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.

Solstice and Christmas

Ms. S made a beautiful salad with pomegranate and mandarin oranges, and the slow cooker made a wonderful chicken, preserved lemon, and olive stew.


























































Our movie double bill was Sweeney Todd, and White Christmas (at the Music Box, with sing along caroling beforehand).

We missed Calvin Trilling's salute to spaghetti carbonara at Thanksgiving, so we made that for Christmas Eve. Grits of course, on Christmas Day, and as our substitute for goose--duck. Duck, duck, goose.









































As usual, you can find more photos at www.kodakgallery.com/mccusker. The password is our street name.

Helvitica

Went to see the film Helvetica. Who knew you could make an interesting documentary about a typeface? And I know Helvetica, and Arial is no Helvetica, sir.

House Holiday Party

It was the House Holiday Party, and at a nifty little bar just down the street, Matilda. You have to love their "guidance coordinates" page...

http://www.matilda-babyatlas.com/guidance.htm





















We'll be back for Fish Taco Tuesday.

Caroling at the Bean

We went with Stacey's new work mates to go hear caroling at the Bean with the Chicago Gospel Choir. And then we went out for drinks and appetizers after.

What the Butler Saw

Sean Graney, an artistic director of the Hypocrites, directed this high energy production at Court. Not entirely successful, but it was...well...farcical.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie...

...was the first book for our book club. We served tea for the occasion. A bunch of impressionable minds, this group.... Maggie Smith did not make an appearance as either Brodie or Professor McGonagall.

Holiday Party with the Dean

The Dean hosted his annual wonderful holiday party for the staff. A good time was had by all.

Wisconsin

Went to see Ms. S's family for Thanksgiving. We drove this time, and confused ourselves with Black River Falls. The dark parallel universe version of River Falls?

Our camera person must have been on strike. This is the best of four pictures from the trip.















We played a rousing game of Apples to Apples after dinner.

The Nutcracker

There's no Sugar Plum Fairy in this one...big thumbs up for another great production from The House.

From Chris Jones's review in the Tribune:

"The House Theatre of Chicago's new "Nutcracker" begins with that famous holiday party. A brave young Marine named Fritz is expected home from war. But things quickly go terribly wrong for Clara. Her family's celebration is suddenly interrupted by one of those knocks on the door dreaded by every military family with someone in harm's way.

That's probably enough to reveal that this is not one of those traditional kinds of "Nutcracker," beloved by little girls in party dresses and reliant on ballet, spectacle and oversize toys. This one might make little girls -- and bigger persons of both genders -- cry.

Clara still gets her wooden soldier in this ambitious and heartfelt version by Phillip Klapperich and Jake Minton, and the contents of her toy box still come to life. But the battle with the Rat King isn't merely the stuff of whimsy, but a surrogate battle for Clara's coming to terms with the death of her brother. When "Uncle" Eric Drosselmeyer hands over a Nutcracker who looks a lot like Fritz, he has a live-saving mission in mind. Clara is lost in a psychological labyrinth -- one that resembles the struggle faced by a similar girl in the movie "Pan's Labyrinth," which I suspect was an influence on this show. And House is off on another of its regressive theatrical journeys into the mysterious mind of a child."