There are two Christmas pantomimes based upon 19th-century fables currently playing on Chicago stages, and unless Mary Zimmerman has been up to some dramatic retooling, it’s safe to assume this is the only one that features crotch sparks. Producer Jaq Seifert’s cheeky, irreverent holiday-themed burlesque revue returns for its sixth edition and first back from […]
Tag: Tchaikovsky
Posted inArts & Culture
Buttcracker burlesque cracks traditional ballet wide open
Jaq Seifert admits that the title of the holiday show they created, The Buttcracker, came to them while sitting around a campfire in 2015. “I was hanging out with some burlesque dancers,” they recall. “I had been working at a burlesque theater for a little bit as a sort of company manager. We were just […]
Posted inDance
Binary ballets
The evening begins with Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk’s melancholy Melody meandering through the auditorium, a haunting tune that invites contemplation. Curtain down, panels bordering the stage lit in blue and yellow, vines rise in relief where pillars would seem to stand: a ruin retaken by foliage or a reminder of the interdependence of nature and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Joffrey’s Nutcracker abandons plot, pathos, and palatable choreography in favor of special effects
The most memorable dances, unfortunately, are the most offensive.
Posted inBlogs
Reader’s Agenda Fri 12/6: The Nutcracker, Tasting Table Open Market, and Chicago Serbian Film Fest
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Friday, December 6
Posted inBlogs
An interview with composer John Corigliano (part one)
Talking with the noted composer about his score, which will be performed in Chicago next week, for the movie Altered States.
Posted inBlogs
‘Tis the season for less-ubiquitous holiday sounds
Some of this year’s better holiday releases, both old and new
Posted inBlogs
Opera in the movies, and vice versa
A consideration of the relationship between opera and film.