Nelson Algren: Lookingglass at MCA

Here's what Hedy Weiss said in her review in the Sun-Times:

"Memo to all those involved in promoting Chicago as a global tourist destination: Forget about the standard video portrait of the city, filled with generic (if enticing) views of the skyline and lake and ballparks, of Michigan Avenue and Millennium Park and the rest.
Instead, take a peek at the Lookingglass Theatre production of "Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day" -- the brilliant synthesis of live theater and music, film and memory-made-solid that is now in a superb remount at the Museum of Contemporary Art Theatre. Once you've experienced this 90-minute jewel of a multimedia piece -- a hypnotic portrait of Chicago in all its grit and hard-edged glory -- you will want to find a way to capture it forever. It is magic.
A verbally, visually and sonically gorgeous show, "For Keeps" is the seamless creation of John Musial (director, videographer and scenic designer), Thomas J. Cox (its enthralling solo actor), David Pavkovic (composer of the thrillingly percussive, metallic-threaded score), and powerhouse musicians Kevin O'Donnell (ed. note: of House Theatre fame) and Bob Lovecchio.
Of course it would not exist without the raw, poetic riffs of Nelson Algren -- Chicago's unofficial poetry-and-prose laureate who captured the hot beat and cold reality of Chicago's hustlers and hookers, believers and blasphemers, con men and sentimental squares and so much more.
Moving from the city's founding myths to its street-wise truths, from Algren's childhood crush on a neighbor to his lifelong love-hate affair with the metropolis itself, this is an urban torch song conjured with fire and ice. A real stunner.

Cubs v. Braves, and we were there

"CHICAGO -- There were plenty of heroes Tuesday night for the Cubs. Start with Ted Lilly, who picked up the win, and rookie Geovany Soto, who belted a clutch three-run homer in the eighth. There was also Reed Johnson, who drove in two and made two great catches.
But the key at-bat in the Cubs' 10-5 win over the Atlanta Braves may have come in the eighth, when Scott Eyre came in to pitch.
The lefty reliever had to face one batter, Gregor Blanco, but there were two on, two outs, and the Braves had pulled within one, at 6-5. Eyre struck out Blanco to extend his streak of scoreless appearances to 31 in a row to tie the club record set by Ryan Dempster in his closer days, Aug. 16, 2005-April 19, 2006. He's now stranded all 13 inherited runners this season.
Just don't ask him about it.
"I don't know how long it's been," Eyre said. "I don't care."
The 41,624 at Wrigley Field did. They were on their feet when he got to two strikes, and kept the roar going until the final out.
Derrek Lee drove in two runs, including one on his 14th homer, to back Lilly and lead Chicago to victory. The Cubs now are 27-8 at home, marking the franchise's best home start since the 1907 squad went 27-8 en route to winning the World Series. The Braves dropped to 7-22 on the road.
"We talked this spring about taking care of the home-field advantage," Lee said. "I don't know if we expected to play this well, but it's been fun."
Lilly (6-5) gave up three runs, four hits, and three walks over 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight. He fell behind in the first inning when Greg Norton hit a three-run homer with two outs. His next pitch sailed over Brian McCann's head, prompting home-plate umpire Doug Eddings to immediately issue warnings to both benches.
"It was like a [batting practice] fastball," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "The ball just slipped."
"I understand what [Eddings] was saying," Lilly said. "It obviously looked bad. I had just given up a homer, and then I throw one up around the head. I'm sure Brian knows that I didn't mean to do it."
Lilly didn't change his approach the rest of the way, but he did settle down. He gave up two hits over the next 5 2/3 innings and came up big in the second, after Omar Infante tripled to lead off. Lilly shut down the next three hitters and escaped a potential mess.
"I guess I just felt like I had to," Lilly said. "I was confident that we were going to score some runs at some point. Our offense has been pretty tough to shut down. ... Obviously, that's not how I'd like to start the first inning again. I think I've given up a run in the first inning the last few outings."
The Cubs got to Atlanta's Tom Glavine (2-3) early. They peppered him with six hits, totaling four runs. Glavine left early with a strained left elbow, and is headed for the disabled list.
Lee, who batted .185 on the just-completed seven-game West Coast road trip, tied the game with his 14th homer leading off the third. He didn't hit his 14th home run last season until Aug. 20. Johnson added a two-out RBI single, and snared Omar Infante's fly ball in left center on the run, just steps in front of the outfield wall to end the Braves' fourth.
Johnson made a stellar catch in Washington that was a "10" on his scale. What did this one rate?
"Four," Johnson said. "There was probably more doubt in my mind on this play because I didn't know if I was going to catch it even when I left my feet. I reached up as high as I could and just got it in the tip of my glove, just barely. It was a good play, just no dive involved."
The crowd also acknowledged Johnson's plays. The Cubs were happy to be home.
"They'll let you know when you do something right, and they'll let you know when you do something wrong," Johnson said of Cubs fans. "The 25 guys we've got in here are tougher on themselves than any of the fans or any of the media can be. We're playing well right now."
Including Eyre, who missed the first month because of a sore elbow.
"It's nice to contribute in games that mean something, and you're out there in a key situation getting the job done and it makes you feel better about yourself," said Eyre, who spent most of last season trying to convince Piniella his first name was 'Scott,' not 'Steve.' "This team, everybody has a good time," Eyre added. "The music's always playing."
Lilly was calm even though he fell behind early, which seems to be a trend. The Cubs have now come from behind in nine of their past 11 wins, and have won 21 games that way on the season.
"You just feel like you're never out of it as a starter," Lilly said. "I think our lineup is just going to continue to battle against good pitching. We're tough, we've had a lot of come-from-behind wins this year. As a staff, I think we know that. If we can just limit the damage, we're going to be in every ballgame.
"It's fun to play here," he said. "Obviously, as energetic as the crowd is, even when we're down by a few runs, they think we can win, too. It's a fun place to play."

