January-February Highlights

Quadrangle Club Revels
A Mob Musical: An Encomium to Clout and Clichés
8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29
Quadrangle Club, 1155 E. 57th St. Reservations are required. Call (773) 702-2550.
Friday, Jan. 28: tickets are $20 or $10 for students; optional buffet dinner at 6:30 p.m. for $19.95.
Saturday, Jan. 29: tickets are $80, which includes dinner, wine and the show.

Continuing the University tradition of musical farce that began in 1904, the Quadrangle Club Revels will present an original musical comedy, which lightheartedly pokes fun at Chicago’s colorful mob history and at the University’s tradition of intellectualism. This year’s cast includes such talents as Vice President of University Relations Michael Behnke (as Big Rocco the mobster), author Sara Paretsky (as Detective Warshawski), President Randel (as himself), Judge James Zagel (as Judge Bagel) and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Dean Alison Boden (as Nurse Procrastination Malada). Ted Cohen, Professor in Philosophy and the College, and his wife Andy Austin wrote the script and lyrics, with music by Cohen, Robert Ashenhurst, Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Business, and composer Julian Harvey.

The Renaissance Society
“The Here and Now”
Through Sunday, Feb. 20
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Room 418, Cobb Hall, 5811 S. Ellis Ave. 702-8670. http://www.renaissancesociety.org. Free.

This group sculpture exhibition, which features works by Sanford Biggers, Katrin Sigurdardottir and Javier Tellez, looks at what happens when contemporary sculptural practice allows the possibility of discarding the figure in favor of creating gestures that instead include the viewer’s body. From a floating base for the world (Tellez), to street-legal Buddhist bowls (Biggers), to an expansive high-plain mountain landscape (Sigurdardottir), “The Here and Now” presents three works that give physical presence a metaphoric transcendence.

The Committee on Cinema and Media Studies
Singapore Film Festival
Wednesday, Jan. 26 through Saturday, Jan. 28
Unless otherwise noted, most screenings will be held in the Biological Sciences Learning Center, Room 115, 924 E. 57th St. See http://samsu.uchicago.edu/citylights_main.html for a complete schedule/updated locations. Free and open to the University community.

This festival will showcase Singapore’s diverse cinematic gems. A highlight will be the screening of Royston Tan’s films 15 and Cut, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, followed by a Q&A session with the director. Dubbed the new wave auteur of Singapore, Tan was selected as one of Time Asia’s “20 Heroes Under 40” for his “willingness to push the creative envelope [which] has made him a hero to the city’s independent artists.” Tan’s acclaimed film I5, which depicts the dark side of Singapore by focusing on troubled youth, was banned in Singapore. In contrast to 15, the popular film I Not Stupid managed to be somewhat critical of the Singapore government while not offending the ruling party. I Not Stupid will be screened at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, in the Film Studies Center, Cobb Hall, Room 307, 5811 S. Ellis Ave.

Department of Music
University Symphony Orchestra
8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. 702-8069. http://music.uchicago.edu. Tickets are $10 general, $5 students.

In the spirit of the classic film Roman Holiday, the University Symphony Orchestra will present a program of works inspired by the eternal city. The program, titled “Roman Holiday,” includes Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, Bizet’s Roma and Respighi’s The Pines of Rome. Barbara Schubert will conduct.