At the center of this thoughtful, remarkably insouciant coming-of-age drama by the young French up-and-comer Catherine Corsini is Marc, a nice-looking teenager unsure of his sexuality and frustrated with his stifling provincial existence. When his promiscuous yet good-hearted older half sister Viviane returns after a long absence on the road, she becomes the object of […]
Tag: Vol. 26 No. 8
Issue of Nov. 28 – Dec. 4, 1996
Posted inMusic
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez By now Pierre Boulez’s annual residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an eagerly awaited event, an opportunity to hear treasures from the 20th-century trove interpreted by one of its most influential and clearheaded promoters. In the next four weeks, the indefatigable Boulez, who’s scaled back his composing in favor of conducting, will […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Sports Section
It was a cold and dreary November afternoon, the sort that puts one in mind of Thanksgiving Day football: muddy fields and messy uniforms, players like Alex Karras and Dick Butkus, Mike Lucci and Doug Buffone, Charlie Sanders and Walter Payton, Mel Gray and Mike Singletary. Something between rain and snow was falling, a sort […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Pericles, Pince of Tyre
PERICLES, Prince of Tyre, Greasy Joan & Company, at Facets Multimedia International Performance Studio. Shakespeare’s late romance breathlessly and with only fitful eloquence charts the misadventures of the young and very embattled prince of Tyre. But unlike the similarly themed Cymbeline and The Winter’s Tale, there’s little magic or urgency in this 1608 potboiler; understandably, […]
Posted inMusic
Chavez
CHAVEZ It’s a wonder to encounter a band that manages to be striking without doing much that you’d call innovative. New York’s Chavez–a foursome of indie-rock vets–blends well-worn elements from a variety of rock styles into a cohesive, engaging whole. On the new Ride the Fader (Matador), singer-guitarist Matt Sweeney (ex-Skunk), guitarist Clay Tarver (ex-Bullet […]
Posted inMusic
Spot Check
Church Key 11/29, Phyllis’ Musical Inn Ex-God’s Acre singer-guitarist Peter Houpt contributes the most–and the most heartrending–songs to this local country-rock sextet’s debut, Evet’s Cafe (Loose Booty). Here’s hoping his emotional healing is accompanied by the further coalescing of the band’s promising instrumentation, which includes pedal steel, accordion, mandolin, and fiddle. Republica 11/29, Metro British […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Little Critters
LITTLE CRITTERS, Lucid Theatre Productions, at the Preston Bradley Center for the Arts. Jean-Marc Gauthier’s colorful, childlike paintings–the inspiration behind Ellar Wise’s one-person play–depict mischievous creatures with distended limbs, twisted torsos, and multiple heads. Bringing these figures to life, Wise imagines them in a group home-cum-penal colony, where they cavort under the watchful eye of […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Caught in the Net
Captured at newsgroup alt.cows.are.nice From: VPVZ40A@prodigy.com (David Wyder) Subject: The Borden Split Hooker-Elsie and Elmer Borden were granted a divorce last Tuesday after more than 40 years of marriage. The divorce proceedings lasted for more than two months at the Pecus Superior Court and revealed many details about the famous cowple that were previously unknown. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Washington-Sarajevo Talks
The Washington-Sarajevo Talks, Victory Gardens Studio Theater. In this play, D.C.-based playwright and civil rights worker Carla Seaquist dramatizes the extraordinary long-distance phone friendship she struck up with Bosnian radio journalist Vlado Azinovic. Refusing to cheapen or adorn the tragedy of Sarajevo with such traditional theatrical components as plot, dramatic conflict, and character development, she […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Culture Club
Lockdown at Randolph Street Gallery/Royal George in the Dark/Music and Dance Theatre: Power Ploy?
Posted inNews & Politics
City File
This is how the New Deal ends, not with a bang but a whimper. A chronology from Poverty Issues…Dateline Illinois (November 15): 9/21/96 Illinois starts denying Food Stamps to legal immigrants. 10/1/96 Federal entitlements for cash and child care end. 11/22/96 Deadline for Illinois to notify 18-50-year-old adults of three-month limit for Food Stamps. 1/1/97 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Theater Mini Review
Seven Stories, One Parable, and Three Songs by David Bowie
Posted inArts & Culture
Arty Facts: a day without art
On December 1, 1992, a mock funeral procession headed north on Michigan Avenue past the Art Institute. A bagpipe player led the cortege, followed by wreath bearers and a horse-drawn carriage. The procession was the idea of performance artist Iris Moore, and it was just one of many local events staged that year to mark […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Straight Dope
The attached document, which is floating around the Web, details a number of deadly side effects of aspartame (NutraSweet). One side effect stems from the release of methanol when aspartame is heated to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The paper goes on to suggest this may be the cause of “gulf war syndrome,” since the troops all […]