Saluting a legend
An impressive list of performers will be on hand for Porchlight Music Theatre’s 25th anniversary festival and fundraiser Porchlightpalooza. The three-day event includes performances from a long list of Chicago singer-actors, highlights from Porchlight’s award-winning productions and a celebration of iconic performer Joel Grey, including well wishes from celebrities (Kristin Chenoweth, Raul Esparza, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters) and an interview with Grey by Bill Kurtis. The festival streams at 7 p.m. Aug. 21-23. It’s free but donations are appreciated. Visit porchlightmusictheatre.org.
Parks press play
The annual Chicago Park District series Movies in the Parks continues through Sept. 11. A summer ritual for families, the movies are shown Monday-Friday evenings in parks across the city. Titles include “The Last Dragon,” “Frozen II,” “Toy Story 4” and many more. A maximum of 100 people will be admitted per screening and the Park District asks that people wear face masks and remain seated and observe social distancing during the movie. Admission is free, and all movies begin at dusk, weather permitting. For the season’s lineup visit chicagoparkdistrict.com/movies-parks; call (312) 742-1134 to check for weather-related cancellations.
Talking comedy
The National Comedy Center’s virtual edition of its Lucille Ball Comedy Festival continues weekends through Aug. 30. Featured are in-depth conversations with a diverse lineup of artists from stand-up, theater, television and film including Bill Engvall, Howie Mandel, Tiffany Haddish, Kenan Thompson, Aidy Bryant and Lolly Adefope, Judy Gold, Mark Russell, “Weird Al” Yankovic and more. The festival concludes with a tribute to the late Carl Reiner. For more information, visit anywhere.comedycenter.org/pages/livestream
Revisiting ‘Eastland’
Lookingglass Theatre hosts a watch party of its acclaimed 2012 production of Andrew White’s balladlike musical “Eastland.” With songs by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, it recounts the 1915 Eastland disaster in which a boat overfilled with workingclass immigrant families capsized on the Chicago River. White and Pluess will take part in a postshow discussion. The event is dedicated to the late singer-songwriter Michael Smith, who portrayed the ship’s captain and balladeer. The stream at 7 p.m. Aug. 20 is free, but donations in support of Lookingglass are appreciated. Visit lookingglasstheatre.org.
Virtual roots
The Square Roots Festival moves online with music and an array of packages highlighting the food, craft beer and artisan goods that usually line Lincoln Avenue during the annual event in Lincoln Square. Beginning Aug. 23 the packages will be available for purchase and pickup. The Square Roots music curated by the Old Town School of Folk Music streams from 6-8 p.m. on Aug. 29 and features the soul duo The O’My’s, indie rockers Dehd, Sicangu Lakota hip-hop artist Frank Waln, Puerto Rican ensemble Bomba con Buya and Andrew Sa and the Cosmic Country Showcase Band. For more information, visit squareroots.org.
Sundance shorts
The Music Box Theatre streams the 2020 Sundance Film Festival Short Films, an 80-minute program featuring six films — fiction, documentary and animation —from around the world. The lineup includes the Short Film Grand Jury Prize winner, “So What If the Goats Die,” Sofia Alaoui’s drama about a young shepherd who must battle the snow blocking him from getting food for his herd. The weeklong stream ($10) begins Aug. 21. Visit musicboxtheatre.com.
Latin music fest
Area Latino bands perform at the daylong, drive-in Los de Chicago Festival on Aug. 22. Doors open at 1 p.m. and the music begins at 3 p.m. with Herencia Zacatecana and continues with Los Orejones, Los K-Bro’s, La Bandena, Banda Enkantadora, Codigo Verde and El Nuevo Ejemplo. Also included is a midnight screening of “La Bamba,” the biopic starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens, the rock ’n’ roll singer who died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly. At SeatGeek Stadium, 7000 S. Harlem, Bridgeview. Tickets start at $125 per car. Visit seatgeekstadium.com.
Honoring suffragettes
As old statues come down, one of note is going up in New York’s Central Park. The Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument is a 14-foot bronze statue, created by sculptor Meredith Bergmann, featuring Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, three leaders of the fight for women’s right to vote. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the constitutional amendment that guaranteed this right, it will be unveiled in a streamed ceremony at 7 a.m. Aug. 26. For more information, visit monumentalwomen.org.
Mary Houlihan is a Chicago freelance writer.
