Post by Smiley on Nov 15, 2007 18:44:16 GMT -5
Chicago's Maxwell St. resurrected at Skokie Theatre
November 20, 2007
By MIKE ISAACS Staff Writer
The Skokie Theatre last week was transformed into historic and bustling Maxwell Street in Chicago during an event that captured the spirit of a vibrant city venue many have never forgotten.
Celebrating a new documentary about Maxwell Street and accompanying it with live music and old-fashioned vendors, Skokie's downtown theater became a time machine of sorts.
Skokie resident Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater (left) performs with Alex Sheyn during a benefit Saturday honoring a movie on the history of Chicago's Maxwell Street outdoor market presented at the Skokie Theatre.
(Laura Weisman/For Pioneer Press)
Lead singer, Kevin Iles (left) and his band The Warning Label from Niles North High School preform during a benefit performance on the history on Maxwell Street at the Skokie Theatre. The benefit, produced by Lynn Orman Weiss, was capped by the premiere of the documentary, "Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street."
(Laura Weisman/For Pioneer Press)
The 150 people in the audience experienced the culture, music, food and stories of the great open-air market that was once Maxwell Street. The area was at its peak from the 1920s to the 1950s; it was a thriving scene filled with street musicians, antique cars, crates and tires.
Lynn Orman Weiss, marketing and media director for the documentary, "Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street," said the Skokie Theatre was an ideal location to screen the film and to make the event even more poignant.
"(The movie) was not officially released so I thought it would be a great opportunity to premiere it in Skokie, a place similar to Maxwell Street, a port of entry for Jewish European immigrants, and then Southern blacks, looking for a better way of life," Orman Weiss said. "This diverse culture, unlikely bonding of the races, nationalities and gender became a great example of how people, although different, could live and work together in harmony, just like we do in our village."
Original Maxwell Street vendors Barry Cherney and Chris Christou hawked their wares at the event, Cherney selling socks and Christou, owner of Poochies, serving up Vienna beef Maxwell Street Polishes with grilled onions. Blues music was performed by Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater in an outdoor tent fashioned to look like Nate's Deli on Maxwell Street.
Skokie resident Noam Wallenberg shared guitar riffs with Clearwater and violin prodigy Max Lulich, a regular on Sundays at the new Maxwell Street open-air market, performed gypsy music.
The event was staffed by Niles Township High School District 219 students.
"Keeping the arts alive in our community and enriching our children's lives through cultural arts programming is what it's all about," Weiss said.
You can check out some of their performances on youtube
www.youtube.com/thewarninglabel
He even got his name mentioned. Hope his band mates don't mind that THEY didn't. 
(rockin' hair, btw)
.
