Andrew Sullivan at Elmhurst April 2
Journalist, blogger and author Andrew Sullivan will present "The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage" on Thursday, April 2, at Elmhurst College.
Sullivan's talk will begin at 7 p.m. at the Frick Center, 190 Prospect Ave.
Through his blog The Dish—which began in 2000 and ended in February—Sullivan chronicled major political and cultural moments, reaching 1.3 million subscribers.
Sullivan was The New Republic's youngest editor-in-chief. After working for TIME and The New York Times Magazine, he served as a senior editor for The Atlantic.
Admission is is $10 for the general public and free for Elmhurst College students, faculty, staff and alumni; visit www.elmhurst.edu/tix.
'Wonka Ball: Warhol' April 10
About Face Theatre's annual gala Wonka Ball—which has the theme "Warhol" this year—will take place Friday, April 10, Moonlight Studios, 1446 W. Kinzie St.
Guests are invited to step into Warhol's infamous factory for one night only. The soiree will start at 8 p.m., with the VIP cocktail reception at 7 p.m. Attendees are invited to experience live, Warhol-inspired art-making by Matthew Lew, JoJo Baby and Edgewater Workbench; short experimental films by Warhol and contemporary Chicago filmmakers; a punch-out prize wall; a photo booth; and more.
Tickets are $150-$200 each; visit www.AboutFaceTheatre.com or call 773-784-8565.
Billie Holiday birthday event April 6-7
"Ladies Sing the Blues: A Billie Holiday Centennial Birthday Celebration" will take place at Davenport's Piano Bar, 1383 N. Milwaukee Ave., on April 6-7, at 7:30 p.m.
Music from Holiday's Columbia, Commodore, Verve and Decca catalogue will be sung by Chicago jazz, blues and cabaret artists, including Amy Armstrong, Kimberly Gordon, Sophie Grimm, Lynne Jordan, Frieda Lee, Liz Mandeville, Tecora Rogers and Jeannie Tanner.
Tickets are $32 prepaid, and $37 at the door; there's also a two-drink minimum. Visit reservations.davenportspianobar.com .
'Music for Matthew' May 3 at Southport
"Music for Matthew," a benefit for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, will take place Sunday, May 3, at 6-10 p.m. at Southport & Irving, 4000 N. Southport Ave.
Jazz singer Elaine Dame will host the event. Dame gigs regularly at The Rainbow Room in New York City and has performed at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Cultural Center. She is slated to perform at the 2015 Chicago Jazz Festival.
The restaurant has offered to donate 10 percent of the proceeds to the foundation, and there is a $5 suggested donation. See southportandirving.com/events-2/ .
Trans film showing at Siskel on April 6
The 2014 trans-themed film Kumu Hina will be part of the 20th Annual Asian American Showcase at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.
Kumu Hina is about native Hawaiian teacher and cultural activist Hina, a transgender woman planning on marrying a younger man. According to the center's website, the film shows "Hina's charismatic leadership as role model and communicator of Hawaiian language and heritage as she embodies the ancient tribal tradition of the mahu, a revered two-spirit person who combines male and female energies."
The film will show Monday, April 6, at 8:15 p.m., and the 20th Annual Asian American Showcase will run April 3-16. ( A couple of the other movies in the showcase are 9-Man, a look at a little-known sport that the Chinese claim as their own; and Made in Japan, which profiles Tomi Fujiyama, Japan's first female country-western singer. ) Purchase tickets at www.siskelfilmcenter.org .
McCartney, Sam Smith slated for Lollapalooza
Legendary musician Paul McCartney and out crooner Sam Smith are just two of the acts slated to perform at Chicago's Lollapalooza.
More than 125 acts are scheduled to play on eight stages, including Alabama Shakes, Florence + the Machine, TV on the Radio, Kid Cudi, Metallica, Marina and the Diamonds, George Ezra, FKA Twigs and A$AP Rocky.
The event will return for its 11th year at Grant Park on July 31-Aug. 2. Visit www.lollapalooza.com/tickets/ .
Cinema Q V Film Series through May
The free film series Cinema Q returns (and celebrates five years) with four film screenings Thursdays throughout May at 6:30 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
The movies slated to be shown are the documentary I Am Divine (May 7); Violette (May 14), about the personal life and work of bisexual French feminist writer Violette Leduc; Beautiful Boxer (May 21), the true story of trans female kickboxer Parinya Charoenphol; and the 1971 film Death in Venice (May 28).
The Queer Film Society (QFS) is presenting in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and in association with Chicago Filmmakers (the presenting organization of Reeling: The Chicago LGBT International Film Festival) and The Legacy Project.
This series contains mature subject matter; viewer discretion is advised. Email qfsociety1@yahoo.com or visit www.ChicagoCulturalCenter.org for more information.
Dan Savage's adult-film festival April 17-18
Hump!—Dan Savage's "dirty movie festival"—will return to Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., on April 17-18, at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. each night.
A press release reads, " HUMP! Festival is billed an amateur porn festival. But it's really much more than that. ... At HUMP!, straight people watch gay porn, vanilla people watch kinky porn, gay people watch lesbian porn."
Tickets are at HumpTour.com .
'Big Package Auction' April 18
The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus (CGMC) will hold its annual "Big Package Auction" on Saturday, April 18, at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St.
The VIP reception will be 4-5 p.m., with the live auction 5-8 p.m.
Famed performer Lady Bunny will host the live auction.
Tickets are $50-$100, with early-bird discounts on the general-admission passes if purchased by April 13. See http://www.cgmc.org/event/2015/big-package-auction-2015.
Triangle Awards to be given April 23
The 27th annual Triangle Awards—honoring the best LGBT fiction, nonfiction, and poetry published in 2014—will be presented April 23 at the Auditorium of the New School in New York City.
Rigoberto Gonzalez is the 2015 recipient of the Publishing Triangle's Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement, named in honor of the legendary editor of the 1970s and 1980s. Other honors that will be given out are the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction, the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction, the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry, the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry, the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction.
The Publishing Triangle, the association of lesbians and gay men in publishing, began honoring a gay or lesbian writer for his or her body of work a few months after the organization was founded in 1989, and has now partnered with the Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards to present awards each spring.
View calendar of events for the year, updated daily, at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/chicago/events/upcoming.php .
