ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 8 - December/January

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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cold-weather culture W hether he's hosting a conversation on drag and gender at a Ukrainian Village bar or in discussion with author Michael Chabon at the Harold Washington Library, Angel Ysaguirre lives and breathes Chicago culture. The executive director of the Illinois Humanities Council loves winter in the city—both for the new and exciting exhibits that open each year, and the reliable mainstays that usher in the season. And one of his favorite parts of winter? Tourists. "Chicago has such a great cultural scene, and I do like to show it off, so I love that winter brings visitors to the city. "I love the Gilbert and Sullivan canon that The Hypocrites theater company (1329 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-525-5991; the-hypocrites.com) is doing—they've been adding a new Gilbert and Sullivan musical to their winter season over the past few years. This season they're putting on H.M.S. Pinafore, along with The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance from the last two years. For huge Gilbert and Sullivan fans, it's cool to see all three in one day. I'm usually not a lover of musicals, but I enjoy these because they're irreverent and really fun. Instead of seats, the audience walks around the whole time, or sits on a piece of the stage. If the actors need to be where you're sitting, they point at you so you know to move. Now that this has become a tradition, the arrival of the new show always signals the beginning of winter for me. "I'm really excited about the inaugural Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival (chicago puppetfest.org), which is being held January 14–25. Blair Thomas & Company puppet theater put it together, but institutions like The Field Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater are all collaborating. There will be 15 different puppet theater companies doing more than 50 different performances at venues all across the city—and this isn't Sesame Street stuff. Most of the performances will be for an adult audience. "From February 5–7, David Roussève/ Reality is coming to The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago (1306 S. Michigan Ave., 312-369-8330; colum.edu/ dance-center). Roussève is an African- American choreographer who tends to have a lot of storytell- ing and talking in his pieces, and this performance, Stardust, should be fantastic. "The International Contemporary Ensemble—a New York- and Chicago-based classical music ensemble—is doing a performance of pieces written for duo violins called 'Ceremonial Magic' at The Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia Ave., 773-227-4433; hideoutchicago.com) on December 14. Both violinists are incredible, and the music was written for them. The Hideout is where people usually go to hear rock shows, and I just love the idea of hearing chamber music in unexpected places. It will be cool to see it in a setting where you can drink beer and eat tamales instead of behaving like you have to in a music hall. "On the weekends of December 5 and December 12, The Chicago- based dance company The Seldoms will be performing at Links Hall (3111 N. Western Ave., 773-281-0824; linkshall.org), a small space in Roscoe Village that presents the most cutting-edge and up-and-coming art Cutting-edge theater and classical music, daring dance and puppets aplenty—for arts expert Angel Ysaguirre, this winter offers a cornucopia of cultural options. David Roussève's Stardust, a "coming of age story for the electronic age," tells the story of a gay African-American teenager using his tweets and text messages. 126 michiganavemag.com

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