The great Broadway and jazz standards should be served up in equal measure with none-too-proper comedy tonight (July 2 only) at
the Big House on Clybourn, as Marna, the Last Lady of Song, shares the stage with the unique Daryl Nitz (perhaps the Second Last
Lady of Song, depending on whom he is impersonating). After an absence of several years, Marna returned to the cabaret scene in
May, debuting at the Big House with an ace trio. Jonny saw her second show, sitting amidst an audience of cabaret celebs who came
to cheer Marna on, among them Alexandra Billings and impresario Ralph Lampkin, Jr. Things will start to cook about 8. Don't say
Jonny didn't warn you. By the way, the Big House has a full menu. It's heavy on meat, if that's your idea of a good time.
Some men have talented lips and some men have talented hands. When Robert Ollis works with his digits, men's clothing
magically slips off their bodies. As musical director of Naked Boys Singing!, Bob waves his hand and guys drop trou for him on cue.
Now Bob is putting together a one-night-only special project, The Best of Times: Bailiwick Sings Jerry Herman. A cast of 10 talented
singers will belt out hummable Herman tunes from Milk and Honey, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, Mack and Mabel, La Cage Aux Folles and
other Herman shows. Sunday, July 20 is the date. The $25 tickets include a pre-show wine and dessert reception. And WTTW's Phil
Ponce will serve as MC. (773) 883-1090.
Next Wednesday (July 9), Steppenwolf Theatre Company and GLBT-friendly Silk Road Theatre Project will host an Afghan dinner
in conjunction with Steppenwolf's production of Homebody/Kabul by out playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America). The dinner (6
p.m., $5) will be followed by a screening of the prize-winning film, Kandahar (7 p.m., free). Both are at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Call (312) 742-TIXS. Homebody/Kabul, directed by Frank Galati, runs July 19-Aug. 31.
Another prominent out playwright, Nilo Cruz, will be in Chicago July 14 to participate in a roundtable discussion as part of the
Goodman Latino Theatre Festival. Last March, Cruz was the surprise winner of the cash-rich Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the even
richer American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg New Play Award for his work, Anna in the Tropics. Watch these pages: Windy
City Times is expected to be the only media outlet in Chicago—print or broadcast—to snare an interview with Cruz. The roundtable is
at 7 pm. at the Goodman Theatre.
Call for screenplays: Cherub Productions, of Boulder, Colo., is seeking submissions for its 5th annual One in Ten Screenplay
Contest, dedicated to the positive portrayal of gays and lesbians in film. There's no promise of a production, but first prize is $1,000
and submission of the script to a major studio. Submission deadline is Sept. 1. Entry forms can be downloaded from . Co-sponsors
include Writers' Script Network, scr(i)pt magazine, Write Brothers and Final Draft.
Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne were the greatest husband-and-wife acting team in American theater history, according to many
critics. There also is a persistent rumor that they were gay, or at least tall, athletic Alfred was. Maybe yes, maybe no. But what is a fact
is that they were close, close friends with the very gay Noel Coward, who wrote the menage-a-trois play, Design for Living, for the
three of them. Well, Alfred and Lynne had a fabulous estate, Ten Chimneys, less than two hours' drive from Chicago at Genesee
Depot, Wisc., west of Milwaukee. After some years of careful restoration, their colorful home is open to the public, and well worth the
trip it is, too, for fans of architecture, decorating and/or theater. We don't know what it means, but Noel Coward was such a frequent
visitor, he had his own bedroom at Ten Chimneys. Many stars visited the Lunts in Wisconsin, among them Katherine Hepburn,
Alexander Woolcott, Laurence Olivier (whom we know for a fact was bisexual), Edna Ferber and Helen Hayes. This Jonny promises:
the estate is both fabulously charming and wonderfully over-the-top. Call (262) 968-4110 for reservations, or download more info at
www.tenchimneys.org .