William Wyler turns Henry James’s Washington Square into a visually concise chamber drama (1949) that starkly renders the characters’ cruelty and ambiguous motives. Adapted by Ruth and Augustus Goetz from their stage play, it follows the battle of wills between a homely spinster (Olivia de Havilland); her selfish and condescending father, who can’t forgive her […]
Tag: Vol. 31 No. 47
Issue of Aug. 22 – 28, 2002
Posted inNews & Politics
Gas Attack/What Was It?/News Bites
Gas Attack Last April 19 the Reader published a Critic’s Choice by Ted Shen praising a new documentary, Gaza Strip, that was about to be shown at the Chicago Palestine Film Festival. “The constant barrage of artillery shells, the civilians’ complaints, and the images of children convulsing from exposure to nerve gas offer a ringing […]
Posted inArts & Culture
On Stage: Spoon River revisited
Though Barbara Reimers grew up an hour’s drive from the Spoon River valley, she didn’t read the book that made Edgar Lee Masters and his fictional central Illinois town famous until college, when she tried out for a theatrical adaptation of Spoon River Anthology. “I read those epitaph poems–really character studies–that make up the anthology,” […]
Posted inNews & Politics
News of the Weird
Lead Stories Time Out New York recently reported on artist Brock Enright, who began staging kidnappings with volunteers so that he could videotape them for exhibition at galleries but was so inundated by thrill-seeking victims that he now charges $500 or more for the experience. With two dozen “fetish terrorism” clients, Enright is thinking of […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Dept. of Misunderstood Thespians
Thank you very much for sending a reviewer to my show, “Local Comedian: A Show About a Comedian Doing a Show About a Comedian Doing a Show.” I understand it was a quick turnaround for you to get it into the paper [August 9], and I appreciate the effort. Unfortunately, Ms. [Kim] Wilson seems to […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Scientology’s Successes
Dear editor: As a member of the Church of Scientology, I am writing to express my outrage at your newspaper for allowing known bigots to express a series of lies and misinformation about my religion [“Death of a Scientologist,” August 16]. They and their ilk are well known for their habit of attempting to slander […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Kitsch in Motion
Georgina Valverde at the Museum of Contemporary Art, through September 1 Copying the loud, flat colors and simple forms of kitsch objects, many pop-inspired artworks offer no more depth than their sources. Yet it’s legitimate to call into question the cultural relevance of much high art. Georgina Valverde addresses these issues in her seven sculptures […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Greg Osby
Year in, year out, Greg Osby leads one of the best quartets in jazz–namely himself, pianist Jason Moran, and whatever two other guys they bring along. It can’t be the easiest gig for a rhythm section to step into: the saxophonist glides between stressing downbeats and upbeats, sometimes in the same phrase, giving his momentum […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Marlan on the Attack
To the editor, What would possess you to take advantage of the tragic death of someone who was a dear and gentle person and use it to attack the religion he loved? Neither Greg Bashaw nor the Church of Scientology deserves the lies that were contained in that article [“Death of a Scientologist,” August 16]. […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Rumors of War
There’s nothing more reassuring than a conversation with an alien.
Posted inArts & Culture
Fillet of Solo Festival
Live Bait Theater’s seventh annual showcase of one-person performances features old and new work by a slew of fringe artists. The fest runs through August 25 at Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark; performances take place in the theater’s main-stage and Bucket spaces. Tickets are $10 per show; a festival pass to all shows costs […]
Posted inMusic
Across a Crowded Room
This year’s celebration of Richard Rodgers’s centennial has done more than commemorate the genius behind a body of work that includes more than 900 songs, among them several dozen of the best-loved tunes in the American popular repertoire; it’s also helped illustrate the composer’s enormous versatility, which paradoxically has obscured him among his artistic peers. […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Remixed Up
Really enjoyed Dale Lawrence’s Rock, Etc. in the August 9 issue; it’s probably the best piece of criticism I’ve read about mashup bootlegs (and I’ve read a lot of them), and gets a lot of things right about their appeal (smashing the white rock/black pop dichotomy chief among them). Still, there are a couple minor […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Wax and Wayne
Local Infinities’ new show uses candle wax–300 pounds of it, according to a press release–as the matrix for an intriguing, smart, wholly accessible meditation on creative identity, power, transformation, and sacrifice. The nearly wordless piece begins with both Local Infinities cofounders onstage. Meghan Strell plays Wax, covered head to toe in ivory paraffin, standing perfectly […]