Meet the New President

The new President of the U of Chicago, Bob Zimmer, was on campus for visits.

Borrego Valley

A really, really terrific trip to Borrego Springs, California.

NYC

Did a work trip to NYC including a trip up to Yale--one of the alums at lunch was the Dean of Pierson College when I was there. For fun, saw Doubt and Sweeney Todd, and went to MoMA and the Whitney Biennial. Cell phone pix tell the story. Yes, Virginia, I went to Menchanko-Tei...

Valentine Victorious

OK. Let the record show that these guys still totally, totally rock. Really, check out their web site.



We were a bit leery when we learned that the lead of the trilogy, Nate, had broken his hand, but Valentine understudy, Mike Spatafora, stepped in. He was the lead guitarist for the Trick Hearts in this production.

Great...and our guy Matt (my trainer) was amazing.

Quasar Dance Company

Brazilian dance at Columbia.

Cubs Single Tickets

After totally missing last year's window, scored some tickets for Cubs this year.

Reds 5/31
Astros 6/16
Phillies 8/21
Pirates 9/4

I went on-line, and it was nada until about 4 pm, and then the window opening. No Sox or Cardinals obviously, but...

Chicago Opera Theater

With the goal of not missing out on Nixon in China, we subscribed, with our friend Ms. B-H, to the three performance series at Chicago Opera Theater. We're not big opera buffs, but had heard great things about this company, like the size of the Harris Theater, and well...Ms. B-H, who has a Masters in music from U of Chicago, was willing to take us on as pupils. The first half, The Padlock, has us worrying what we had gotten ourselves into...thankfully, the second half, Dido and Aeneas, was absolute bliss.

Mary Zimmerman's Pericles

Went to see Mary Zimmerman's production of Pericles at the Goodman. Absolutely visually stunning, but we were struck how the line-reading of the text and acting got subsumed by the visuals.

Savion Glover...Just Down the Street

Went to see Savion Glover in If Trane Wuz Here, a small show, honoring Coltrane, with reg gaines, spoken word artist, and Matana Roberts on the saxophone. The performance was in a small theater just down the street from our place, and...it was incredible. Savion, was, as always, mind-bending-ly amazing.

So...sometime during the performance, a small, maybe two-year old, started edging toward the stage. At first, I was like "will a parent please reign that child in" but it didn't seem to bother the performers, so I just let it go. The kid kept inching up, and made it all the way to the plywood platform Savion was dancing on. Finally, at a break, Savion said, looking at the kid, "well, I think you've figured out who this is." Duh. His kid. And then, it added a really, really great touch to the show. At the end, when all the performers had left the stage, the kid was still there, applauding. And when he made a tiny stomp on the stage, it brought down the house.

So, a great performance...and one that not everybody got to see.

Much Ado About Nothing at Chicago Shakes

Before the intermission, I'm thinking...they should really take this outdoors. Pretty broadly drawn. After the break, Canadian Beatrice and Benedict and the Canadian director won me over. Ms. S. was more reserved in her enthusiasm.

Fences

August Wilson's 50s play at the Court. Strong acting, a pretty bombastic script.

Duke vs. UNC

Duke 87, Tarheels 83

after the quake

At Steppenwolf, a nice small producation, after the quake, adapted and directed by Chicago theatre legend Frank Galati from stories by Haruki Murakami. Enjoyed while we were watching, but as Ms. S said a few days later: "other than wanting to read the stories, I haven't given that show a second thought."

Work Trip to La Jolla and Los Angeles

Went for a week to Southern California. Only this time I figured out to stay in La Jolla instead of San Diego. A good trip...good progress for the U of Chicago. And some fun, too....

Sonia Flew

One of the better dysfunctional families from Steppenwolf. "An exploration of how world events shape our families and how families shape our lives, through the eyes of a Jewish-Latino family in Minnesota." Nicely directed, nicely acted (with some new faces), and an inventive set.