The Fulcrum Point New Music Project’s Upcoming Shows

The Fulcrum Point New Music Project is an organization that has intrigued me since my first day at The Silverman Group. They have done so many unique performances and I wish I had known about them since I first moved to Chicago three years ago. They now have two exciting concerts coming up within a few weeks of each other that I’m sure will be huge hits that everyone should go see! Fulcrum Point New Music Project strives to be a leader in diverse new music in Chicago and has presented multi-media performances, created educational programs, and commissioned innovative works since its start in 1998. Here is what they have coming up next:



The first of the two is a free concert called Hong Kong at the Fulcrum Point Celebrates the Year of the Tiger. This will feature the North American debut of the Windpipe Chinese Ensemble, who is known throughout Hong Kong for performing new and traditional works on authentic, indigenous instruments. This performance will feature two World Premieres created specifically for this event including a piece called “Tiger Sketch” that showcases award-winning Chinese Manga artist, Lee Chi-ching, creating a unique tiger themed painting through a video presentation. Although the concert is free, tickets must be reserved and can be done so here: rsvp@fulcrumpoint.org. The concert will be held at the Thorne Auditorium of Northwestern University, 375 East Chicago Avenue, Thursday, February 25 at 7:30pm.




The second show is called Art Without Boundaries, a unique performance combining improvisational art created by a local Michigan/Dutch design team, Two Designing, famous Dutch musician Wilbert de Joode, and Fulcrum Point live music. Art Without Boundaries will be held at the Space at Evanston, 1245 Chicago Avenue, Wednesday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at http://www.evanstonspace.com/buytix.html.

Cirque du Soleil’s Alegría Comes to Chicago and Champaign

Cirque du Soleil is known for its elaborate sets, fantastical characters, breathtaking costumes and most of all, the mind (and body) bending stunts executed by the performers. Now, they are coming back to Illinois for a short time only to present their popular show, Alegría. However, most people don’t know that Cirque du Soleil had modest beginnings and took a fascinating path to get to where they are today.

Guy Laliberté and his friends Gilles Ste-Croix and Daniel Gauthier, came up with the idea of putting together a performance troupe while they were managing a youth hostel for performing artists in Quebec. To get the ball rolling on this idea, Ste-Croix took matters in to his own hands, and walked 56 miles on stilts to Quebec City as a publicity stunt to convince the Quebec government to help fund his production. The ploy worked, and the three men hired 20 street performers in the summer of 1980 to create the Les Echassiers performance troupe and start touring Quebec.

Three short years later, the Quebec government gave Laliberté and Ste-Croix a $1.5 million grant to fund a production the following year as part of Quebec’s 450th anniversary celebration of the French explorer Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada. Laliberté named this production "Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil".

With its premiere in 1984, Le Grand Tour du Cirque Du Soleil became a success and began to reinvent itself as a full blown circus. Laliberté accomplished this by hiring the head of the National Circus School, Guy Caron, as their new artistic director and making some changes in the overall production. Laliberté and Caron decided to create a performance accompanied by strong emotional music that played from beginning to end by live musicians while having each individual act tell a story. Their vision also included having the performers, instead of a technical crew, move props on and off stage and to create a modern day circus without rings or animals.

Cirque du Soleil got its next big break in 1987, when they were invited to perform at the Los Angeles Arts Festival. The performance troupe was in such financial trouble at the time, that they could only afford a one-way ticket to California. If the show had not been a success at the festival, the entire group would be stuck in Los Angeles. Luckily, Cirque du Soleil was successful both critically and financially and was able to not only return home, but to continue performing.

Throughout the years, Cirque du Soleil has had its ups and downs, but they have now reached a pinnacle of success most other performance troupes can only dream of obtaining. They entertain almost 100 million people in over 300 cities on five continents and have expanded to 5,000 employees, including 1,200 artists from 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil is now back in Illinois to share its critically-acclaimed show, Alegría. Alegría is Spanish for jubilation and is a Cirque du Soleil classic that is sure to dazzle audiences with its breathtaking acrobatics, creatively wild costumes, and original music from Cirque’s best selling album that ranges from jazz, pop, tango, and klezmer. The performance also features characters such as clowns, nymphs, and nostalgic birds that have entertained over 10 million people worldwide since Alegría, first debuted in Montreal in 1994.

