CLASSICAL
BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST
Grant Park chorus master Christopher Bell will lead the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, and the National Collegiate Chorale of Scotland, in William Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast,” in free concerts at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park. Also on the program is James MacMillan’s “Veni, Veni, Emanuel.” 205 E. Randolph Drive; 312-742-4763.
BOSTON POPS
Broadway star Faith Prince joins conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra for a program appropriately titled “Broadway Babies,” at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Ravinia Festival, Lake Cook and Green Bay Roads, Highland Park; $30-$50, $10 lawn; 847-266-5100.
ANTHONY DEAN GRIFFEY
The young American tenor has been garnering plenty of admiring attention at the Metropolitan Opera and elsewhere. Hear why when he makes his local recital debut at 8 p.m. Monday in Ravinia’s Martin Theatre. His program includes songs by Bridge, Griffes, Barber and Vaughan Williams, along with spirituals. Margo Garrett is the pianist. Ravinia Festival; $25-$40; 847-266-5100.
LYNN HARRELL
The popular American cellist joins music director designate James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in that hardy perennial, Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, for the final CSO concert of the 2004 Ravinia season, at 7 p.m. Sunday. Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” and Mozart’s Symphony No. 34 complete the program. Ravinia Festival; $20-$40, $10 lawn; 847-266-5100.
— John von Rhein
ART
`THE CENTER IS ANYWHERE’
Works largely from the permanent collection by Chicago conceptual artists from the 1980s; through Sept. 5; Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; $10; 312-280-2660.
THREE CHICAGO PAINTERS
Mario Castillo, Marcos Raya and Alejandro Romero receive solo exhibitions of their work; through Sept. 5; Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, 1852 W. 19th St.; free; 312-738-1503.
`TRANSPARENT WATERCOLOR SOCIETY OF AMERICA’
The society’s 28th annual exhibition is 75 paintings created without white paint or opacity; through Sept. 5; Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst; $4; 630-834-0202.
— Alan G. Artner
JAZZ
LOU DONALDSON
The soulful alto saxophonist fronts a quartet with the mighty organist Dr. Lonnie Smith; Tuesday through Aug. 15 at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; $20; 312-670-2473.
RALPH IRIZARRY
More Top Picks Best All Terrain Wheelchairs
The timbalero leads his Son Cafe band, with guest trombonist Jimmy Bosch; 10:30 p.m. Saturday at HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo Drive; $20; 312-362-9707.
HENRY JOHNSON
The Chicago guitarist’s Organ Express band features guest alto saxophonist Bobby Watson; 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Chicago Historical Society, Clark Street and North Avenue; $10; 312-642-4600.
— Howard Reich
MOVIES
`SHE HATE ME’
A dark comedy about corporate and sexual ethics, focusing on a fired yuppie corporate whistle-blower (Anthony Mackie) who becomes a surrogate father for lesbians. A daring, somewhat overreaching affair, the corporate satire works better than the sexual fantasies; Landmark Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St.; 773-509-4949; Evanston Cine Arts 6, 1715 Maple Ave., Evanston; 847-492-0123; I.C.E. Chatham 14, 210 W. 87th St., 773-783-8711.
ZATOICHI AND TAKESHI
Takeshi Kitano’s continuation of Japan’s samurai movie series, “The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi” is a masterpiece of wry violence and stylized mayhem. This 19th Century period adventure turns loose one of Japan’s most remarkable film auteurs on enduring pop legend Zatoichi, the fat, blind masseur and master swordsman, incarnated by the late Shintaro Katsu. In Japanese with English subtitles; Landmark Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St.; 773-509-4949; Evanston Cine Arts 6, 1715 Maple Ave., Evanston; 847-492-0123.
— Michael Wilmington
THEATER
`500 CLOWN MACBETH’
Wicked, delicately nasty and very funny. This 500 Clown show strips Shakespeare’s tragic tale of kingly ambition down to a few flexible images. The chief image, that of a crown dangling from the ceiling, high out of reach, tantalizes the three competing performers. Uneasy accomplices at best, the three performers are Molly Brennan wearing a pink tutu and a look of sociopathic glee; Adrian Danzig, quite possibly the lost Ritz Brother; and Paul Kalina, bald but for a goatee resembling something a robin might find useful come nesting time; through Aug. 29 at Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan Ave.; $20-$28; 312-337-0665.
`THE KING AND I’
A good old-fashioned national touring production of the good old-fashioned Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut: Full union cast, 20-piece orchestra and, as Anna, employed by the King of Siam, the headliner, Sandy Duncan. Duncan and co-star Martin Vidnovic are so squirrelly at times they’re like a couple of kids at a mid-19th Century Bangkok slumber party. Yet just when the story requires, they acquire some gravity and net the desired pathos. Through Aug. 15 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Parkway; $18-$72.50; 312-902-1400.
— Michael Phillips
`BRUTALITY OF FACT’
People sometimes need to be protected from their families far more than families need to be protected from individuals. That’s not exactly a cheery truth, but it’s a fact of life and the theme of many great American plays. And it lies at the core of Keith Reddin’s “Brutality of Fact,” a shrewdly observed drama that deals with a family ripped apart by religious extremism. This notably prescient play gets an exceptionally smart, moving, well-acted revival from director Nathaniel Swift and Eclipse Theatre Company; through Sept. 5 at Victory Gardens Theater Company, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.; $18-22; 773-871-3000.
— Chris Jones