New Year's Eve Blue Moon

It was a blue moon. There was blue food, blue drinks, and the Blue Devils.















Holiday photos here.

Christmas 2009

We managed 7 fish stew for Christmas Eve, and Ms. S's granny's grits for Christmas Day. There were presidents, and a screening of White Christmas, of course.

Holiday photos here.

Solstice

Patti Smith was the honorary goddess guide for Solstice 2009.

Holiday photos here.

Josh at FFC

Did my first session with Josh at Fitness Formula. One of the best things I've done.... Power Balance, baby!

Candlelight tour at Glessner House

We went for the Christmas candlelight tour at Glessner House with Ms. N as one of the guides.

Remembering Rose Friedman

A work Saturday. A memorial event for Rose Friedman.

The Mystery of Irma Vep

A romp and a good time at Court.

From the Time Out Review:

"The Mystery of Irma Vep, which debuted in 1984, is perhaps the archetypal camp play. Camp, per Susan Sontag, privileges artifice over beauty, style over content—which holds largely true of Ludlam’s lovingly ridiculous spoof of horror movies and Gothic novels. The twist that sets Irma Vep apart from, say, the Annoyance’s lineup is a quick-change structure that enables two actors to play the myriad denizens of Mandacrest, the English manor bedeviled by all manner of monsters. The play becomes as much about the challenges it tosses to its performers as the dark secrets that Lord Edgar Hillcrest (Hellman) conceals from his new wife, Enid (Sullivan).

Those challenges are brilliantly met by this dynamic Laurel-and-Hardy pair. Sullivan, whose massive frame gives Lady Enid an almost architectural grandeur, gets the finest tour de force: He engages in a seemingly impossible back-and-forth between Enid and his other major character, the one-legged servant Nicodemus. Hellman wields a mean hatchet as the murderous maid Jane and, as pith-helmeted Lord Edgar, intrepidly plumbs the depths of Egyptology. While the first act could run at an even more manic clip, Graney directs with a steady hand. In the second act, at moments such as Enid and Jane’s strangely potent dulcimer duet, this Irma Vep achieves a sublime fascination, conveying Ludlam’s affection for his misbegotten sources. And Graney’s audacious closing move adds yet another layer of meaning to this daffily compelling play."

MFI Founder's Circle event

A work event to promote the creation of the Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics. A spectacular setting at the Morningstar offices.

Holiday Party at the Dean's

Another snowy night, but a wonderful evening at the Dean's for his annual party for staff. Yummy food, good company.

Mr. M in for a visit

Mr. M. was in for a visit before he went downtown for a work conference.

Mr. J in town

Ms. S's father came to town for a visit. We had dinner at Chilam Balam, went to the AIC, went to hear jazz (the big Hammond B3) at the Green Mill, went to Hyde Park and had Korean, at Indian and...whew...went to the Jazz Showcase.

More photos here.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Great casting, great acting. Timothy Edward Kane, always a favorite, well paired with Sean Fortunato. Clever stage design.













From the Time Out review:

"Stoppard’s 1967 breakout play, a backdoor inversion of Hamlet by way of Waiting for Godot, remains an ingenious enterprise. Rosencrantz (Fortunato) and Guildenstern (Kane)—or is it the other way around?—are mere pawns on the fringes of Elsinore, used and abused by Claudius and Hamlet (not to mention Big Willie) as means to an end to which the poor schmucks are never privy.

Halberstam’s handsome production nicely emphasizes Stoppard’s conceptual trickery. Collette Pollard’s smart scenic design suggests a metaphysical backstage; the play’s Hamlet cast cleverly plays its scenes upstage, to a backdrop of a sprawling auditorium several times the size of Writers’ intimate space, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ruminate in the foreground. The cast is pitch-perfect: Longtime associates Kane and Fortunato have the kind of easy comic rapport that’s earned, not faked, on top of a remarkable facility with Stoppard’s quicksilver wordplay and intellectual rhythms. Gilmore radiates energy as the grandiose and mildly sinister leader of the tragedians. The only questionable step is Halberstam and sound designer Andrew Hansen’s use of new wave rock songs like “Burning Down the House” and “Once in a Lifetime” as act bumpers. After all, Stoppard’s play seems to illustrate that even the least among us are more than talking heads.

Thanksgiving: It's a Football Party

We hosted a bunch of Ms. S's workmates for Thanksgiving. We thought it was going to be low key and spread out because we were watching football, but there is that critical moment when the turkey comes out of the oven. It all worked. Fun.

