Fine & Performing Arts

Chicago’s up and coming new Silk Road Theatre company brings its highly acclaimed production “Yohen” to North Central College in Naperville for a multi-performance engagement, Nov. 20-23. Written by Philip Kan Gotanda and directed by Goodman Theatre producer Steve Scott, “Yohen” comes off a successful six-week run in Pierce Hall at The Historic Chicago Temple Building and features Cheryl Hamada in the role of Sumi, a divorced Japanese woman, and Ernest Perry Jr. as James, an African-American GI. The two meet in post-World War II Japan, fall in love and discover that intimate relationships change with environments and are never constant.”This is truly bringing the very best of Chicago to Naperville,” says Brian Lynch, North Central’s fine arts director. “The actors are brilliant. And there’s this unique connection between the Goodman Theatre and its brilliant director Steven Scott with Silk Road’s reputation as an innovative theatre company. And it’s all coming together right here in this wonderful show.”

Five performances of “Yohen” will be staged in North Central College’s beautiful new Thrust Theatre in Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth St., on Nov. 20 and 21 at 8 p.m.; on Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30/person; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit www.northcentralcollege.edu/show.

The story follows Sumi and James, who after decades of struggle have found an accepting Los Angeles suburb to call home, but their peaceful world is changing. Director Steve Scott notes, “Philip’s play gives us a look at two people who have had to contend with very specific cultural questions and backgrounds to forge a life together. . His story has resonance with anyone who has ever been involved in a relationship and then realized the relationship has evolved in ways that are totally unexpected. This work is one of the most beautifully poetic pieces I’ve read in a long, long time.”  

Silk Road Theatre Project showcases playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean backgrounds, whose works address themes relevant to the Silk Road communities, spanning Japan to Italy. Gotanda, a Japanese American born after World War II, based his play on a childhood friend whose parents were African-American and Japanese. “It’s a love story,” he says. “It’s about the characters trying to maintain that love amidst different cultures and how those cultures reflect on the relationship.” The word “yohen,” Gotanda notes, means an accident during kiln firing that results in a beautiful transformation of the pottery.  

As associate producer at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Scott has a reputation as one of Chicago’s busiest, award-winning theatre directors. He’s overseen more than 150 productions during his 11-year tenure at Goodman. He’s also acted and directed productions at various local and regional theatre companies; served on advisory panels for the Illinois Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and Chicago Office of Fine Arts, among others; and received an After Dark Award, five Jeff nominations and the Illinois Theatre Association Award of Honor.  

Legendary media mogul, successful businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner will visit North Central College on Sunday, Nov. 16, to read from and talk about his new memoir “Call Me Ted.” From his father’s early lessons of “early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise,” to the creation of his media empire to today’s status as a mogul to be reckoned with, his new book covers Turner’s incredible journey.  

Turner will speak at 4 p.m. in Wentz Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. North Central College is co-sponsoring the event with Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville. Tickets are $5 with the purchase of his new book for $30 from Anderson’s Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave. Ticket holders can purchase a second ticket for $10 without buying another book. Books will be presigned. For more information call Anderson’s at 630-355-2665.

 Inspiring and entertaining, “Call Me Ted” sheds new light on one of the greatest visionaries of our time. Since the early 1970s, Turner has been in the international spotlight with one accomplishment after another. Whether in billboard advertisement, cable television, sports team ownership, sailing, environmental initiatives or philanthropy, Turner’s vision, determination and forthrightness have consistently given the world reason to take notice. As a businessman, he is best known as the founder of the cable television network CNN.Turner now dedicates his time and resources to philanthropic interests, including the Turner Foundation, United Nations Foundation, Nuclear Threat Initiative, Captain Planet Foundation and Turner Endangered Species Fund. In addition, he remains actively involved in business with the rapidly expanding Ted’s Montana Grill restaurant chain he co-founded with restaurateur George McKerrow. One of his restaurants opened in downtown Naperville at 39 W. Jefferson Ave. in 2007.

One of today’s leading orchestras both home and abroad, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will travel from its home at the Symphony Center on Michigan Avenue to give a premiere performance in the acoustically perfect Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville on the campus of North Central College.  

The Saturday, Nov. 15, concert will be conducted by Ludovic Morlot and feature classical compositions by Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Glinka. Tickets for the 8 p.m. performance are $150/person and include a dessert reception in Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7460) or visit www.northcentralcollege.edu/show. 

After a brief welcome by North Central College Board of Trustee Chair Robert Wislow, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will perform “Overture to ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’” by Mikhail Glinka; “Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44″ by Sergei Rachmaninov; and “Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23″ by Piotr Tchaikovsky featuring pianist Simon Trpceski. After the concert, a reception will be held in the grand foyer with a toast by College President Harold R. Wilde to recognize and thank Office Max, sponsor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert, and Sara Lee Foundation, sponsor of the Wentz Concert Hall inaugural season.  

In its second century, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is a musical force in Chicago and around the world with 107 talented musicians this season, performing more than 150 concerts and events. Throughout its history, the Orchestra has been led by nine renowned music directors.  

Known for his dynamic energy on the podium, guest conductor Ludovic Morlot has quickly established a reputation as one of the leading conductors of his generation. In the last two seasons, he’s conducted the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Philadelphia Detroit and Houston symphony orchestras in North America. Highly regarded in Europe and the Far East, he’s conducted the Moscow National Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan, and orchestras in Stockholm, Israel, Rotterdam and the Netherlands, among others.  For its opening piece, the Orchestra will perform “Overture to ‘Ruslan and Ludmila,’” the second opera composed by Mikhail Glinka. The score is recognized as a landmark of Russian opera and is responsible for earning Glinka the title “Father of Russian Music.” Set in pagan Russia, “Ruslan and Ludmila” revolves around Ruslan’s attempt to rescue the abducted Ludmila and win her hand in marriage.  

Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44″ is his third and final symphony and was on the program when the composer appeared with the Chicago Symphony in 1941. The most modern and compact of his three symphonies, it’s full of energy and brightness demonstrating Rachmaninov as one of the grand showmen of 20th century music. 

The “Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23″ by Piotr Tchaikovsky is the final composition of the evening. The concerto’s celebrated introduction leads to three movements that are filled with characteristic Tchaikovskian touches, like barrages of quadruple octaves in the piano solo and sometimes playful, nervous and majestic themes. Solo pianist Trpceski from Macedonia is one of the most remarkable young musicians in recent years, performing with many of the greatest orchestras and delighting audiences worldwide. He received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award in 2003 and both the Editor’s Choice and Debut Album Awards at the Gramophone Awards for his recital recordings.