In his 1940 memoir, A Smattering of Ignorance, composer-raconteur-pharmaceuticals enthusiast Oscar Levant recalls a train journey he took with his idol, George Gershwin. After offering the talkative Gershwin a sleeping pill (“with the air of a man offering a friend an after-dinner mint”), Levant was mildly surprised that Gershwin commandeered the more comfortable lower berth […]
Tag: Lisa Peterson
Posted inArts & Culture
Dystopia on the air
A trifecta of radio plays examines the present through the lens of the past.
Posted inArts & Culture
Site-specific performances moved us beyond the black box
Now on pause in the pandemic, what comes next for Chicago’s vibrant scene?
Posted inArts & Culture
An Iliad returns in a stunning new setting
Court Theatre’s revival puts us in the center of ancient artifacts and contemporary conundrums.
Posted inArts & Culture
Court Theatre’s The Good Book can’t make a masterpiece of the Bible
The creators of An Iliad offer a three-hour debunking that preaches to the choir.
Posted inArts & Culture
An Iliad’s new kind of wow
Court Theatre’s revived An Iliad seems more meditative than before.
Posted inArts & Culture
Sing, goddess, of An Iliad
Court Theatre stages a 90-minute monologue based on Homer’s The Iliad