARD TIMES TWO
Pianist Stephen Hough performs Chopin ballades and impromptus, plus excerpts from Liszt’s “Annees de Pelerinage”; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Norris Cultural Arts Center, St. Charles; $25-35; 630-584-7200. Also, Van Cliburn Piano Competition finalist Wang Xiaohan will launch the new season of Rising Stars concerts at the Ravinia Festival; 8 p.m. Friday in Bennett-Gordon Hall, Lake Cook and Green Bay Roads, Highland Park; $15; 847-266-5100.
ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC
The remarkable British harpsichordist Richard Egarr appears as guest director of the famed period-instrument ensemble in an all-J.S. Bach concert, part of the Howard Mayer Brown International Early Music Series. The program will include keyboard concertos in D Minor and A Major, along with the Orchestral Suite No. 2 for flute and strings, and the Fifth “Brandenburg” Concerto; 8 p.m. Friday in Mandel Hall, University of Chicago, 1131 E. 57th St.; $11 and $30; 773-702-8068.
— John von Rhein
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MOVIES
CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL
The 20th edition continues though Nov. 2, with live and animated features and shorts from around the world, plus workshops on filmmaking, film writing and even film criticism. Especially recommended are “Someone Like Hodder,” the Danish tale of an alienated boy and his dream world (1 p.m. Saturday at Facets MultiMedia, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave; $6; 773-281-9075); and “Whale Rider,” the often brilliant tale from New Zealand of a tribal girl who wants to be chief (11:15 a.m. Friday at AMC City North, 2400 N. Western Ave.) Various showtimes, locations and prices. For more information, call Facets MultiMedia, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave; 773-281-9075, visit www.cicff.org.
`PIECES OF APRIL’
A funny movie about a sad subject: impending death in a splintered family. Katie Holmes is harried NYC black-sheep April trying to redeem herself with a seemingly cursed Thanksgiving family feast; Patricia Clarkson (magnificent) is her dying mother. The directorial debut of writer Peter Hedges (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?”); with Oliver Platt, Derek Luke and a fine ensemble; MPAA rating: PG-13; Landmark Century Centre, 2828 N. Clark St.; 773-509-4949.
`THE SEA IS WATCHING’
Based on the last script by the great Akira Kurosawa (who was preparing the film at his death in 1998), this is a tender story of leave-takings and tragic partings in a 19th Century Tokyo geisha house, where geishas Kikuno and O-Shin (Misa Shimizu and Nagiko Tohno, respectively) face betrayal and hurricanes with beauty and stoicism; no MPAA rating; Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., $8; 312-846-2600.
JAZZ
FRANK MORGAN
The serenely expressive alto saxophonists returns, leading a quartet; Tuesday through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; $20; 312-670-2473.
AB BAARS
The noted Dutch reedist leads a trio in a venue that has become synonymous with experimental currents in jazz; 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Claudia Cassidy Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.; free; 312-744-6630.
— Howard Reich
ROCK
SPIRITUALIZED
Jason Pierce takes gospel music to space; Tuesday at the Vic, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave., $19.50; 312-559-1212.
LYLE LOVETT
Out with his first studio album of new songs since the last century, and he’s still got that wicked sense of swing; Wednesday at Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., $35-$55; 312-559-1212.
SLAYER
Still the nastiest and the best of all the metal bands; Wednesday at the Aragon Ballroom, 1106 W. Lawrence Ave., $32.50; 312-559-1212.
BELLE & SEBASTIAN
Subversive Scottish popsters add a touch of rock dynamics on their latest album; Thursday at the Congress Theatre, 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave.; $26; 312-559-1212.
PREFUSE 73
One of hip-hop’s most innovative sound sorcerers tours with a band including Tortoise’s John Herndon on drums; Thursday at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.; $12; 773-276-3600.
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS
The sons of legendary producer Jim Dickinson bring a modernist touch to hill-country blues; Friday with Rusted Root and Grandaddy at Congress Theatre, 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave.; $35-$45; 312-559-1212.
VIRGINA RODRIGUES
Brazilian singer has one of the world’s most mournfully luminous voices; Friday at Hothouse, 31 E. Balbo Drive; $25; 312-362-9707.
EMMYLOU HARRIS
The godmother of the alternative-country movement remains a mesmerizing singer; Saturday at Orchestra Hall, 220 S. Michigan Ave.; $25-$35; 312-294-3000.
— Greg Kot
THEATER
`ANNA IN THE TROPICS’
A lovely little play — with atmosphere thicker than the Tolstoy novel inspiring it — Nilo Cruz’s 1929-set story takes place in a love-starved cigar factory outside Tampa. Following a fast-fading oral tradition a charismatic new lector, or reader, entertains the workers with “Anna Karenina.” Before long, he is entertaining himself with an affair with one of the owner’s daughters. It’s a charming tribute to the power of great literature and a good smoke. This Midwest premiere, staged efficiently by Henry Godinez, boasts a couple of superb performances: those of smoky-voiced Charin Alvarez’s Conchita and, as her soulfully eagle-eyed mother, Sandra Marquez’s Ofelia; ends Sunday at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.; $22-$35; 773-871-3000.
`BALM IN GILEAD’
The grungiest all-night diner in Manhattan teems with unruly life in this Hypocrites revival of the Lanford Wilson play, nearly 40 years old now. The Chopin Theater basement space is highly compressed (i.e., small), so that Wilson’s desperate junkies, hookers and dreamers holler and kvetch and ponder life’s cruelties within inches of one another. Director Sean Graney does well by this ensemble effort, overlapping dialogue that’s already overlapped to begin with; through Nov. 2 at Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division St.; $15-$18; 312-409-5578.
