Rock it
If you weren’t buying cassette tapes in the
1980s, then you probably only know the band Poison from lead singer Bret
Michaels’ turn on Rock of Love, in which a gaggle of scantily clad liquor-guzzling
“ladies”vie for his affections. But Michaels’ band was so much
more. The quintessential glam-metal band of the decade, Poison —
Michaels, Bobby Dall, C.C. Deville, and Rikki Rockett — pumped out
such classics of the genre as “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,”
“Nothin’ but a Good Time,” and “Talk Dirty to
Me.” This Tuesday — wearing considerably less hairspray but
still packing a punch — the band hits the stage at the Prairie
Capital Convention Center. Dokken and Sebastian Bach open. A Bret Michaels
Afterparty, featuring local band the Lost Boys, follows the show.
Tuesday Aug. 19
Poison with Dokken & Sebastian Bach
Prairie Capital Convention Center
1 Convention Center Plaza
217-544-9400
www.springfieldpccc.com
7-11 p.m.
$35 & $45
The bomb
Being a starving artist (or actor, or musician, or
writer) isn’t an easy career path, so it’s no wonder that Jon,
a budding composer, can’t stop hearing the incessant ticking of the
clock. On his 30th birthday Jon starts to second-guess his choice to jump
into a roller-coaster-style career in the arts. Tick, Tick . . . Boom!, the
autographical tale of the musical’s creator, Jonathan Larson, opens
Friday for a two-weekend run at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The
three-actor production, originally produced in 1990, features musical
tributes to theater, including “Why, ” featuring lyrics from West Side Story, and
“Sunday,” an homage to Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George.
Jason Goodreau, of ADHD Productions, portrays Jon.
Fri.-Sun. Aug 15-17
Tick, Tick . . . Boom!
Hoogland Center for the Arts,
420 S. Sixth St.
217-523-2787
www.scfta.org
8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m. Sun.
$15
Great debaters
You may think you know who won — Abraham
Lincoln didn’t — but don’t let that stop you from seeing
the action this Saturday during a reenactment of the famous debates of 1858
between Stephen A. Douglas and Lincoln. The seven-city battle between the
two candidates for U.S. Senate didn’t include a stop in the capital
city, but this Saturday a debate will be reenacted on the grounds of
historic Edwards Place. After the re-creation, Springfield Art Association
hosts a walk-through of their current exhibit of Lincoln memorabilia, The Many Faces of Abe: The Jim and Carole Shay Collection. The debate is free and open to the public.
Saturday Aug. 16
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Edwards Place Historic Home
700 N. Fourth St.
217-523-2631
www.springfieldart.org
4:30 p.m.
Reel problems
This month’s installment of Liberty Brew and
View — co-hosted by the folks from the Central Illinois American
Civil Liberties Union — features the political nail-biter Rendition. The 2007 release,
starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon, chronicles the post-9/11
story of a family torn apart when an Egyptian man married to an American
woman is whisked outside the United States to be interrogated. After the
film, a speaker will discuss the film’s major themes. The next
installment of Liberty Brew and View, on Sept. 16, will feature the film Meeting Resistance.
Tuesday Aug. 19
Liberty Brew & View
Capital City Bar & Grill
3149 S. Dirksen Pkwy.
6:30-9 p.m.
Free
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2008.
