Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
musical forms. A full schedule of classes, concerts, and special events are geared to
children ages 6 months to teen years. (For more on dropping in for a class, see chap-
ter 8.) The school is best known as a training center offering a slate of music classes,
but it also hosts everyone from the legendary Pete Seeger to bluegrass phenom Ali-
son Krauss. The school's home, in a former 1930s library, is the world's largest facil-
ity dedicated to the preservation and presentation of traditional and contemporary
folk music. The Old Town School also houses an art gallery showcasing exhibitions
of works by local, national, and international artists; a music store offering an
exquisite selection of instruments, sheet music, and hard-to-find recordings; and a
cafe. The school hosts an annual Chicago Folk and Roots Festival in July in Wells
Park at Lincoln and Montrose, with stage performances and an activity-and-craft
tent for kids. Headliners are name-brand performers such as Patti Smith. The
school maintains another retail store and a schedule of children's classes at its first
location, 909 W. Armitage Ave.
4544 N. Lincoln Ave. (between Wilson and Montrose aves.).
&
773/728-6000.
www.oldtownschool.org. Tickets $10-$25. Subway/El: Blue Line to Western.
5 Movies
Chicago has its share of multiplex theaters that feature kid fare. The
AMC River
East,
located at 322 E. Illinois, east of Columbus Drive (
&
312/596-0333
), is
Chicago's newest and largest movie complex and features stadium seating and
digital sound in all auditoriums. (When the theater opened, it literally doubled
the number of first-run-movie screens downtown). Other major downtown cin-
emas include
600 N. Michigan Theaters,
at that address (
&
312/255-9340
),
Esquire 6,
58 E. Oak (
&
312/280-0101
), and
Pipers Alley 4,
1608 N. Wells
(
&
312/642-6890
).
One IMAX and one OMNIMAX theater surround you with sights and
sounds. Cineplex Odeon's
IMAX Theater on Navy Pier
(
&
312/595-5629
),
shows not only traditional IMAX films on its six-story, 80-foot-wide screen,
but also 3-D movies. The
OMNIMAX Theater
at the Museum of Science
and Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive (
&
773/684-1414;
www.
msichicago.org), usually presents movies in conjunction with exhibits. The the-
ater also has an Omnilaser Fantasy light show featuring rock music and costs the
same as a movie. To ensure tickets, reserve in advance—even if you have a ticket,
get there early, because the line for seats begins forming about 20 minutes in
advance.
Facets' Film Festival
Facets Multi-Media,
1517 W. Fullerton Ave. (
&
773/281-4114;
www.facets.
org; Subway/El: Red or Brown Line to Fullerton), a nonprofit group that
screens independent film and video from around the world, is for the die-
hard cinematic thrill-seeker. The group also hosts the
Chicago International
Children's Film Festival
(Oct), the largest in the U.S. In 2004 the festival
screened more than 200 children's films from 40 countries—many of which
you'll never see in mainstream theaters. Some 23,000 kids, adults, educators,
and celebrities attend and run filmmaking workshops for kids. For more
information about the film festival or to check out Facets' kids' programs,
including Young Chicago Critics and Take One! Workshops, log on to
www.
cicff.org
.
Tips
