Beth Rooney, photographer, turns on the red light for:
Chicago Poetry Bordello Poetry readings with visual interest are a rare but wonderful thing. The Chicago Poetry Bordello, whose next show is Tuesday, October 30, at the Chopin Theatre, combines stunning spectacle with powerful and sometimes hilarious poetry. For $10 ($5 if you wear Victorian dress) you enter the era of the Everleigh Club, complete with burlesque dancers, fortune-tellers, musicians, tarot readers and, of course, poetry whores.
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For $5 you can buy a bordello token, pick a poet, and pay him or her for a private reading. Lest you think these are not serious poets, all are accomplished and widely published. October’s show will feature musical guests the White City Rippers and Jeff Levin on piano. Nina D’Angier will be crafting silhouettes, and Vivien Venus will be the beautiful burlesque dancer. This will be the Bordello’s first masquerade ball, so throw on a mask and pay a visit to the darker, seedier past. Oh, and bring cash—you’ll need it for the bar.
Maier was a nanny in Chicago who, on her day off, quietly walked around the city and took photos. She shot thousands of negatives with her trusty Rolleiflex, a good deal of her work made in Chicago during the 1950s and ’60s. She died a few years ago and, after her death, her work was “discovered” when a public storage facility sold off her things. Fortunately, John Maloof, a buyer with an eye, recognized the value of the images. She is now considered one of the most important American street photographers, with a very riveting story to boot.
