There was not a Rockette in sight at Radio City Music Hall on June 29, when the wonderfully weird creatures of Cirque du Soleil’s latest spectacle Zarkana officially took up residence on their opening night. Stars of all sorts, from TV favorites Gayle King and Judah Friedlander to Broadway and film vets like Kathleen Turner turned out to see the landmark theater transformed to tell this surreal story. In this world premiere show, Zark, a magician who has lost his love and his powers, has been plunged into a world of creatures to get them both back. It includes Cirque spectacles like breathtaking acrobatics and death-defying trapeze work, and the stars were more than ready to take them all in! Click through to check out photos of this unreal opening night, then head to Radio City and see Zarkana.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Did Foster the People's Mark Foster Co-Write Spider-Man's 'Rise Above' with Bono and The Edge?
Did U2 rockers Bono and The Edge collaborate with Foster the People's Mark Foster to write the Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark anthem "Rise Above"? Foster claims he had a hand in crafting the catchy number that encapsulates the show's theme.
"I just wrote a song with Bono that's for the Spider-Man musical!" Foster told Spinner.com. "I was in the studio with a producer called Alex the Kid and we were just songwriting together. We worked on this tune and it turned out it was a Bono/The Edge song that I wrote the verses for."
Foster says he has not met the U2 rockers and that a deal for the song was struck over the Internet. His schedule has prevented him from catching the recently opened Broadway show.
Foster the People released their first full album, Torches, earlier this spring on Columbia Records. Recently named a "You Oughta Know" artist by VH1, the band is currently touring the country and will play at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago this August. Foster the People will return to New York City on September 27 for a concert at Terminal 5.
Suspect shot in narcotics operation in Country Club Hills
War Horse on Film: Watch the Trailer for Steven Spielberg's Movie
Get ready to weep: War Horse is coming to the big screen on December 28, directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay co-written by Richard Curtis and Billy Elliot’s Lee Hall. Hot on the heels of the World War I saga’s Best Play Tony win (both play and movie are based on Michael Morpurgo's children's novel), Spielberg presents a real-life chestnut colt in the role of Joey, the beloved horse that young owner Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) follows into battle. Take a look at the goosebump-inducing trailer for the film, set to a typically soaring score by John Williams and featuring the tagline “Far from home, hope survives.”
Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis & More Headed to Broadway in Porgy and Bess
After a pre-Broadway run at the American Repertory Theatre, four-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis and David Alan Grier will head to Broadway in Porgy and Bess. Diane Paulus’ production of the Gershwin classic, featuring a reworked book by Suzan-Lori Parks, will begin previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on December 17 and open on January 12, 2012.
Porgy and Bess’ run at A.R.T. (the Cambridge, MA, theater where Paulus is artistic director) will begin on August 17, open on August 31 and run through October 2. Tony nominee Joshua Henry is on board for the pre-Broadway run but was not mentioned in the Broadway news release, which said only, "Further casting will be announced soon."
As previously reported, the new production is described as a re-imagining of the classic musical opera by Paulus (the Tony-nominated director of Hair), Pulitzer Prize winner Parks and two-time Obie winner Diedre Murray as musical director. Featuring music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, the show includes such classics as "Summertime," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now," "I Got Plenty o' Nothin" and "It Ain't Necessarily So." Originally conceived as an American folk opera, it ...
Cocktail Challenge: Pulque
Tim Williams puts the milky fermented juice of the maguey plant to good use by Kate Schmidt The Drawing Room's Cristiana DeLucca challenged Tim Williams of Francesca's Forno with pulque, a milky, mildly alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. The cocktail's named for Mexican revolutionary Miguel Hidalgo.? [ Read more ]
CPS halts construction of Whittier library in Pilsen
Pilsen parents who once staged a 43-day sit-in to get a library at Whittier Elementary School now have succeeded in getting the project halted.
