My Frugal Chicago – New Website!

We’ve moved! We’re unpacking and posting new Frugal Free Chicago events and activities (and eats).  So follow us over to our new digs -

My Frugal Chicago New Website!

http://www.myfrugalchicago.com

Free Theatre Saturday – 24 Hour Play Festival – April 4

Write, rehearse, and stage a play in 24 hours?  Enjoy University of Chicago University Theater students as they write, rehearse and stage new plays in this 24 hour play festival. Bring a few friends and enjoy a great night of  theatre.

Cost: Frugal Free!
When: Saturday, April 4, 2009 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Where: Reynolds Club, (First floor theatre) University of Chicago, 5706 South University, Chicago
Neighborhood: Hyde Park
Time: 8 – 11 p.m.
Contact: 773-702-9315
Website: University Theatre
Duration: Until 11 p.m.
Getting There:  Bus – The CTA #6 Jackson Park Express bus will take you from downtown Chicago to Hyde Park. Catch the bus southbound on State Street in the Loop. Get off at 57th or 59th Street, walk under the train tracks, and continue west to the campus; Metra – Catch the Metra Electric commuter train at the Randolph, Van Buren, or Roosevelt station. Get off at 57th or 59th Street and walk west to the campus; by Car - Exit at 57th Drive (the Museum of Science and Industry). Go west and curve around the museum. Take the fourth right onto the Midway Plaisance and go west to the campus.

Free Happy Hour Buffet – Kitsch’n – Thursday, April 2

Some free eats deserve double posting. Looking for a happy hour with real food? Delicious food? Enjoy your Thursday by making it down to Kitsch’n in River North for their free Thursday (and Friday) evening buffet.  It’s a very very good thing.

“Kitsch’n River North is considerably larger than the original Roscoe Village location, complete with a couch-filled lobby and a large outdoor patio, but the decor is similar, with kitschy furniture, shag carpet, and quirky ’70s accents. The menu features comfort food such as fried chicken and waffles, puff pastry pot pies, green eggs and ham, and a weekend “hangover brunch” menu. Signature cocktails include the Tang martini and the electric green huggie bear cocktail. There is also a gourmet coffee bar area with grab-and-go pastries for commuters on the run. The cocktail lounge features a large projection screen TV and additional seating.”

Free Happy Hour Hors D’Ouevres Buffet – Thursday & Friday Afternoon Customers can enjoy free appetizers with friends in our cocktail lounge every Thursday and Friday night after work from 4:30-6:30pm. Enjoy daily drink specials.

Cost:  Frugal Free!
When: Thursday,  April 2, 2009 (and Friday, April 3rd)
Where: Kitsch’n River North,  600 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago
Neighborhood: River North
Time: 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Contact: 312-644-1500
Website: Kitsch’n River North
Duration: Until 6:30 p.m.

Free Eats Sunday – Buffet – Big Chicks – Sunday March 29

Uhm…whenever someone says buffet I’m there. Whenever someone says free buffet, I’m two steps ahead. Music, free buffet on a snowy Chicago day. You better believe I’m going. Are you?

*Cost:  Frugal Free! (with the purchase of one drink)*

When: Sunday, March 29, 4 p.m.
Where: BIG CHICKS, 5024 N Sheridan Rd (on the west side of Sheridan. Look for a beautiful Art Deco terracotta building, Chicago
Neighborhood: Uptown/Edgewater – Argyle Chinatown
Time: 4 p.m.
Contact: 773-728-5511
Website: Big Chicks
Duration: Until the eats are gone.
Getting There:Take the RED LINE train to the ARGYLE STATION, (5000 N), walk east 2-1/2 blocks, go north on Sheridan Rd for 1/4 block .. BIG CHICKS, 5024 N Sheridan Rd (on the west side of Sheridan. Look for a beautiful Art Deco terracotta building. Or, take the SHERIDAN 151 BUS, to the ARGYLE stop. Walk 1/4 block north to BIG CHICKS on the west side of Sheridan.  Or, (less frugal option), if you drive there is usually street parking south of Argyle on Sheridan Road and on Argyle Street. Sunday day you can park in the Chinatown parking lot for under $5.00 until 7pm.

