By Cara Jepsen
Frank Melcori says that if his new show, I’m Afraid to Quit My Job, is successful, he’ll be able to dump his day job. In the meantime he can rationalize why he’s still there. The excuses sound familiar: for money, for benefits, because he doesn’t have another job lined up. Melcori’s one-man meditation explores just about every aspect of job-quitting malaise. It opens tonight at 8 at the Lunar Cabaret and Full Moon Cafe, 2827 N. Lincoln. It’s $7 or whatever you can pay. The show runs every Friday through May 31. Call 327-6666 for more.
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Critics have been throwing around the idea that Joel and Ethan Coen’s latest film, Fargo, is their best work since 1987’s Raising Arizona. In that fast-paced farce Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage play a childless couple who kidnap a quintuplet. It seemed funny at the time, but how does it fare now that we’re all nine years older? Find out tonight at midnight at the Music Box, 3733 N. Southport. Admission is $7.50. Call 871-6604 for more.
SUNDAY 7
The Reverend Al Sharpton became a household name in the 80s when he was associated with several high-profile news stories involving race–remember the Tawana Brawley rape case, Yusuf Hawkins’s murder, or the events at Howard Beach, where a black youth chased by a group of whites ran onto a highway and was killed by a car? Try to picture the rallies and sound bites that followed without recalling Sharpton’s fancy hairdo and bigger-than-life presence, which tended to overshadow his message of African-American equality. In 1991 Sharpton was stabbed while marching in Bensonhurst, causing him to reevaluate his tactics. Since then he’s run twice for U.S. Senate. He’s also written an autobiography called Go and Tell Pharaoh. He’ll sign copies tonight from 7:30 to 8:30 at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 659 W. Diversey. It’s free; call 871-9004.
How do women react to an unsupportive work environment? Speaking from personal experience, I’d say first with disbelief, then with hostility, resentment, and anger. Finally, once her self-esteem has been shattered and she’s considering changing careers, she quits. What can a business do to be more supportive? Those who need to know probably won’t be at tonight’s seminar, Diversity and the Glass Ceiling. Muriel Lazar, director of the Harbridge House division of the public accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand, will address how to manage diversity and cultural change and present a systematic approach to shattering the glass ceiling. The seminar is organized by Women in Management and takes place from 5:30 to 8 at Coopers & Lybrand, 203 N. LaSalle, 25th floor. It’s $40, and participants should register in advance. Call 419-0171.
