Every year, the Newberry Library, one of the top independent research libraries in the world (and based in Downtown Chicago) offers up one of the largest used book sales in the country. There are over 135,000 used books, movies, and records in more than 70 categories, many priced less than $3. And admission is free!
All proceeds directly support the Newberry's mission to build and care for their extraordinary collection of books and share it- free of charge- with thousands of people from diverse backgrounds each year.
The book sale starts today and runs through Sunday. Thursday and Friday it is on from noon-8pm and on Saturday and Sunday it is open from 10 am- 6pm.
2018 BUGHOUSE SQUARE DEBATES
The Environmental Encroachment Brass Marching Band will play
In addition, on Saturday, the Newberry will host The BugHouse Square Debates from 12 pm-4pm, an open forum for people to speak their views, (sort of like an organized Speaker's Corner in London)
This event, which is held in the park across from the Newberry, features music, performances, and most importantly lively debate. There will be several organized talks/debates, where people can freely agree or disagree with the scheduled speakers.
Last year's winner of the coveted Dill Pickle Award.
A soapbox speaker
There will also be some open soapboxes, where people can stand and declaim about whatever suits their fancy (and get heckled for it). The Open Soapbox is hosted by The Society Of Smallness, an art group that believes in the power of small actions. There will also be a Youth SoapBox that kids can sign up for.
The Soapbox speakers will be judged, and a Dill Pickle will be awarded.
Admission is free and open to the public.
To get all of the information, including schedules, check out the following links:
The Newberry Library is located at 60 West Walton Street.
Bughouse Square is also known as Washington Square Park, and is located at 901 North Clark Street, across Walton from the Newberry. It's off the Red Line (about a 6 minute walk from Clark and Division)
I had the opportunity to see the show RAIN, which is at the Oriental Theatre in downtown Chicago through April 2. Billed as “the next best thing to seeing The Beatles!” (Associated Press), the cast of RAIN performs a chronology of The Beatles' discography live onstage, including some very complex songs that the Beatles performed in studio, but never before a live audience.
The show was great fun and a stroll down memory lane. It was also a great reminder of how prolific the Beatles were, and how amazing they were. Wikipedia tells me that the Beatles recorded 407 songs, and wrote 237. The cast performed just a small fraction, and they were wonderful note-for-note renditions. The actors also looked somewhat like their doppelgangers-- the guy playing McCartney looked a lot like him, as did George. Ringo and John were a little less similar but still successful.
The show starts as a chronology piece-- through the use of video, they bring us to the Ed Sullivan show, where the moptopped Beatles made their American debut.
Later in the show, the video brings us to Shea Stadium.
In the second act, the cast performs the entirety of the album Sergeant Pepper (which the Beatles never performed in concert) in the trademarked band uniforms and mustaches and later brings us to Abbey Road where the band records their final album. The night I saw it there were two encore sets, and the second one was an extended version of "Hey Jude". Disappointingly, they did not play "Let It Be." But, hey, they couldn't play EVERY song.
The cast of RAIN has been together longer than The Beatles, and their teamwork and professionalism shows. The music is great, although it took me a while to get past the verisimilitude thing. Although this wasn't a play, the performers are clearly acting like the Beatles, but not as the Beatles. That is to say, we saw John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but they weren't playing as those names, and there was no idea that I should expect them to actually be them or pretend to be them. They were themselves, but themselves acting as the Beatles. Let's face it, I overthought it. Once I got beyond that, I didn't have a problem.
The only thing I wasn't 100% on was the video screens.
They were used very effectively to place us in time (Ed Sullivan show, Abbey Road, Shea Stadium etc) and there were some concert videos of both audience and performers that would be displayed up there, which were engaging and also kept the people upstairs and farther away engaged.
But some of the songs had cutesy video scenarios as their backdrop, and many of those looked like they were just bad Powerpoint presentations. I am guessing that they are remnants of previous shows from years ago. They need to be tossed and re-done.
