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By Monica Boland

The legendary rock and roll band with horns is headed for Baltimore this Sunday, May 6. Chicago will perform at Pier Six Concert Pavilion as part of their “Sing with Chicago” promotion, which gives fans the chance to sing the 1976 hit “If You Leave Me Now” on stage with the band to benefit the American Cancer Society (ACS).

In two years, the Grammy Award winners have raised over $130,000 to fight breast cancer. Fans bid on the auction and the proceeds directly benefit the ACS. The band also gives $1 of every ticket to the society.

We recently caught up with original member and trumpet player Jimmy Pankow about Chicago’s upcoming show in Baltimore.

What kind of feedback have you received from fans as a result of “Sing with Chicago”?

Jimmy Pankow: We’ve had incredible longevity and success for many years and it’s time to give something back. This will be our third season working with the American Cancer Society and what we came up with was this idea that would inspire donations by inviting the highest bidder on stage to sing with the band at their local venues. This inspires people to be even more generous because it’s kind of a fantasy come true to get up on stage. If we can bring awareness to a worthy cause like the cure for breast cancer, it adds even deeper joy to what we do.

What has it been like to invite fans on stage to sing with the band and also to get to know them one-on-one?

JP: It’s a lot of fun. Not only are we supporting an important cause like breast cancer, but we’re having a good time doing it. I don’t think the audience realizes that these people are coming onstage cold which takes a heck of a lot of courage. They come on and at some point in that performance it hits them that, “Holy cow, I’m on stage with Chicago and there’s thousands of people in front of me and I’m doing my thing.” They have a moment of clarity and the audience witnesses the experience transform this individual before their eyes and it’s a kick.

What are your plans for “Sing with Chicago” going forward? Given the success of the fundraiser thus far (raising over $130,000 to fight breast cancer), do you think there will continue to be an annual partnership with the ACS?

JP: There’s no end in sight. We’ve become a lot more plugged in to charitable endeavors. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in this country. If we can be a small part of wiping it out, it adds just another plus to what we do.

Can you give us a sneak peek of your upcoming performance at Pier Six?

JP: One thing people will always see when they see Chicago is music performed live with real musical ability. We are professionals. We do it the old-fashioned way with chops, as we call it. This is performed absolutely live by talented musicians and if you close your eyes you’re basically listening to the record in 5.1 stereo with 12 million watts. We see young people still coming into the audience because they discovered this music through their siblings or folks. They get it just like the original fans that are still coming around. They all get it on their own level. Chicago is an artist that has had enough hits over the years to do several hours’ worth of hit music. The people that come to the show and spend their hard-earned money to hear this music are going to get the full pour. They’re going to hear all of the songs that they expected to hear and they’re going to hear them performed very well.

You’re famous for being “the rock and roll band with horns.” How does it feel to be one of the musicians who helps set the band apart from other legendary rock bands?

JP: I have traditionally been the arranger for the band so I have more or less created this approach to the horns, which has not really been done before. It feels really satisfying to look back and to know that we created basically a rock and roll band with an indigenous horn section. We used the horn section (and still do) as a lead voice. The horn section is a main character.  It’s threaded in and around the vocals and lyrics. If you take it out of the music, there are big holes. This horn approach is a main character in the story of our music and it’s a lead voice. It began as unique to pop music and it’s still unique. It’s our signature.

And last but not least, what do you enjoy most about performing to live audiences?

JP: The live performance is the meat of what we do. I was told by somebody in the sports world back in the day that Joe DiMaggio was one of the most legendary baseball players in the world and somebody asked him how he could go out on that ball field every day and have the energy to blast those home runs out of the park. And Joe said, “Well you know there may be a couple of people in those stands who’ve never seen Joe D at the plate and I’m out there doing it for them.”  That’s kind of the approach we take. It’s a drug that you can’t get enough of and there are no bad side effects. I’m very lucky to be able to do what we do and we’re looking forward to coming to Baltimore.

