Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Theatrical release
Italian Film Festival USA will present “La salita” (“The Ascent”) at 7 p.m. on April 29 at the Northbrook Public Library. Set in 1983, the film follows playwright Eduardo De Filippo, as he stages the first theatrical production in an Italian juvenile penitentiary. After earthquake damage closes the women’s prison in Pozzuoli, the inmates are temporarily moved to other regional penitentiaries, including the juvenile prison on the islet of Nisida. With assistance from actors in his own company, De Filippo helps renovate the prison’s theater and create a school for acting and set design to keep the inmates busy and stimulate their creative flair. Admission is free; reservations are required. For more, click here.
Trance master
Italian electronic maestro Giuseppe Ottaviani will bring his melodic, high‑energy show to Sound-Bar in Chicago at 10 p.m. on May 1. The Italian DJ and record producer is best known for his 2019 album “Evolver,” which included the hit singles “Tranceland,” “8K” and “Panama.” A veteran of the trance music scene, Ottaviani is also a member of Pure NRG with producer Solarstone. In 2024, he appeared at No. 98 in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list. Born in Viterbo, near Rome, in 1978, he studied classical music as a teen before discovering electronic music, playing his first DJ sets at clubs and on local radio programs in 1995. For more, click here.
To enjoy a video, click here.
Cinematic sampler
Italian Film Festival USA will present “Viola” at 3:30 p.m. on May 2 at the University of Chicago in Cobb Hall 310 as one of seven recent short films from Italy. During a tense dinner, Viola and Carlo meet Elena, their son Ascanio’s fiancé. When Ascanio reveals a secret, ignoring Elena’s aspirations, economic power dynamics emerge. The program will last approximately 110 minutes. Each short is preceded by a director video. The audience will vote on their favorite short. Among other awards, Viola was earned the Los Angeles Italy Film Festival and the Italian Film Festival USA as well as the Give Peace a Screen. Admission is free; reservations are required. For more, click here.
Flying high
Il Volo will wing its way into the Windy City on May 2 for an 8 p.m. show at the Rosemont Theatre as part of a wide-ranging world tour that launched in Mexico in March and will conclude in the Czech Republic in October 2027. The U.S. leg of the tour opened in Denver in April and will conclude at the Rosemont, with stops in California, Texas, Ohio and Michigan along the way. Since catapulting to stardom in 2011, the popera trio has earned fans around the globe, winning a Latin Billboard award in 2015, coming in first at Sanremo and third at Eurovision in 2015 and receiving a Gold Creator Award from YouTube in 2019. For more, click here.
Magic Mike
Onesti Entertainment has slated a magical lunch event for the entire family from noon to 2 p.m. on May 2 at Rock ‘N Ravioli in the Arcada Theatre Complex in St. Charles. Veteran professional magician Mike DiDomenico will entertain parents and their kids with fast-paced interactive magic that features colorful illusions, silly comedy and audience participation. Before the show, DiDomenico will roam from table to table performing up-close magic; afterward the kids will take magic tricks home with them. Tickets are $35 per person and include a lunch of mini cheeseburgers, mini hot dogs and chicken strips with mocktails and ice cream available for purchase. For more, click here.
Guitar icon
Legendary guitarist Al Di Meola will take to the Park West Chicago stage for an 7:30 p.m. show on May 3. By melding elements of jazz, rock, flamenco and world music, Di Meola became one of the architects of jazz fusion. A prolific composer and prodigious six-string talent, Di Meola has amassed more than 20 albums as a leader while collaborating on a dozen or so others. He has performed with the likes of Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke in the fusion supergroup Return to Forever, and Clarke and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty in “The Rite of Strings.” For more, click here.
Food for thought
Italian Film Festival USA will present “Three Goodbyes” at 6 p.m. on May 11 at Northwestern University, Kresge Hall 1515. Marta and Antonio split up after a trivial argument. Marta experiences a sudden lack of appetite and Antonio, a rising chef, immerses himself in his work. But despite being the one who ended things, Antonio can’t seem to forget Marta. When she discovers that her loss of appetite has more to do with her own health than the pain of separation, everything changes: the taste of food, the music, the desire, the certainty of the choices that were made.
Based on the book “Tre Ciotole” by Michela Murgia. Admission is free; reservations are required. For more, click here.
Pop Olympian
One of the highlights of the Opening Ceremony at the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina was Laura Pausini’s goosebump-worthy rendition of the Italian National Anthem. Never one to rest on her laurels, the Italian pop music icon has embarked on a world tour that began in March in Spain and will wrap up in November 2027 in Croatia. The U.S. leg of her tour will include a stop at the Rosemont Theatre at 8 p.m. on May 30. Over a 33-year career, Pausini has released 16 albums and has recorded and sung in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, German, Latin, Chinese, Catalan, Neapolitan, Romanian, Romagnol and Sicilian. For more, click here.
Modern god
Artist Jyl Bonaguro recently unveiled her latest sculpture commission, a bust of “Zeus” in Italian marble. Standing 2 1/2 feet tall and weighing 750 pounds, it’s destined for a private collection in Canada. Bonaguro’s modern interpretation of the Greek deity is meant to be godlike but deeply human, caught not in anger but a state of reflection while remaining ready for action. The delicate gold veining subtly references Zeus’s thunderbolts. Bonaguro’s marble sculptures are hand carved and emphasize the “non finito” technique of leaving parts of the stone untouched. It’s one more step toward her goal of carving a female figure of Athena on the scale of Michelangelo’s David. For more, click here.
Sumptuous showcase
European history buffs will have a field day at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Deering Family Galleries of Medieval and Renaissance Art, Arms and Armor. Unveiled in 2017, the expansive exhibit showcases nearly 700 objects from the museum’s rich holdings of art from 1200 to 1600 as well as an extensive arms and armor collection. Among the Italian items on display are a terra-cotta altarpiece by Florentine Benedetto Buglioni, works of art for the bedchambers of Tuscany’s merchant elite, and a tempera-on-panel diptych of the Virgin and Child Enthroned and the Crucifixion (pictured). For more, click here.
Giving tree
A pair of Italian Americans teamed up with several other local artists to transform the remains of a 200-year-old elm tree into a work of art. Rising up from the grounds of Ragdale in Lake Forest, “Diversity of Birds” was created by Jyl Bonaguro and Mia Capodilupo and fellow artists Margot McMahon, Anthony Heinz May, Nicole Beck, Julia Sulmasy, and Fredy Hauman Mallqui. Located at 1260 N. Green Bay Road, Ragdale is an artist residency program and community (ragdale.org). The Ragdale Tree Project was spearheaded by Chicago Sculpture International (chicagosculpture.org). The CSI has collaborated with the Chicago Park District to create more than 50 public sculptures from dead and dying trees. For more about Chicago Sculpture International, click here. For more about The Ragdale Tree Project, click here.
Several of these look very interesting. Thanks for sending.