Warwick, Dublin, Tibetan Monks, 'Putnam County' Converge on Southland Stages

Chicago (South Side)

Native South Sider and former member of REO Speedwagon, Duke Tumatoe and the Power Trio will delight a hometown audience with a distinctive Tumatoe bluesy rock tonight on the South Side.

When: 8 p.m., April 1.
Where: Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St. (Southwest corner of 111th Street and Western Avenue.
Cost: $15, $12 members
Information: 773-445-3838 and www.beverlyartcenter.org

Chicago Heights

It's fun. It's tragic. It's free, but not exactly a show. The Drama Group presents a free informal play reading of George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House.

As the Drama Group information notes, "Written between 1916 and 1917, Heartbreak House is a telling indictment of the generation responsible for the First World War. With its bold combination of high farce and bitter tragedy, Shaw's work remains an uncannily prophetic depiction of a society on the threshold of an abrupt awakening."

When: 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., April 9
Where: , 330 W. 202nd St. Chicago Heights
Cost: Free 
Information: 708-755-3434 and www.dramagroup.org

Frankfort

Heavenly Voice, the April concert, features acclaimed lyric soprano NaGuanda Nobles who will perform three pieces with the IPO, including the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G major.

Maestro Carmon DeLeone, who steps down as IPO music director after the May concert, will conduct the entire concert.

The program includes Johann Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ah se in ciel, benigne stele, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vocaliseand all four movements of the Mahler symphony.

How does the title Heavenly Voice connect the program pieces? Look for the IPO concert preview article in next week’s Patch for the answer.

When: April 9; 7:15 p.m. free pre-concert discussion, 8 p.m. concert
Where: , 19900 S. Harlem Ave., Frankfort
Cost: $30 to $50, $15 students
Information: 708-481-7774 and www.ipomusic.org 

Joliet

A world of wacky heads to Joliet as award-winning comic Kathleen Madigan brings her stand-up comedy, Gone Madigan to the Rialto Square Theatre. A hit on television as well as in the electronic recording business, she remains "the only comedian in the history of NBC’s Last Comic Standing to go unchallenged by any other artist," the press release states.

When: 8 p.m., April 1
Where: Rialto Square Theatre, 102 N. Chicago St., Joliet
Cost: $20 to $45 through the theater or all Ticketmaster outlets
Information: 815-726-6600 and www.rialtosquare.com

Joliet

Do you know the way to, uh, Joliet? Yes, the legendary Dionne Warwick heads to the Rialto Square Theatre for one concert only.

Songs including Message to Michael, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, Do You Know the Way to San Jose and many more, all chart-toppers, spotlight Warwick’s ability to touch hearts across boundaries of age and culture.

In 1985, Warwick joined with Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder and Elton John to record That’s What Friends Are For, a song that raised millions of dollars for AIDS research. Back in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s every top 40 station spun Warwick’s records.

Today her recordings often hit the “turntable” on oldies stations, and she continues to thrill audiences of all ages on her tours.

When: 8 p.m., April 8
Where: Rialto Square Theatre, 102 N. Chicago St., Joliet
Cost: $39 to $59 through the theater or all Ticketmaster outlets
Information: 815-726-6600 and www.rialtosquare.com

Mokena

Drag out your bobby sox, Wildroot Cream Oil and how about those blue suede shoes?

Celebrated local entertainer David Molinari brings The Fabulous Fifties to the Mokena Community Public Library. Al things retro – black and white TV, poodle skirts, DA haircuts are just a few of the trimmings in this excursion back to the legendary decade. The only thing missing – a DeLorean time machine!

War babies and Baby Boomers (and anyone who loves those golden oldies, the classic 1985 Robert Zemeckis film Back to the Future and, oh yes, Elvis) also will recall hits including Rock around the Clock, Sea of Love, Kansas City and Standing on the Corner, to name a few. Molinari tackles it all as he takes the audience to a once-upon-a-time era.

“Don’t be left out in the Peanut Gallery,” the Mokena press release cautions. “Come on down to the ground zero for a trip to the land of Ozzie (and Harriet)!”

When: 1 to 2 p.m., April 2
Where: , 11227 W. 195th St., Mokena
Cost: Free
Information: 708-479-9663 and www.mokena.lib.il.us

New Lenox

Curtain Call Community Theatre’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee continues for one more weekend. The hilarious and popular musical comedy finds several adolescents vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. A bunch of quirky outsiders add to the fun and the show is pure delight.

Curtain Call is recognized locally as one of several outstanding community theater groups and only a few performances of this production remain.