Sunday, May 6, 6:00 p.m. gates and 7:30 p.m. show; $35-$75 (Click here for tickets)
Pier Six Concert Pavilion, 731 Eastern Ave. Baltimore, MD; (410) 783-4189

*Photo Credit: Henry Diltz

By BizLinc Staff

Social media has radically altered the way that we interact with each other, learn about local and global events and, quite literally, see our world. When the Newseum building on Pennsylvania Avenue opened in April 2008, Paul Sparrow, Newseum Senior Vice President for Broadcasting, knew that this revolutionary force in journalism needed to be explored by a museum devoted to the history of the press. The Newseum opened the HP New Media Gallery on April 27, with support from its newest founding partner Hewlett-Packard.

It’s quite a place. Designed by Newseum architect Robert Young, the 2,500-foot interactive gallery is the first permanent addition to the museum building, one with a $5-million price tag that doesn’t even cover the technology provided by HP. Its sleek, techno-cave feel is offset by vibrant monitors that encourage human touch and rafter-height video screens that inform on topics like the history of the Internet and its latest offspring, social media.

Museumgoers start at “Check-In.” Monitors that tilt down for child use invite you to take a picture of yourself, answer a question about social media or events of the day and then post both to screens in the gallery.

Next, at “Story Board” you’re invited to explore the Internet with something that’s not even on the market yet. Two HP VantagePoint 11-foot wide touch walls encourage you to learn about important news events, both past and present, as reported by citizen journalists on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more. 

Among more than 600 graphics, photos and videos, you’ll find entertaining news like Ashton Kutcher’s 2009 Twitter feed that surpassed CNN’s to garner 1 million followers and the YouTube video of Tillman the skateboarding bulldog.  You’ll also find events that both changed the world and demonstrated social media’s powerful effect on journalism, including the first tweets about China’s 2008 earthquake and Facebook posts that influenced the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

“Choose the News” encourages you to be a news editor and make your own front page, all with another technology not yet available in the U.S.: touch tables composed of LD4220tm LCD interactive displays that are powered by HP workstations and linked to a 23-foot wide Photon Engine 2D display. You choose a layout and design and then select current stories and photos supplied by 35 news feeds. Finally, you publish your front page to the 23-foot wide screen. And for added coolness? You can download your front page and your Check-In photo from newmedia.newseum.org.

What would a gallery devoted to social media be without a game? In the “Game Zone,” motion-tracking technology enables you to bat basketballs left or right to signal your answer in a social media trivia game.

Finally, visitors can explore “What’s on Twitter Today” through the touch-screen monitor located on the back of a large column. After exploring this amazingly interactive, fun and informative gallery, museumgoers may want put the word out: It’s a sweet tweet!

And while you’re visiting, check out the rest of the Newseum. With seven levels of galleries and theaters that cover five centuries of news history, the Newseum is an all-day excursion that’s engaging for the whole family. There’s even a 4-D movie!

Open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily; $21.95 for adults; $17.95 for seniors; $12.95 for ages 7-18; Free for children 6 and younger
The Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001; (888) 639-7386

*Photo credit: Sam Kittner/Newseum

By Pam Schipper

Just walk through the doorway and you’ll be tickled pink. The American Girl Bistro in Tysons Corner Center blossoms pink and white. It’s every girl’s dream.

And if it’s her birthday? She and her guests, not to mention their dolls, will be treated like nothing less than princesses. When girls are seated, their dolls get to dine too, in special Treat Seats that attach to the tabletop. And everyone (girls and dolls!) gets a sparkly pink-and-white tiara to wear through the meal. 

One glance at the menu and you’ll know that you’ve come to the right place. The Bistro’s selections achieve the enviable: they’re parent and kid-friendly! Appetizers include warm pretzel bits, artichoke-spinach dip and fresh fruit cut into fun shapes and served with yogurt dipping sauce. Entrees feature the ever-popular macaroni and cheese, pizza, burger and chicken tenders.

But for foodies both big and small, there are dishes that you might find at a fine dining establishment. Think coconut-chicken salad with apricot vinaigrette, grilled salmon filet with lemon-butter sauce, steamed broccoli and baby carrots and mashed potatoes (the good kind with lumps) and farfalle pasta with winter vegetables, all tossed in a tomato-basil sauce.

And that’s not the best part.

