July 24: Crouching Tiger …
Tired of art that just stands there and expects you to do all the work? Well then the Striding Lion InterArts Festival is for you. The celebration is “designed to break down the barriers between artist and audience,” and it promises performance that is both accessible and meaningful. “Meaningful” interpretive dance for only $12–$15? What are you waiting for? (Although, if you are prone to procrastination, the fest runs until Aug. 3). Head to Holy Covenant United Methodist Church, 925 W. Diversey in Chicago, at 7 p.m.
July 25: midsummer night’s dream
There’s something that rings so true about Shakespeare in the open air. If you’ve never experienced the joy of it, get thyself to Friday’s performance of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” on the front lawn of the Barat Campus of DePaul University in Lake Forest. The free performances will run Thursdays through Sundays until Aug. 10. Grounds open for picnicking at 6 p.m. — and the curtain rises at 10 p.m.
July 26: Symphonic spike
We all know about Spike Lee’s directing prowess, but music too? This Saturday Chicago will find out if Lee knows his notes as well as his cuts as he hosts “The Movie Music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard,” a perspective on the music composed by the jazz trumpeter for Lee’s many films. For the $26-$60 tickets, contact the Symphony Center box office.
July 26: Enter sanitarium
Metallica, the standard in hard rock and roaring stage shows, has joined forces with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Mudvayne and the Deftones to make this year’s “Summer Sanitarium” tour louder than ever. Check out the $75 tickets to the show at the Hawthorne Race Course or be forever “Unforgiven.”
July 27: Start young
If it has always been your dream to become a famous art collector, this Sunday is your chance to get in on the ground floor. Students and faculty members of the Evanston Art Center’s metal sculpture and figure sculpture departments will be selling work on the Art Center’s lawn from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Get ’em while they’re unknown — and thus affordable.
