New Review Posted: Lookingglass Alice
Another week of extra-blog worries, another week of no posting. (And my connection to a few of the things on which I might post is a little too personal for me to think of a good way to write on them...
View ArticleBefore It Hits Home
I've still not been in the bloggiest of moods (it happens), but here are a few things of interest from the past week.--This past Saturday, July 3rd, was Audra McDonald's 40th birthday. (As she was born...
View ArticleGoodbye, Harvey
This post isn't about Chicago or theatre (though American Splendor was adapted for the stage in a production starring Dan Castellanata in the 1980's), but please read it anyway. You should know about...
View ArticleBlog Exclusive Interview: Nathan Robbel of the Right Brain Project
The much discussed problem with the new play process in America is one of lots of development that rarely leads to actual production. Plays get workshopped to death. Well, this isn't happening at the...
View ArticleI Write Lots of Things
Here are two posts I wrote for other sites:The first is "My Cherrywood Nights or David Cromer Stole My Childhood," a short essay on my experiences in the cast of Cherrywood that I wrote for Eric Roach...
View ArticleBlog Exclusive Review: Hesperia at the Right Brain Project
Full Disclosure: Playwright Randall Colburn is a friend of mine, and I'm friendly with director Nathan Robbel as well. I stand by the fairness and honesty of the review, but take it as you...
View ArticleBlog Exclusive Review: Les Enfants Terribles: Prom Night
Sometimes Infantile, Not Terrible(left to right) Scott Ray Merchant, Casey Kells, Chris Mueller, Alex Kyger, Eric Swanson, Brian Rad. Photo by Tom Hartmon.When my roommate, brilliant...
View ArticleDrekFest Starts Tonight!
As you should know, tonight marks the first evening of DrekFest 4 at Stage Left. You really need to come. 7:30, ComedySportz at 929 W Belmont, tickets available at the door, you can bring your drinks...
View ArticleWhere I've Been
Well, the answer is, not on this blog. To the people who read the blog (and I'm hoping some are left after this three-week absence), I'm sorry to have left for so long. I tend to get very tense when my...
View ArticlePlaying in the Woods, Part 1
This past weekend, I passed a major milestone in my life as a Chicagoan. (Or, given my move, a Chicagolandian.) I visited Wisconsin for the first time. This is something that absolutely everybody in...
View ArticlePlaying in the Woods, Part 2
Athol Fugard, the great South African playwright, attacked the apartheid system with great force in his plays. Indeed, he was one of the country's most renowned artists during that shameful period....
View ArticlePlaying In The Woods, Part 3
And now, the long-awaited (or at least long-delayed) review of Another Part of the Forest, the last show I saw at American Players Theatre. Great apologies for the delay--explanations are...
View ArticleTransitions
You could also call this post "Ch-ch-ch-changes" if you were someone who liked that kind of thing. And if you are, kudos, it's an awesome damn song.I've been rather neglectful of this blog recently....
View ArticleRemember Me?
So funny story. You know what's even harder than maintaining a blog while looking for work? Maintaining a blog while working. So the good news is that I have a job (temp for now, possibility of...
View ArticleAn Open Letter
Dear Diane Keaton,You have a new movie coming out on Wednesday. Congratulations, and I hope it does well for you. The trailers make it look okay, if nothing worthy of your talents. And let's be...
View ArticleDimond Steps Down
Here's a pretty major piece of news for the Chicago Storefront scene: Nic Dimond is stepping down as Artistic Director at Strawdog Theatre. He's been in the ensemble there since 1995, and has been...
View ArticleAnother Quote on the NY Times Theatre Blog
And now for a moment of shameless bragging:The New York Times periodically offers the chance to ask questions of a theatre-related figure, some of which get answered. I was fortunate to get a question...
View ArticleThe Dismantling of the DCA
Now this is disturbing: according to this article, this past Friday saw 20 employees of the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs laid off, raising to 29 the total number laid off since...
View ArticleAsk Not For Whom The Phone Tolls
A cellphone went off during the final minute of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Steppenwolf, at the press performance. The end of Virginia Woolf is about as intense a moment as the modern theatre...
View ArticleUnpopular With The Populace
Happy New Year, everyone. There's a more extensive post coming later tonight, but for now, a quick thought:In high school, I was a huge, obsessive fan of Stephen Sondheim. I bought every CD I could get...
View ArticleDiscussing "The Tempest"
Welcome to the latest installment of the occasional collaboration between Tim Brayton, of the invaluable film blog Antagony and Ecstasy (no, I'm not exactly sure what the title means either) and...
View ArticleNews Roundup
Two pieces of good news and one very sad one:Steppenwolf's praised production of Lisa D'Amour's Detroit is moving to Broadway in the fall. It's always good to see a new American play on Broadway, and I...
View ArticleGraney Steps Down
Well this is news: as first broken by Eric and Andy's Reviews You Can Iews, Sean Graney will be stepping down as artistic director of The Hypocrites, the Chicago theatre company that he founded in...
View ArticleTowards a Definition of Terms
What? A post? I'm as surprised as you, honestly. I could blame the wide variety of commitments that kept me away (day job, An Enemy of the People at Stage Left, planning LeapFest, the 2011-2012 season,...
View ArticleAnd What Next?
As is its wont, the theatrical blogosphere is full of people getting angry. And that's okay--that's the purpose of theatre blogs: analyzing and decrying the failures of theatre as it is now, explaining...
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