Full disclosure, my friends are involved in these amazing projects. Check them out this week!
Help the Philippines! Typhoon Haiyan Benefit Show
Local bands Bow & Spear, The Sueves, and Mirror Coat are teaming up with Bric A Brac Records to host a concert benefitting Central Philippine communities ravaged by Super Typhoon Haiyan. The show goes down this Wednesday, January 22 at The Burlington beginning at 9 p.m. Admission is $10.
The entirety of proceeds from this event will benefit the Parent Teacher Associations of communities surrounding the Village of Santo Tomas who were affected by one of the worst storms ever recorded. In addition to live music, the event promises food and items raffled off by Bric A Brac.
In working through the individuals who are personally invested in the rebuilding efforts, whose local savvy can stretch a buck, we can maximize the impact of our contributions. Utilizing volunteer labor from parents and students and locally produced donated goods where possible, our contributions can help to cover the other miscellaneous costs necessary to support the local efforts. $10 can provide fuel to transport a truckload of goods from the town market to the villages eleven KM from the town center. $10 can provide lunch for a dozen volunteer workers. $10 can buy enough paint for an entire classroom.
The Burlington
3425 W Fullerton Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
Maskarade Opera at the Vittum Theater, January 18-25
Offering light entertainment from a land darker and colder than ours presently, Denmark’s national opera is being staged in Chicago for the first time. Carl Nielsen’s Maskarade, runs January 18-25 at the Vittum Theatre. The opera is presented by the VOX3 Collective and features the Lakeview Orchestra. The jovial show is a great opera introduction for first-timers as well as veteran opera-goers!
The light-hearted comedy centers on the titular masked ball, where rigid societal constraints are abandoned for the Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality. The story revolves around Leander and Leonora, two young lovers who meet fortuitously and exchange rings. When Leander tells his valet of his newfound love, complications arise due to arranged marriages and meddling fathers. Though revelry at the night’s masquerade has been forbidden, naturally all slink off to enjoy dancing and delights. In the end, all is revealed to everyone’s mutual satisfaction. The final scene of the opera shows a bittersweet recognition of human mortality, and the importance of finding happiness to brighten it. As the servant Henrik (a forebear of Beaumarchais’ Figaro) notes, the masquerade offers a sense of joie de vivre in a land where life is often cold and gloomy.
Tickets are available online. Regular admission is $32; Student/Senior admission $16.
Vittum Theater
1012 N Noble St.
Chicago, IL 60642
Jessica Mlinaric founded Urban Explorer in 2010 to inspire curious travelers by highlighting history, culture, and hidden gems in Chicago and beyond. She is the author of ‘Secret Chicago’ and ‘Chicago Scavenger.’ Jessica has visited 20+ countries and 30+ U.S. states. She has more than 16 years of experience as a marketing strategist and works as a freelance writer and photographer.
