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Spotlight: People to watch
Charlene Brooks
Updated: February 6, 2013 9:18AM
Perfect blend: Charlene Brooks’ heart is in the right place. The Skokie singer/songwriter is making Valentine’s Day planning easy for guys with “Sweet and Sassy Broadway Love,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14 at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights. The ever-witty Brooks will relate humorous stories of her life in-between selections from such shows as “Carousel,” “Funny Girl,” “West Side Story” and even “Young Frankenstein.” For tickets, call (847) 577-2121.
Having a “Grand” time: Two North Shore residents are immersed in the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein six times each week. Robert Hunt of Evanston and Steven Schellhardt of Winnetka are in the cast of “A Grand Night for Singing” at the Mercury Theater. The musical revue includes selections from such blockbusters as “Oklahoma!,” “The King and I” and “The Sound of Music.” Performances run through March 10. For tickets, call (773) 325-1700.
Healthy outlet: Chicago a cappella will partner with mental health and social service agencies at a series of concerts called, “Spirit/Breath/Voice.” They will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10 at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Oak Park, partnering with Thresholds, which provides services for those with a severe mental illness. At 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, in partnership with Turning Point Behavioral Health Care Center, Chicago a cappella will perform at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston. The group will also perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17 at Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville, in partnership with 360 Youth Services, which offers education, counseling and shelter to young people. For tickets, call (773) 281-7820.
Our kind of town: It’s not hard to figure out what inspired the name of the mythical town in which author Susan Alexander’s new mystery, Jealous Mistress, is set. After all East Winnette sounds like a collision between Wilmette, where Alexander lived for 30 years, and its neighbor Winnetka. Alexander promises that North Shore readers will recognize Gilson Park and Walker Brothers Pancake House in the tale of a lawyer, on leave to raise her kids, who stumbles across a body at her daughter’s nursery school. The book is available on amazon.com.
Attention! Bradford Stevens is in uniform for his latest role. The Evanston resident plays Private James Wilkie in, “A Soldier’s Play,” at Raven Theatre, Feb. 12-March 30. Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama is about a black captain who comes to a segregated World War II era Louisiana army base to investigate a murder. For tickets, call (773) 338-2177.
