Denver and Boulder

I was in Denver for work, a great lecture by Mac Gibson from the Oriental Institute on 3,500 years of Mesopotamian history, and five years of total destruction of sites during the war. Depressing. Ms. S came along and we had a lovely stay at the Brown Palace. Then it was up to Boulder to see Mom. Ms. S did some work to get her set up for a test drive in power wheelchair. I went on to LA for work, where I got in a Matthew Broderick sighting.

Fragments and Susan Marshall

This actually turned out to be a great day of theatre, but the matinée production of Samuel Beckett's Fragments at Chicago Shakes was the highlight. Stunning. Stunning. Stunning.














From Chris Jones's review in the Tribune:

"Brook's collection of five short, rarely seen Beckett playlets, mostly penned in the 1950s, lasts an hour. In keeping with the 82-year-old Brook's longtime minimalist aesthetic, which grows ever more minimal, there is, well, a minimum of scenery and other accouterments beyond the voice and body of the actor. Jos Houben, Kathryn Hunter and Marcello Magni, three veterans of the justly renowned Theatre de Complicite, are traversing two oceans and three continents performing and re-performing, and thus perfecting, the same few minutes of acting in "Rough for Theatre I," "Rockaby," "Act Without Words II," "Neither," and "Come and Go." And given that Beckett was notorious for choreographing on the page every beat on the stage, this isn't exactly keep-it-fresh improv. It's a progressive journey into the depths of Beckett's creative soul. Whatever else you may think about this show, I guarantee you'll sense the unusual depth of the subterranean voyage."

In the evening we saw Susan Marshall & Company at The Dance Center with a performance of the Bessie Award-winning Cloudless. From Columbia's blub: "Structured as a collection of poetic short stories, Cloudless consists of 18 brief dances that gather emotional force as the evening progresses. Distilled to the edge of abstraction, the choreography ranges from explosive marriages of physical theatre and formality to intimate dances that use minimal elements to maximum effect."

Titus at Court

I'm a big fan of Charlie Newell, but this production of Titus Andronicus didn't quite cut it for me.


















The conceit was a play-within-a-play, set in the semipresent at “a meeting of an elite brotherhood.” Still, it's always a pleasure seeing Timothy Edward Kane and Kevin Gudahl on stage.

Good Boys and True: Duke at UNC

Good Boys and True at Steppenwolf. The play got a little cliched in second act, but there were some stunning performances.

Oh yeah, and those other Good Boys and True? Duke over Carolina at UNC. Rockin'!

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.