The Year in Theater: At last, our critics write short!
Tag: Vol. 21 No. 10
Issue of Dec. 19 – 25, 1991
Posted inNews & Politics
Speck’s Victims
To the editors: Perhaps the publicity surrounding the death of Richard Speck will prompt Dwight Okita to revise the script of his play, currently showing at Club Lower Links. According to your review [December 6], “Speck killed eight nurses, most of them Filipino.” In fact, only three of the victims (plus the one survivor) were […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Familiar Tearjerker
MADAMA BUTTERFLY Lyric Opera Unlike wine, shallow or muddled productions will not improve with age–even if many superstar directors seem to think they will. So it’s with a sense of comparative relief that we can contemplate the current revival of Harold Prince’s production of Madama Butterfly at Lyric Opera. Seen twice before by Lyric audiences […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Trend Watch
Following the events of the past year, we predict these trends in the year to come: 1991 Chicago Catholic archdiocese child molestation scandal Ex-Ku Klux Klansman David Duke’s political success credited to plastic surgery Liz Taylor’s wedding portrait Great Lakes zebra mussel infestation Vanity Fair’s cover shot of a pregnant Demi Moore Clarence Thomas Supreme […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mixed Emotions
MIXED EMOTIONS Briar Street Theatre A friend who follows theater recently told me he thought there were entirely too many new small non-Equity theaters sprouting up in Chicago. He suggested that someone start licensing them to weed out the bad and make it difficult for anyone who didn’t have money or the right connections to […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Madonna & Madonna INC.
Who’s that girl? Who’s really behind the maneuvering over boundary lines for the new 1st ward? Rich Daley? Burt Natarus? No, no, triple no. It’s our own Material Girl, Madonna. Bet on it. Madonnamania We know what Gov. Jim Edgar was thinking when he signed the infertility bill: every woman a Madonna. Count on it. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Upper-Class Twits
RUMORS Candlelight’s Forum Theatre EVITA Candlelight Dinner Playhouse You know Rumors is going to be farce from the moment you see the set, a living room in an upscale suburban home. The doors tip you off: four on the first floor, three on the landing of the second floor. Mistaken identity and disguised intentions are […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Out of Order
Excerpts From the Minutes of a Theater Awards Committe Meeting
Posted inNews & Politics
The Chicago Ineffectual Film Festival
Synopses of This Year’s Most Popular Entries
Posted inNews & Politics
What For?
It looks like a trend. In recent months: WBEZ’s Greg King referred to a “racketeering trial for” Jesse Jackson’s brother, Noah Robinson. Tribune reporter Rick Pearson quoted Illinois House speaker Mike Madigan as saying that, under a tax plan proposed by Governor Jim Edgar, the “ability for property taxes to rise will be taken away.” […]
Posted inNews & Politics
2001: An Air Fantasy
The 797 swung wide around McCormick Place and coasted in over Lake Michigan. The old Meigs Field shot by underneath, then the Shedd Aquarium, Lake Shore Drive, Buckingham Fountain, the Petrillo Music Shell, the Art Institute. The plane came gliding down onto the virgin runway on the second floor of 78 E. Washington, Chicago’s New […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Year in Review
In keeping with the spirit of this special issue, here are highlights of 11 stories that didn’t make it into Our Town in 1991: 1. Free Financial Seminar for Women A trust officer, an accountant, and a lawyer talked to 100 women about wills, trusts, savings plans, estate planning, and charitable giving– over juice, coffee, […]