Be sure to check out this amazing performance, coming to Hoffman Estates at the Sears Centre Arena from March 3 – 7 and Champaign at the Assembly Hall from March 17 – 21. Go to Cirque du Soleil’s website to purchase tickets or for more information.
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/alegria/default.aspx

Columbia College Chicago's Media Production Center

On Friday, February 5, 2010, Beth Silverman invited me to help with the ribbon cutting ceremony taking place in the new Media Production Center at Columbia College Chicago. Being a student at Columbia, I’ve heard the buzz surrounding this building for months and I was excited to see if it lived up to the hype.

Located on 1600 S. State St., the enormous building is eye-catching with its multi-colored windows and giant Columbia sign displayed proudly above the front door. The Production Center is also LEED certified and contains a 50% green roof, radiant heating and cooling in sound stage spaces, and lighting fixtures that progressively increase as natural outdoor light decreases.

Once inside, Beth gave me a quick tour while we waited for people to arrive. Every corner we turned seemed to amaze me in a new way-the building looks exactly like a professional film studio. Everything in the building was designed for a specific use; even the lobby and mezzanine provide a gathering place for students to watch films. Next we visited the spacious motion capture studio, where there were giant screens and wires where the actors would be hooked up and then converted in to a 2D or 3D computer animated character.

My favorite part was the sound stage located in the rear of the building because it’s about three times the size of the sound stages located in Columbia’s film building. The soundstage gives the building a professional air and it was exciting to see a scene being shot by Columbia students in this space. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the open air theater or the outdoor rooftop, but that means I will just have to go back again!

When the event got rolling, I stood in the lobby to greet guests that arrived and direct them to the press table. I didn’t get to see the ribbon cutting, but I did shake Mayor Daley’s hand which was an exciting moment for me. I also got to meet Columbia’s public relations department, work with a fellow student, and see what a publicist does during events they worked on. Overall, it was a great learning experience and a neat way to get acquainted with a new addition to Columbia

New Year, New Intern

Being The Silverman Group’s new intern and hearing about all the previous interns, I know I have big shoes to fill. I started with The Silverman Group a little under a month ago, and I find that I’m learning something new every time I come in to the office. I can’t believe in the last four weeks I have already created a media list, written a press release, put together clip packets, written a media advisory, helped staff an event, and am now embarking on contributing to the blog and pitching the media for Cirque du Soleil’s new show Alegria. I am so excited to be a part of The Silverman Group and all the work they do for the arts, and I can’t wait to see what I will learn in the next few months. Since everyone else shared a little about why they got in to public relations, I would like to give a little background on myself.

After high school I attended Marymount Manhattan College in New York City because I was sure I wanted to be an actress. I had performed in every play at my New Jersey high school and most of the time I could also be found in various community plays and performing in a show choir called Harmony. However, after not getting in to the theater program at Marymount the first time I auditioned, I had to reevaluate what I wanted to do- at least until I could audition again. It was during this time that I chose to take Communications classes because I knew I loved working with people. This turned out to be a great decision because I soon discovered I had a passion for this fascinating subject and I wanted to learn more. At the end of my first semester, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in radio, not theater, and that the best place to do this was Columbia College Chicago.

Much to my parent’s dismay I packed my bags and headed half way across the country to a city I’d only visited once, but felt I belonged in. I’ve been at Columbia for three years now and have since changed my major to public relations. Like most people, I feel like it took me a while to find public relations, but now that I have I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I love that within the realm of public relations there are so many possibilities, and promoting what I’m passionate about such as theater, art, classical music, and film instills a sense of pride in my work. I will be graduating in May, and looking back on my four years of college I can’t believe how much I’ve grown and changed. I can’t wait to see what my professional career holds for me at The Silverman Group and beyond graduation.