GERALDINE FIBBERS 11/14, LOUNGE AX It was only two months ago that California’s Geraldine Fibbers last made Lounge Ax quiver. But listening again to their dazzling, bloodthirsty Butch (Virgin) and recalling the startling guitar interplay between front woman Carla Bozulich and avant-noise nail-polish guru Nels Cline, I have to admit that even if they played […]
Tag: Vol. 27 No. 6
Issue of Nov. 13 – 19, 1997
Posted inArts & Culture
Industrial-Strength Wilderness
The Lake Calumet Region: The Juxtaposition Between the Natural and Built Environment at the Graham Foundation, through November 20 By Fred Camper One of my favorite places in Chicago is the heavily industrialized area between Lake Michigan and Lake Calumet on the far south side. The feeling of wildness there is the opposite of a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Flight Courier Service
Flight Courier Service Over the past five years the members of the Cook County Theatre Department have been puttering around in their near-south-side loft, largely ignored by mainstream press and audiences alike. Yet they’ve mounted ten peculiar, beguiling shows with a total budget of less than $10,000. From the hesitant fumblings of their debut, Swing […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Bureaucratic Bungling
Sing for Your Supper Stage Left Theatre By Jack Helbig Established in 1935 as part of Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, the Federal Theatre Project provided employment to the writers, actors, composers, costumers, set designers, and directors who’d been thrown out of work by the Depression, subsidizing “free, adult, uncensored” theatrical productions. These were located across […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, Effective Theatre, at the Athenaeum Theatre. The 1979 Broadway premiere of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical was an epic-scale production by director Harold Prince, who emphasized the parallels between the show’s penny-dreadful plot–about a mad barber who slits people’s throats and his companion, Mrs. Lovett, who […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Agit-Slop
ÁChe-Che-Che! (A Latin Fugue in 5/8 Time) Latino Chicago Theater Company By Carol Burbank In his director’s note, Juan A. Ramirez complains about Chicago theaters’ idea of “Latino/Hispanic theater,” which he says “looks like a cross between a made-for-TV movie and the Gabriel Garcia Marquez collection at Crate and Barrel. Shame on you.” But he […]
Posted inMusic
Ricky Skaggs
RICKY SKAGGS Ricky Skaggs made his mark as the first bluegrass artist to successfully cross over to the mainstream country market, blending the style seamlessly with gospel and hard 50s country under a shiny pop surface. Although he’s never entirely abandoned his roots–which include cutting his musical teeth in a duo with Keith Whitley, playing […]
Posted inArts & Culture
True Books
One Jump Ahead: Challenging Human Supremacy in Checkers, by Jonathan Schaeffer (Springer, $34.95). Synopsis: The Chinook checkers-playing computer program is developed and guided toward its “final dramatic showdown” with Marion Tinsley, the world checkers champion. Representative quote: “Game twenty-two was almost a repeat of game twenty. Same result (draw). Same heartache. After five moves, Chinook […]
Posted inMusic
Band for Sale
Chumbawamba Tubthumper (Republic) By Douglas Wolk The members of the band Quixote, interviewed in the most recent issue of the zine Punk Planet, were asked “What is ‘selling out’?” They replied: “Very simple… Chumbawamba.” Obviously an outfit called Quixote is bound to have higher ideals than most of us. A hundred people asked the same […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Glam Slam
John Gilmore is the rare author who can write about stars without being blinded by their light
Posted inArts & Culture
Triple Espresso
TRIPLE ESPRESSO, at the Mercury Theater. The trio of talented vaudevillians in Triple Espresso come perilously close to turning into the same sort of bland, wholesome entertainment they seek to satirize–the acts employed to liven up trade shows, conventions, and Elks Club meetings. Unwilling or unable to succeed as a legitimate variety act, singer-pianist Michael […]
Posted inMusic
Vance Kelly
VANCE KELLY Guitarist Vance Kelly, a stalwart on Chicago’s south side for some years, has been making occasional forays north and west, including a torrid appearance at last year’s Blues Festival. His repertoire ranges from 12-bar Chicago-blues chestnuts to funky soul and R & B to contemporary postfunk aggression; he’s also been experimenting with a […]