Friday | March 8
Sometimes hitting the bar can also raise the bar, at least where artistic vision is concerned. In this vein, Hyde Park Art Center is hosting ArtBar, its quarterly adult art studio with an open bar and DJ. The winter installation falls on International Women’s Day, and the workshops are somewhat germane to women’s issues, in the broadest sense of the term. Activities include a Beyoncé lip sync competition, an “(ovary) egg hunt” where the first person to find the hidden baby wins a $50 art lesson, and “textaport puzzle-painting,” the very first of its kind in which participants will be given instructions to make a specific painting, then piece them all together. 5020 South Cornell Avenue. 6–9 p.m., free.
The Basket Case Triple Feature at the Portage Theater is perfect for lovers of ’80s cult horror, and very bad for those who suffer from chronic separation anxiety. The trilogy tells the story of a set of twins—one normal-looking, the other looking like a toothy marshmallow—who seek revenge on the doctors that separated them at birth. The latter twin is not incredibly mobile, so his brother carries him around in a basket. Special guest director Frank Henenlotter, who also directed Brain Damage and Frankenhooker, will be there to answer questions along the way (you will have some). A couple of short film screenings (David Scott’s “Ghost Cold Water” and Michael Cabrera’s “Hovel”) will precede the successive screenings of the Basket Case movies. 4050 North Milwaukee Avenue. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., $12.
You will constantly be on the edge of your seat and suspecting everyone around you of being a murderer at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Hitchcock at the Movies: A Symphonic Celebration. Richard Kaufman conducts this terrifying homage with selections from Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, and more. Infants will not be admitted due to the super suspenseful nature of this show. 220 South Michigan Avenue. Starts at 8 p.m., $85–$125.
Saturday | March 9
For 87 years, iconic South Side shop Original Rainbow Cone has been scooping its six-layer cone of chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House (New York vanilla with cherries and walnuts), pistachio, and orange sherbet to long, clamoring lines of customers. It’s still pretty cold outside in my book, but Original Rainbow, which came out of hibernation on Wednesday, is officially celebrating its opening and the coming of above-freezing temperatures today. The first 100 people to show up get a free Rainbow Cone T-shirt, and raffle winners can receive up to five times the amount of ice cream they originally purchased. 177 North State Street. Opens at noon, small cone $3.15.
Sunday | March 10
The ice of winter is finally thawing into an early spring slush, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to go underground. This is the last day to check out the Chicago Underground Film Festival at Logan Theatre, which has been hiding beneath the crust of new blockbuster releases since this past Wednesday. Former Columbia College film student Jay Bliznick founded the festival—which showcases independent, alternative filmmakers—in 1993. Today, you can catch 23 full-length features, animated films, retrospectives, documentaries, and shorts, including the world premiere of Drew Tobia’s first feature film See You Next Tuesday, which features “a tapestry of diverse characters with varying levels of sanity and awful taste in wardrobe.” Every evening, concerts and comedians pour into Logan for an after-party—tonight, festival awards will be announced at 9:30 p.m. 2646 North Milwaukee Avenue. Starts at 2 p.m., $7 per program at the door.
