Friday 16
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Hey, Prop Theatre–what in heck’s The Pot Show about? “It is the story of a group of touring debaters,” the theater responds via a press release. “At each venue they present the pros and cons of marijuana in American culture. However, members of both sides seem to suffer from psychoses and latent neurotic obsession. Hence, the debate takes on the feel more of tongue in cheek comedy than of an actual debate.” Sounds like it’d be really funny if you were stoned, but the group warns that there’s no dope in the show and that there’s to be none in the audience, either. The show premieres at the Garage, 1843 W. North, tonight and plays Fridays and Saturdays at 10 and Sundays at 9 through June 6. Admission is $10, $8 on Sundays. Call 227-7756 for more.
For a show that opens at the David Leonardis Gallery today, the nomadic Robert Christy will do two unusual things. For the first, he’s got a large, tapestry-size painting that he’ll sell off in pieces–at $20 per square foot. Second, he’ll do paintings on the spot–again, for $20 a shot–for people who bring in their own canvas or board two-feet square or smaller. There’s a free reception for the show from 5 to 8, with a party following till midnight. Regular gallery hours for the exhibit are 12 to 7 Tuesday and Thursday and 12 to 5 Saturday through April 28. The gallery’s at 1352 N. Paulina; call 278-3058 for more.
For us it’s not really spring until the Garfield-Clarendon Model Railroad Club holds its Spring Open House. At this annual event the club pulls out all the stops to showcase both the collections and the design capabilities of its members. It’s at the Clarendon Park Community Center, 4501 N. Clarendon, from 1 to 4. It’s free, but the club won’t turn away donations. Call 327-3978.
“I am inspired by the fact that with only 26 letters in our alphabet, our awful and magnificent past can be recorded and our most noble hopes and dreams can be expressed.” So saith Allan Kornblum, head of Coffee House Press, Minneapolis’s most beloved small press. Kornblum has long sung the praises of modern technology’s contribution to small presses everywhere; now, armed with a major grant from the Reader’s Digest Foundation, he’s going on the road to spread the gospel. He’ll appear at three local bookstores over the next week, to present both a letterpress demonstration and a “joyride through the history of books.” He’ll be at Kroch’s & Brentano’s, 1711 Sherman in Evanston, tonight at 7:30; at Hyde Park’s 57th Street Books, 1301 E. 57th, at 2 PM Sunday; and at Barbara’s Bookstore, 3130 N. Broadway, at 7:30 next Monday evening. They’re all free; call 612-338-0125 for details.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Secret Agent features John Gielgud as a novelist whose death is faked so that he can be a spy. With “wife” Madeleine Carroll and sidekick Peter Lorre, he heads for Switzerland for the usual suspenseful Hitchcockian tomfoolery. The Film Center has a new print of the 1936 film; a screening tonight kicks off the theater’s “Early Hitchcock” series. Tickets are $60; they get you the movie and a dessert reception afterward. (There’s also a $5-a-ticket raffle with a host of prizes topped by two round-trip tickets to London.) It’s at 7:30 at the Film Center, Columbus and Jackson. Call 443-3733 for more.
