THEATER | Overnight millionaire Most of us dream of winning the lottery without thought to what challenges might
come with big money. Kismet means fate or destiny. In this musical based on the
Arabian Nights, Hadji, an old Baghdad poet, faces his destiny when he transforms from beggar
to millionaire overnight. This windfall sparks his and his daughter Marsinah’s involvement with the rich and powerful, and the law. Marsinah and a young
Caliph fall in love, but the evil Wazir wants the Caliph’s throne and Marsinah for his own harem. In the meantime, Wazir’s vampy wife, Lalume, has her eye on Hadji. You are in for some wit and action
wrapped in a colorful production of exotic costume, set and song. This
production is part of the fundraising efforts for the Hoogland Center.
Kismet in Concert
Friday Feb 27-28, 8pm
Sunday Mar 1, 2pm
Hoogland Center for the Arts
420 S. Sixth St.
217-523-2787
$20 adult, $18 senior/children
EVENT | Family fun It is the last Saturday in February and the kids are bound to be restless. The
whole family will enjoy a full day of fun, exercise and learning in the warmth
of the Prairie Capital Convention Center at the annual Capital Radio Group
KidsFest. Here’s the place your kids can boost their large and small motor skills and brain
power. In addition to a Reading Zone, demonstrations, food and 50 booths that
feature children’s health, safety and education, kids can jump for joy meeting and greeting
costumed characters, jump around in bounce houses and climb a rock wall. The
event benefits the St. John’s Children’s Miracle Network.
KidsFest
Saturday Feb 28,
10am-4pm
Prairie Capital
Convention Center
1 Convention Center Plaza
217-753-5400
$3 per person
MUSIC | Library aloud Since 1876, library books have been classified by the Dewey Decimal System using
numbers so we can find books on library shelves, or stacks, as librarians refer
to them. On the last Friday evening of February, March and April, Springfield’s public library will transform numbers into musical notes and turn up the
volume with its series, Dewey Decibel-Music from the Stacks. John T. Crisp, Jr.’s Chahrm is the first featured act, with vocals by Ada Lou. Chahrm is a jazz
band playing both show tunes and some traditional jazz created by Duke
Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Future features include the St. Andrew’s Society of Central Illinois Pipes and Drums and Pro Musica Duo.
John T. Crisp, Jr.’s
Chahrm with Ada Lou
Friday Feb 27,
7pm
Lincoln Library
326 S. Seventh St.
217-753-4900
Free
BAND SPOTLIGHT | Danny Schmidt Danny Schmidt is an intense and arresting, interesting and entertaining,
profound and grounded singer-songwriter garnering praise from critics who dare
to speak his name in the same breath with Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. The
Austin-based performer stays on the road most of time, playing his lyrically
driven, acoustic guitar-based music at festivals, coffeehouses, theaters and
homes, treating his audience as companions, living the lyrics he sings in one
of his most beloved songs, “When I die, let them judge me by my company of friends.” Schmidt, one of most gifted and respected underground folk artists currently on
the scene, recently signed to Red House Records, one of the top labels in the
folk, singer-songwriter world, and has a new album, Instead the Forest Rose to Sing, scheduled for a March 2009 release.
Danny Schmidt
Sunday, March 1, 5 p.m.
BluCat Café Williamsville
www.dannyschmidt.com
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2009.
