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.

Merce and Merce

Two great programs by the Cunningham company. It was was fun to see eyespace, where you make the soundtrack with an ipod. The first night, I did the authorized version. The second night, I added songs, but let them play at random.














Friday, October 12

* CRWDSPCR (1993) – Nonstop, vigorous movement to John King’s processed Dobro steel guitar score.
* Crises (1960) – Music by Conlon Nancarrow; costumes by Robert Rauschenberg; elastic bands connect one man and four women.
* eyeSpace (2006) – An intense precise piece that pushes Cunningham’s use of chance methods in new directions. iPods are used to disseminate Mikel Rouse’s score. Shuffle the score’s tracks on your own iPod* and enjoy a personal and distinct viewing and listening experience.

Saturday, October 13

* MinEvent (2007) – A collection of elements from the Company repertoire combined in a unique performance.
* Fabrications (1987) – A powerful, extraordinary, foreign and almost surreal experience.
* eyeSpace (2006) – See Program A.

Broadway in Chicago: The Sparrow

Went to the opening night of The Sparrow, now presented by Broadway in Chicago.

The House is "en fuego!"