Reeling at Gay Games VII—Wide World of Shorts/Where the Girls Are!
Host
Time
1 pm - 5 pm
Location
Claudia Cassidy Theatre at the Chicago Cultural Center
Address
78 E. Washington St.
Event Description
Wide World of Shorts—1:00 PM
This program of short films presents an exciting and diverse selection of some of the very best lesbian and gay works from around the world. Boomerang, Boy’s Grammar, The Bridge, Daddy’s Boy, Ester, The Sun of My Life, The Tale of Sir Richard, and Two Nights. Total 95 min.
Where the Girls Are!—3:00 PM
We’ve got all the girls you’ll want to see in this top-notch shorts program: Beyond Lovely, In Memory of Me, Open, Red/Blue, Sarang Song, and Triple Minority. Total 88 min.
For more information, please visit www.reelingfilmfestival.org or call 773-293-1447.
Based on the popular Showtime shorts, Mike Reiss’ Queer Duck: The Movie follows Queer Duck and his friends—Openly Gator, Bi-Polar Bear, and Oscar Wilde Cat—as they encounter a new series of madcap adventures. This winsome foursome never fails to amuse. In their first feature-length movie, Oscar remembers a long-lost love, Gator professes his love for Queer Duck, and—oh, no! can it be?— Queer Duck contemplates going straight for an aging diva.
Queer Duck: The Movie features the voice work of Jim J. Bullock, Conan O’Brien, Tim Curry, and David Duchovny as Tiny Jesus, Sing along with Queer Duck: “I’m Glad I’m Gay!” 74 min.
Toast the Opening Ceremonies at the cocktail reception immediately following the screening.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.reelingfilmfestival.org or call 773-293-1447.
In an effort to expand the opportunities available to its alumni artists, Marwen and Around the Coyote have partnered to present a month-long exhibition highlighting painters, photographers, installation artists and graffiti artists from Marwen's recent alumni.
Participating artists include Sadie Woods, Orlando Camacho, Ricardo Gamboa, Pater Pacheco, and Jennifer Lynn Hall. Marwen provides high quality visual arts education, college planning, and career development programs—all completely free of charge to Chicago’s under-served youth in grades 6-12.
Around the Coyote supports, promotes and makes accessible Chicago 's multidisciplinary arts community.
City Gallery hours: Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 6:30 pm, and Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm
The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations has commissioned world-renowned photographer Victor Skrebneski to photograph Chicago residents participating in the 2006 Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival.
The exhibition will consist of black and white portraits of 14 Chicagoans by Skrebneski, reflecting the spectrum of events at Gay Games VII including athletes, dancers, and musicians. The 14 participants selected reflect Chicago’s communities as a whole and were chosen to reflect diversity within gender, race, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Athletes include: Mark Byrne (rugby), Michael Cheatham (bowling), Marcus Dodd (volleyball), Andrea Fraley (tennis), Jeffrey Fersch (flag football), Mary Garrity (softball), Mia Horberg (soccer), Kyle Jackson (swimming), Drew Jemilo (triathlon), Virginia McGathey (golf), Laura Noah (cycling), Debbie Rijos (physique), Gina Stewart (softball), and Jeff Olson (physique).
A three-part exhibit featuring a traveling exhibition, Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, an extensive collection of red ribbon AIDS awareness pins, and past Gay Games memorabilia.
www.sticksandstonesexhibit.com
Cost
$0
Arts Festival Event
ELEGANT Photography Exhibition
Host
Shaun Saunders & Duane Cramer
Time
11 am - 4 pm
Location
Allegro Hotel
Address
171 West Randolph Street, Chicago
Event Description
ELEGANT is a traveling USA exhibition of Duane Cramer’s photographic works. It includes black and white images of male and female nudes, architectural elements from around the globe and some recognizable international personalities.
All of the photographs displayed are limited edition 16”X20” silver gelatin prints that have been selenium toned. All prints are signed verso in pencil by the artist. Most images are available for sale.
The Leather Archives & Museum will host a gay erotic Art Sale July 14th - 16th, during the Gay Games.
Hundreds of pieces of original art, photography and quality prints will be available for purchase with proceeds benefiting the LA&M. Notable artists include Jim Wigler, Lou Thomas, Chuck Arnett, The Hun, Etienne, Aries, Olaf, A.J. and many others. Many of the items available are from the estate of the late Tony DeBlase and were featured in Drummer Magazine, Foreskin Quarterly and many other Desmodus publications.
Museum exhibit galleries will also be open during the art sale.
