In this day when all the hip performers seem to make a big to-do about questioning, shocking, or enlightening their audiences, Washington, D.C., choreographer Liz Lerman has a simple appeal: she makes dances that attract an audience. Once she has their eyes, ears, minds, and hearts, she might very well question, shock, or enlighten. But […]
Tag: Vol. 23 No. 6
Issue of Nov. 18 – 24, 1993
Posted inArts & Culture
Bitter Homes and Gardens
BITTER HOMES AND GARDENS Latino Chicago Theater Company “America is not Ozzie and Harriet. It’s fat-assed K mart shoppers.” So says Julie, the seemingly normal daughter of alcoholic Ray and eccentric Thelma in Luis Alfaro’s Bitter Homes and Gardens. In this dark comedy about a Hispanic American family, life in suburbia is not what the […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Annals of school reform: power politics at Disney School
It was supposed to be a relatively routine gathering of the local school council, an eye-glazing recitation of the year’s budget. But more than 100 area residents, parents, and students–a much larger group than usual–had come, and within a few minutes many of them were on their feet, voices filled with venom, hurling accusations at […]
Posted inMusic
Mekons
The Mekons’ first single, “Never Been in a Riot,” was the birth of postpunk self-awareness: its sarcastic lyrics skewered the Clash’s simpleminded anthem “White Riot” even as its chaotically lurching music outrocked them. The Mekons have sustained a balance between skepticism and exhilaration ever since, while exploring an extraordinarily wide range of musical styles, including […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Baychester Ave.—The Bronx/A View From the Bridge
BAYCHESTER AVE.—THE BRONX Playwrights’ Center The Baychester Avenue subway station in the Bronx is, literally and symbolically, the last stop before the end of the line. It’s also the informal clubhouse of three young men who exchange confidences there, banter with the stationmaster, Mr. Abrams, and sneer at the denizens so uncouth as to urinate […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Mind in Flight
THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI Goodman Theatre Studio “Feathers shall raise men even as they do birds, towards heaven,” wrote Leonardo da Vinci–though he meant the feathers on quill pens, with which people could write words and draw images. That was the closest human beings could come, he thought, to the physical freedom and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Party
Few plays justify their name like this deservedly popular gay comedy, now independently revived after a successful seven-month run at Bailiwick Repertory. David Dillon’s raucous romp is a free-spirited, unashamedly explicit action portrait of seven gay male friends who gather to play Fact, Fiction, Fantasy, or Flip, a Truth or Dare-style game. A supple vehicle […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Report From the Jeffs: Eclipse Rising/Northlight Looks North/Angels Update/Party Goes Commercial
Is this just another dinky theater company in town putting on stupid plays? No way! It’s the Eclipse Theatre Company, winner of two Jeff Awards in its first season.
Posted inArts & Culture
North Park Trio
The piano trio literature, which contains some of the most felicitous music ever written, is neglected relative to its importance as a chief conveyor of the classical style. That’s why the launching of a new performing trio is welcome news indeed. The North Park Trio is pianist Elizabeth Buccheri, violinist Alison Dalton, and cellist Julie […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Reader to Reader
Scene: The 5:15 Metra North Line train, last car. September 1993. Characters: Two over-50 executives in suits. One seems angry; the other listens and nods. Angry guy: We made a contract 27 years ago. She’s trying to back out of it now? Listener: Mmmm, you know how they are… Angry guy: I mean what’s with […]