This would be a good title for a sketch comedy show playfully mocking gender stereotypes. But aside from video projections of some undeniably hilarious early-60s TV commercials–the type that worked Betty Friedan into a lather–this evening from the all-girl Firecracker Show never really goes that route. Which would be fine if the writing were sharper, […]
Tag: Vol. 35 No. 1
Issue of Sep. 29 – Oct. 5, 2005
Posted inArts & Culture
Phrenology Fest
Presented by the Emerging Improvisers Organization, this year’s Phrenology Fest features jazz and improvised music at the Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont. Donations will be accepted at the door and during the programs. For more information call 773-935-2118. SUNDAY 2 9:00 Wolter Wierbos, Jeff Parker, Josh Abrams 10:00 Exploding Star Quintet 11:00 Bridge 61 MONDAY […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Reversible Eye wants to embrace all of Humboldt Park. Who wants a hug?
Posted inArts & Culture
The God of Hell
Sam Shepard’s latest, a ham-fisted satire of post-9/11 America, has none of the subtlety, grace, or dramatic power of his best work, like True West and Buried Child. The dialogue is obvious, the characters are flat, and the story is both preposterous and uncompelling: a Wisconsin dairy farm is invaded by a sadistic, Dick Cheney-like […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Next Small Thing
A new cell phone and an unsigned band shake up the music industry.
Posted inArts & Culture
Chicago Artists’ Month
In 1996 the Chicago Artists’ Coalition, seeking to draw attention to the art making that goes on year-round, designated November Chicago Artists’ Month; the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs took over in 2000 and the next year moved the observance to October. Most of the exhibits noted in this year’s brochure are listed by venue […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Philip Gourevitch
Writer and bon vivant George Plimpton served as editor of the Paris Review from its inception in 1953 till his death 50 years later, at which point his protege Brigid Hughes took over for a year before being dismissed by the literary journal’s board. This past March the board tapped longtime New Yorker staff writer […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Recent Tragic Events
Craig Wright used to write for Six Feet Under, and it shows. Like the HBO series, his play combines self-entranced characters with self-impressed narrative gimmicks to create a perfect storm of self-regard. Only, where the TV show was satisfied to watch itself explore the navels of a few Californians, Recent Tragic Events has bigger fish […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Straight Dope
Recently I gave a jump to someone who’d left his car headlights on and drained his battery. Because I have a healthy respect for anything containing moving parts, flammable liquids, and battery acid, I followed the directions for giving a jump in my owner’s manual to the letter. These instructions run to seven pages. To […]
Posted inMusic
Newberry Consort
For its first concert of the season the Newberry Consort has put together an unusual program combining fascinating scholarship and outstanding musicianship. In the 17th century the emperor of China allowed Jesuit missionaries into the Forbidden City, where they gave concerts on harpsichords and other Western instruments, taught the emperor and a group of eunuchs […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Hack/Slash: Stagefright
Like the horror-comedy genre it salutes, this post-Buffy vehicle is almost better when it’s bad than when it’s good. Based on the comic book published by local outfit Devil’s Due, this New Millennium Theatre Company production follows the adventures of slasher-hunting vigilantes Cassie Hack and her sidekick Vlad. Adapter-director Chad Wise tries to replicate onstage […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Right Fight
The entire Indymedia editorial board wrote in [Letters, September 2] to protest my mention [Letters, August 26] of their role in the attacks against my group and others [But Can He Hack Prison, August 19], claiming, as they do to their own users, that IMC provides an “open” newswire and asserting that they protect their […]
Posted inArts & Culture
War Stories
Soldiers’ tales obscure the truth in one play and illuminate it in the other.
Posted inNews & Politics
A Twang of Irony
The Hoyle Brothers despised mainstream country culture–and would denounce it loudly to anyone within earshot. Then Nashville came a-callin’.