$6 Theatre Tickets – Saturday March 28 – Savage Limbo

“Doubt. Doubts. I have doubts.” Yes, John Patrick Shanley wrote doubts. But, I have no doubt you’ll find this play, about the changing lives of a bunch of 32-year-olds, well worth the admission price.

Second Stage Series – Savage in Limbo
By John Patrick Shanley

“The setting is a slightly seedy neighborhood bar in the Bronx, where a group of regulars (who all happen to be the same age—thirty-two) seek relief from the disappointments and tedium of the outside world. The first to arrive is Denise Savage, a perennial loner who announces that she is still a virgin, but would like to remedy the situation. She is joined by an old school friend, Linda Rotunda, whose problem has been the opposite—too many lovers (and illegitimate children) but who is now fearful that her current boyfriend, Tony Aronica, is losing interest in her. And when the macho Tony comes bursting in shortly thereafter and announces that he is leaving her to pursue “ugly girls,” girls who have read books and can teach him something, Linda is desolate. Denise, sensing an advantage, makes a play for Tony, and the action quickens, moving swiftly from zany comedy to tense confrontation which requires the muscle and mediating skills of the taciturn bartender, Murk, who, heretofore, had been content to keep the glasses filled, including that of his mixed-up girlfriend, April, a failed nun who is also a classmate of the others. In the end, tensions subside, Linda recaptures Tony, Murk proposes to April, and only Denise remains as she was—still in the limbo of loneliness from which she so desperately wants to escape.”

*Cost:  $6 General Admission  (Sometimes I will list low cost events here’s one.)

When: Saturday, March 28, 2009, from 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Where: Loyola University Chicago – Studio Theatre, Centennial Forum Student Union, Loyola Downstairs Studio Theatre (large unattractive gray building beneath the student Union),  Chicago
Neighborhood: Roger’s Park
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Contact: boxoffice@luc.edu, 773.508.3847, Dept. of Fine and Performing Arts at 773.508.7510
Website: Loyola University Chicago – Theatre
Duration: 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Getting There: CTA – Loyola ‘L’ Stop, Bus – 151 (to Howard), 147 (to Howard), 36 Broadway (to Devon). Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus is located at 6525 N Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626

Frugal Friday Theatre – Blurred Vision – Friday, March 27

Uhm, something is wrong with Tekki Lomnicki.  Sometimes being too funny can land you in the doctor’s office with blurred vision and hypochondriac issues through the yazzoo.  Don’t miss, Blurred Vision, by “self-proclaimed hypochondriac” Tekki Lomnicki.

“See it before it’s banned by the AMA! Tekki Lomnicki, self-proclaimed hypochondriac, journeys from doctor to doctor in search of a diagnosis for her blurred vision. On the way, she uncovers memories from her childhood surgeries, picks up a hitchhiking dragon and a magician’s assistant. Blurred Vision explores growing up with a disability, the crap shoot of healthcare, and the power of storytelling– with hilarious results. “

American Sign Language Interpreter, Personal Assistant and Audio Description provided.

RSVP to: 312-640-2121 voice
312-640-2102 TTY
Snussbaum@accessliving.org

Cost:  Frugal Free!

When: Friday, March 27, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Access Living,  115 W. Chicago,  Chicago
Neighborhood: River North
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Contact: 312-640-2121 voice, 312-640-2102 TTY, Snussbaum@accessliving.org
Website: Access Living
Duration: Until completely satisfied, or until it’s over.
Getting There:

*Note: Presented by the Access Living Arts & Culture Project
Partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Bookslut Reading Series – Wednesday, March 25

Sometimes you need to hear an author read his words aloud and sometimes you want to read those words alone. And  sometimes you need a “bookslut” to organize an authors’ reading.  Well here you go. Enjoy.

“Bookslut hosts novelist Michael Shilling (Rock Bottom), ISU linguist Daniel L. Everett (Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle), and Freedom From Religion Foundation copresident Dan Barker (Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists). 21+.”

Cost:  Frugal Free!

