Redmoon Theater has teamed with the Chicago Park District and the City of Chicago to present The Great Chicago Fire Festival, an inaugural theatrical spectacle to celebrate the city's strength and resurgence following the Great Fire of 1871. Highlights of the event include fireworks, specially built houses on the river that will be set ablaze, plus celebrity grand marshals Jesse Spencer and Taylor Kinney of the NBC drama Chicago Fire to commence the performance with a "cauldron drop."
The Great Chicago Fire Festival takes place along the Chicago River between State Street and Columbus Drive on Saturday, Oct. 4. Activities begin at 3 p.m. with a pre-show bazaar along the riverwalk. The cauldron drop from river bridges is at 8 p.m., with the grand spectacle performance on the Chicago River lasting until 9:30 p.m. Admission is free; visit www.chicagofirefestival.com .
CRITICS' PICKS
The Midnight City, Firecat Projects at Steppenwolf Garage, through Oct. 19. A son of the Big Shoulders with a heart even bigger, artist-poet-raconteur Tony Fitzpatrick brings his candor to one last show before departing his beloved city. MSB
Miracles of the Fall, Polarity Ensemble at Greenhouse Theatre, through Oct. 5. Chuck O'Conner's parable of a devout Catholic family thrown into turmoil by the upheaval of America in 1968 is recoutned with old-school craftsmanship reminiscent of Eugene O'Neill. MSB
Native Son, Court Theatre, through Oct. 19. Nambi E. Kelley's world premiere adaptation of Richard Wright's landmark novel is a taut, powerful and deeply unsettling portrait of a young African-American man on Chicago's South Side whose life spirals out of control when he commits an accidental murder. SCM
The Whaleship Essex, Shattered Globe Theatre at Theater Wit, through Oct. 4. It's no fish story in this stylish telling of a true early 19th century American whaling tale, the inspiration for Moby Dick. Slow at first, it gathers critical mass as seamen fight for survival and their souls. It's athletically staged against beautiful projected images. JA
By Abarbanel, Barnidge
and Morgan