Cost
$0
Arts Festival Event
Gay Games Online Art Gallery Sponsored by Around the Coyote
Host
Around the Coyote
Time
12 pm - 12 am
Location
www.aroundthecoyote.org
Address
www.aroundthecoyote.org
Event Description
Around the Coyote and the Gay Games have partnered to bring an online exhibition of fine art to an online art gallery to the myriad of events offered througout Chicago during the Gay Games.
The online exhibition features images from some of Chicago's best emerging sculptors, painters, printmakers and photographers along with images from artists from other parts of the world who come to Chicago for the Gay Games.
Around the Coyote is Chicago's preeminent emerging arts organization, now in its 18th year of programming.
Artwork from the online gallery can be seen in person at the 2006 Around the Coyote Fall Festival September 8-10 in Chicago's beautiful Wicker Park art neighborhood.
Cost
$0
Arts Festival Event
Catching The Spirit: The Gay Games Experience
Host
Gerber/Hart Library
Time
12 pm - 4 pm
Location
Gerber/Hart Library
Address
1127 West Granville Ave., Chicago
Event Description
An exhibition highlighting the history of the Gay Games and Chicagoans' participation in the Games.
The Art Dealers Association of Chicago marks the 11th anniversary of VISION, Chicago's premier celebration of visual arts. Free opening night festivities in both River North and the West Loop will be followed with two weeks of free programming, including gallery talks, happenings, music, meet-the-artist tours, weekend gallery walks and all new exhibitions.
Cost
$0
Arts Festival Event
Chicago SummerDance
Host
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago Office of Tourism
Time
6 pm - 10 pm
Location
Spirit of Music Garden
Address
601 S. Michigan Avenue
Event Description
Chicago SummerDance is an eleven-week festival featuring one-hour dance lessons by professional dance instructors, followed by two hours of live music and dancing,
every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening, 6 to 9:30 pm, and Sunday afternoon, 4 to 7 pm, weather-permitting.
Chicago SummerDance is formatted into themes featuring the DJ series of electronic dance music on Mondays and Wednesdays, world music ensembles on Thursdays, "popular nights" featuring jazz, Latin, country and funk on Fridays and Saturdays, and ballroon/big band on Sundays.
The Chicago SummerDance Nomadic DJ series continues for its third year, June 19-August 23, 2006. This roaming series
will now be held once a week at various downtown locations in the city, including Daley Plaza, Millennium Park, Grant Park and more.
The Opening Ceremony of Gay Games VII will incorporate the legacy of tradition possessed by this moment, and make history as the event evolves before our eyes into a profound, kinetic representation of the global gay and lesbian communal experience.
Icons of the international gay and lesbian sports and cultural communities will lend their presence to the proceedings; giving personal voice to augment the impact of what is taking place on the field. Our community will manifest itself in unexpected ways, articulating the power and diversity of the world that we represent, and surprising the audience through the event.
This will be an experience not to be missed; as the Games will not return to the North American Continent for at least another eight years.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through August 27th. Call Box Office for showtimes
From the opening number that introduces six naked singers with their (clothed) female cohort, to a beautifully sung finale that celebrates the human body in all its imperfections, BARENAKED LADS is an upbeat and engertic evening full of colorful characters.
We see a taping of the nude gourmet's TV show, and meet a Reverend who casts aside both sins and clothes in a grand revival scheme. We meet a married celebrating an anniversary on a nude beach Provincetown, a gonzo personal trainer on Montrose Beach, and a group of grade school children who get an unexpected lesson at the zoo. And we meet Troop Randolph, the glamorous 1930's Hollywood Star whose mansion and pool are overflowing with male beauty.
The DaVinci GayCode: 10 Years of Heresy - The Best of GayCo
Host
Time
8 pm - 10 pm
Location
Theatre Building Chicago
Address
1225 West Belmont Avenue
Event Description
Ten years of award-winning sketch comedy from GayCo Productions.
Born from Chicago’s famous Second City theater, GayCo mixes a homolarious cocktail of comedy and song as they dismantle gay marriage, gay panic and gay life in a post-Brokeback America.
No element of gay and lesbian life goes unscathed: The Queer-eye guys transform into pink-faced minstrels; Gay couples time-share a baby; A pair of lesbians mourn their lesbian death bed; A fag-hag support group spins out of control.
Global Pride, Global Action: Empowering the spirt of human rights
Host
Time
10 am - 4 pm
Location
Roosevelt University
Address
Loop Campus - 430 South Michigan Avenue
Event Description
A one day human rights conference.
The event will include an opening plenary session and two sessions of human rights workshops followed by a short closing plenary.
The event will highlight important human rights issues impacting LGBT people in this country and around the world.
