MOKENA

Opera fans take heart: No need to travel far to hear some of the most famous and beloved arias and songs from the opera world.

The Mokena Community Public Library presentsBelissima Opera--Arias and Songs, featuring three professional singers, tenor Franco Martorana, lyric soprano Christine Steyer and baritone Fred Geiger. Each artist has an extensive and prestigious career in the opera world.

When: 1-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22
Where: Mokena Community Public Library, 11327 W. 195th St.
How much? Free. No registration required.
More info: Call (708) 479-9663 or go to thelibrary's website.

MOKENA

Once upon a time, Hollywood musicals were all the rage. In fact, during the 1930s, the sounds and stories on the Silver Screen lifted audiences out of the Depression Era gloom and into a magical world of happy endings, at least for a couple of hours.

Film lovers can mark their calendars for Jan. 29 when Mokena vocalist and songwriter David Molinari joins Joni Hoerger and Chuck Piper to present a musical trip through time with The Songs of Hollywood.

This musical history of songs begins with the legendary Al Jolson and the 1927 breakthrough “talkie,”The Jazz Singer, and continues along the timeline with many of filmdom’s most popular numbers.

When: 1-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29
Where: Mokena Community Public Library, 11327 W. 195th St.
How much? Free. No registration required.
More info: Call (708) 479-9663 or go to the library's website.

OAK LAWN

Opera has surfaced as one of the more popular music genres this month.

The Oak Lawn Public Library has jumped on the operatic bandwagon with a Lyric Opera Lecture focused on Giacomo Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West or La Fanciulla del West. The Lyric Opera of Chicago production runs through Feb. 21

Opera fans will learn about the storyline and composer and hear some of the musical selections from the Puccini work during the program. 

When: 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23
Where: Oak Lawn Public Library, 9427 S. Raymond Ave.
How much? Free.
More info: Call 708-422-4990 or go to the library's website.

OAK LAWN

Stony Creek Clubhouse gets all jazzed up when Vince Clark and Friends perform.

Back by popular demand, Clark and his jazz band will perform all-time classics from Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and many more. A cash bar also will be available.

When: 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22
Where: Stony Creek Clubhouse, 5850 W. 103rd St.
How much? $5
More info: Call 708-857-2433 or e-mail the restaurant at stonycreek@olparks.com.

ORLAND PARK

Enter laughing. Well, those who don’t enter laughing no doubt will leave having had some great chuckles, thanks to the Orland Park Comedy Improv Group. evening at 8 p.m. Jan. 28.

Be warned: The material will be geared to adult audiences. 

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28
Where: Old Village Hall, 14413 Beacon Ave.
How much? $6
More info: Call 708-403-7275.

PALOS HILLS

Stunning black-and-white images by contemporary artist O. Gustavo Plascencia were unveiled last week at the Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery, Moraine Valley Fine and Performing Arts Center. The exhibit, Capricious Tales, continues through Feb. 10.

The artist’s 44 photograms, each 20-by-24 inches before framing, reveal items he has collected over many years. Photograms result when “objects are placed on top of photographic paper” and exposed, unlike photographs which are exposures created through the lens of a camera, Plascencia said in a phone interview last week.  

The process involves the once-traditional tools of the photographic trade, including a dark room.

“I really deal with memories,” he said. “Every piece (in the exhibit) explores how we create, remember and trigger memories. I arranged the objects to form an ambiguous storyline. Once they are out there, people can interpret (the images) in their own way.

“As an artist, I want (gallery viewers) to connect with the work and to remember and think about something from their own childhood.”

Raised in Mexico, Plascencia currently is a visiting assistant professor of art at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Penn.

When: A gallery reception will be 2-4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and open during theater performances. 
Where: The Fine and Performing Arts Center, Moraine Valley Community College, 9000 W. College Pkwy.
How much? Free
More info: Call 708-974-5500.

PALOS HILLS

The Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co. must be seen. Words simply cannot define the dramatic, colorful, inflated geometric shapes and the creative, gravity-defying theatrics by the beings that fill the shapes.

Photos and video depicting Inflatable Theater’s reach into revolutionary theatric dimensions just scrape the surface. Imagine this: “A 10-foot red cylinder slithers onto the stage and explodes,” states press release about the event at the Dorothy Menker Theater at Moraine Valley Fine and Performing Arts Center.

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23
Where: Dorothy Menker Theater, Moraine Valley Fine and Performing Arts Center, 9000 W. College Pkwy.
How much? $20, $15 for seniors, and $10 for students and staff.
More info: Call 708-974-5500

TINLEY PARK

“Double bill,” a phrase once popular in movie theaters, has all but vanished in the 21st century.

Spotlight Theater changes that this month with its powerhouse e-marquee. Legendary American playwright Tennessee Williams’ one-act play, Suddenly Last Summer, which debuted on Broadway in 1958, and the very contemporary Gary Sunshine work, Al Takes a Bride, sound like a stunning double bill.

The Williams classic revolves around Violet Venable (played by Betty Wigel of Flossmoor), a wealthy, spiteful matriarch, and her late son, Sebastian, who died mysteriously during a trip to Europe. Only one person knows the truth about Sebastian’s death, his cousin, Catharine Holly (Joanna Vaickuus of Oak Forest) who was abroad at the same time.

Catharine’s emotional distress following the trip and her knowledge of the truth surrounding Sebastian’s death, leads Mrs. Venable to a surgeon, Dr. Cukrowicz (Michael Dale Fisher of Tinley Park). Mrs. Venable wants the doctor to lobotomize Catharine.

“What happened last summer will shock audiences as much as it does the (characters) in the story,” said Jane Cox, a Spotlight founding member.

The 2005 Sunshine play takes audiences back to the 1890s in Tennessee where a teenage couple, very much in love, wants to get married. However, they face a dilemma that remains contentious today in many regions of the country.

The lovers’ names are Freda (Nicole Fleming of Burbank) and Alice (Cox of Tinley Park).

“With gay marriage still opposed … illegal in most states, this timely play makes an important statement and is an equally important part of Spotlight’s agenda to promote open-mindedness and tolerance in the community,” Cox said.

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Jan. 28-29, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30.
Where: Tinley Park High School Audion, 6111 W. 175th St. 
How much? $14, $12 for seniors and students with ID.
More info: Call 708-941-8294 or go to the theater company's website.