Jonny wants you to know that Jonny is a Very Important Person who can bring you photos of naked men you won't see in the Filth2Go column in Gay Chicago. Jonny is delighted to reveal the first photo of the cast of Barenaked Lads in the Great Outdoors, the new nudie-cutie musical revue now in rehearsal at Bailiwick Repertory. If you'd care to see more, you'll have to pay for it after the show opens Feb. 21. You know how it is: the cute boys always make you pay for it one way or another. Jonny suspects that a few of Jonny's dear readers are cute boys themselves, and you know EXACTLY what Jonny is talking about!
One of the favorite clever gentlemen of many WCT readers is sleight-of-hand artiste Sean Masterson, who seems to reappear as if by magic once a year with a new show. Masterson, who has nothing up his sleeve but a great deal up his jockey shorts if idle gossip is to be countenanced, opens a new show Feb. 4 at the Music Box Theatre; yes, the famous film house with the big organ on Southport. Masterson's Magic Matinee will be presented at 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through March 4, offering an hour of illusions and audience participation, plus a Laurel and Hardy silent film short, The Bacon Grabbers—a regrettable title suggesting wickedness that may occur in the back rows of darkened movie theaters, or so Jonny has been told. Little Harry Potter wannabes are welcome at the Magic Matinee; their tickets are but $10, otherwise it's $13 for full-grown wizards, witches, warlocks and trolls.
Feminist playwright Eve Ensler is popping up all over the place this month. The Windy City Times already has carried the news that Ensler herself will appear Feb. 28-March 5 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, starring in her solo show The Good Body, in which she portrays a variety of contemporary women of different ages, continents and cultures. Before that, however, the St. Sebastian Players will stage the Chicago premiere of Ensler's Necessary Targets, a drama exploring violence against women in wartime, set against events in the Bosnian conflict. Necessary Targets will run Feb. 10-March 5 at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey. Jonny knows the names of so many saints can be confusing; but the St. Sebastian Players—now celebrating its 25th anniversary—is NOT a church-affiliated theater troupe, while churches such as St. Bonaventure often host performing arts groups.
The runs of both Necessary Targets and The Good Body coincide with the 2006 V-Day Campaign, Feb. 1-March 8, in which funds will be raised for the global movement to end violence against women. Ensler is founder of V-Day, which earns much of its income through benefit performances of her most widely performed play, The Vagina Monologues.
All the click-clacking you hear, all the strumming and thrumming, all the trills and rolled 'r's' are evidence enough that the month-long Flamenco 2006 Festival is underway, presented by Instituto Cervantes and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Flamenco 2006 continues with a few events in March, but the majority of its dance, music and literary events are squeezed into February. Check out Son de la Frontera, something of a world music Flamenco-based ensemble, at Hot House this Friday ( Feb. 3; $15 ) , or the free concert next Monday ( Feb. 6, 7 p.m. ) by composer Javier Ruibal at the Chicago Cultural Center or rising-star guitarist Vincente Amigo at Symphony Center next Tuesday ( Feb. 7, 8 p.m.; $20-$35 ) . We'll have more Flamenco recommendations in next week's Dancin' Feats.
Lisa Rock will rock Davenport's Piano Bar at 8 p.m. every Wednesday in February with her show, Girls Girls Girls: A Coming Out Cabaret, which is directed by Robin Hughes. The shows feature Kenneth McMullen on piano and special guests Kristen Gurbach and Caryn Ott. Call ( 773 ) 278-1830 for reservations; $15 plus two-drink minimum.