The full event schedule with speakers and workshop topics will be available on the AIUSA website.
For more information contact Robert Schultz, Illinois Amnesty USA Field Organizer at 312-435-6396 or rschultz@aiusa.org
For more information: www.amnestyusa.org/outfront/events.html
Cost
$0
Gallery Events
Galleries Event
TOM BIANCHI Photo Exhibition
Host
Jean Albano Gallery
Time
11 am - 5 pm
Location
Jean Albano Gallery
Address
215 W. Superior St., Chicago
Event Description
The Jean Albano Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition featuring photographs by TOM BIANCHI, held in celebration of GGVII. The show opens on Friday, July 14, 2006, and will run through Saturday, July 29, 2006.
Opening Reception for the artist on Friday, July 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
Born in Oak Park, Tom Bianchi received a law degree from Northwestern University. After spending time as a lawyer for Winston & Strawn and Columbia Pictures, Bianchi tore up his law degree and became an artist—one of his first pieces incorporated remnants of his law degree. Bianchi’s earliest works were high-relief wall sculptures that referenced elements of architecture and landscape. Since the early 90’s, Bianchi has focused on photography, capturing the classic male nude in stunningly beautiful poses. Bianchi’s photographs explore sexual energy and, occasionally, the issue of art versus pornography.
Tom Bianchi’s photography books include In Defense of Beauty (1995), In the Studio (1999), and the two-volume edition of On the Couch (2002 & 2004). The artist lives and works in Palm Springs, California.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm, and Saturday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, or by appointment. For further information, please contact Sarah Kaliski or Lindsey Walton at 312.440.0770.
Out of the Closet, Lisa Nordstrom and guest artists, from bowling balls, luggage, altered clothing and board games to life-altering proclamations and secrets big and small, this mixed media group show features all manner of things formerly closeted.
Art Gecko, 19 Harrison Street, Oak Park More info: 708-358-1950.
"We Are Here" African-American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Images by Richard Lee Gray
Host
The City of Chicago Commission of Human Relations
Time
6 pm - 9 pm
Location
The Stephen Kelly Gallery
Address
750 N. Franklin, Suite 101 Chicago
Event Description
"We Are Here" is a photographic exhibit of African-American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender and their families living everyday throughout various Chicago communities. The mission of "We are Here" is to emphasize the diversity within the African-American community. Mr. Gray has given all of us the opportunity to look at diversity beyond the normal black and white definition. A commissioned edition of this exhibit will be housed in the Black Gay and Lesbian permanent collection of the Schomberg Center for Black Culture of the New York Public Library in Harlem.
Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections and Preservation Division
Address
400 South State Street, 9th Floor, Special Collections Reading Room
Event Description
Chicago Public Library welcomes Gay Games VII to Chicago with Chicago’s Gay Athletic Tradition, a case exhibit about the history and development of gay and lesbian amateur athletic teams in Chicago. The display includes photographs, medals, team apparel and athletic equipment from the 1980s to the present. Teams from the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association and the Windy City Athletic Association are represented, as are local and nation competitions.
Mondays thru Thursdays (Noon - 6:00 PM)
Fridays & Saturdays (Noon - 4:00 PM)
For more information, please call the Library’s Special Collections Reading Room at (312) 747-4875.
Cost
$0
Museums Event
"Catching The Spirit: The Gay Games Experience"
Host
Gerber/Hart Library
Location
Gerber/Hart Library
Address
1127 West Granville Avenue, Chicago (just west of the CTA Red Line GRANVILLE Stop)
Event Description
"Catching The Spirit: The Gay Games Experience" is an exhibition of memorabilia from all six past Gay Games. The exhibition showcases the 1968 United States Olympic Team warm-up jacket worn by Dr. Tom Waddell, founder of the Gay Games, and features the two official posters from the first Gay Games in 1982 using the wording "Gay Olympic Games." Also on display are Signature Quilt Squares from past International Rainbow Memorial Runs, the 1994 International Rainbow Memorial Roll, and artifacts from the American Run for the End of AIDS.
Hours of Exhibit
Saturday, July 15 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Sunday, July 16 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Monday, July 17 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday, July 18 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday, July 19 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Thursday, July 20 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Friday, July 21 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday, July 22 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Cost
$0
Museums Event
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs
Host
The Field Museum
Time
9 am - 5 pm
Location
The Field Museum
Address
1400 S. Lake Shore Dr. Chicago
Event Description
On November 26, 1922, the tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered, unlocking the most precious treasures the world had ever known. Throughout the late 70’s, millions of Americans marveled at the treasures of King Tut in an unprecedented museum exhibition. After nearly 30 years, King Tut’s treasures return to America one last time in Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs.
