Holiday Party with the Dean

The Dean hosted his annual wonderful holiday party for the staff. A good time was had by all.

Wisconsin

Went to see Ms. S's family for Thanksgiving. We drove this time, and confused ourselves with Black River Falls. The dark parallel universe version of River Falls?

Our camera person must have been on strike. This is the best of four pictures from the trip.















We played a rousing game of Apples to Apples after dinner.

The Nutcracker

There's no Sugar Plum Fairy in this one...big thumbs up for another great production from The House.

From Chris Jones's review in the Tribune:

"The House Theatre of Chicago's new "Nutcracker" begins with that famous holiday party. A brave young Marine named Fritz is expected home from war. But things quickly go terribly wrong for Clara. Her family's celebration is suddenly interrupted by one of those knocks on the door dreaded by every military family with someone in harm's way.

That's probably enough to reveal that this is not one of those traditional kinds of "Nutcracker," beloved by little girls in party dresses and reliant on ballet, spectacle and oversize toys. This one might make little girls -- and bigger persons of both genders -- cry.

Clara still gets her wooden soldier in this ambitious and heartfelt version by Phillip Klapperich and Jake Minton, and the contents of her toy box still come to life. But the battle with the Rat King isn't merely the stuff of whimsy, but a surrogate battle for Clara's coming to terms with the death of her brother. When "Uncle" Eric Drosselmeyer hands over a Nutcracker who looks a lot like Fritz, he has a live-saving mission in mind. Clara is lost in a psychological labyrinth -- one that resembles the struggle faced by a similar girl in the movie "Pan's Labyrinth," which I suspect was an influence on this show. And House is off on another of its regressive theatrical journeys into the mysterious mind of a child."

The Crucible

When was the last time you thought about this play? High school, right? A strong production at Steppenwolf.

Becker Center Conference

Went to most of a day long seminar at the Becker Center on campus.

California Trip

A work trip, primarily to be at a U of Chicago alumni event with Warren Winiarski, who wrote the chapter on Machiavelli for the Strauss and Cropsey's "History of Political Philosophy." Who knew? Oh yeah, there's also that judgement of Paris thing he's famous for in other circles....

A really wonderful event: great wine, great food, great weather, and Winiarski was absolutely charming.

And then got to spend some time with the ever fabulous Mr. R.

Celebrate Chicago

The Dean was the featured speaker for this annual event for major donors.

His topic:

Cymbeline

A wonderfully theatrical production of this difficult script at Shakes. Among the highlights, Jupiter, descending from the flies, straight out of "Angels in America."

Visiting Committee

The Visiting Committee was in town for their big fall meeting.

Myerson Celebration!

We had a quick party to celebrate the award of the Nobel Prize to Roger Myerson today. He's a really great guy.

Book Club: Getting Organized

Ms. S and my work colleague Ms. B-H have started a book club. We had the organizational meeting today. We're going to try to start with books that are representative or evocative of a decade.

The Magnificents

From TimeOut review: "Whether or not the House’s latest fantastic voyage—inspired by Watkins’ grandfather, a real-life magician who taught his grandson the art form—is an actual play is beside the point; the company bills this story of the last days of an aged magician as a “magical clown show.” And there’s plenty of both magic and clowning, propelled by the expert pratfalls and timing of a trio of many-hatted clowns (Defrin, Smith, and Taylor), sensitive and whimsical direction by Molly Brennan of 500 Clown, and the impressive magic by Watkins and Rapley. And not cheesy Copperfield illusions or trendy Criss Angel mindfreaking, but card tricks, canaries, cups and balls, and the old getting sawed in half."

This show, like lots at the House, wears it's heart on it's sleeve, but we really enjoyed it. Underreviewed and overlooked. The magic was...well magic.

Yale alumni at the Smart Museum

There was a gathering of Yale alumni at the Smart Museum to see "Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery."

No Child

at Lookingglass. This was a great, great show. I wished we'd seen it sooner so we could have told more people about it. It's still OK to be heartwarming, right? Sun is an amazing performer.
























From Chris Jones's review in the Trib:

"Fifteen minutes from Midtown Manhattan, eight armed guards watch over the daily comings and goings of students at Malcolm X High School in the Bronx. And as if the travails of raising yourself in the nation's poorest congressional district aren't enough, that institution's young people are subject to the kind of dehumanizing environment -- lines, metal detectors, scared teachers, crummy resources, cripplingly low expectations -- more apt for the training of convicts-to-be than high achievers of tomorrow.That's the thesis of Nilaja Sun's superbly performed and thoroughly gripping one-woman show, which begins a national tour in Chicago after a long New York run and a bevy of much-deserved rewards for Off-Broadway excellence. Sun -- an apt name for an optimistic artist fighting through a cloud of educational dysfunction -- spent a few months as a teaching artist in the school. "No Child" (which she intends as ironic commentary on federal educational policy) is a theatrical account of her temporary but emotionally fraught experiences on the front lines of an inner-city school."No Child" is a must-see -- especially for teachers, who will understand and appreciate this show best of all -- because it combines a persuasive critique of the failings in one of society's most sacred obligations with an innate understanding of the emotional toil of trying to teach well. And like all the best shows based on social observation, it's also willing to celebrate the personal eccentricities that populate every community. Sun sees the fun in these inner-city kids, as much as the imminent potential for tragedy in their lives."

Sondheim's Passion at Chicago Shakes

We thought that Gasteyer, the SNL alum who played Wicked’s witch, who portrayed Fosca, shown in the picture here, was terrific. (Even though Timeout Chicago didn't.) Great to see this show in the Chicago Shakes small space.

From Timeout Chicago's review: "In Sondheim’s 1994 musical, a handsome young soldier, Giorgio, must leave his beautiful, married mistress Clara for a military assignment; among the tiresome men there, the only woman is the ugly, near-death Fosca, whose passion for Giorgio is relentless. Set in 19th-century Italy, Passion has the veneer of a bygone era: letters, rendezvous, even a duel. But beneath that veneer is a musically complex masterwork. More than plot devices, the letters formally advance the theme: Giorgio sings Fosca’s missive to him in the first person; and so, as her passion overwhelms him, their identities blur. And a female protagonist whose forceful, not-psycho desire is the plot’s driving force is, even now, an anomaly.