The best things to do in Chicago this weekend
How are you going to spend the final weekend of March? Beer- and coffee-lovers can get their fill of caffeine at Thalia Hall's Uppers & Downers festival, where local breweries sample collaborations with regional bean roasters. On Saturday night, a lineup of writers and journalists take part in the latest edition of Pop-Up Magazine, which focuses on stories from high schools throughout the country. Nearby, Oscar-, Tony- and Grammy-award winning composer Alan Menken (best known for his contributions to Disney's Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King) performs songs from his catalog at the Auditorium Theatre. Plus, you can feast at the Mac and Cheez Takedown, see the Goodman Theatre's latest five-star show Sweat or smell the blooms at the Macy's Flower Show. Read on to find even more of the best things to do in Chicago this weekend.
Things to do this weekend in Chicago
Uppers & Downers
Good Beer Hunting presents this annual festival devoted to the various intersections between craft beer, coffee, chocolate and cocktails. During two sessions at Thalia Hall, attendees will be able to try brews from the likes of Hopewell, Solemn Oath, Off Color and Middlebrow, as well as coffee from Metric, Intelligentsia and Counter Culture. Plus, you'll also find caffinated cocktails and some interesting dishes to pair with all the bean juice you're consuming.
Pop-Up Magazine: XQ Super School Live
Journalists, writers, filmmakers, photographers, poets and musicians take part in a multimedia variety show that's designed to capture the feeling on flipping through the pages of your favorite magazine. Pop-Up Magazine teams up with education organization XQ for the latest edition of its show, which tasked contributors with telling stories about things that are happening in modern high schools. Throughout the evening, you'll hear about a high schooler who ran for school board president, a school cafeteria restaurant critic and a sociology class trying to track down a serial killer. Plus, all proceeds from the evening benefit a local non-profit.
Sweat
“That’s how it oughta be”: Those are the final words—half punchline, half plea—of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat, and the Goodman Theatre’s production does them devastating justice. Set in Reading, Pennsylvania, Nottage’s 2015 drama is a portrait of blue-collar collapse and an inquiry into the cold-blooded murder of the American Dream. Chief among the many culprits is a capitalist system that treats workers like disposable parts. But when those workers don’t stand together, they look for easier targets to blame—including, usually, people who don’t look like them.
Macy's Flower Show
The downtown department store hosts this annual flower-filled extravaganza, filling the historic building real blooms and exotic plants. The theme of this year's show is "Journey to Paradisios, Operation: Inspiration," which Macy's describes as a "space-inspired floral fantasy." The sci-fi display includes more than 5,000 types of plants, trees and flowers that take the shape of rocket ships, celestial bodies and aliens. You can see the sights, free of charge, during regular store hours.
Mumford & Sons
Once known for writing banjo-picking, foot-stomping folk-rock anthems, the lads of Mumford & Sons have comfortably settled into their new identity as radio-friendly rockers. The group's latest album, Delta, takes Marcus Mumford's vocal harmonies and places them atop moody electronic compositions that wouldn't sound out of place on a Coldplay record. It's an obvious direction to take for a band that can easily fill arenas, but at least it will be interesting to hear how Mumford & Sons integrates the twangy choruses of smash hits like "I Will Wait For You" and "The Cave" into a set of sleek new tunes.
Chicago Mac and Cheez Takedown
The Mac and Cheez Takedown features samples of the classic dish prepared by Chicago’s best home cooks, all of whom are competing for prizes from Cuisinart and Anolon. Attendees will have two hours to eat all the mac that their stomachs can handle—at the end of the afternoon, one local cook will walk away with some amazing prizes (and some epic bragging rights).
“Activity Apparatus”
Local singer-songwriter Haley Fohr (best known as the voice of Circuit des Yeux) is responsible for the eight-hour composition that accompanies this imaginative group show at the Soccer Club Club gallery. Visitors are encouraged to take their time while explore the exhibition, which features paintings and visual works by Judith Lindbloom, Bill Nace, Meghan Remy and Emily Winter; videos by Nick Ciontea and Kim Alpert; and an interactive Light Geode constructed by by Carlson Garcia. Stop by the show's opening reception on Saturday, March 30 to enjoy drinks provided by Land & Sea Dept. from 8 to 11pm.
Alan Menken
The Oscar-, Tony- and Grammy-award winning composer responsible for songs from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King takes the stage for an evening of storytelling and performances. In addition to his classic Disney catalog, expect to hear tales from Menken's work on Little Shop of Horrors and his musical contribution to the first Captain America movie.
