By Ed Lowe
Senior Writer
Programming plans have been completed for Chicago's 14th annual Humanities Festival. Under the continuing direction of founder Eileen Mackevich, the Festival theme this year will be "Spending and Saving." Programmed around variations on this theme, the Festival will present more than 150 programs in an estimated 35 venues between Oct. 25 and Nov. 9. In addition, there will be a Children's Humanities Festival with an entirely separate program featuring authors of children's books and other programs that will appeal to the younger members of the audience. These programs are free to students and teachers with proper ID.
Five dollar tickets became available to everyone on Sept. 15 through the Festival offices and arrangements can be made by phoning (312) 494-9509. The Festival is an international showcase of ideas designed to help insure that the humanities, in all their manifestations, draw a larger audience. People from all over the country are attracted to the Festival which presents programs of entertainment, intellectual stimulation and cultural diversity.
Most of the venues are located either in the downtown area or on the North Side of the city. Examples of the sort of auditoriums being used for programming include The Chicago Historical Society, Symphony Center, Museum of Contemporary Art, Northwestern University Law School's Thorne Auditorium, Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University and St. James Cathedral. A full schedule of programs and their locations is available by calling the Festival office at (312) 494-9509.
One of the features of the Festival is the fact that ticket prices for all the programs have been held to a modest $5 based on advance purchase. This insures the widest possible audience for these events.
A pre-festival event will be held on Sept. 18 honoring composer and lyricist Cy Coleman. Coleman is, perhaps, best known for his musical "Sweet Charity" and for the featured song, "Hey, Big Spender," which sets the keynote for the entire Festival. This event, which is a fund-raiser for the Festival, will be held at the Merle Reskin Theater at 60 E. Balbo at 7 p.m.
Following the examples from previous Festivals, there will be a conversation with Coleman conducted with the Chicago Tribune's theater critic Michael Phillips, and performances of his works. Other musical shows in which Coleman has had a hand include "Barnum," "Little Me," and "City of Angels." Joining Coleman on stage will be Tony winner Lillias White. Tickets for the Coleman event are available through the Reskin box office or by phoning (312) 922-1999.
The Festival itself will kick off with a Gala and a tribute to the team of Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. This event is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 31, at Symphony Center and will be produced by Bernstein protégé Michael Barrett. Featured on-stage performers will include Phyllis Newman, widow of Green who died in 2002. Adolph Green's daughter, Amanda Green, an accomplished cabaret performer, will also appear.
Among the works of these collaborationists are "On The Town" (1945) and "Wonderful Town" (1953). In addition, Bernstein's memorable "West Side Story," is a part of America's musical heritage as are such gems as "Singin' in the Rain," by Comden and Green and "Bells are Ringin'" and "Applause" by Comden and Green. This pair worked with Cy Coleman on such classic shows as "Peter Pan," "Band Wagon," "The Will Rogers Follies," and "On the Twentieth Century."
Among the standout programs being presented is one celebrating the 80th birthday of composer Ned Rorem. To be held on Nov. 9 at Northwestern's Thorne auditorium, the program will begin with a free concert by the CUBE Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. An "intermezzo" discussion with the Tribune's classical music critic, John von Rhein, is scheduled. The discussion with Rorem, who was raised and educated in Chicago, will permit the composer to look back on what he considers a "life well lived."
Another program will feature two full performances of Samuel Beckett's one-man play, "Krapp's Last Tape." The play will be performed by well-known Chicago actor and director D. Nicholas Rudall. The play is being directed by Polish director (and Beckett authority) Antoni Libera and will be performed at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. A post production discussion of the play will be led by retired Tribune drama critic, Richard Christiansen, at the Nov. 2 matinee. The play will be on stage Nov. 1 and 2.
Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison will be on the stage at the First Methodist Church, 77 W. Washington, on Nov. 8 to discuss her latest novel, "Love." She will be interviewed on stage by Barbara Flynn Curry who is the Majority Leader of the Illinois General Assembly.
Italian Filmmaker and comic Roberto Benigni will read, in Italian and English, the final canto of Dante's "Paradiso" on Nov. 1 at Symphony Center. The irrepressible Benigni won an Academy Award for his work on the film "Life is Beautiful," and this performance is the first such reading he has given outside of Italy.
The list of performers goes on, but for complete information, a copy of the extensive program brochure is almost an essential. Sub-themes for this year's Festival include "Founding Fathers," in which the personal lives of some of the most influential founders of our country are examined by a select group of historians. Another sub-group is labeled "Saviors." Bridging religion, popular culture and history, this series will consider the meaning of what's labeled "savior figures," and includes Franklin Roosevelt, Malcolm X, Charles DeGaulle and Elijah Muhammad. Among others, presenters will include historians David Kennedy and Charles Branham, composer Anthony Davis and novelist Michele Roberts.
Another series will examine the theories and lives of three people whose writings have influences the state of our capitalist economy. Those being examined include John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith and Jacob Schumpeter.
Another group of presenters will take a hard looks at our consumerist passions. Yet another will deal with what's titled "Art a la Mode." "Saving our Spaces" will examine the ecology and urban planning and how they are affected by today's architectural solutions. As always, the Festival will include a group of literary notables who will read from and discuss their works. This group includes Toni Morrison, Tobias Wolff, Lois Lowry and many others. All this will be concluded by programs which will feature Bernie Sahlin's "History of Comedy," Eubie Blake's "Tan Manhattan," a Costa-Gravas film festival and much, much more.
The amount of effort needed to plan an event as expansive as the Humanities Festival is awesome, and credit to Eileen Mackevich and her staff of professionals and volunteers is almost never adequate. Chicago is the only city in the country to host an event as extensive as this Humanities Festival and Chicagoans who have taken advantage of its diversity in years past will be in the forefront of the audience for this year's programming.
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