On September 11, Daniel Buckman was in New York City for his book tour. While jogging in Manhattan he saw the first plane as it headed toward the World Trade Center. “It was like, ‘One thousand one, one thousand two,’” he says. “You just knew something terrible was going to happen.” What did the former […]
Tag: Vol. 31 No. 16
Issue of Jan. 17 – 23, 2002
Posted inArts & Culture
Politico
Politico, Politico, Inc., at the Playground. At least this troupe aims to do something important with sketch comedy: inspired by over-the-top patriotism and small-minded politicians, it attempts sharp, relevant political satire. Unfortunately, that’s rarely attained. While a few segments draw smiles of recognition, most of the offerings range from dull to stupefying. Min-aha Beeck, Cholley […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Eighth Blackbird
Based at the University of Chicago, the Contemporary Chamber Players have been championing new music for 38 years. These days the core of the ensemble’s fluid lineup is two groups with established identities of their own: the Pacifica Quartet and Eighth Blackbird, a young sextet of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion. For the […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Out of Their League
The Real Story of How a Group of Cambodian Buddhists in Uptown Lost Their Garden.
Posted inNews & Politics
Raising the Bar
Before 7 AM on weekdays, working parents start dropping off their children at the preschool building of Lake Shore Schools at 5611 N. Clark. Of the 400 kids enrolled in the private institution, 180 are preschoolers, and many of them are taught by people like Marilyn Del Valle, the lead teacher for a class of […]
Posted inFilm
A Touch of Class
Gosford Park **** (Masterpiece) Directed by Robert Altman Written by Julian Fellowes With Eileen Atkins, Bob Balaban, Alan Bates, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi, Kelly Macdonald, Helen Mirren, Jeremy Northam, Clive Owen, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Emily Watson. Critical consensus about any movie is impossible, but judging […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Circle of Friends: An American Girls Musical
Circle of Friends: An American Girls Musical, American Girl Place. Theater that empowers girls doesn’t come along very often–and at first glance it’s surprising that such a show would be nestled in the basement of American Girl Place. What could have been an hour-long commercial instead celebrates the depth and complexity of girls’ friendships, as […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tony Allen & Psyco On Da Bus
Drummer Tony Allen was widely acknowledged as Fela Kuti’s right-hand man, and by extension that makes him the cocreator of Afrobeat, the hypnotic fusion of American R & B and Nigerian music Fela pioneered in the 70s. But while his work from the last few years still courses with Afrobeat’s frenetic intensity, Allen has increasingly […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mojo
Mojo, Chemically Imbalanced Comedy and Beyond That, at MethaDome Theatre. After receiving its U.S. premiere at Steppenwolf in 1996, Jez Butterworth’s Olivier Award-winning dark comedy returns to Chicago in a kinetic, pile-driving staging by Justin Thornburgh. In this unedifying tale, set in 1958, a bunch of louts try to keep the title to a seedy […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Drowning Crow
Drowning Crow, Goodman Theatre. No one can accuse playwright Regina Taylor of disrespecting Chekhov. While other adapters of classics may toss the original structure out the window, Taylor follows Chekhov’s 1896 drama The Seagull almost line for line. Despite a contemporary setting–among the Gullah people on the Sea Islands off South Carolina, where a multimedia […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A Whiff of Failure
Sweet Smell of Success Shubert Theatre Broadway is one of those streets where it’s light enough to read the morning papers in the miracle of the night before, and there’s a trash can on every corner to remind you to do so.–Ernest Lehman, Sweet Smell of Success In 1950 Cosmopolitan published a novelette by a […]
Posted inNews & Politics
TRG Music Listings
Rock, Pop, etc. concerts AMERICAN ENGLISH Beatles tribute band. Sat 1/19, 7:30 PM, Elburn Countryside Center for the Performing Arts, 525 N. Main, Elburn. 630-365-3260. ARRIVALS, LOGANS LOSS, MUNITION, HOTLIPS MESSIAH Fri 1/25, 6:30 PM, Room 130, McGaw Hall, DePaul University, 802 W. Belden. hewhocorrupts @hotmail.com. GREG BOERNER Free in-store performance. Fri 1/25, 8 PM, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Changes of Scenery/Swag Gag/Stars (and Stripes) in His Eyes/The Waiting Game
Painter didier Nolet’s been around the world and back again, but his landscapes are the ones he sees when he closes his eyes.
Posted inArts & Culture
SoloWorks: In the Company of Courage
Women so pervade the dance world that at times their preeminence fades from view–especially when male choreographers and dancers garner more than their share of attention. Inaugurating a new series at Link’s Hall on women mentors, this program features the abundant talents and energy of four Chicago women: Shirley Mordine and her former students Ann […]
Posted inNews & Politics
News of the Weird
Lead Stories Last November a study released by Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, citing professors at Florida International University, reported that in 2000 multinational corporations avoided $45 billion in U.S. taxes by buying from and selling to their own foreign subsidiaries at sometimes ridiculous prices. A U.S. subsidiary might pay $5,655 for a toothbrush, […]