How a CPS teacher went from 'excellent' to 'do-not-hire' in one year
by Ben Joravsky On June 25, Mayor Rahm Emanuel invited a group of recent education-school graduates to help change the world by signing up with the Chicago Public Schools. "I hope you stay in the Chicago area because I will continue to do what I think is best in telling the city of Chicago that we have the best-trained, best-educated workforce," Emanuel said in a commencement address to graduates at National Louis University.? [ Read more ]
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicago-public-schools-do-not-hire/Content?oid=4147617
War Horse on Film: Watch the Trailer for Steven Spielberg's Movie
Get ready to weep: War Horse is coming to the big screen on December 28, directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay co-written by Richard Curtis and Billy Elliot’s Lee Hall. Hot on the heels of the World War I saga’s Best Play Tony win (both play and movie are based on Michael Morpurgo's children's novel), Spielberg presents a real-life chestnut colt in the role of Joey, the beloved horse that young owner Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) follows into battle. Take a look at the goosebump-inducing trailer for the film, set to a typically soaring score by John Williams and featuring the tagline “Far from home, hope survives.”
Elaine Stritch Kicks Off Caf� Carlyle Season; Clint Holmes, John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey to Follow
Tony and Emmy Award winner Elaine Stritch will soon return to the Café Carlyle to open the legendary cabaret venue’s fall season. Her new show, Elaine Stritch At Home at The Carlyle: Singin’ Sondheim…Again. Why Not? will begin a three-week engagement on September 13.
Next up, vocalist Clint Holmes will make his Café Carlyle debut with a tribute to Bobby Short, running October 18–29. Husband-and-wife singing duo (and Café Carlyle veterans) John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey will perform an all-new program from November 1–November 26.
Following Molaskey and Pizzarelli, vocalist Steve Tyrell will perform from November 29 through December 31, and famed film director Woody Allen will continue his tradition of performing with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band on Monday evenings, from September 12 through December 19.
A regular guy inspires This Is Paul Halupka
by Lauri Apple Curator Jessica Cochran had met local graphic designer Paul Halupka only once before deciding to dedicate an entire exhibition to him. She interviewed him when he volunteered to sit naked in an installation created by Argentinean artist Maximo Gonzalez for Art Chicago 2009.? [ Read more ]
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/this-is-paul-halupka/Content?oid=4147946
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
CPS halts construction of Whittier library in Pilsen
Pilsen parents who once staged a 43-day sit-in to get a library at Whittier Elementary School now have succeeded in getting the project halted.
Downtown patios, rooftops could stay open hour later during week
Awaiting the Blago verdict
Jurors have reached a verdict in 18 of 20 counts in the Rod Blagojevich trial. They will announce the verdict between 1 and 2.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/27/awaiting-the-blago-verdirct
Catch Me If You Can Stars Norbert Leo Butz, Aaron Tveit & Kerry Butler Sing and Sign CDs at Barnes & Noble
A huge crowd of fans packed the event space at the Upper East Side Barnes & Noble on June 28 for a performance and CD signing for the newly released original cast recording of Catch Me If You Can. Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz and his co-stars Aaron Tveit and Kerry Butler sang a trio of swinging numbers from the show, with special guest performer Marc Shaiman (otherwise known as Catch Me composer, co-lyricist and co-producer of the cast CD) singing the bonus track “Fifty Checks.” Wish you’d been there? Click on for a gallery of snapshots from this fun-filled event, then get your own Catch Me cast recording from Ghostlight Records.
Afinidades
Jorge Perrugoria and Vladimir Cruz, who costarred in Tomas Gutierrez Alea's 1994 gay love story Strawberry and Chocolate, wrote, directed, and star in the Cuban psychological drama Afinidades, based on Reynaldo Montero?s novel Musica de Camara.
"We are only trying to meditate about the human being and their complexities, facing emptiness and the lack of rational explanation for many of the problems of the contemporary world, sometimes appearing that the only way out is to take refuge in instincts," Cruz said on the film's release last year.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/25/afinidades
Rock of Ages Star MiG Ayesa Introduces His Prima Ballerina Pup
After a two-show day, Broadway’s pet-owning performers love nothing more than coming home to their number one fan: a loyal four-legged friend. In honor of the annual Broadway Barks dog and cat adoption event, coming up on July 9 in Shubert Alley, we asked stage stars to show their puppy—and kitty!—love by telling us all about their furry pals.
MIG AYESA (Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages)
What is your pet’s name and breed?
Powder. She's a Maltese.
How did your pet get its name?
When she was a pup, she looked like a fluffy white powder puff. "Puff" is her middle name.
What is your pet’s favorite pastime?