Finally planted flowers

This is the latest I've planted flowers I think since we moved to Chicago.

David Brooks at Alumni Weekend

It was alumni weekend, and among the highlight was a great talk by David Brooks. And I got up close and personal.

You want watch or listen here.

Alumni Weekend: the Dean and David Brooks

It was a great one-two punch. On Friday, my Dean on the presidential race. On Saturday, David Brooks on nearly everything, including the presidential race. He had lots of best lines, but the best of the best lines was on the choice of VP running mate: Obama needs to pick an old, white man, preferably a general. Dwight Eisenhower would be perfect. McCain needs to pick someone younger than him, like Dwight Eisenhower.

Dinner with Mr. B Redux at Opera

A fun dinner at the restaurant Opera with friends. Ask An Economist took care of the bill.

I chose to pay the bill, and rather than collect immediately, sent a copy of the bill and this email to the participants:

"Let's do a natural field experiment. Attached is the bill. Don't look at it yet, and pick a method you would be most like to use:

a) carefully examine the bill, precisely add my order, the tax, and tip, and write a check for the exact amount;
b) examine the bill, try to remember if I really did order the Saint-Bris or the chard, get it mostly right, and round up;
c) take the total order, divide by 10, and then throw a dart to figure out if I was higher or lower than the average;
d) oh, wait, I've got these 20s in my pocket, close enough.

Now, take a look at the bill, examine the multiple choices again. Did your method change? Do you have a different opinion of who should be Obama's (the presumptive Democratic nominee for President) running mate?"

Handel's Orlando

There was an understudy in the title role, and we just couldn't quite stick with this production.

Our Town at Hypocrites

From Chris Jones's review: "David Cromer brilliantly revisionist and generally astounding new production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at The Hypocrites is his masterwork to date.....“He’s going on like this about Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town?’” you must be thinking. “That hoary small-town staple of the high school repertory?” Ah, but you’ve never seen it done like this before. Here is what Cromer (who plays the stage manager along with directing) does: He removes every last shred of sentimentality from the piece, replacing it with a blend of cynicism and simple human truth. But—and here’s the rub—he does so without removing the vitality and sincerity. Like many great revivals (the current “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center is in my mind), it’s neither archly conceptual nor a subversion of a great American play, but an explication for the modern age. I’m telling you, it’s that revelatory a show."

Lookinglass: Around the World in 80 Days

From Time Out's review:

Laura Eason's affable adaptation plays up elements of romance and social commentary in Jules Verne's novel that are sometimes forgotten. Above all, though, 80 Days is an adventure story, and Eason moves stylishly if not always swiftly through Verne's tale. The clunkier moments are tied to the intricacies of Richard and Jacqueline Penrod's Victorian puzzle-box set. The Lookingglass-style spectacle—an elephant ride, a sled and a sailing ship—is neatly rendered but requires so much setup time as to significantly slow the action. But composer Kevin O'Donnell, master of the twee underscore, glosses over the slow zones, and dynamic work from the cast helps us savor the days.

Ms. S in Colorado

Ms. S was in Colorado for the weekend for Mr. G's graduation.

U of C Celebration of Roger Myerson

Finally, the University celebration of Roger's Nobel Prize. A cool evening, except one speech was way too long. Roger was his usual terrific wonderful self.

A Flowering Tree at Chicago Opera Theatre

From Chicago Tribune review:

With "A Flowering Tree," Adams turns from the contemporary political and moral issues of his earlier operas to the simple beauty of an ancient folk tale from southern India about hope, renewal and the magic of transformation. You could think of his newest opera as the luminous yin to the dark yang of "Doctor Atomic," which Lyric Opera mounted last winter....

The story has a local link. Adams and Sellars drew on an English translation of an ancient tale in the native Kannada language of the Indian poet and scholar A.K. Ramanujan, who unearthed it from an archive at the University of Chicago and translated it into English.

The story line, interwoven with a dozen ancient Tamil love poems, concerns Kumudha, a poor but beautiful young girl who can transform herself into a tree whose blossoms she and her sister sell at a market to support their elderly mother. She and a handsome prince fall in love, are married, then are separated through the vicious actions of the prince's jealous sister. As in all fairy tales, the lovers are happily reunited at the end.

Book Club: Lost Horizon

It was my book choice and we hosted: Lost Horizon. Who knew that the term Shangri-La came from this book.

And Another NYC Trip

OK, a week later, back in NYC, this time with the chair of the Department of Economics. Saw that Scottish Play with Patrick Stuart and the Take your time: Olafur Eliasson exhibition at MoMA and PS1. (I'd also seen the Eliasson exhibition in SF.)














The whole Ben Bradley review of the Scottish Play is worth reading.

Ms. M in Chicago and NYC trip

Ms. S's cousin from Australia was in town, mostly to visit the Field, and I was in NYC with the Dean for a Harper lecture and related events.