Ocelopotamus

The trees are budding in Chicago this week, and the darling buds of the fringe performance scene are in full crazy spring bloom as well. There’s so much going on that if I’m not careful, I might use up all my item bullets, and then I wouldn’t have any for next week! Well, anyway, here are a few of the choicest blossoms …

• Sean Benjamin’s new play Poker Night at the White House opens at the Neo-Futurarium this weekend. It’s about Warren G. Harding, and the cast includes Jay Torrence and Noelle Krimm. That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it?
• The freakishly talented troupelet known as Boy Girl Boy Girl will be performing at the Uptown Writer’s Space (4802 N. Broadway, #200) this Sunday evening, April 22, at 7pm. Suggested donation is $5. This show will consist of performances inspired by Italo Calvino’s short story “The Distance of the Moon,” and will feature all four of BGBG’s founding members (Susan Karp, David Kodeski, Stephanie Shaw, and Edward Thomas-Herrera), as well as the BGBG Ladies’ Auxiliary (Rachel Claff and Diana Slickman). I can’t help pointing out that with this lineup, they should really be calling themselves Boy Girl Boy Girl Girl Girl, but that sort of thing is exactly the reason I don’t get invited to many parties anymore. (Hat tip to the Neo-Futurist blog, whence I stole the photo above. Which is missing Stephanie Shaw, by the by, in case you’re wondering why there are only five in it.)
• Meanwhile, Theater Oobleck’s show The Strangerer is re-opening at Links Hall and will run there from April 20-May 12. Visit the Oobleck site for all the details. I wrote a mini-review of the show, which you can read here, at the end of its previous run a few weeks ago.
• Hell in a Handbag productions has a wildly glamorous fundraiser this Tuesday night, April 24, to benefit their 2007-2008 season. It’ll be an evening of “food, drink, eyeliner, and entertainment Handbag style,” including songs from past, future, and imaginary shows.
• Some of you might remember a way fabulous band called Analog Radio who played in the “Way of the Worrier” edition of The Partly Dave Show in March of 2004. Analog Radio are no more, but Dann Morr has a new band these days, and they’re every bit as catchy and tuneful as AR. They’re called Dann Morr & The New Fiction, and they’ll be playing at the Abbey Pub on Wednesday April 25 at 8pm. Hear some song samples on the band’s MySpace page.
• Wednesday the 25th is also opening night for Vox Pandora, a new play by current Neo-Futurist Bilal Dardai. See the New Leaf Theatre site for more info on the show.
• Local poet Richard Fox has a video installation up at the Hyde Park Art Center, as part of a show called “For Public Consumption.”
• And finally, don’t you dare forget about the upcoming “Party Mix Edition” of The Partly Dave Show on May 2nd. Less than two weeks away now! All the details are in last week’s post.