A+E briefs


Authors, music
Havens booked by Borders

A variety of author and music events are announced by Borders Books and Music, 1500 16th St., Oak Brook.
• Michael Harvey will sign and discuss “The Fifth Floor” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3. A follow-up to his first work, “The Chicago Way,” it opens with a murder in contemporary Chicago and winds its way back to Mrs. O’Leary’s cow and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Private investigator Michael Kelly revives a tantalizing mystery buried in Chicago’s past.
• John Shors will sign and discuss “Beside a Burning Sea” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4. In anticipation of his second novel, author Amy Tan raves, “Shors weaves psychological intrigue by looking at his characters’ competing desires: love, revenge and meaning. Both lyrical and deeply imaginative, ‘Beside a Burning Sea’ confirms again that Shors is an immense talent.”
Set against the backdrop of World War II, it follows a man and woman from separate worlds, as the barbarity of war looms in the distance.
• Singer Richie Havens, of Woodstock fame, will perform at a signing for his new release, “Nobody Left to Crown,” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, featuring his new material.
• Gary Ecelbarger will discuss and sign “The Great Comeback: How Abraham Lincoln Beats the Odds to Win the 1860 Republican Nomination” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12.
For more information, call Borders at (630) 574-0800

Opera, Broadway
Sunday lineup extended

Music lovers and fans of Italian food are invited to hear members of Elgin OPERA and the Elgin Opera Training Ensemble in “A Festival of Singers,” which has been extended through September.
They will perform classics from opera and Broadway from 6 to 8 p.m. each Sunday at the newest Villa Verone, sister to the Geneva location. Elgin OPERA said the restaurant has an upscale, but friendly piano bar setting at 13 Douglas Ave. in downtown Elgin.
For reservations, call Villa Verone at (847) 742-0263 or visit www.villaverone.net. No cover is charged. And for more information on Elgin OPERA, whose artistic director is Solange Sior, call (847) 214-8340.


Author signings
Borders to aim at youth

Two author events are announced by Borders Books and Music, 1 N. La Grange Road, La Grange.
• Tonya Hurley will sign and discuss “ghostgirl” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3. Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible — even worse — she’s dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn’t stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal. In her satirical, yet heartfelt work, Hurley explores the invisibility everyone feels at times and the lengths people will go to be seen.
Hurley’s credits span all platforms of teen entertainment including: creating, writing and producing two hit television series, writing and directing several independent films, developing a collection of video games and board games, and creating and providing content for award-winning Web sites. Her Web site is www.ghostgirl.com.
• Ernest Drake, author of the best-selling “Dragonology” and the new “Monsterology,” will be present for a signing and discussion of his latest book at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10.  Dr. Ernest Dragonologist’s target age is 6 and older.
Do krakens really lurk below the ocean waves? Do griffins command the air above? The intrepid Dr. Drake turns his inquisitive gaze from dragons to other so-called mythical creatures with a presentation on the identification and conservation of the world’s most fantastical beasts. All attendees are eligible to win a complete “Dragonology” book gift pack. Tattoo, poster and activity giveaways will be provided.
For more information, call Borders at (708) 579-9660.


Kids to try out
‘Pocahontas’ at Steel Beam

Steel Beam Theatre in downtown St. Charles announces auditions for children ages 9 to 16 for the play “Legend of Pocahontas” from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at 111 W. Main St.
Daina Giesler of Lisle will direct a cast of 20 to 24 actors for the production, which rehearses Saturday mornings and will be performed Nov. 1 to 23. Specifics are on the Web site at www.SteelBeamTheatre.com.
No audition preparation is needed, and readings will be from the script. No appointments are taken, with children seen in the order they sign in.
This is a tuition-based program, with scholarships available to families in need. Tuition, if cast, includes script, T-shirt, costume and two tickets, and costs $250. Call the theater at (630) 587-8521 for more information.
The children’s programming at Steel Beam Theatre, a nonprofit organization, is sponsored in part by Target and a grant from the Pedersen Family Foundation to provide quality theatrical training and entertainment.


Christian artists
Duo to play Villa Park

The Lost and Found duo, which combines Christian music on piano and guitar with humor, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, at Community Congregational Church, 410 S. Cornell Ave., Villa Park.
Tickets cost $10, and can be bought in before the show by calling (630) 430-1651. For more information on Lost and Found, visit www.speedwood.com
In 1999, the duo won a grand prize in the John Lennon International Songwriting Contest.


‘magic’ sculpture
Surprising art to debut

When you hold a spoon to a light, it won’t cast the shadow of a fork. Intuitively, we know that a shadow is supposed to take the shape of its “owner.” John Muntean’s Magic Angle Sculptures seem to break that rule. The Riverside resident’s unique shadow-casting sculptures will make their debut at the Riverside Arts Center, 32 E. Quincy Road, during an exhibition from Aug. 29 to Oct. 10. The opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, in the center’s Freeark Gallery.
At first glance, a Magic Angle Sculpture appears nothing more than a finely polished, abstract wooden carving, skewered with a steel rod and mounted on a base. Magic, however, lurks in the shadows. When light is focused on the 3-D carving and it is rotated on the steel rod, each sculpture projects three distinct shadows. One sculpture reveals the shadows of a man, woman and baby; another projects a horse, elephant and coyote. Muntean will unveil 11 Magic Angle Sculptures during his exhibition.
“The Magic Angle Sculptures surprise us by playing with our expectations about how we view the world,” said Muntean, who developed the art form from a scientific technique that mechanically simulates a molecule tumbling through space. He is a spectroscopist at Argonne National Laboratory.
For more information, contact the Riverside Arts Center at (708) 442-6400 or visit www.jvmuntean.com and check out the video.
 

‘Les Misérables’
Youth cast to star

The Broadway musical “Les Misérables” will be presented by a cast of young adults from across the region. 
Victor Hugo’s story is set in early 19th century France, and follows the intertwining lives of characters struggling for redemption and revolution. “Les Misérables (School Edition),” a musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg, will be a joint production of Fox Valley Theatre Company and Children’s Theater of Elgin. It will be performed by students ages 10 to 19 in Elgin Community College’s Visual and Performing Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive.
Area faces in lead roles include Kirsten Schulenburg of Wheaton, and Val Zawada, Matt Kuyawa and Corbin McGhee, all of Geneva.
Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Sept. 5, 6, 12 and 13, and at 3 p.m. Sundays, Sept. 7 and 14. Tickets can be purchased online at www.elgin.edu/community.aspx?id=2220, by calling the ECC Box Office at (847) 622-0300 or in person.
Visit cteelgin@hotmail.com or www.cteelgin.com. Both nonprofit troupes are in residence at the ECC Arts Center.