Sleeping and eating, and rubbing her neck in mud and squirrel poo in Central Park.
Does your pet know any tricks?
She sits for treats. That's really about it!
What’s the funniest thing your pet has done?
Dance ballet in a full tutu.
What’s the naughtiest thing your pet has done?
Pee in the house as soon as she came back from a walk.
Do you look like your pet?
Maybe if I grew a full white beard...?
Keep checking back for ...
6/25-6/26?Free Workshops at Learnapalooza
The Learnapalooza learning festival is back for its second year, with free workshops taking place at Wicker Park and Bucktown locations on Sat 6/25 from 10 AM to 5 PM. A limited schedule of classes will also continue on Sun 6/26.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/24/625-626free-workshops-at-learnapalooza
Why People Slack Off
University of Chicago brain scientists Minjung Koo and Ayelet Fischbach have come up with a plausible reason why you have trouble getting things done, if you have trouble getting things done. It's because you focus too much on what you've done already ("to-date thinking"), and not enough on what what is left to do ("to-go thinking").?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/24/why-people-slack-off
6/25-6/26?Free Workshops at Learnapalooza
The Learnapalooza learning festival is back for its second year, with free workshops taking place at Wicker Park and Bucktown locations on Sat 6/25 from 10 AM to 5 PM. A limited schedule of classes will also continue on Sun 6/26.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/24/625-626free-workshops-at-learnapalooza
U.S. recommends new rules after firefighter dies in fall
A solution for the White Sox: jury duty for the Big Breeze
Sometimes you wonder what Ozzie Guillen is thinking. The White Sox manager kept Adam Dunn out of the lineup three times in the last six games.?
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Don't do cocaine or your ears will fall off
Over the past few days, various news outlets have reported on how almost all of America's (and increasingly the world's) cocaine now contains levamisole?a veterinary drug that sometimes causes people's ears, noses, and cheeks to turn purple and black and rot away. Not everyone who does cocaine experiences flesh-eating issues?the technical term is necrosis?but there's really no way to predict who will develop them, and who won't.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/27/dont-do-cocaine-or-your-ears-will-fall-off
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Douglas Carter Beane on How Underage Drinking Helped Him Write Sister Act
About the Author:
As the musical adaptation of Sister Act was preparing to hop the pond from the West End in 2010, producers enlisted a veteran playwright to give the show a Broadway makeover: Douglas Carter Beane. The famously funny writer earned his third Tony Award nomination for his Sister Act efforts, having gotten nods for his two previous Rialto outings, the satirical play The Little Dog Laughed and tongue-in-cheek book for the musical Xanadu. Here, Beane reflects on the challenges of revamping a show’s existing script and shares his wisdom on what really makes “a Broadway show.”
There is such a thing as “a Broadway show,” and Sister Act needed to be a Broadway show. There’s a muscularity to it, there’s a pace to it, the characters are a certain way, and I just knew a New York audience would really go for and understand this piece. But it wasn’t there yet. As fate would have it, I happen to have grown up in Philadelphia in the '70s, when the drinking age was like a suggestion: You had to be 18 years old or very tall to get a cocktail. It was a different time ...
Broadway Grosses: Summer Visitors Burn Up Box Office
When eight shows top $1 million at the box office, it’s a good week on Broadway. And when three of those shows are inching toward $2 million, as the trio of frontrunners did during Summer Solstice week, it’s a sign of good health on the Great White Way. In fact, half of the 30 shows on the boards did more than $850,000 in business, and almost every show posted a gain from the previous week. Meanwhile, Broadway said farewell to three high-profile revivals, Born Yesterday, The House of Blue Leaves and The Importance of Being Earnest.
Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending June 26:
FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. Wicked ($1,830,739)
2. The Lion King ($1,748,215)
3. Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark ($1,702,866)
4. The Book of Mormon ($1,215,619)
5. Mary Poppins ($1,103,991)
UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. The Importance of Being Earnest ($338,319)
4. Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles ($318,309)*
3. Born Yesterday ($263,123)
2. Ghetto Klown ($252,835)**
1. Master Class ($226,694)***
FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. The Book of Mormon (102 ...
Source: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/156899/broadway-grosses-summer-visitors-burn-up-box-office/
Former Illinois governors awarded pen names
The State of Illinois today announced the renaming of several of its facilities in recognition of the achievements of certain past governors.
