As part of the 2009 Discover: Bernstein Festival, hundreds of area students will have their artwork on display from May 1 to 3 during the Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s Leonard Bernstein: American Icon festival performances. Students’ works were inspired by his music, including “West Side Story.”

This year’s Discover: Bernstein Festival is the fifth initiative in the Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s multi-year Exploring Our American Voice project presented to the greater Chicago community.

Magician, comedian and mentalist Ken Mate will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, May 1, at The Lincoln Inn in Batavia, which offers an entertainment dinner package.

Mate was featured on the NBC special, “The World’s Greatest Magic.”

The Heartsfield band heads to area venues on its Spring Fling Tour.

The group will kick off the tour at 9 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn, and will appear at Chord on Blues in St. Charles at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16.

An Art In Your Eye Festival 2009 Preview event will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at Batavia City Hall Council Chambers. Tonight, April 24, a Green Arts Walk takes place downtown.

Sunday’s activities include the dedication of the new City Art Collection, the launch of the 2009 Art In Your Eye Fine Art poster, the auction finale for the miniatures created by fine art show artists last year, and a preview of activities for the fifth annual Art In Your Eye festival coming Aug. 8 and 9 to the Batavia Riverwalk.

Q The title ‘Curtains’ evokes dual concepts: the theatrical world and slang for a violent end. What’s the comedy about?
A It’s a musical whodunit, said actress Christine Sherrill. A story of a play within a play, it tells of a pre-Broadway tryout of a production that they’re trying to start up (called) ‘Robbin’ Hood of the Old West.’ At the top of the show, the leading lady (the talent-impaired Jessica played by Paula Scrofano) is murdered and they spend the rest of the show trying to figure out who is doing in their cast and crew. It has a lot of qualities of the old American musical theater, which is what I love about it.

The Riverfront Playhouse at 11-13 S. Water Street Mall in downtown Aurora will present “Spoof Night” at 11 p.m. Saturday, April 25. In making the last-minute choice to resurrect a late night alternative entertainment schedule, the playhouse is providing an opportunity for a group of college students to put on a production of original skits.

After a particularly successful show at Aurora University, the students had decided to take their acts on the road. A mere five minutes away from campus, in fact.

Bread & Roses, a women’s choral group that combines its love of singing with a desire to benefit good causes, will present its spring concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 26, in Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb. The concert’s beneficiary will be the American Red Cross.

Several selections were written and composed by two of the group’s members, including “Summer Dreams” by Lynn Fisher McCanne, and “Leaf Dance” by Jenny Covert. McCanne, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, often provides music services at the Geneva church, where Pat Vary, another B&R member, directs the youth choir.

Take a lonely woodcarver who longs for a son, add a Blue Fairy who has empathy for the old man and what you get is the story of Pinocchio, a puppet brought to life. But it isn’t that simple. Along the way, Pinocchio learns valuable lessons about responsibility and how the choices one makes can affect others.
 
The story, first published by Italian Carlo Collodi in 1883, will come alive on the main stage in musical form when Children’s Theatre of Elgin presents “Hey Ho, Pinocchio” from Friday through Sunday, April 24 to 26, in The Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin.

After more than 30 years as the comprehensive dance program coordinator for the Northern Illinois University School of Theatre and Dance, Professor Randall Newsom is retiring.

With its final production of the season, opening Thursday, April 23, the NIU School of Theatre and Dance honors Newsom’s retirement by dedicating the final performance day of Spring Dance Concert 2009 to his long career with the university. Among the choreographers is Geneva native Paula Frasz, an award-winner who is professor of dance at NIU.

Rising singer-songwriter David Kav and Emily B. Macomber lead a cast of 24 in the Jedlicka Performing Arts Center production of “The Who’s Tommy” in Cicero.

The electrifying tale of Tommy Walker, who goes from “deaf, dumb and blind kid” to Pinball Wizard, began its life as a smash hit album by The Who and was then recreated on stage as a hugely successful Broadway musical which won six Tony Awards.

To help mark the Egyptian Theatre’s 80th anniversary later this year, the theater’s art gallery features new architectural photos of the theater by Beryl MacLachlan of Batavia, with a reception planned this month.

Many of the photos will be featured in the theater’s 80th anniversary 13-month calendar available later this year.

 

Neil Simon’s first produced play, the comedy “Come Blow Your Horn,” will be presented by Downers Grove’s community theater, Grove Players, for two weekends, opening Friday, April 24, and running through Sunday, May 3.

Visiting a Web site would not be a typical activity in a 1960s bachelor pad, which is the setting of the play. Moreover, Felix Ungar of “Odd Couple” fame is not quite in Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn” — he is an offstage character — but one could say it is an odd couple that takes center stage.

The Elgin Choral Union’s spring fundraiser will be “High Tea” in the Rainbow Room at the landmark Hotel Baker in St. Charles. Held as part of the town’s annual Sisters Weekend, the event will take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 25.

The traditional English-style high tea will feature three courses of delicate cakes, cookies, finger sandwiches and other treats, all set to the serenade of renowned tenor and Choral Union member Oscar Menoyo.

Art lovers are invited to a reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 17, for “The Life Drawing” exhibit at The Fine Line Creative Arts Center, 6N158 Crane Road, St. Charles.

The show, which runs through May 30, features works by a group of artists who gather Wednesdays to draw a male or female model.

In celebration of the 70th anniversary of “Gone with the Wind,” Hollywood Blvd. Cinema in Woodridge will present The Shaw-Tumblin Memorabilia Exhibition.

The exhibit opens to the public at 6 p.m. Friday, April 17, featuring authentic costumes, props, Oscar statuettes and more from the 1939 classic film. It remains on display until October.