Photo album here.

Richard III

A strong production at Chicago Shakes. Some reviews said there was a disconnect in acting styles between Richard (old school high theatrics) and the rest of the cast (Chicago naturalism) but things had tempered by the time we saw it. A great show for women actors. And an amazing, amazing fight scene at the end.

All the Fame of Lofty Deeds

From Chris Jones's Tribune review: "But I think House Theatre has the best show here since "The Sparrow." No question. The House has got its groove back."














It was a fun benefit evening, with Jon Langford, cult music star on whose music the show is based, played a nice preshow set. Nate strapped on a guitar and a cowboy hat and was Nate.

A good time was had by all.

Boulder

A trip to Boulder to continue to clean out the house. Did a lot of archiving of posters and old theatre stuff.

Dax, RIP 2009

Book Club: The Golden Gate

Maureen's off to Tokyo
So we won't be heading north.
It's now at Nina's, should we bring gnocchi?
Unless, she reneges, and sends us forth
In search of some suitable coffee shop
Where John and Liz might stop.
I'm ok, where ever, and I'll try not to be crabby
If not everyone has finished it, sadly.
But I really hope you will give it a try
And not just because it's my recommendation.
We need everyone talking and not one person's domination
of this group. The ending will make you weep, no lie.
See you on Sunday, please try a verse.
What's that line? The unread are cursed?

Fake at Steppenwolf

Really, really great performances in this production at Steppenwolf. The script didn't quite work, but great performances.

From the Time Out review:

"Amateur paleontologist Charles Dawson caused a sensation in Edwardian England with his 1912 discovery of Piltdown Man. It took 40 years for the fossil find to be decisively labeled a fraud, a modern human skull with an orangutan’s jaw. To this day, the perpetrator’s identity remains uncertain. But Steppenwolf ensemble member Simonson has a theory, elaborated in his new play.

Toggling Arcadia-style between 1914 and 1953, Fake, like the fossil, tries to combine two uncomfortably matched pieces. The chronologically earlier scenes detail an investigation into Piltdown by fictional journalist Rebecca Eastman (Arrington) at the behest of Arthur Conan Doyle (Guinan). This plot has the giddy charm of an Agatha Christie drawing-room mystery; in the initial scene, which gathers notables including Dawson (Yando) and the Jesuit paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin (Goss), Doyle all but announces, “I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here.” Yando invests Dawson with a deliciously villainous formality, while Guinan’s bluff, jovial Doyle conceals a steely mind, Holmes and Watson in one.

If that were the whole of Fake, we’d have a briskly paced intellectual puzzle play, occasionally interrupted by Simonson’s fondness for dumping his research into fact-filled speeches. But the play flags in its modern half, in which three scientists form an uninspired love triangle. Still, the doubled roles offer the remarkable cast a chance to show off; Guinan, in particular, shifts brilliantly between Doyle and the more cerebral Jonathan, uncovering hidden layers in each."

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety

We went to this, based totally on an over the top review by Chris Jones from the Trib. Payoff!!! Ms. S was dubious. A pro wrestling play? Wonderful, moving, personal, visually spectacular. Total winner, winner, chicken dinner. And perfect for Halloween!

From Chris Jones's review in the Chicago Tribune:

"The juicy, knockout new play at Victory Gardens is at once a visceral take-down of the way American marketers manipulate our jingoistic tendencies, a hilariously savvy exploration of racial and class-based stereotyping, and a full-on, body-slamming theatrical wrestling match—replete with ring, klieg lights, and big, sweaty men body-slamming each other into the canvas.

It is the only play I’ve ever seen that could simultaneously appeal to fans of the World Wide Wrestling Federation and intellectual progressives (not that those groups are mutually exclusive). Heck, this killer show whipped the opening-night audience into a frenzy not seen at the Biograph since John Dillinger left the building. It will appeal to anyone who thinks that theatrical food for thought is always best dispensed with a good, swift kick to the head.

This must-see show is narrated by one Macedonio Guerra, a middle-rank, always-the-bad-guy wrestler who understands that his clout comes from his ability to make the hero wrestlers look good. Macedonio (aka The Mace), played with great emotional honesty by Desmin Borges, shrewdly notes that, in the simulated sport of wrestling, kicking somebody in the head always requires the close cooperation of the dude being kicked. In fact, it is far harder to be the kickee than the kicker.

