Book Club: House of Mirth

at Joan's.

Assisted Living at Profile

Great to see Stacey Stoltz in this show. And really close to our home!

Chris Jones's plot summary: At the beginning of the play, set near Boston, we meet Anne, a lower-middle-class woman in her late 30s who has put her mostly unenviable life on hold to take care of a raging mother with dementia (whom we hear but do not see). In the first scene, we do see Anne (played, with a deft mix of defiance and sadness by Stacy Stoltz) interviewing a potential home-help aide named Levi (Jordan Stacey, a young actor very adept at holding his character on the edge). Although an incessant talker skilled at leveraging self-deprecation, Levi immediately seems like trouble. By his own admission, he is an alcoholic with a thin resume and a tendency to get fired. But Anne is lonely and stressed, her mom is difficult and sometimes violent, and this guy seems to offers a solution to myriad problems

Nutcracker at House

The return of Nutcracker. Much the same as last year, but David Caitlin as Drosselmeyer was a nice addition.

Celebration of Chicago Manual of Style

Mr. P, the Chicago Manual geek, went to an event to celebration the history and new edition of CMOS. It was moderated by Alison Cuddy, and included Carol Fisher Saller, Anita Samen, Ben Zimmer (A.M. ’98), and Jason Riggle. Facebooking and Tweeting, oh my.

Clybourne Park at Steppenwolf

Bruce Norris's 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about race, class and home ownership. This got rave reviews, but we thought it played a bit cartoony.

The Cripple of Inishmaan

The Druid Theatre Company's The Cripple of Inishmaan at Chicago Shakes. Pretty unrelentingly bleak.

Hercules at Lyric Opera

Only Mr. P went to this one. Peter Sellars directs. Loved it.

"Hercules wears desert camouflage, combat boots and bulky Kevlar vest. Iole appears in a prisoner’s orange jumpsuit, her beautiful face and gleaming blonde hair hidden by a black mesh hood. Hercules’ homecoming party is a backyard barbeque complete with fancy gas grill and plenty of beer."

Same Planet, Different World

The program: "HIT,"by Minneapolis-based choreographer Carl Flink. "He employs a singular, combative image, more an act of aggression, really, as signature motif. The dancers periodically punch each other, directly and often seemingly out of nowhere, as if in challenge or even mild assault."

Mark Morris at Harris

"Socrates" set to Erik Satie's "Socrate"

"Petrichor," Morris' endlessly intricate homage to Heitor Villa-Lobos, for eight women.

"The Muir,"to folk songs scored by Beethoven.

Robert Moses "Kin" at the Dance Center

The boundary-breaking Robert Moses’ Kin presents its remarkable new work exploring the complexities of identity, love and parentage in non-traditional families. The Cinderella Principle: try these on, see if they fit evolved from in-depth interviews with families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in a first-time collaboration with award-winning playwright Anne Galjour, violinist/composer Todd Reynolds and DJ/ beat boxer Kid Beyond. Also on the program:Toward September, a powerful full-company work about the divine impulse behind artistic creation; and Approaching Thought

Merry Widow at Joffrey

So we have great, great seats for our Joffrey subscription, but story ballets weren't exactly why we signed up. This was fun but didn't knock the socks off. Dinner at Mercat for restaurant week before was really fun, though.

Mark Morris at Mandel Hall

Always entertaining Mark Morris.

Choreographer Mark Morris talks with Princeton musicologist Simon Morrison.

As You Like It at Chicago Shakes

We were slightly mixed on this. I have a tiny little crush on Kate Fry who played Rosalind, so I thought she was terrific, but Ms. S was less enamored. Overall, the show was elegant without being fussy. And a nice twist with both Rosalind and Orlando splitting the epilogue.

Odradeck at House

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

So, someone got sick in the middle of the performance and they had to pause the show, one of my guests didn't take well to the gore and had to step out and frankly, after the pause, the audience acted like they were at a baseball game, coming and going at will. Dark. Onward, my House friends.

Three Tall Women at Court

Totally unfamiliar with this script. Some outstanding performance, and the Court is always solid.