Book Club: Go Tell It On the Mountain

Ms. B-H, who has a masters in music, chose Go Tell It On the Mountain as the selection.

NYC

A work trip to NYC, but there was some frivolity. Saw Ms. T, my niece, for a lovely dinner at Resette, and saw Tom Stoppard's Rock and Roll.

Rock and Roll: It's August 1968, and Russian tanks are rolling in to Prague... Jan, the Czech student, lives for rock music, Max, the English professor, lives for Communism, and Esme, the flower child, is high. By 1990, the tanks are rolling out, the Stones are rolling in and idealism has hit the wall. Stoppard's sweeping and passionate play spans two countries, three generations and 22 turbulent years, at the end of which, love remains — and so does rock 'n' roll. A great cast, but Rufus Sewell was really, really terrific.

St. Joan at Chicago Shakespeare

Shaw's St. Joan by the the Shaw Festival of Canada.

I liked this review from Variety:

"Tara Rosling plays the 17-year-old Joan, and though she's assisted by Kevin Lamotte's expressive lighting, she really does put forth her own glow. She's a true believer among a lot of logical thinkers, and Rosling really gets the fundamental contradiction about Joan that drives the entire play: She's inspiring, and also a little -- OK, more than a little -- insufferable. It's very easy to grasp how the rest of the characters, so passionately reasonable and reasonably passionate, could follow her to the barricades and then root for her burning. Despite her skill, this really doesn't come off as a huge star turn for Rosling. The ensemble shines.
"

House Warming

We threw a party for our favorite theatre company, the House. So it was a House Warming: no gifts, other than gifts for the House. And we met our goal! Nate Allen, the artistic director, gave a great talk, but he didn't play guitar, and he didn't wear black...

Dr. Atomic

First the epilogue. I was walking into my office on the campus the day after seeing Dr. Atomic at the Lyric Opera, and there was Peter Sellars, the director of the production. I introduced myself, and we had a quite pleasant conversation. He seemed pleased, and perhaps a little surprised, that I had seen the show.





















So. The show. And not just because I saw him, but Sellar's staging is extraordinary. Lucinda Child's dancers add just the right visual touch. The first act is terrific, and the ending aria "Batter my heart," is killer good. And the second act has some great moments, but is just toooo long.

New Year's

We watched the Patriots v. the Giants on Saturday, didn't you?

Went to see the Golden Compass on Sunday. Went up to Argyle Street, ate at Silver Seafood, got dumplings for New Year's Eve.














Watched the Director's Cut (or is it Final Cut?) of Blade Runner on New Year's Eve. Lentils and sausage for New Year's Day, of course.