Now open for a limited time at The Field Museum. For tickets and info, www.fieldmuseum.org.
Visit the MCA where you can have a free guided tour of our summer exhibitions, Wolfgang Tillmans, Catherine Opie, Patty Chang and Chris Ware.
Free tours are held on
Tuesdays at 1pm and 6pm
Wednesdays through Fridays at 1pm
Saturdays and Sundays at 11am, noon, 1, 2, and 3pm
Cost
$0
Music Events
Music Event
LET THE GAYMES BEGIN
Host
LAKEVIEW EAST CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Time
11 am - 6 pm
Location
PARKING LOT--OLD DOMINICK'S SITE
Address
3012 N. BROADWAY
Event Description
Kick-off celebration to celebrate GAY GAMES VII - CHICAGO in Lakeview East. Main stage entertainment to include local and national acts such as: Lady Miss Keir, Lady Bunny, Kimmi Hayes Band, DJ Greg Drescher, Danille Bollinger, Baliwick Theater, Teri Yaki, ROTC Chicago, NY DJ Zach Stowers….and many more! Free shuttle service from area host hotels!
Performing artists all day long along Broadway and Clark!
Located in downtown Chicago bordered by Michigan Avenue to the east, Columbus Drive to the west, Randolph St to the north and Monroe St to the south.
Event Description
Sondheim in the Park
A comprehensive and unique weekend-long free tribute to the world-renowned American composer, Stephen Sondheim. The centerpiece will be two spectacular concerts with the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion on Friday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.
In addition, throughout the weekend, Chicago musicians and actors will perform Sondheim's works in locations throughout the park, including the Lurie Garden, Wrigley Square and the staircase balconies. Performances: Friday (4-10:00pm); Saturday (1-10:00pm); Sunday (1-5:00pm). Organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Grant Park Music Festival. Visit www.MillenniumPark.org.
Cost
$0
Party Events
Parties Event
The Champion Lounge @ Circuit
Host
Centaur, ABSOLUT Vodka
Time
5 pm - 9 pm
Location
Circuit
Address
3641 N. Halsted
Event Description
The Champion Lounge @ Circuit, Featuring DJ David Knapp
Red Carpet guests TBA & Details to follow....
Cost
$0
Parties Event
Dance Gay in Chicago
Host
Time
9 pm - 2 am
Location
High Risk Gallery
Address
1113 West Belmont, Chicago
Event Description
Dance party to welcome athletes and guests in town for the Gay Games.
Food, cash bar, DJ and good times in a spacious gallery where you can literally dance on the art.
For 21 years, Asians and Friends Chicago has been organizing social events for gay men of Asian descent and those who are interested in Asian cultures.
Heroes start somewhere
Next week everyone’s a competitor, but tonight we’re all friends.
The largest gay celebration of the year starts with a party designed to bring it us all together with a bang. West Coast favorite Brett Henrichsen will provide an incomparable night of music. Featuring local & national guest entertainers. Add a few visual and participatory surprises and Chicago will never be the same.
Lighting and effects by Guy Smith. Laser design by Laseronics. Entertainment to be announced.
Immediately following the Official Opening Ceremonies at Soldier Field. See www.openingclosing.com for more information
An upscale adult women venue 100 capacity geared for distiinctive taste.
Music specialities include Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Neo-Soul, Hip Hop and Women who Rock..3 level loft with outdoor deck, pool table, jacuzzi, jumbo video screen…
Cost
$15
Theatre Events
Theatre Event
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Host
Broadway In Chicago
Time
2 pm - 4 pm
Location
Drury Lane Theatre, Water Tower Place
Address
175 East Chestnut Street, Chicago
Event Description
CURTAIN at 2:00pm (95 mins, no intermission)
In the hilariously hip musical comedy, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.
“Can you spell i-r-r-e-s-i-s-t-i-b-l-e? SPELLING BEE is riotously funny and remarkably ingenious. Gold stars all around,” says the New York Times. In the Wall Street Journal, SPELLING BEE was called, “perfect in every possible way – that rarity of rarities, a super-smart musical that is also a bona fide crowd-pleaser. An ingenious blend of simplicity and sophistication, it’s not merely funny, it's wise.” The critic went on to say, “I predict it will run forever.” THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE appears in an open-ended engagement at Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre, located at 175 East Chestnut Street.
A World Premiere by Mary Zimmerman, based on the writings of Marcel Proust and Celeste Albaret, directed by Eric Rosen.
