Our Town at Hypocrites

From Chris Jones's review: "David Cromer brilliantly revisionist and generally astounding new production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at The Hypocrites is his masterwork to date.....“He’s going on like this about Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town?’” you must be thinking. “That hoary small-town staple of the high school repertory?” Ah, but you’ve never seen it done like this before. Here is what Cromer (who plays the stage manager along with directing) does: He removes every last shred of sentimentality from the piece, replacing it with a blend of cynicism and simple human truth. But—and here’s the rub—he does so without removing the vitality and sincerity. Like many great revivals (the current “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center is in my mind), it’s neither archly conceptual nor a subversion of a great American play, but an explication for the modern age. I’m telling you, it’s that revelatory a show."

Lookinglass: Around the World in 80 Days

From Time Out's review:

Laura Eason's affable adaptation plays up elements of romance and social commentary in Jules Verne's novel that are sometimes forgotten. Above all, though, 80 Days is an adventure story, and Eason moves stylishly if not always swiftly through Verne's tale. The clunkier moments are tied to the intricacies of Richard and Jacqueline Penrod's Victorian puzzle-box set. The Lookingglass-style spectacle—an elephant ride, a sled and a sailing ship—is neatly rendered but requires so much setup time as to significantly slow the action. But composer Kevin O'Donnell, master of the twee underscore, glosses over the slow zones, and dynamic work from the cast helps us savor the days.

Ms. S in Colorado

Ms. S was in Colorado for the weekend for Mr. G's graduation.

U of C Celebration of Roger Myerson

Finally, the University celebration of Roger's Nobel Prize. A cool evening, except one speech was way too long. Roger was his usual terrific wonderful self.

A Flowering Tree at Chicago Opera Theatre

From Chicago Tribune review:

With "A Flowering Tree," Adams turns from the contemporary political and moral issues of his earlier operas to the simple beauty of an ancient folk tale from southern India about hope, renewal and the magic of transformation. You could think of his newest opera as the luminous yin to the dark yang of "Doctor Atomic," which Lyric Opera mounted last winter....

The story has a local link. Adams and Sellars drew on an English translation of an ancient tale in the native Kannada language of the Indian poet and scholar A.K. Ramanujan, who unearthed it from an archive at the University of Chicago and translated it into English.

The story line, interwoven with a dozen ancient Tamil love poems, concerns Kumudha, a poor but beautiful young girl who can transform herself into a tree whose blossoms she and her sister sell at a market to support their elderly mother. She and a handsome prince fall in love, are married, then are separated through the vicious actions of the prince's jealous sister. As in all fairy tales, the lovers are happily reunited at the end.

Book Club: Lost Horizon

It was my book choice and we hosted: Lost Horizon. Who knew that the term Shangri-La came from this book.

And Another NYC Trip

OK, a week later, back in NYC, this time with the chair of the Department of Economics. Saw that Scottish Play with Patrick Stuart and the Take your time: Olafur Eliasson exhibition at MoMA and PS1. (I'd also seen the Eliasson exhibition in SF.)














The whole Ben Bradley review of the Scottish Play is worth reading.

Ms. M in Chicago and NYC trip

Ms. S's cousin from Australia was in town, mostly to visit the Field, and I was in NYC with the Dean for a Harper lecture and related events.

Sweeney Todd

While it wasn't quite as good as the Broadway version, it was still great to see this John Doyle directed production where the actors are also the musicians.

Chicago Convenes

I helped put together a panel on “The Presidential Terrain, 2008 and Beyond.”













“The United States is on the verge of an historic election which has the possibility of bringing the first African-American or woman into the Oval Office. What will be the political terrain for our next President? How have the last four (or sixteen) years changed the way we view the power of the President, the legislature, and the courts?” My Dean, of course, was a featured speaker as well as John Mearscheimer and Sam Peltzman.