Those who control wrestling know this. They may seem to put all their energies into creating action-hero characters like Diaz’s fictional Chad Deity (played with guileless guts by Kamal Angelo Bolden), but those easy-to-find guys are just ring dressing. The crux lies with the villains, who may seem to lose but actually control the winner. And the populace at large. A similarly sophisticated understanding of the nuances of human behavior surely informs the executive offices at, say, the Fox News Channel.

But here’s the thing: This isn’t a liberal polemic. These wrestlers are smart cookies and practical men. You sense Diaz’s admiration for the sport, and his understanding of how we all compromise to please our bosses. He pokes fun at wrestling’s history of reliance on ethnic stereotypes, sure, but he also makes the point that wrestlers know they’re playing with fiction — unlike the humorless, pointy-headed intellectuals who run the world but still don’t get our need for someone or something to hate, if only to help us understand what we love. That’s a lesson of human nature the current Obama administration perhaps needs to learn.

The play spins on the moment when Mace (whom Borges makes smart and lovable) finds Vigneshwar Paduar (the dry and droll Usman Ally), an Indian kid in the Bronx who speaks numerous languages and, metaphorically, represents the new globalism that’s so threatening to the old order. Can THE Wrestling, as the owning conglomerate is named, turn V.P. into a detestable Islamic terrorist, a sleeper-cell with a Kabbalah-kick? Or has the world become too complex?

Visiting Committee in town

The annual gathering of our Visiting Committee for the Social Sciences was today. We had a lovely Thursday night dinner at MK.

Fedra: Queen of Haiti at Lookingglass

A really enjoyable production at Lookingglass.














From the Time Out Review:

"A split-level pastel-colored set with an inlaid pool, a goddess whose wrath erupts in echoing booms: From its opening, Fedra reflects Lookingglass’s commitment to sumptuous production values. But the passions on display in this updated version of Racine don’t always reach the operatic heights of the decor. In transforming Phaedra to Fedra, ensemble member Brooks has moved the setting from mythic Greece to a vaguely specified future, in which Haiti has become a world power, birds have apparently disappeared and the truest badge of hip is owning a collection of “ancient” Star Wars DVDs. None of this filigree has much impact on the tragic plot, which remains, “Queen falls for stepson, queen’s husband returns, trouble ensues.”

Othello at the Joffrey

A really great performance. And our next door neighbor Jon was in the pit.















From the Chicago Tribune Review:

There are many things to like about Lar Lubovitch's "Othello," and a few to mourn, but none of that matters by the end, after the exceptional, climactic pas de deux. Most duets in the full-length ballet canon celebrate love in a fairy-tale mode. Even ghostly Giselle, though dead partly thanks to her lover, dances with him in an act of forgiveness. But however fresh your Shakespeare, you're not quite prepared for how shattering and creepy the final pas de deux of "Othello" must be -- this is a dance between a husband and the wife he's about to kill.

Lubovitch's 1997 work, now getting its Chicago premiere from the Joffrey Ballet, is never finer than in this trickiest-of-tricky conceits. This isn't just doomed love; it's homicide in action. Echoing the sometimes haunting, sometimes strange but often interesting mixture of ballet and modern moves, Lubovitch makes this one a killer stylistically, pardon the pun. It's equal parts lyricism, conflict and horror. At one stretch, Othello holds a hanging, motionless Desdemona by his hands, grasping her on either side of her temple -- as if he's going to crush her skull. To Elliott B. Goldenthal's alternately soaring and discomforting score, he and she enact a hypnotic duet that's anguished and surreal.

Besides a chance to see the Chicago-born Lubovitch work impressively on a large canvas, "Othello" has many virtues. They include his focus less on plot and more on key images and moods that make the tragedy so rich. The handkerchief image gives rise to emotional fantasias on jealousy, betrayal, joy and hints of death, an object first delivered by a mechanistic moving quintet right out of "Coppelia." Iago and Emilia end Act 1 with a dance that's tug-of-warlike, a tad sadomasochistic but sexy -- not something this couple usually calls to mind. George Tsypin's crystalline, geometric set gives it a postmodern gloss.

Frankenstein at MCA and Dr. C

The pastor (well, not really) of our wedding ceremony was in town. He recently, finally received his PhD. "How many years must a man walk down..." Clearly longer than Joan or Dylan thought. Nice dinner, and then off to a ummm...OK, mixed, performance of Frankenstein at the MCA. Sean Graney, director, didn't quite ring the bell here, but I like what he's up to. Audience wandering around with the actors. Something going on. Stacy Stoltz was, as always, absolutely riveting.