“Laura Aguilar: Show and Tell”
Candid nude self-portraits, photos of LGBTQ individuals and scenic black and white shots of naked bodies in nature are featured in this retrospective of Mexican-American photographer Aguilar, who passed away last year. Debuted at the Vincent Price Art Museum in Aguilar's hometown of Los Angeles, “Show and Tell” serves as an encapsulation of the career of an incredibly brave artist.
Windy City Soul Club
Northern Soul, Motown hits and cuts by regional musicians blast from the speakers at this monthly dance party, hosted by the Empty Bottle. Sing along to classic R&B tunes or dance under the venues sparkling disco ball, while the Windy City Soul Club DJs provide the all-vinyl soundtrack to your revelry (and introduce you to some new artists to add to your Spotify playlists).
Art on theMART
Five nights a week, a 25-story-tall video installation takes over the side of the Merchandise Mart, filling the building's historic facade with vibrant colors and moving images. Harnessing 34 digital projectors, the show features work by a rotating lineup of artists and is best viewed from Wacker Drive or the Riverwalk, between Wells and Orleans Streets. Art on theMART lights up the night Wednesday through Sunday, with projections beginning approximately 15 minutes after sunset.
Remember the Alamo
Soft-rock icon Phil Collins plays a surprisingly central role in Remember the Alamo, Nick Hart’s moving if messy meditation on Mexican-American identity. This being a Neo-Futurists production, the show is an effervescently self-aware combination of elements: sketches, musical numbers, pop-culture references, shadow puppetry and personal stories from the performers, to name a few.
“The Whole World a Bauhaus”
Germany's famed Bauhaus art and design school only existed for a mere 14 years (1919 through 1933), but the influence of the institution's holistic approach to creation still resonates in contemporary art, graphic designs and architecture. "The Whole World a Bauhaus" celebrates the 100th anniversary of the school's founding, exploring the output of its students and faculty through an exhibition that includes everything from a ceramic coffee pot produced in a Bauhaus workshop to vintage printed publications that still exude a sense of modernity. After gazing at the artifacts, visitors can walk next door to the McCormick House—a modular structure that was designed by former Bauhaus director Ludwig Mies van der Rohe—or explore the original Bauhaus school through a virtual reality experience. It's the exhibit's only U.S. engagement, so it's well worth a trip to Elmhurst.
Chicago European Union Film Festival
The Gene Siskel Film Center's annual European Union Film Festival serves as North America's largest showcase for films from European Union nations, including countries like Austria, Belgium and Croatia. This year's program features more than 60 films, representing all 28 EU nations. Highlights of the lineup include Romanian murder mystery Thou Shalt Not Kill, German teen drama Tiger Milk, Spanish animated film Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles and Hungarian Cold War comedy Lajkó--Gypsy in Space.
“A Tale of Today: Yinka Shonibare CBE”
Contemporary art comes to the Driehaus Museum for the very first time, when the Gilded Age mansion hosts Shonibare’s sculptures dressed in colorful high-Victorian costumes and two collections of photographs. The British-Nigerian artist's work is spread throughout the house, contrasting the humor and irony of his creations with the beautiful, antiquated spaces in which they reside.
wndr museum
Step inside one of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's famous Infinity Mirror Rooms at this new pop-up exhibition, which features installations that blend art and science. Other attractions include a “zero-gravity ball pit” that uses helium balloons and fans to simulate a weightless version of the childhood attraction, a floor that reacts to your footsteps and a gigantic screen that replicates your image with black and white discs. According to a press release, the exhibit will remain on display for a “limited, but undetermined, amount of time,” so you might want to book tickets sooner rather than later. Oh, and if you happen to use the restroom during your visit, definitely go ahead and press the red button.
“Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera”
Best known for her photos of dolls and miniature objects (as well as for being the mother of Girls creator and star Lena Dunham), New York artist Laurie Simmons creates work that views reality through a surreal lense. The MCA's career retrospective, entitled "Big Camera/Little Camera," includes works that explore scale, female gender roles and the artificiality of social media. In addition to photographs, guests can view a collection of the miniature props that Simmons used in her imagery, sculptures that comment on society's obsession with the female body and a trio of short films, including one in which actress Meryl Streep interacts with vintage puppets. In acknowledgement of Simmons' activism in the realm on gender inequality, the MCA will offer $12 tickets (81 percent of the regular $15 admission price) to those affected by the gender pay gap through the duration of the show's run.
