By Cara Jepsen
A few years ago I was lucky enough to catch Sergei Eisenstein’s film Alexander Nevsky accompanied by a live orchestra at Ravinia. The performance was magical and infinitely better than New Ager Philip Glass’s accompaniment to Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast last year. Tonight you can see Eisenstein’s 1925 classic Potemkin, accompanied by the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, which will perform a reconstructed score by Dmitri Shostakovich, who penned the original music. It’s free and starts at 9; there will be a preconcert lecture at 8. It happens at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, Columbus and Jackson. Call 742-4763 for more.
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Just when it finally warms up enough to discard your cold-weather togs and find out what your body looks like, those tan, fit pro volleyball players hit town and make you wish you’d stayed in your winter hole. This weekend the Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball League tournament takes place, featuring both men’s and women’s four-person teams, all appropriately outfitted and sponsored. Men’s teams play today from 9 to 5, women’s teams from 11 to 3. On Sunday only the men play. It happens at North Avenue beach, North and the lake (the finals will air on ESPN in July). It’s free; call 818-782-8920, ext. 114.
Today is the second–and last–day of a Japanese cultural festival. The event includes exhibits of bonsai plants and of calligraphy and ink brush paintings by Shizan Matsumoto. There will be demonstrations of martial arts and taiko drumming, a tea ceremony, and Japanese classical dancing as well as food, including sushi plates and barbecue chicken teriyaki. It’s from 11 to 6 at the Buddhist Temple of Chicago, 1151 W. Leland. Admission is $3 for families, $1.50 for individuals. Call 334-4661.
Set ‘Em Up Joe’s evokes an image of the fictitious olden days, when women with moxie and great gams wore long, tight dresses and smoked cigarettes while their less fabulous dates ordered manhattans at the bar. Upstairs is the Cricket Club, which has an old-school dress code (no jeans or sneakers, men must wear jackets) and where from 8 to midnight tonight piano player Mark Burnell will take requests and host an open mike that includes everything from stand-up comedy to singing and dancing. It’s at 22 W. Elm. The cover is $5, and there’s a two-drink minimum. Call 280-4735.
The press release speaks for itself: “Join together in a synchronized worldwide ceremony to dissolve all boundaries within and around us and celebrate 13 Moon Victory Day.” The ceremony happens at Indian Boundary Park, 2300 W. Lunt, between 7:30 and 9:30 this morning to celebrate the first day in the new “13 Moon 28-Day Calendar Change,” which, since I’m on my own 28-day cycle, makes sense to me. Call the Heartland Rainbow Warriors at 276-7963 for a deconstruction. It’s free; bring a drum (if you have one) and food.
