Saturday, October 31, 2009

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?

Friday, October 30, 2009

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.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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.”

Sunday, October 25, 2009

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.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

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.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

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.

Friday, October 16, 2009

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..."

Saturday, October 10, 2009

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.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

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.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

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.