205 E. Randolph St.

fertieg95

Show: A Brief History of Helen of Troy In Mark Schultz's 2005 drama, 15-year-old Charlotte has just lost her mom. Her dad is worse than useless to her, his grief expressing itself as verbal abuse on those rare and ugly occasions when he engages her at all. So Charlotte goes a little mad. "A production I saw in London was agonizing but ultimately powerful. Joanie Schultz's staging for Steep Theatre gets to the same place by an alternate route, finding more comedy in Charlotte's misadventures—until the pain kicks in in earnest," writes Tony Adler.
1504 E. 55th St., 773-493-1394, lapetitefolie.com
Dinner: Henri "The 'energetically American, French-influenced' Henri is more than an elegant follow-up to its boisterous neighboring sibling, the Gage," writes Mike Sula. "It's a smart kick in the dangling prairie oysters of gastropubbery: chandeliers, Laguiole knives, velvet walls (with faux gator skin in the bathroom),[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], salt and pepper shakers, ballotines, bouillabaisse, and escargots de Bourgogne?"
18 S. Michigan Ave., 312-578-0763, henrichicago.com
Dinner: Vincent Chef Joncarl Lachman (HB Home Bistro) has teamed up with Lynn Malec on this Amsterdam-inspired restaurant and bar in the former La Tache space.
2607 N. Milwaukee, 773-278-7300
9 PM, Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie, 773-252-6179 or 800-838-3006, lsachicago.com, $15, $12 in advance, 18+.
8 PM, Reggie's Rock Club,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 2109 S. State, 312-949-0121 or 866-468-3401, reggieslive.com/rockclub, $10, 17+.
Dinner: Socca is airy and spacious, with a menu of French and Italian country fare. It's named after a French chickpea-flour crepe — chef Roger Herring's version is stuffed with grilled shrimp and served beside a garlicky chickpea puree and a refreshing salad of tomato, cucumber, and red onion.
7:30 pm, Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., 312-846-2600, siskelfilmcenter.org
2120 S. Canal St., 312-225-2113, laurencesfisheries.com
Performing Arts
Music
7:30 pm, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., 773-327-5252, theatrebuildingchicago.org, $22-$32
Show: Sesame Street at 40: Milestones on the Street Produced by the Jim Henson Legacy, this video compilation surveys four decades of the landmark educational series, its clips both fascinating and hugely entertaining. See J.R. Jones's in-depth review for more.
Show: Soul Kitchen After his deeply tragic drama The Edge of Heaven (2007), German writer-director Fatih Akin does a 180-degree turn with this exuberant restaurant comedy. Akin was born in Hamburg to Turkish parents, and like his more serious movies, this one is preoccupied with cross-cultural tensions in a fast-moving world.
Dinner: La Petite Folie Michael and Mary Mastricola, both former U. of C. students and longtime Hyde Park residents, decamped to Paris in the mid-90s so Mary could attend the Cordon Bleu cooking school, then returned to Chicago to open this charming restaurant serving spectacular baguettes and a wide range of French classics with a menu that changes frequently.
1475 W. Balmoral Ave., 773-334-7168, vincentchicago.com

Dinner: The Purple Pig Snout-to-tail cooking is the name of the game at The Purple Pig, a convivial take on an Italian enoteca from Scott Harris (Mia Francesca), Jimmy Bannos Sr. (Heaven on Seven), and chef Jimmy Bannos Jr., who honed his skills at Mario Batali's New York restaurants.
Movies
Show: Company This Griffin Theatre production finds unexpected depths in the landmark 1970 musical by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth, a collection of seriocomic sketches examining the way husbands and wives wound and support each other.
Dinner: Ciao Napoli Pizzeria Neopolitan pizza place also offering handmade pastas and a late-night menu.
Dinner: Lawrence's Fisheries In the shadow of a trestle bridge spanning the Chicago River, this family-run fried seafood emporium has been around since 1971, and its rickety steps show it. Inside there’s a wealth of options: fried shrimp, scallops, frog legs, catfish, perch, cod, oyster, clam strips, popcorn shrimp, and something called “seafood nuggets,” all served with your choice of house-made cocktail or hot sauce.
Show: Soviettes In the early aughts Minneapolis pop-punk band the Soviettes released three albums full of fiercely efficient guitars, sucker-punching drums, and gleeful group-shout vocals. They went on hiatus in 2005 but reunited this spring to push a rarities collection; after traveling to Gainesville, Florida, to perform at last month's Fest 9, they're bringing their charms back to the midwest.
8 pm, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St., 312-334-7777, harristheaterchicago.org
The Blog
Show: River North Chicago Dance Company "In the unstable universe of Risoluta, a new piece for five men and four women by New York-based choreographer Sidra Bell, duets are the norm. But partners are in constant flux, and there's always at least one odd man out. The lone wolves stalk the periphery, eyeing their rivals. With its taut limbs, alert torsos, and icy stares, Risoluta is a kind of feral mixer," writes Laura Molzahn.
500 N. Michigan Ave., 312-464-1744, thepurplepigchicago.com
8 pm,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Steep Theatre, 1115 W. Berwyn Ave., 312-458-0722, steeptheatre.com
3301 N. Clark St., 773-248-1155, soccachicago.com
Show: Luisa Maita is one of three sisters named after songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim ("Ana Luisa," in her case), and perhaps predictably, samba and bossa nova figure into the music on her recent solo debut, Lero-Lero (Cumbancha). But this young singer from Sao Paulo draws just as much inspiration from rhythms and forms much less familiar outside Brazil's borders—the elemental baiao from the northeastern state of Bahia, for instance, or the musical martial art of capoeira. "Maita draws on an incredibly wide palette, and she's used it to make one of the best Brazilian records I've heard this year," writes Peter Margasak.
Archives | RSS
7 pm, 9 pm, Univ. of Chicago Doc Films, 1212 E. 59th St., 773-702-8575, docfilms.uchicago.edu