JANUARY Highlights

Faculty members Alison Boden, Michael Behnke and Trip Driscoll performed in last yearís show, Space Oddity 2001

Preview performance: 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 (show only). $25 reserved section, $15 open seating.

Gala performance: cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $50 in advance, $60 at the door. Cost includes dinner with wine and the show.

The Quadrangle Club Revels, which began in 1904 at the University and ended in the 1960s, was revived last year and will return again this year to perform Cover Story, an original musical comedy by Bob Ashenhurst, Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Business, and Ned Rosenheim, the David B. & Clara E. Stern Professor Emeritus in English Language & Literature and the College. The cast, which played to a sold-out crowd at last yearís performance, includes University faculty members and friends of the Quadrangle Club. The performances are open to the public. For tickets, call Cassandra Swift at the Quadrangle Club at 493-8601.

Contemporary Chamber Players

eighth blackbird

eighth blackbird

8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19

Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. 702-7300. $15 general, $8 students.

The Contemporary Chamber Players will begin its 38th season with a program by Associate Artists-in-Residence eighth blackbird. The program will feature commissioned works by Minimum Security Collective, Thomas Albert, Randolph Coleman and Frederic Rzewski, including three Chicago premieres.

The Renaissance Society

Still from Q4U, Feng Mengbo, 2002

“Feng Mengbo: Q4U”

Sunday, Jan. 13 through Sunday, Feb. 24

A talk with the artist will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13.

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

Room 418, Cobb Hall, 5811 S. Ellis Ave. 702-8670. Free.

For his exhibition at The Renaissance Society, Beijing-based artist Feng Mengbo has created Q4U, a customized version of Quake 3, the popular Internet game whose plot is simply kill or be killed. Quake was designed by id software, the makers of the hit game Doom, which alongside Mortal Kombat, both released in 1993, set new standards in video game violence. The latest version, Quake 3, is written in open code, a feature that allows users to customize the game. Q4U is extensively customized, featuring a 3-D likeness of Mengbo, holding a video camera in one hand and a plasma rifle in the other. Given the dynamic audio-visual of contemporary video games, Q4U is formally stunning. It is projected over three large screens (10 feet x 13 feet), each featuring a different point of view. There will be three play stations in the gallery, and from China, Mengbo will engage players via the Internet throughout the exhibition. He also will take on local competitors in Quake 3 from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13 at the gallery.

University of Chicago Presents

Christian Tetzlaff, violin

Christian Tetzlaff, violin, and Leif Ove Andsnes, piano

8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17

Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. 702-8068. $29 general, $11 students.

In his Chicago recital debut, violinist Christian Tetzlaff will join pianist Leif Ove Andsnes for a Chamber Music Series performance in Mandel Hall. The program will include sonatas by Bartok, Beethoven and Schumann.