Out & About: Our picks
"Fall Color Festival," 7 a.m. to sunset starting Saturday at the Morton Arboretum, 4100 Route 53, Lisle. Admission $9, $6 children; additional fees apply for some festival programs. (630) 968-0074 or www.mortonarb.org.
Nature's color show is just beginning, but you can get your first taste of autumn when the Fall Color Festival kicks off Saturday at the Morton Arboretum. Check out the Scarecrow Trail 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily or stop by the wine-tasting tent this weekend. If you're going Sunday, you can join the 5K Fun Run at 8 a.m. or watch artist Steve Dahlke carve a 500-pound pumpkin from 1 to 4 p.m. at Arbor Court. You might just get some ideas for your own more reasonably sized jack-o'-lanterns.
-- Lisa Friedman Miner, assistant features editor
"Thyestes," previews 7:30 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Friday; opening 8 p.m. Saturday at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago. $38-$54. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 21. (773) 753-4472 or www.courttheatre.org.
Chicago's Court Theatre, dubbed "the most consistently excellent theater company in America" by the Wall Street Journal, opens its season with "Thyestes" by the Roman playwright Seneca, about brothers Atreus and Thyestes who were to have governed Mycenae, Greece, together but whose reign degenerates into a murderous power struggle. Director JoAnne Akalaitis took her inspiration from the perverse and violent theater that dominated the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. The play, which references infanticide and cannibalism, is not for the squeamish.
-- Barbara Vitello, critic at large
Lynfred Oktoberfest, Pig Roast and Grape Stomp, 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday; noon to 7 p.m. Sunday at Lynfred Winery, 15 S. Roselle Road, Roselle. (630) 529-9463 or www.lynfredwinery.com.
Be part of a two decades- old tradition of grape spitting, cork tossing and barrel racing. Lynfred Winery rolls German-inspired fun with American spunk for a family-friendly festival. Food and beverages available for purchase.
-- Deborah Pankey, food editor
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, 7:30 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday at Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph Dr., Chicago. $25-$85. (312) 334-7777 or www.hubbardstreetdance.com.
Chicago's home-grown world famous modern dance troupe presents Program A of its 2007 fall season. On the bill is Twyla Tharp's "Baker's Dozen," Nacho Duato's "Cor Perdut," Daniel Ezralow's "SF/LB," Susan Marshall's "Kiss" and Jim Vincent's "Palladio."
-- Scott C. Morgan, staff writer
"Grindhouse," 7 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the Max Palevsky Cinema in University of Chicago's Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St., Chicago. $5. (773) 702-8575.
Sure, you didn't mean to miss Robert Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's two-movies-for-the-price-of-one tribute to cult cinematic schlock. But you did, and thus caused it to flop so hard that the films are going to DVD separately in an attempt to recoup the budget. This means the old "I'll wait until video" excuse does not apply. "Grindhouse" as a double feature presentation, complete with vintage intro cards and brilliant ads for fake movies (by Rodriguez, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright and Eli Roth) will soon cease to exist. See it before you can't.
-- Jeff Pizek, staff writer