The Art Institute is FREE in February! Lets take advantage of it. We will check out the Yousuf Karsh exhibit of famous portraits, the return of the impressionist collection, and the rest of the museum. There is also a special Edvard Munch exhibit opening that weekend for $10 which I am not planning to see, but you are welcome to if you want. Apparently it is not timed entry--general admission but you need a ticket. I suggest you go around 3:00 if you want to see it--we should be done with the rest of the museum by then. We will eat lunch in the museum cafeteria around 12:30. Meet inside the lobby near the front door, I will be wearing a meetup button. We will depart for the exhibits at 11:15. Please call 773-818-1343 if you are running late, can't find us, or have questions. This is cross posted with Fun Chicago Single, so please only sign up with 1 group or the other. http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/exhibition/karsh
Hope to see you there!

This looks REALLY interesting, so let's go!
We can get $10 tickets if we get 10 people at least (already up to 8 so far...); otherwise it's $20 plus fees. I will tentatively reserve 10 tickets. It is General Admission seating, so we will all sit together as a group.

To RSVP, payment will be due in advance to me via Paypal to jeudi39@yahoo.com, $11.00 which includes Paypal fee. (Can't do automatically from here because I'm not the main organizer, so please use my E-mail address to Paypal.

Dinner will be arranged before the show somewhere nearby; details to come, along with my cell number to confirmed RSVPs.
-Jeudi (HOST)

The Rotogravure - a cine play
http://therotogravure.com/

A brief synopsis...

Time: The Present

Helen was rarely asked to dinner parties. But she is merely biding her time.

While waiting for her Real Life to begin, Helen daydreams in glorious Technicolor of dashing off to elegant sit-down dinners with hordes of admirers. The black-and-white reality of rent is paid by a combination of waiting tables and copy editing.

Helen tolerates, but barely, phone calls from a guy named James. James works in an office, wears a tie and dreams of sidekicks and chivalry.

An invitation is extended and it seems that their fantasy worlds are coming to life. Helen has an Occasion worthy of her fantasies; James has Someone to bring as his date.

Then reality makes its entrance...

What is a cine play?

It's a multimedia production with film projections and live stage performers interwoven with music, dance and the audience's imagination.

"The Rotogravure" is the inaugural production of Sad Hat Productions, NFP

Join us for this year's Multi-Meetup Holiday Party! There will be good food, dancing, games and prizes. Last year, there were 350 Attendees from 42 participating Meetups. This year, should be even bigger!

Price: $25 per person (100 Early Bird Tickets Available for $20 per person)

To RSVP, view full details and purchase your ticket, go to
http://meetupholiday2008.eventbrite.com/

Be sure to enter "Chicago Cultural Meetup" as your group upon RSVP'ing.

Happy Holidays!

Joy
Group Organizer

All-
It's happening again. Theatre Momentum, my improv theatre company, has two new shows that opened recently. I'd love to get a crowd out to see them. I actually directed one of the two groups, and I'm very proud of both of them. Hope you can make it out!

I'm taking tickets for the show/running lights, so I'll be up front. Tickets are just $10, if you use the discount code CHEAPSKATE, either at the box office or online (details below). Come see the company that the Trib called "a worthy alternative to what you'll find at improv mainstays like the Annoyance or IO". Afterwards, the cast will probably all be hitting a bar down the street (suggestions are welcome, of course), so hang out and mingle!

Here's the details:

Theatre Momentum Offers an Evening of Theatrical Improvisation, beginning November 5th at Oracle Theatre.

Theatre Momentum presents the fourth showcase in their ongoing series of original long-form improvisational shows. The event, featuring two performances, opens Wednesday, November 5 at 8:00 p.m. at the Oracle Theatre, 3809 N Broadway, and runs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. through January 7, 2009. There are no shows December 24 or December 31. Tickets are $12.00/$10.00 for students and seniors. Reservations can be made by calling 773.857.3858.
Tickets may be purchased in advance at Brown Paper Tickets- https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/47385.

Developed through Theatre Momentum's Work(shop)-in-Progress program, both long-forms explore unique forms of storytelling- the overheard story, and the masks we wear and remove.

EAVESDROP, directed by Tony Rielage, tells a story in half-heard conversations, and the rich stories that can be inferred from them. Inference and extrapolation are used to involve the audience in the interpretation of the whole narrative.

POSER, directed by Angie McMahon, explores the different masks we wear with different people, how we fake knowledge, emotions, and our very personality, to fit in- and what happens when those masks slip.

"This piece was inspired by the Landford Wilson play Balm in Gilead and my previous work with the now defunct Free Associates Theater Company," says POSER director Angie McMahon. "With a strong talented cast Poser consistently brings entertaining, gripping, and often hilarious stories to light again and again."

"Theatre Momentum strives to create improvised theatre that is complex and layered," comments Theatre Momentum Artistic Director, Tony Rielage. "These shows touch on the deep, touching, funny, and dark."

EAVESDROP:
F. Tyler Burnett, Tim Dunn, Keith Ecker, David Flora, Kelsie Huff, Tahnee Lacey, Rebecca Levine, Neil O'Callaghan, Craig Rennak, Katie Wadsworth, Tony Rielage (Director)

POSER:
Katy Colloton, Anthony Ellison, David Flora, Kelsie Huff, Tahnee Lacey, John Loos, Annie Rijks, Angie McMahon (Director)

Website: www.TheatreMomentum.com

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Party time, everyone!
It's been way too long since I've thrown a party at my place, so I thought I'd pull one together for Halloween. This one's a little earlier than most, true, but that just means you can party that much harder.

And this party has an excellent theme. I had a conversation with someone a while back about going to a party as "Dollar Store _____" (not gonna tell you what costume), and it struck me as an awesome theme for a Halloween party.

So, here's the scoop- this is your chance to be creative and cool, folks. All your costume items must be from a dollar store or the like. The cheaper and cheesier, the better. If you've got something in your closet already that you're gonna use, keep with the cheap costume aesthetic, because it's hilarious and fun.
I might even be able to pull together some cool prizes for a costume contest, later in the evening.

There will be booze, munchies, and music. I'm going to get a keg and make lots of Hairy Buffalo Punch (I made this last Halloween, actually). It promises to be a good time. Don't worry about bringing anything, food/drink-wise. Since this is also doubling as an excuse to fundraise for my theatre company (yep, everything's an excuse, folks), there will be a $10 cover at the door- but that's all you can drink till the booze disappears! Much better than any night at a bar, for certain.

Hope you can make it out. I'll close off RSVP's two days before, and send out my address to everyone at that time. There'll be lots of people from my theatre company and their friends - so, lots of new faces to mingle with! See you on the 25th!