Friday 17
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Lipizzan stallions were trained at the Spanish Riding School of Vienna as early as the mid-1600s. The school has continued to train Lipizzans ever since, and the horses, once famous for their battle maneuvers, are now known for their precise, highly controlled dressage–moves developed from those maneuvers. The Herrmann Royal Lipizzan Stallions of Vienna are performing four times this weekend as a benefit for the Hooved Animal Humane Society in Woodstock, Illinois. Shows take place at the Du Page County fairgrounds in Wheaton (on Manchester Road just off County Farm Road); they begin at 7 tonight, at 4 and 7:30 tomorrow, and at 4 Sunday. Tickets are $9 for adults and $4 for kids 6 to 12, a buck off if you buy them in advance. Call 815-337-5563 for more information.
The Chicago Historical Society’s program Your Home Museum posits that each of us is the curator of the historical artifacts of our lives. Over two two-hour sessions today and tomorrow, paper conservator Carol Turchan talks about investigating your family tree, learning to apply preservation techniques in your own home, handling and care of your private collection of photographs and documents, and proper storage of everything. The cost is $6 (members) and $10 (nonmembers) for today’s session, $10 and $15 for both; sessions start at 1 both days. The society is at North Avenue and Clark Street. Call 642-4600.
Monday 20
Daley Plaza will be the site of six hours of 30-second bursts of comedy (or noncomedy, as the case may be) as the Planters peanut company auditions comics for a new series of commercials from 10 to 5 today. It’s free to audition or just watch; if you’re a potential contestant, you need to get there early (8 o’clock), fill out a form, and have your act vetted (not least for profanity and vulgarity) by on-the-scene talent coordinators. (You can also forgo today’s peanut-commercial auditions and submit your act on videotape.) Planters will choose a total of six finalists from Chicago; these will be added to the dozen total from New York and LA. The best of these 18 will appear on a Planters commercial in October. Call 800-325-1123 for more information or just show up at 118 N. Clark.
