Jonny could make jokes about ruby mantillas, clicking castanets, drag duennas and short men in very high heels and very tight trousers. But the flamenco tradition of Spain is far too rich and noble, and it will be celebrated today through Sept. 14 in Viva Flamenco!, offering live music and dance performances, cutting-edge flamenco films plus workshops. The various events will be held at the HotHouse performance center in the South Loop, at the Gene Siskel Film Center, at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and at the Chicago Flamenco Arts Center, 3755 N. Western. These are the places to be if you wish to indulge your senses in the rich music and the colorful, percussive swirl of svelte men and women.
Live performances will be offered by dancers Antonio Vargas, Belen Maya and Elena Andujar, with instrumental and vocal performances by Tomas de Utrera, Paco Javier Jimeno, Rocio Bazan and Mayte Martin among others. Tickets for various events range from $8 to $30. Call the Instituto Cervantes, ( 312 ) 335-1996; or HotHouse, ( 312 ) 362-9707; or the Old Town School, ( 773 ) 728-6000.
Now, if you REALLY want to do duenna drag, Jonny insists the best place to show it off is Grant Park this Saturday ( Sept. 8 ) . That's the date of the third annual Stars of Lyric Opera in Concert at the Petrillo Music Shell. Darlings, all the opera queens are certain to be there to hear sexy Sam Ramey, Johan Botha, Jean-Philippe Lafont, Dolora Zajick and Svetla Vassileva among others. The orchestra will be conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and Bruno Bartoletti. The free concert will feature Russian, French and Italian selections. Concert time is 7:30, but Jonny warns you to come early if you want one of the several thousand seats or a prime piece of lawn: last year, 30,000 people turned out. That's a big enough crowd to crush even a cast-iron mantilla.
Speaking of divas...we were, weren't we?...the great Alexandra Billings will add yet another feather to her substantial artistic war bonnet as she makes her debut as a director with the upcoming production of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Billings will stage the evergreen Charles Busch camp classic for Broutil & Frothingham Productions, with previews beginning Sept. 30 at the Theatre Building. The regular run will continue through Nov. 2. Those who are very ancient like Jonny will remember that when Billings still could pass for an ingenue, she made her acting debut in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. That was in 1987.
Speaking of divas...we were, weren't we?...the star this time around will be Ms. Honey West as Succubus. Yes, dear readers, La Billings will be ordering La West around, and telling her where to park it. Love to be a fly on that wall! The cast of eight also features one of Jonny's favorite boy ingenues, Stephen Rader.
Bailiwick Repertory's annual Pride Series is proving to be a fertile launching pad for new, gay plays, two of which have been picked up for additional productions. Howard Casner's gay ghost play Endless Night ... Sweet Delight, which premiered at Bailiwick in 2000, is just completing its New York debut, Aug. 8-Sept. 7, at the Wings Theatre Company. And Bailiwick artistic director David Zak tells Jonny that Ice/Age, which had its world premiere this season, will be produced by the San Francisco's Theatre Rhinoceros.
Want to be a savior for the Uptown Theatre renovations? They are desperately in need of donors. They need to raise $1.5 million by Oct. 4, or guaranteed loans in this amount. Otherwise they will have to renegotiate their contract at a considerable loss. Contact Uptown Theatre and Center for the Arts at www.uptowntheatrechicago.com, or call ( 773 ) 561-5700.
To close on a serious note, many Chicago theaters have planned special programs to mark the 9/11 one year anniversary. Prop Thtr Group offers a free reading of Three Weeks from Paradise, a monologue by Israel Horowitz dealing with 9/11 events. It will be presented at 8:15 p.m. on 9/11 at 4225 N. Lincoln. Call ( 773 ) 486-7767. The Goodman Theatre downtown offers the moving Off-Broadway show, The Guys, commissioned as a tribute to lost New York firemen, Sept. 10-22. Word is, all tickets for the first week are gone. Stellar local actors Mary Beth Fisher and B. J. Jones are featured. Finally, Great Beast Theater offers two one-act plays, Stories from New York, Sept. 7-Oct. 5 at 1257 W. Loyola. The 9/11 show will be a benefit for Chicago police and fire fighters. Call ( 312 ) 409-2135.