When: No guarantee tickets are left but show times are 7:30 p.m. April 1 and 2 and at 2 p.m., April 3.
Where: Curtain Call’s Warehouse Theatre, 12535 Old Plank Road, New Lenox
Cost: $15 general admission
Information: 708-699-2228

Oak Forest

Acclaimed Dublin playwright Jimmy Murphy’s tale of a show band’s hopes to reunite and perform for the president of the United States touched a chord with Gaelic Park Players. Starting tonight, the community theater group presents Murphy’s The Castlecomer Jukebox under the direction of Larry Coughlin.

"It’s been years since they dusted off their instruments and took the house down," the press release said. Still, "crooked politicians and greedy dealings" could derail the Dublin musicians’ dream.

Will band members be able to smooth the rugged path ahead or will outsiders destroy their dream, to entertain the president of the United States on his visit to Ireland?

When: 8 p.m. April 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16 and 3 p.m. April 3, 10, 17
Where: , 6119 147th St., Oak Forest
Cost: $12 theater only, two for the price of one opening night only; Sunday dinner theater package $25
Information: 708-687-9323

Oak Lawn

Time to take out those polka outfits! Eddie Korosa Jr. and the Boys from Illinois, polka stars of stage, screen and TV, bring their polka music and more to the Polka Party at the Oak Lawn Public Library. Eddie told SouthScene the afternoon "is a concert polka party with sing-along and old-time songs from the 1930s and ‘40s."

When: 2 to 4 p.m., April 10
Where: , 9427 S. Raymond Ave., Oak Lawn
Cost: Free
Information: 708-422-4990 and www.lib.oak-lawn.il.us

Palos Hills

This weekend brings a rare chance to see the Mystical Arts of Tibet on the Moraine Valley Community College Campus.  

Saturday afternoon, the Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery, will display and then destroy, as part of the ritual, their exotic and complex mandala, a symbolic sand painting created on campus earlier in the week. This ceremony for healing take place at the college library and half the multi-colored  sands will be distributed to the audience.

In the evening, the Tibetan monks perform Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing. The performance will include multiphonic singing and the monks will perform with traditional instruments including drums, cymbals, gyaling trumpets and the 10-foot dung-chen horns. This program rarely comes to Chicagoland, let alone the Southwest Suburbs. 

To get a taste of the sites and sounds, check out .

When: 1:30 p.m. for the afternoon ceremony and 7:30 p.m. for the stage performance.
Where: April 2 afternoon in the college library, evening at the Dorothy Menker Theater, , 9000 W. College Parkway, Palos Hills
Cost: Afternoon event free; theater performance $20, $15 seniors, $10 students
Information: 708-974-5500 and www.morainevalley.edu/FPAC

Palos Park

Palos Park pianist Glenn Martin will perform a program including Robert Schumann's Arabeske and Scenes from Childhood and several songs by Franz Schubert as translated by Franz Liszt.

When: noon to 2 p.m., April 5, luncheon at noon
Where: , 12700 Southwest Highway, Palos Park
Cost: $15, advance registration required
Information: 708-361-3650 and www.thecenter.palos.org 

Park Forest

Tall Grass Arts Association Gallery continues its exhibit, Half the Sky, in celebration of Women’s History Month. The exhibit title is based on a Chinese proverb, “Women hold up half the sky,” Tall Grass details state.

When: Through May 8. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Where: Tall Grass Arts Association Gallery, 367 Artists Walk, Downtown Park Forest
Cost: Exhibits are always free.
Information: 708-748-3377 

Tinley Park

In spite of what the weather says, the Tinley Park Community Theater winds up for its spring performance, Bleacher Bummz, directed by Second City alum Daniel DeWalt.

A parody of the original play Bleacher Bums, the DeWalt script features its own dialogue and a lot of baseball fans cheering on their favorite team, in spite of its many losses (sound familiar?).

"The bleachers have a lot of different characters," DeWalt said. "There’s some guys who will gamble on the game, on anything for that matter. And there’s a husband and wife who challenge each other about his gambling."

And those are just a few of the characters the audience will “meet” at performances.

Oh yes, about those audiences – they are "treated as if they’re part of the bleacher crowd. If you like baseball (or community theater), come on out!"

When: 7 p.m. April 9 and 16; 3 p.m. April 10 and 17
Where: , 16801 S. 80th Ave.
Cost: $12, $10 children and seniors, tickets available at the door and at the park district's and at
Information: 708-342-4200