Lucky Plush at Columbia Dance

We usually think--ok, Chicago company at Columbia Dance, you don't know what you are in for, but this was smart, sharp, sophisticated, and the dancers were spot on.











A really smart take on appropriation in the YouTube age:

"Led by Artistic Director Julia Rhoads, Lucky Plush Productions is a Chicago-based dance-theater company known for distinct blend of contemporary dance with physical theater and visual design. To mark their 10th Anniversary, Lucky Plush Productions will premiere Punk Yankees, a provocative evening-length work dealing with the inherent paradoxes of authenticity and ownership of dance in the digital age. Punk Yankees is composed primarily of samples and re-appropriations, combining live performance, video and the Internet for an intriguing and entertaining exploration of intellectual property and the value of dance. Visit Lucky Plush Productions’ ongoing virtual stage regarding this topic, www.StealThisDance.com."

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Great acting, and a very early script by August Wilson at the always innovating and exciting Court Theatre.

Work Trip to NYC

So, a work trip to NYC. The highlight of the trip was an appointment cancellation, which allowed me to drop in on a matinee performance of West Side Story. Producer's seats. 4 Row. Priceless. Wow, wow, wow. You know, I've never seen the show, just the movie.














There is a brilliant Robbins ballet in the second act in the stage play. Brilliant. I was constantly on the verge of sobbing. This is the musical of my growing up. I have such vivid memories of my sisters singing anything from this show. "I like that island Manhattan..."

500th Convocation and Volunteer Caucus

The U of C. We are so...special. We don't have graduations, we have gatherings called "convocations." Most are graduations. This one was just for fun. A great occasion to see Steve Melville from OSU who was a product of the Committee on Social Thought and to connect with one of my favorite Visiting Committee members in from LA for the festivities.

James Evan Harper Lecture

Work night out. James Evans, rising young star in Sociology on the effect of the internet on academic research. The news is not good.

The End of Summer, Cubs v. Brewers

L 5-2. It was a day of contradictions for Chicago starter Ryan Dempster on Sunday. The right-hander struck out 10 Diamondbacks hitters, but he lasted just five innings with the Cubs trailing, 5-0. Sam Fuld drove in both Cubs runs, the first coming on his first Major League homer.

Merce Mania

Spectacular. Moving. Wonderful. Four Merce "Events" in three days. Thursday, Friday, double bill on Saturday. Two programs, different set and costumes for each A/B program. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Columbia College Dance for presenting this in your 200 something seat theater.

Once in a lifetime experience.

Nearly Ninety Road Trip

The whole point of this trip to central Illinois was to see Merce's Nearly Ninety, which we did, but there were other attractions: Calumet Fishery, the unexpected car show in Springfield, the whole Lincoln thing, the terrific Dana-Thomas house, and the horseshoes (burger covered in fries and cheese sauce) at D'Arcy's Pint, and our wonderful mid-century modern hotel--like being in Fiddle's living room.

Long work trip to California

I'm sure I did some work, but there was touring as well. Avedon at SFMOMA, out to North Beach, dinners at Farallon and on Belden Place.


































The beautiful "pool ceiling" at Farallon.

Book Club: Tender is the Night

Man, I hadn't read any F. Scott since college I think. This was a good pick, and there were Chicago/U of C references to boot.

Diversity and Contemporary Art at MCA

Went to a panel discussion "Diversity and Contemporary Art" at the MCA. Madeleine Grynsztejn, the MCA's new director (who is doing a great job) led the discussion with (formerly of U of C, miss you,Melissa) political scientist Melissa Harris-Lacewell, artist Glenn Ligon, and interdisciplinary artist Tania Bruguera, new on faculty at U of C.

Labor Day

It was a really fun Labor Day weekend, but all over the map: Full Moon, International Bacon Day (Canadian Bacon Sandwich for Breakfast, Rockit Bacon Burger for lunch, salmon wrapped in bacon and bacon ice cream for dinner) and for no particular reason, up to Argyle St. for lunch on the actual Labor Day Monday.

Met v Cubs with next door neighbor

Another windfall. Our percussionist next door neighboor, Mr. J, offered some great tickets for a Cubs v. Mets game. (Love my new camera: this is my shot.)















Things started promisingly as the Cubs took aim at a series sweep, with Aramis Ramirez driving in a first-inning run. However, that was all they could accomplish against Mets starter Nelson Figueroa, and Carlos Zambrano had his second successive difficult start since returning from the disabled list.

Art Institute

We finally made it down to the new wing of the Art Institute.