This bistro is a much-needed haven for the gluten-free. Just tell your server, and she’ll walk you through the various menu options. Really rare are the gluten-free chicken tenders. Our birthday girl, who has been deprived of chicken tenders since her gluten allergy diagnosis several years ago, devoured them and said that they tasted just like the real thing!

For dessert, a white cake with pink-ribbon icing arrives festooned with candles. As any gluten-free child will tell you, the most heart-breaking aspect of this allergy is cake! But no fears. A gluten-free cupcake, matching in pink and white, follows. The gluten-free cupcake is sourced from CakeLove, and the cake comes from Harris Teeter.

Goody bags end the meal and like the food, they’re high quality. Girls will find shirts and plastic birthday balloons, both perfectly sized for their dolls.

Admittedly, American Girl can be expensive. So what’s the birthday surprise for parents at the American Girl Bistro? A three-course meal with birthday cake, tiara and goody bag costs only $30 per girl.

Bistro Hours: Monday – Friday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; $30 per girl and $20 per adult, excluding tax and gratuity
American Girl – Washington, D.C., 8090L Tysons Corner Center, McLean, VA 22102; 1-877-247-5223

*Photo credit: Pam Schipper

By Pam Schipper

Running amuck with cumulative verse, counting games and creative and comedic flair, Five Little Monkeys at Adventure Theatre isn’t all fun and games. It’s much more than that.

The world premiere show at the musical theater center in Glen Echo Park, MD opened April 27 and runs through June 3. Five Little Monkeys expertly weaves the adventures contained in Eileen Christelow’s beloved rhyming books and invites audience participation. The little monkeys ask for audience response, and Mama ensures heightened monkey mayhem by leaving her children in the care of the theatregoers while she tackles a variety of emergencies.

“Just in case,” she says the first time that she leaves, “9-1-1 is programmed into the phone.”

The five little monkeys, as you would expect, get into all sorts of scrapes, as curious siblings are wont to do. But they have hearts of gold, and their mama, beautifully portrayed by Helen Hayes nominee Valerie Leonard, knows it. Motherhood has her on an emotional rollercoaster ride of love and angst, and despite a number of disasters that almost have her turning to drink, she wouldn’t wish it any other way.

Jacob Yeh, Katie Culligan, Joey Ibanez, Aviva Pressman and Ben Lurye play the five monkey siblings with childlike enthusiasm and personality. Each little monkey is different, Mama explains, and the actors endearingly demonstrate this. Especially captivating is the youngest monkey, played by Ben Lurye, who struggles to keep up with his siblings. He is sometimes merely tolerated but more often cared for by the clan.

Warm wit winds its way through the show and connects especially with parents in the audience. Grown-ups chuckle at the refrain, “No noise, no drama. Don’t wake up Mama.” (Mama is, of course, often tired.) After a chance encounter with a crocodile on a family picnic, Mama says, “This story’s so crazy, it’s got to go on Mama’s blog.”

But she doesn’t run for her computer; instead she piles the family into the car and heads to the Just for Kids Department Store to replace clothing ruined at the picnic. En route, her cell phone rings. She moves to answer the call, only to be admonished by her kids!

A counting game that started on the picnic gets thrown into high gear at the department store. Mama keeps losing monkeys. Then, to make matters worse, new monkeys show up who don’t belong to her. In all, 14 little monkeys keep changing places until the saleswoman puts out a call for lost parents over the store’s P.A. system.

After this, Mama is wrecked and all she wants is a little time to herself. A bedtime ballet ensues, complete with five monkeys dancing around with face towels and toothbrushes and then jumping on the bed. Mama ends up making numerous visits to their bedroom as one after another falls to the floor. When she finally reaches her parental breaking point, the little dears surprise her with birthday cake and a present. The monkeys finally notice that she’s frazzled and ask if she’s all right.

Mama replies, “I’ve never been better. I have you in my life.” Then she jumps on the bed.

Tuesday - Friday, 10:30 a.m., Saturday, 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and Sunday, 4:30 p.m.; $18 (Click here for tickets) 
Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd. Glen Echo, MD; (301) 634-2270

*Photo credit: Courtesy of Adventure Theatre-MTC