When she took the job as Marcel Proust’s housekeeper, Céleste Albaret thought she was just filling in for someone on sick leave. Little did she know that she would spend the next dozen years at Proust’s side, serving his smallest whim, staying up until dawn gossiping about the glitterati – and hearing of his shocking sojourns into Paris’ infamous brothels.
M. Proust chronicles the unlikely relationship between one of the world’s most revered novelists, and the unlettered country girl who fell under his spell, becoming his closest companion and his steadfast defender against persistent rumors of his “secret life.”
For seven years, About Face has created its most powerful, innovative, and celebrated work in collaboration with Chicago's extraordinary community of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trangender) young people. Our audience jumps to its feet in joyful recognition each season at the curtain call of the Youth Theatre production.
This year, About Face is proud to premiere the most powerful Youth Theatre production yet -- The Home Project.
Based on interviews with hundreds of LGBT youth about their experiences with home and homelessness, The Home Project is filled with astonishing, disturbing, and ultimately triumphant stories of young people who struggle to create a perfect society while battling complacency, violence, and apathy. It is the most thrilling, exciting, and important new play to emerge from the talented adult artists and young people of the nationally celebrated About Face Youth Theatre.
A World Premiere by Mary Zimmerman, based on the writings of Marcel Proust and Celeste Albaret, directed by Eric Rosen.
When she took the job as Marcel Proust’s housekeeper, Céleste Albaret thought she was just filling in for someone on sick leave. Little did she know that she would spend the next dozen years at Proust’s side, serving his smallest whim, staying up until dawn gossiping about the glitterati – and hearing of his shocking sojourns into Paris’ infamous brothels.
M. Proust chronicles the unlikely relationship between one of the world’s most revered novelists, and the unlettered country girl who fell under his spell, becoming his closest companion and his steadfast defender against persistent rumors of his “secret life.”
June 15th Through July 23rd - Thursday through Saturday at 7:30p.m. Sundays at 6p.m.
Jim Provenzano's electrifying novel about two high school wrestlers coming of age is brought to exciting life on-stage as Bailiwick celebrates Chicago's Gay Games!
PINS is a compelling story of loving peer pressure, supportive yet confused families, and the mad tangle of emotions set against the backdrop of competitive high school wrestling.
Jeffrey, a gay actor/waiter has sworn off sex after too many bouts with his partners about what is "safe" and what is not. In gay New York, though, sex is not something you can avoid. Just after he's reconciled himself to celibacy, Jeffrey's flamboyant friends introduce him to the man of his dreams, who also happens to be HIV-positive. What follows is a moving and audacious romantic comedy with a difference- one in which the quest for love and really fabulous clothes meet, and where unflagging humor prevails even when tragedy might be just around the corner.
In the hilariously hip musical comedy, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.
“Can you spell i-r-r-e-s-i-s-t-i-b-l-e? SPELLING BEE is riotously funny and remarkably ingenious. Gold stars all around,” says the New York Times. In the Wall Street Journal, SPELLING BEE was called, “perfect in every possible way – that rarity of rarities, a super-smart musical that is also a bona fide crowd-pleaser. An ingenious blend of simplicity and sophistication, it’s not merely funny, it's wise.” The critic went on to say, “I predict it will run forever.” THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE appears in an open-ended engagement at Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre, located at 175 East Chestnut Street.
In honor of the Gay Games, Live Bait Theater celebrates all things gay in July by inviting three fabulous gay solo artists to perform individual hour - long works.
Live Bait remounts Joe Steiff’s hit solo show Golden Corral (directed by Brigid Murphy) about growing up gay in rural
Appalachia; Brian Lobel’s Other Funny Stories About Cancer (Directed by Margot Bordelon) dives into the worlds of youth mentoring, queer identities, virginity and mortality; and finally, Nothing Left but the Smell: A Republican on Welfare by pseudo-San Franciscan, Erika Lopez.
Known for her successful philosophical/bad-sex/motorcycle novel, Flaming Iguanas and The Trilogy of Tomatoes. Lopez had it all and threw it all away. This show is about her more recent adventure of standing in the welfare line.
Tickets
All tickets are $15. Two-Show Pass-$20.
Four - Show pass $30. Student tickets are $10.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Games, Inc. | All Rights Reserved | Contact Us "Gay Games," the "Federation of Gay Games," the interlocking circles device
are registered trademarks of the Federation of Gay Games, Inc. The Gay Games VII logo
and its figures are copyrighted images of the Federation of Gay Games, Inc.
Gay Games VII welcomes people of all orientations. Publication of the name, photograph, or
likeness of a person on this website or in any electronic or printed Gay Games VII
promotional item is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person.