The rendition of Sergeant Pepper's entire album was pretty amazing, especially that last chord from "A Day In The Life" They must be using subwoofers, because I felt a barrage of sound in my body from that one chord.
Within the first encore they played some political songs, including "Revolution" "Get Back" and strangely "Give Peace A Chance." I say strangely because that is not strictly a Beatles song. Lennon wrote it with Yoko during his infamous "Bed In"and released it with her. He was technically still a Beatle then, but it was without any of the other guys. Still it was quite moving, and very a propo considering our current political situation here in the US.
It was a reminder of how ensconced in social change and justice The Beatles were, while at the same time making popular music gold.
No matter what your current relationship to the Beatles is, you will find something to love about this show. There was quite a lot of singing along (both encouraged and spontaneous) At one point the singers ask everyone under 18 to sing, and the crowd gets notably quieter.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE IN CHICAGO
3/28 Tuesday at 7:30 PM
3/29 Wednesday at 7:30 PM
3/30 Thursday at 7:30 PM
3/31 Friday at 7:30 PM
4/1 Saturday at 2 PM and 8 PM
4/2 Sunday at 2 PM and 7:30 PM
You can also see where they will be upcoming on their website.
Here's a video of the guys from 2011 when they appeared on Good Morning America. This was 6 years ago, and they've only gotten better since.
TICKET INFORMATION
Individual tickets for RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles at the Oriental Theatre range from $35-$75. Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com. For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
I've covered the Good Food Festival before, but I want to let you know that this year is the 13nth annual festival, and it's this weekend!
The Good Food Festival is dedicated to the business, love, and pleasure of good food. The watch words are local, organic, sustainable, humane, fair, community, fresh, and grown.
The festival has a couple of different components.
On March 16 and 17 there will be educational seminars about food growing, food policy, being a food coop, being a farmer, and all kinds of stuff that is dedicated to the business of good food.
Thursday, March 16 the focus is Financing and Innovation, where potential food businesses learn all about the best strategies to undertake and pitfalls to avoid when starting up and maintaining a Good Foods Business. A highlight of this day is the session called Pitch It!, where fellows from the Good Food Business Accelerator and other Good Food entrepreneurs will present their businesses to prospective investors and stakeholders who can help them grow. This session will be moderated by Bram Bluestein, longtime management consultant and now a Good Food investor. There will also be a Good Food Financing Fair where innovative farms and food businesses seeking capital can engage with funders, pitch their business plans, and forge new partnerships.
Friday March 17 the focus is once again on business and policy. There will be a trade show (trades only) The highlight of the day will be an all-star panel on one of the key questions facing the supply-challenged Good Food sector: Does Good Food Need to Be Local? Participants include Chef Rick Bayless of the Frontera restaurants, whose sourcing supports both local and Mexican small farmers; Katherine Miller, who directs food policy advocacy for The James Beard Foundation; Jim Murphy of MightyVine tomatoes; Bobby Turner of Whole Foods Market; Lenny Lebovitch of PRE Brands; and Stacie Sopinka of US Foods.
If you are interested in this business/education component, there are still some tickets available. Purchase here
On Saturday, March 18 there will be the open-to-the-public Good Food Festival, a family-friendly day of inspiring speakers, tastings from local food artisans, chef demos and samplings, and more!
Highlights include:
DIY workshops on the Organic Valley Good Food Commons
an interactive Purple Asparagus Kids’ Corner with lots of fun activities for kids,
the Good Food Marketplace, a show and sales floor featuring more than 150 farmers, artisanal food producers, retailers, other vendors, and nonprofit organizations
All of this is designed to put Good Food on your family's table!
For the first time, this event is FREE! There is no charge to register, however, registration is required, so please register online!
The whole event is sponsored by FamilyFarmed, a non-profit organization "committed to expanding the production, marketing and distribution of locally grown and responsibly produced food, in order to enhance the social, economic, and environmental health of our communities." (from their mission statement)
The only thing I wasn't 100% on was the video screens.
