PARTY CRASHER: September 5-9, 2013

Alas, fall is practically upon us. As we peruse our events inbox – overflowing with A-list invites to some of the city’s most illustrious dinners and celebrations, and hosted mainly indoors – our summer-loving sensibilities quietly remind us how much we’re not ready to kiss our favorite season goodbye.

From kaleidescope-colored costume balls and Nora Dunn sightings to a cast of tiara-loving trannies who take on the wonderful world of beauty pageants, here is a collection of our favorite end-of-summer celebrations happening this week.

Thursday, September 5

WHAT: Chicago Fringe Festival 2013 presents Jeanette Bonner’s Love. Guts. High School.
WHERE: The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Avenue
WHEN: 8:30 p.m.
$$$: $10 per person plus a one-time $5 festival button. Click HERE for tickets and show information.
411: O-M-G. Who doesn’t have their own deeply personal, “falling-in-love-in-high-school-in-a-really-big-way” story? Sure most everyone’s coming-of-age confessions veer towards the “trivially tame” (unless we are noting William Shakespeare’s sensitive, romance-kiboshing “Romeo & Juliet”), there’s something truly sublime and de rigeur about playwright/actress Jeanette Bonner’s autobiographical account of young love and lessons, finally!, learned.

Friday, September 6

WHAT: Nora Dunn’s Mythical Proportions
WHERE: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue
WHEN: 8:00 p.m.
 (show runs through September 22, 2013)
$$$: $28 per person. Tax-deductible contributions also accepted. For more information or to purchase tickets, click HERE.
411: What do you get when you combine Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood reruns, a drunken pig, and a Hollywood cocktail party addict? A late-night comedy sketch or, in this case, Nora Dunn’s newest, never not-funny, one-woman show. In seventy-five minutes, the former SNL legend invites us into her world for a personal tour – from growing up Irish on Chicago’s West Side to climbing the Hollywood ladder – and even introduces us to a fresh crop of Dunn-inspired characters. Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride.

Saturday, September 7

WHAT: Cultivate Festival
WHERE: 2045 N. Lincoln Park West
WHEN: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
$$$: Free admission; click HERE for more details.
411: We cannot fib: figuring out a solution to minimizing Earth’s carbon footprint has been giving us quite a bit of grief lately (maybe not as much as asking our editor for a raise but it’s up there). Lucky for us, Chipotle’s popular food fest – which features educational demos about sustainability; interactive, culinary demos by leading chefs like Paul Kahan, Tony Mantuano and Curtis Duffy (photo above); beer and wine tastings; and live entertainment – offers a simple solution that’s non-addictive and easy to swallow.

WHAT: Chicago Gateway Green's Green Tie Ball XXII
WHERE: Finkl & Sons, 2011 N. Southport Avenue
WHEN: 8:30 p.m.
$$$: Tickets start at $100; includes cocktails, signature bites from the city’s top dining destinations and live entertainment. To purchase tickets, click HERE.
411: Can’t think of a better way to help fund Chicago’s expressway beautification process than by dressing up as one of the iconic characters from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory? Neither could we. The gum-smacking enfant terrible, Violet Beauregarde, in all her bloated, lavender-hued glory is our top pick. Nevertheless, if there’s a less ostentatious way of making it to the front of the drink line without being rolled by a pair of Oompa Loompas, we hope you’ll let us know.

Monday, September 9

WHAT: Pageant: The Musical
WHAT: Laugh Factory Chicago, 3175 N. Broadway
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
$$$: $40 General Admission or $100 VIP Admission. Monies benefit The Abzyme Research Foundation. For more information or to purchase tickets, click HERE.
411: When a press release cries: “one time only!”, visions of Jesus on the Mount or shopping arm-in-arm with a Victoria’s Secret supermodel pop to mind. So when we heard the catastrophically-talented Chicago cast of The Book of Mormon was giving its theatrical, tranny take on a Miss America-meets-To Wong Foo talent competition, we immediately cleared our calendars. Money shot: The audience picks their favorite star to be crowned “Miss Glamouresse 2014” at the finale of the show.

Photo credit:
Nora Dunn courtesy of Tina Smothers

FRINGE FEMME: Dishing with funny girl and Chicago Fringe Festival star, Jeanette Bonner

Cafeteria cuisine, fashion faux pas and dating dilemmas are just a few of the memorable themes of any high school experience. Mix in unrequited love, self-acceptance and a splash of life advice (pragmatically provided by a Magic 8 Ball) and you get Love. Guts. High School.

A one-woman play written by and starring Jeanette Bonner, Love. Guts. High School. follows the journey of a love-smitten young lady and her teenage obsession with the romantically unavailable boy of her dreams. A highlight of this year’s Chicago Fringe Festival, Bonner marvelously delivers a fresh perspective on what it’s really like to be young and looking for love, heartbreaks and all – proving her star is on the rise.

Luxe File Chicago caught up with the New York dramatist who weighs in on what she loves most about the Big Apple and the Windy City, from food crushes and celebrity spotting to what she looks for in Mr. Right. 

When in Chicago:

Favorite people-watching spot

Definitely the Weiner Circle after 1am.

Best boutique to snag a wardrobe must-have

There are so many things to do that I've actually never been shopping in Chicago! I’m open to suggestions.

Hottest beach to show off summer tan lines

My brother loves to take me to the North Avenue Beach. He calls it “Hollywood Beach” because of all the beautiful gay men who go there and it's just one big party.

Can't leave town without…

Catching a free concert in Millennium Park with a bottle of wine.

Chicago-style deep dish pizza or hot dog

As a New Yorker, I can't in good conscience pick deep dish pizza, so I'll go with the dog!

When in New York:

Forget the Empire State Building, most romantic spot to take a date (and hopefully get kissed)

In the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge as the sunsets over the Manhattan skyline.

Best restaurant for a magical culinary adventure

Café Mogador, a Moroccan restaurant in the East Village.

Best place to spot a celebrity

When you're not looking.

Favorite moment in your one-woman show, Love. Guts. High School.

The moment at the end, when I come to terms with the fact that having difficulty in love only makes you better understand what real love is.

What projects are you currently working on?

I just wrote and shot a web series called "Ghost Light," which is about the backstage world of community theater and the unique cast of characters who make a show run smoothly.  I'm also toying with the idea of writing another solo show down the line. 

Attribute you look for in Mr. Right?

Sense of humor.

Actor/actress you most identify with?

I'm often compared to Rachel McAdams, Jennifer Garner, and Hilary Swank but Mindy Kaling is my spirit animal. She began her career at the NYC Fringe Festival, and later went on to write and star in the NBC hit sitcoms, “The Office” and “The Mindy Project”. Kaling has made things happen for herself and she inspires the heck out of me. 

You have a creative resume: NYC tour aficionado, production company founder, playwright, actress. What's been your favorite full-time job?

I find sitting in front of a computer for nine hours to be excruciatingly boring. Aside from acting, my favorite job is being a Tour Guide. I'm in love with New York's crazy history, and enjoy meeting people from around the world, and showing them around the best city in the world. It doesn't get better than that. 

Love. Guts. High School. runs Thursday, September 5 at 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 7 at 8:30 p.m.; and Sunday, September 8 at 5:30 p.m. The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Avenue. Tickets cost $10 and may be purchased here.