Hey, maybe we’ll get an hour or two of dry weather this weekend, and you can get out and enjoy yourself. What is this, goddamn Seattle?
FRIDAY
A Hip Hop state of mind: Krannert Center is presenting the “Hip-Hop Project: Insight into the Hip-Hop Generation” each night from Thursday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and again on Sunday at 3 p.m. From the event description: “The party will get cranking by a deejay in the theatre before dancers, poets, graffiti artists, and emcee B-Boy All Star expose the political, social, economic, and religious truths lived by the hip-hop generation. Instead of hiding from the policies begun under Reaganomics, characters representing hip-hop archetypes give voice to their thoughts on music, sex, respect, art, death, politics, and fashion. Part of the evolution of theatre, this piece thoughtfully and playfully demystifies the worldwide revolution that is hip hop.” Tickets are $15 for the general public and $9 for U of I students.
Decisions, decisions: There are several enticing live music options tonight, including: Columbus, Ohio’s Times New Viking at the Courtyard, Chicago’s Brighton MA heading a four-band bill at Cowboy Monkey, and Blitzen Trapper at Canopy. So where are you headed?
SATURDAY
This might be the garden spot of the whole country: Head over to the Virginia Theatre at either 1 or 7 p.m. for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. If you haven’t already seen this classic, then do yourself a favor and plop down the five bucks. You won’t be sorry. It features Katharine Ross in her absolute prime, Paul Newman as affable and charismatic as you’d expect, and Robert Redford as the diffident badass. And Bolivia is a sight to behold.
Some sample quotes to get you in the mood:
“Kid, the next time I say, ‘Let’s go someplace like Bolivia,’ let’s GO someplace like Bolivia.”
“The future’s all yours, you lousy bicycles.”
“Rules? In a knife fight? No rules.”
“Don’t you get sick of being right all the time?”
It’s a-gonna be awesome.
I Am Rachel Corrie: This is the second weekend of the three-week run of “I Am Rachel Corrie” at the Station Theatre. Showtime is at 8 p.m. each night, and tickets are $15 on Friday and Saturday night, and $10 on Thursday and Sunday.
Rachel Corrie was “an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who was killed by a bulldozer operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) while attempting to prevent IDF forces from demolishing the home of local Palestinian pharmacist Samir Nasrallah.”
This must be the tribute act: The Canopy Club welcomes This Must be the Band: Tribute to Talking Heads Saturday night. With the 25th anniversary of the Talking Heads’ landmark film “Stop Making Sense” fresh in our minds, expect a lot of energy from this performance. This Must Be the Band stole the show at the Urbana Sweet Corn Festival earlier this year, but note to self: Don’t request any Tom Tom Club songs or express your disappointment for lack of big suits. Trust me. The show starts around 10:30 p.m. and tickets are $10 in advance.
SUNDAY
Ticklin’ the ivories: Experience some high-quality classical music at the Urbana Free Library on Sunday afternoon. “Sam Gingher, winner of the Tenth Annual 21st Century Piano Commission Competition at the University of Illinois is set to perform on Sunday, October 18 at 2 p.m. at the Urbana Free Library as part of its ongoing free concert series. Gingher, a DMA candidate in piano performance and literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will entertain with classical works by Beethoven, Bach, Liszt, Bartok, and even a few novelty rags. In addition to being an accomplished pianist, Gingher fosters many other interests: he has composed many pieces for piano and has studied a range of musical instruments, including the didjeridu, bagpipes and accordion. Seating is limited for this event.”
Fighting can be hot: Stefan Brun and Jenny Magnus are kicking off their Guest-in-Residence stint at Allen Hall on Sunday night with a presentation called “Seductive Contentiousness.” They’re Chicago theater folks, married partners, and co-parents, and they ask, “Can they make it through an evening without an argument? Should they even try?” “Seductive Contentiousness” is followed by Magnus presenting a musical performance called “Room — An Excerpt.”