Frill Seekers
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Guests will enter Glow through a narrow foyer where they can view themselves on a video monitor. The ground-floor room will be paneled in mahogany and dominated by a large bar with copper trim and glass panels that will glow in different shades of deep blue. The perimeter of the vaulted ceiling will also glow, and monitors set into the walls will air a variety of silent video images. A sweeping stairway with blue floor lights, flanked on one side by a towering, cobalt-blue-lighted Plexiglas sculpture, will ascend to a catwalk, where a DJ will spin records, and then to the second floor, where a 12-foot mirror angled above the staircase will allow guests on either floor to inspect the scene in the other space. On the second floor guests can hang out in a slightly smaller room filled with overstuffed lounge furniture in shades of green, brown, and burgundy.
The opening of Glow marks the tenth anniversary of Big Time Productions, the nightlife company Smith and Fortis formed when they opened Ka-Boom! (their offices now occupy the site of the old club). Last month they also opened Watusi, a restaurant at 1540 W. North in Bucktown. Their partner in the new eatery is Suzy Crofton, the acclaimed young chef known for Crofton on Wells. At Watusi she’ll oversee a menu of West Indies-inspired dishes.
The Ravinia Festival begins its summer season this Thursday, and Jean Oelrich, director of marketing and communications, has good news. Following increased promotional and marketing efforts last year, pavilion ticket sales for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra jumped 16 percent, an encouraging development after several seasons of flat or declining figures. And lawn ticket sales are up 38 percent. In the past year, focus groups of 25- to 44-year-olds have revealed that the lawn is port of entry for classical-music neophytes. “People tend to introduce their friends to classical music as part of a social outing,” says Oelrich. This summer, promotions like “Bring a Date to the CSO” will target young adults, and the festival’s Web site (www.Ravinia.org) is soliciting members for a “Cyber-Club” that will E-mail them information about upcoming concerts and last-minute ticket promotions. According to Oelrich, the club has already signed up 7,000 people.
