Friday / April 25
Genre-busting singer and composer Luciana Souza, a three-time Grammy nominee and teacher at the Manhattan School of Music, leads her trio through a program that draws on classical, Brazilian, and jazz music tonight at Mandell Hall. This intimate performance—featuring only drums, bass, guitar, and Souza’s voice—is sure to be one of the high points of this year’s concert program. (Mandel Hall, 7:30–9:30 p.m., $5 for students)
Representing more than 180 galleries from around the world, the Art Chicago festival at Merchandise Mart is the centerpiece of Chicago’s ARTropolis festival, ongoing through the end of the week. Eat, drink, schmooze, and view the latest oddities by the world’s top contemporary artists. Also catch The Artist Project, another ARTropolis show showcasing works by emerging (read: starving) artists without gallery representation. (222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, 11 a.m.–7 p.m., $15 for day pass students)
Saturday / April 26
“Art till you drop” might be the motto of the Hyde Park Art Center’s Creative Move 2008, a 24-hour blast of “art, action, and creativity” in all its forms, from film screenings, art-making, and dance performances to comedy, chess matches, and a discussion on the origins of great coffee. There’s gotta be something here you want to do. (5020 South Cornell Avenue, 8 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Saturday, free)
Impress friends and relatives with French culinary creations straight from the bistro—crepes, quiche, hollandaise and more—that you’ll learn to make at Gallery 37’s World Kitchen: French Brunch Classics cooking class. Yeah, the price is a little steep, but you know what they say: Teach a man to fish…. (66 East Randolph Street, 11 a.m.–2 p.m., $30)
Some might claim that Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory is the greatest anti-war movie ever, but for my money I’d take Jean Renoir’s The Grand Illusion any day. An incisive portrait of social division, violence, and patriotism, the film is also the greatest ever made about World War I. Jean Gabin and Erich von Stronheim play officers in a German POW camp. (54 West Chicago Avenue, 1 p.m., $5 donation suggested)
Sunday / April 27
If you haven’t succumbed to the Juno backlash, Doc’s giving you another opportunity to see that lovable sass-mouth go through the hardship of pregnancy and growing up with nonchalant aplomb. Can’t say it’s my favorite movie, but it’s worth going to for its excellent soundtrack featuring The Moldy Peaches. Just don’t take anyone who really got pregnant as a teen to the screening. Trust me. (Max Palevsky, 4 p.m., $5)
The Museum of Contemporary Art’s four-day hip-hop exhibition wraps up today with three screenings: Rock Fresh, which follows five legendary street rappers; Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box; and Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, a 2005 film about a Brooklyn concert/block party organized by the comedian. (220 East Chicago Avenue, 1:30 p.m., $5 for each film)
Monday / April 28
As part of The World Beyond the Headlines series, David Rothkopf speaks tonight about his book Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making. The book purports to throw back the curtain on a class of ultra-powerful, super-wealthy—and extra dangerous?—people who control government, international finance, media, religion, and even criminal and terrorist organizations. Can these global captains be reined in? (International House Assembly Hall, 6 p.m., free)
Tuesday / April 29
Richard J. Daley’s Urban Forum explores the issues arising from rapid worldwide urbanization, with civic leaders from across the globe weighing in on this important topic. (University of Illinois at Chicago Forum, 725 West Roosevelt Road, 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m., $25)
Wednesday / April 30
Meet the greatest ex-president in the nation’s history, Jimmy Carter, today at Borders. He’ll be discussing his latest book, a sentimental memoir about his mother entitled, fittingly enough, A Remarkable Mother. (830 North Michigan Avenue, 7 p.m., free)
Thursday / May 1
Remember when Bush mentioned, bizarrely, that he had just read Camus’s The Stranger? Playwright Mickle Maher took that little detail to heart, creating a play that imagines Bush as a murderer experiencing bouts of guilt during the 2004 debate against John Kerry. Unsettling and hilarious, The Strangerer is one of the more interesting political satires in recent years. (Chopin Theatre, 1543 West Division Street, 8 p.m., $10)