`CAMELOT’
Surprisingly stirring. This revival of the 1960 King Arthur musical is directed by and stars Ray Frewen. In Alan Jay Lerner’s unwieldly libretto, the Round Table always was loaded down with too much stuff, but people tend to forgive the show’s problems once Lancelot cranks up “If Ever I Would Leave You,” or Arthur and queen Guenevere trade queries in “What Do the Simple Folk Do?” There’s strong and seasoned work from Frewen, Cory Goodrich’s fervent queen, and Joe Van Slyke and David Lively as Merlin and Pellinore, respectively. No surprises here, but there’s nothing wrong with solid, accomplished straightforward craft; through Jan. 4 at Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace; $22-$25, dinner theater packages start at $38.50; 630-530-0111.
`THE GOAT, OR, WHO IS SYLVIA?’
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Edward Albee remains the American theater’s chief provocateur and chronicler of the heart’s darker, more acidic regions. In “The Goat,” a famous architect’s life is disrupted by an affair with, yes, a goat. It starts out funny, ends in bloody tragedy, and challenges audiences with an audacious blend of tones in between. Director Robert Falls’ Chicago premiere is a solidly powerful one, led by Barbara Robertson as the wrong’d wife and Patrick Clear as the conflicted two-timer; through Nov. 2 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $30-$55; 312-443-3800.
`THE LION KING’
Director Julie Taymor’s visions of the African food chain — giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, mice and, of course, a pride of lions — were worth the wait. Taymor and company’s gorgeous, supple visual achievements take your breath away. Half the score’s lovely, too; arranger Lebo M one-ups the weak Elton John/Tim Rice songs without even trying. Chicago’s own Larry Yando snarls artfully as the villainous Scar; Rafiki the baboon, played by South African performer Thandazile A. Soni, is pure delight; through Jan. 18 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.; $18-$82; 312-902-1400.
St.; $20-$35; 312-443-3800.
`THE SECRET IN THE WINGS’
Rich, strange and often darkly beautiful, adapter/director Mary Zimmerman’s deftly acted exploration of six lesser-known fairy tales builds upon a 1991 production dating to the early days of Lookingglass Theatre. Now, in the Lookingglass Water Works space on North Michigan Avenue, Zimmerman has reworked the stories to strong imagistic effect. Humans turn into swans; beheaded noggins turn into rubber balls; and, in an excellent framing device, the ogre next door turns into a more humane version of himself; through Nov. 23 at Lookingglass Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave.; $30-$55; 312-337-0665.
`TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’
Brothers, adversaries and pathetically funny American dreamers, two brothers named Lincoln and Booth share a dingy room. The younger brother tries to persuade the older to quit his fantastically absurd job — he’s a black man playing a whiteface Abraham Lincoln in a penny arcade, assassinated by capgun-wielding customers — and get back to three-card monte. Suzan-Lori Parks’ play is graced by two of the best performances in town: K. Todd Freeman’s breathless, simmering Booth and David Rainey’s bone-weary but charismatic Lincoln. To some fans (including me) of Parks’ earlier, less conventional wonders, “Topdog” disappoints. On any level it’s not without its clunky and reiterative passages. Yet these portrayals shouldn’t be missed; through Nov. 2 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; $36-$52; 312-335-1650.
— Michael Phillips
`DEATH AND HARRY HOUDINI’
There are many exciting things about the House Theatre of Chicago, a fiercely energetic and immensely talented young company. But watch House’s newest show, a remarkably eclectic and entirely original piece of self-created homage to escapology called “Death and Harry Houdini,” and you come to realize its single most important asset: The youngsters at House don’t have any fear to hold them back. Therefore, they can throw themselves into a huge, wacky, wonderfully messy show that embraces a plethora of overlapping performative traditions from the Grand Guignol to rave, and from the Theatre de Complicite to Baz Luhrmann; through Saturday at the Viaduct, 3111 N. Western Ave.; $15; 773-251-2195.
`DR. SEX’
Thanks to remarkably witty lyrics and a zestful and eminently hummable score that showcases one bouncy, catchy number after another, “Dr. Sex” is a strikingly fresh and remarkably entertaining little musical satire about Alfred Kinsey (of sexual report fame). This world premiere is an easygoing and eminently likeable R-rated blend of musical biography, Tom Lehrer-like parody, Midwestern sexual history and a permissive bacchanal. There’s more than enough sizzle, flesh and anti-puritan sentiment to attract the alternative crowd — and just enough old-fashioned theatrical wit and modesty not to turn off the mainstream fan of old-line musical comedy; ends Sunday at Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.; $25-30; 773-883-1090.
`OUR TOWN’
The first show in Writers’ classy and theatrically viable new home inside the Women’s Library Club of Glencoe, William Brown’s new production of Thornton Wilder’s oft-misunderstood existential classic is an uncommonly well-layered and unsentimental piece of directing, superbly cast with a peck of Chicago’s top tier of actors, brimming with adroit but unpretentious moments of deft human observation, and replete with just enough contemporary irony that the work feels fresh, clear and smart; through Dec. 7 at Writers’ Theatre, 325 Tudor Ct., Glencoe; $35-50; 847-242-6000.
`OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS’
Joe DiPietro’s proudly retro play is a shamelessly sentimental piece of emotional realism about an initially ungrateful young fellow who comes to understand the worth of his quartet of New Jersey grandparents only when he decides to move to Seattle to pursue his selfish career. Michael Weber’s production manages to cut the treacle with a quartet of veteran Chicago actors; through Nov. 30 at the Mercury Theatre, 3745 N. Southport Ave.; $38.50-44.50; 773-325-1700.
— Chris Jones