When: Wed., March 25, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Hopleaf Bar,  5148 N. Clark ,  Chicago
Neighborhood: Uptown
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Contact: 773-968-2345
Website: Hopleaf Bar
Duration: Until completely satisfied, or until it’s over.
Getting There: “The Hopleaf Bar is located at 5148 N. Clark St., just a few doors south of Foster. We are easily reached by public transportation and taxicabs are usually plentiful. Metered street parking is available. By El: the Berwyn stop of the CTA’s Red Line is an easy 6-block walk (stroll through the Lakewood-Balmoral historical district) or transfer to the #92 Foster bus when you get out of the el station.  By Bus: #92 Foster; #22 Clark (stops right across the street).”

Free Food Wednesday- Cityscape Bar, Wednesday March 25

Enjoy this Wednesday night complimentary appetizer buffet before heading out to  downtown Chicago frugal events. It’s a good thing.

Cost:  Frugal Free!

When: Wednesday,  Mar 25 (5 – 7p.m.)
Where: Cityscape Bar (Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza), 350 W. Mart Center Drive,  Chicago
Neighborhood: River North
Time: 5 – 7 p.m.
Contact: 312-836-5000
Website: Holiday Inn, Chicago City Mart Plaza
Duration: 2 hours.
Getting There:

Free Music at MCA – Tuesday, March 24 – Harold Arts

Whenever a really good music performance hits MCA, I’m there.  And this is a really good bunch of performers.  And I would even pay for this. What?! Yes.  I said it.  Now go enjoy.

“In 2006, Chicago-based non-profit Harold Arts initiated its summer residency program on a tree farm in rural Ohio, creating a sylvan hideaway where musicians and visual artists can delve into their work in a collaborative atmosphere. The organization gathers the residents’ musical output on an annual compilation album, but they also program concerts throughout the year at venues like the Empty Bottle. For the latest installment of the MCA’s monthly local music showcase, Harold Arts presents Action Steps, a multimedia performance featuring compositions by Samuel Ng of Brilliant Pebbles. Tonight’s hour-long set calls on a cast of Harold residents, including Frank Van Duerm, Fred Wells, Ben Carver, and some special guests.”

Cost:  Frugal Free!

When: Tuesday Mar 24 (6:30–7:30pm)
Where: MCA,  Museum of Contemporary Art , 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago
Neighborhood: Streeterville  (Downtown Near the Water Tower Building).
Time: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Contact: 312.280.2660
Website: MCA
Duration: 1 hour.
Getting There: CTA: Redline to Chicago Avenue. Walk 4 0r 5 blocks east. Bus: 151,147, get off on Michigan & Chicago – walk 2 blocks east.

Free Food & Conversation – Tuesday, March 24

Can you spare a little social change with that gourmet meal? For those of you who eat with a conscience, enjoy a meal a conversation at Hull-House’s “Free Soup and Organic Conversation.” This ongoing free event includes a meal and conversation with a leading food activist. Enjoy.

“Please bring your hunger for free soup and conversation every Tuesday. Hull-House Kitchen: Rethinking Soup is a communal event where we will eat delicious, healthy, soup and have fresh, organic conversation about many of the urgent social, cultural, economic and environmental food issues that we should be addressing. We will meet in the historic Residents’ Dining Hall, where Upton Sinclair, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B.Duboise, Gertrude Stein and other important social reformers met to share meals and ideas, debate one another and conspire to change the world. Activists, farmers, doctors, economists, artists, and guest chefs will join us each week to present their ideas and projects. In the tradition of the Hull-House Settlement’s commitment to free speech and Chicago’s Bug House Square, the third tuesday of every month will feature a “Soup Soap Box.” Anyone and everyone is invited to take the stage for 2 minutes each to share their projects, opinions, and visions for the future of food. Hull-House Kitchen: Re-thinking Soup Every Tuesday, 12-1:30pm Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Residents’ Dining Hall 800 South Halsted FREE (donations from $.01 to $1,000,000 gladly accepted)”

Cost:  Frugal Free!
When: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 12 PM
Where: Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Residents’ Dining Hall, 800 South Halsted (MC 051), UIC Campus.
Neighborhood: UIC
Time: 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Contact:312-413-5353, jahh@uic.edu
Website: Jane Adams Hull House
Duration: Meal and Conversation, until done.