Hauptmann, TimeLine Theatre Company. Everything that made the “trial of the century” entertaining 68 years ago–the horror of the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby and the scapegoating of bumbling illegal immigrant Richard Hauptmann–makes John Logan’s taut 1986 re-creation so much Court TV catnip. Nick Bowling’s pile-driving revival captures the media frenzy, kangaroo court, […]
Tag: Vol. 32 No. 20
Issue of Feb. 13 – 19, 2003
Posted inNews & Politics
How to Be Invisible
One has written his first novel; the other has a new self-produced CD. The boys of Ghostweed Press are gifted, funny, and completely hopeless at getting noticed.
Posted inFilm
Liars in Love
Deliver Us From Eva * (Has redeeming facet) Directed by Gary Hardwick Written by Hardwick, James Iver Mattson, and B.E. Brauner With Gabrielle Union, LL Cool J, Duane Martin, Essence Atkins, Robinne Lee, Meagan Good, Mel Jackson, and Dartanyan Edmonds. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ** (Worth seeing) Directed by Donald Petrie […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tour de Farce
Tour de Farce, Broutil & Frothingham Productions, at Theatre Building Chicago. In his book Mis-Directing the Play, Terry McCabe makes a compelling argument against dictatorial directors who treat actors as mere “cogs in the director’s machine.” Yet his own Milquetoast staging of Kingsley Day and Philip LaZebnik’s 1993 comedy made me doubt the wisdom of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Active Cultures: pedal power pushes the Handlebar
Josh Deth was working as a brewer at Goose Island a few years ago when he and some friends started scouting the city for a place to open their own brew pub–a “lefty, political” kind of place to be called the Revolution Brewing Company. He had experience in the business at the now defunct Golden […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Sky Girls
Sky Girls, Northlight Theatre. Jenny Laird’s lovely new play revolves around five female pilots stationed on a Texas air base during World War II–part of the WASPs, a little-known female corps disbanded in 1944, less than two years after its inception. But though Laird’s play communicates history well, it’s not just a history lesson: her […]
Posted inMusic
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet has never had much use for the decorum and stylistic purity expected of a classical string ensemble, but on last year’s terrific Nuevo (Nonesuch) the group pulled out all the stops, transforming itself into something just short of a pop band. The album surveys the broad range of music, from classical to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Chicago Theatre Company. Lanie Robertson’s drama with music is a tour de force for the actress capable of meeting its demands–and happily Joyce Faison is up to the challenge. Set in a seedy Philly nightclub in 1959, the show takes the form of a concert performed by jazz […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Who Will Buy These Memories?/Words Fail Him/News Bites
Who Will Buy These Memories? Radio legend Ed Schwartz is in anguish. He wrote former radio-TV critic Gary Deeb to denounce him as “a gross failure and an ethical disgrace.” When Deeb didn’t reply, Schwartz posted the letter on Jim Romenesko’s popular media Web site–the national hot stove of gossiping journalists. And this week in […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Higher-Consciousness Candidate
Jay Stone is Berny’s son, and he’s running for alderman. That’s where politics-as-usual ends.
Posted inNews & Politics
TRG Music Listings
Rock, Pop, etc. concerts AIR SUPPLY Sat 2/15, 8 PM, Star Plaza Theatre, I-65 and U.S. 30, Merrillville, Indiana. 773-734-7266 or 312-559-1212. ANTJE Free concert. Sat 2/15, 6 PM, Art Gallery Kafe, 1907 N. Milwaukee. 773-235-2351. ANTJE, RIPLEY CAINE, SUMMER CHANCE Free in-store performance. Fri 2/21, 7:30 PM, Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Duets for My Valentine
Mushy dances have never been my thing–give me a good laugh or a reason to get mad instead of some gloppy pabulum. So I’m happy that the “Duets for My Valentine” program (returning courtesy of massage therapist Bob Barrett after a one-year hiatus) is never just romantic fluff. Consider the piece that Hubbard Street Dance […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Iraqi Art Now: Looking In/Out
With the U.S. on the brink of war with Iraq, this fine exhibit of 42 works by 30 artists living in and outside that nation serves as a vital reminder of Iraqi humanity and suffering. Islam proscribes figuration, but Iraq’s secular culture has made its art relatively diverse. Sadik Alfraji’s Loneliness is a grid of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Beyond the Frame
Andrea Robbins and Max Becher: The Transportation of Place at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, through March 5 Neocon art critic Hilton Kramer once griped that “the more minimal the art, the more maximum the explanation,” and many others have questioned the legitimacy of visual art that depends on explanatory texts. But some artists do […]