Retro Theatre, at Zebra Crossing Theatre. Two sweet, loving couples. Both meet in bars, both soon commit to twinkly-eyed long-term relationships. But one couple’s straight, the other’s lesbian. Surprising? Not especially–at least not as scripted by Sara Reily, who makes both couples as bland and conventional as possible. In a word, dull. In The Hall […]
Tag: Vol. 24 No. 15
Issue of Jan. 19 – 25, 1995
Posted inArts & Culture
Death and the Maiden
ANTIGONE Footsteps Theatre Company Christina Jeffrey could find nothing to object to in Jean Anouilh’s Antigone. Jeffrey’s the political science teacher appointed to the post of House historian by her friend Newt Gingrich, then fired by him when word got out that a few years back she opposed an educational program on the Holocaust because […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Sleuth
Court Theatre. Twenty-five years after its premiere, Anthony Shaffer’s homage to (and critique of) the genteel British whodunits of the 1930s still has the ability to snare viewers unfamiliar with its intricate games of deception and disguise. And even for those who know its secrets, this crafty mix of thriller and comedy of manners remains […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Baaba Maal
On Senegalese pop star Baaba Maal’s new album, Firin’ in Fouta (Mango), a slick, voraciously genre-blending effort, the vocalist–second only to Youssou N’Dour in popularity for an artist from his country–travels the world investigating all sorts of divergent styles. The production is unapologetically big, recorded in several studios around the world with lots of guest […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Sports Section
In their second possession, after they had turned the ball over on the first and given away a 3-0 lead, the San Francisco 49ers took control of their playoff game against the Bears a week ago last Sunday. They ran the ball left, they ran the ball right; they pulled the guards to the left, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
A Leaner Meaner Sun-Times?/News Bites
A Leaner Meaner Sun-Times? We don’t know whose job is safe at the Sun-Times. “There are rumors all over the joint,” says one of the cooler heads about. “It’s evident Britton’s not happy. But he’s taking a more active day-to-day role in the paper.” While executive editor Mark Nadler was negotiating a new labor contract […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Bad Company
This interesting and effective spy thriller, directed by Damian Harris from a script by mystery novelist Ross Thomas, starts out as an upscale Deep Cover: industrial espionage financed by big business takes the place of police undercover work in drugs, and Laurence Fishburne again ably plays a sort of double agent. But this film confounds […]
Posted inMusic
Spot Check
EX-IDOLS 1/20, METRO Prefab punk rock with the required lyrics obsessing on being a social misfit–the old “no one would accept me but my punk friends” spiel–the music of the Ex-Idols is designed expressly for the niche-friendly alternative rock market. On Social Kill (Relativity) they churn out a predictable lexicon of punk guitar riffs, but […]
Posted inMusic
Long-Lived Rock
The Red Krayola Lounge Ax, January 13 How does one remain avant-garde for 28 years? The Red Krayola has been a flickering leading light of rock’s cutting edge since releasing its first album in 1967. The Parable of Arable Land’s psychedelic music launched free improvisation, then primarily the currency of new jazz, into rock and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Joffrey Ballet
Billboards has been a big hit for the Joffrey, but I was disappointed, maybe because I like Prince’s music so much: three of the four sections in this evening-length dance, choreographed by four different people, don’t even come close to the subversion in Prince’s lyrics and androgynous style. Most of Billboards is business as usual, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
This Is War
The Battle of Decatur: The labor movement knows that its meaning and credibility are on the line here. Can the revolution be far behind?
Posted inNews & Politics
Stones Sell Out?
To the Editor of the Reader (att Bill Wyman): Yo–Wyman is absolutely correct about the new revised Jones & the Rolling Stones which sucketh mightily as evidenced by DooDoo Lounge [Rock Etc., September 23]. I have E-mailed my opinion thereof to the Keefstone at Stones@delphi.com (as printed in Esquire) and indeed with copy the keefness […]
Posted inArts & Culture
John Primer
Few contemporary bluesmen can fuse influences and stylistic shadings with John Primer’s effortlessness and proficiency. For years he played with ex-Muddy Waters fretman Sammy Lawhorn at Theresa’s on 48th and Indiana; he joined Waters himself for a time and recently served as Magic Slim’s second guitarist. From Lawhorn, Primer absorbed shimmering melodicism, harmonic sophistication, and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Starting Here, Starting Now
Prologue Theatre Productions, at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago. First produced in the 70s at the Barbarann Theatre Restaurant, Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire’s musical revue is every bit as shallow, trivial, and silly as you’d expect from a dinner-theater show created during the “me decade.” There are some vaguely bittersweet love songs. […]