Effective immediately, the Stateville prison is the Honorable Otto Kerner Jr. Correctional Center.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/28/former-illinois-governors-awarded-pen-names
Tony- and Olivier Award-Winning Actress Margaret Tyzack Dies at 79
Tony- and Olivier Award-winning British actress Margaret Tyzack, best known for her roles in the PBS series The Forsyte Saga and I, Claudius, died on June 25 at her home in London. She was 79.
Born outside of London on September 9, 1931, Tyzack attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began her professional career in the early 1950s at a repertory company in central England. In 1962 she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where her credits included Summerfolk, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus and Julius Caesar.
Tyzack first made a national name for herself playing Winifred in the popular 1967 BBC drama The Forsyte Saga, followed up by her role as Antonia in I, Claudius in 1976. In 1981, she won an Olivier Award for playing Martha in a London revival of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Tyzack made her Broadway debut as the Countess of Rossillion in Trevor Nunn's 1983 production of All’s Well That Ends Well, for which she earned a Best Featured Actress Tony nomination. In 1990, she won the Best Featured Actress Tony for Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage opposite Maggie Smith, who took home the Best Actress Tony ...
Indiana mails 58,000 reminder postcards with wrong first name
Live Jesus Lizard DVD drops on August 23
Club documents the Jesus Lizard's first U.S. performance in a decade. Directed by Matthew Robison and produced by Henry Owings of Chunklet fame, the DVD celebrates the band's triumphant return with a taping of their show at Nashville's Exit/In on July 14, 2009, just a few days before they returned home to play Pitchfork.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/27/live-jesus-lizard-dvd-drops-on-august-23
Teen killed in South Side shooting
Billy Corgan's Pumpkin Patch Is for Sale
The Great Pumpkin Billy Corgan has just dropped the price on his Gold Coast condo to $2.85 million, which almost puts it within our price range. It's got walnut parquet floors and a reception room, plus a balcony and a library.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/23/billy-corgans-pumpkin-patch-is-for-sale
Grant Achatz justifies the Office
I generally don't make a practice of doing restaurants' public relations work for them. When a new place sends out its menu, I like to leave it to others more skilled in the art of cut and paste.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/24/grant-achatz-justifies-the-office
State board to decide fate of competing McHenry Co. hospital proposals
Don't Do Cocaine or Your Ears Will Fall Off
Over the past few days, various news outlets have reported on how almost all of America's (and increasingly the world's) cocaine now contains levamisole?a veterinary drug that sometimes causes people's ears, noses, and cheeks to turn purple and black and rot away. Not everyone who does cocaine experiences flesh-eating issues?the technical term is necrosis?but there's really no way to predict who will develop them, and who won't.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/27/dont-do-cocaine-or-your-ears-will-fall-off
Monday, June 27, 2011
So what exactly is police superintendent McCarthy's position on gun control?
Police superintendent Garry McCarthy has something to say about guns and gun laws. It's just not clear what exactly that is.
Several news outlets reported yesterday that McCarthy told the congregation at St. Sabina church that federal laws that allow guns to proliferate in cities like Chicago are an example of ?government-sponsored racism? in the vein of slavery, segregation, black codes, and jim crow.?
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Blagojevich likely to lose state pension, keep federal perk
SPRINGFIELD — Ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich stands to lose a $65,000-a-year state pension as a felon, but he's likely to be eligible for $15,000 a year in federal retirement pay for his time as a congressman.
Broadway Barks Co-Founder Bernadette Peters Kicks Off New Series on Broadway Pets!
After a two-show day, Broadway’s pet-owning performers love nothing more than coming home to their number one fan: a loyal four-legged friend. In honor of the annual Broadway Barks dog and cat adoption event, coming up on July 9 in Shubert Alley, we're asking stage stars to show their puppy—and kitty!—love by telling us all about their furry pals. Event co-founder Bernadette Peters gets us started.
BERNADETTE PETERS, co-founder of Broadway Barks
What is your pet’s name and breed?
Stella, pit bull (I also have Kramer, a “Heinz 57 Variety” dog.)
How did your pet get its name?
From A Streetcar Named Desire: “Stella!”
What is your pet’s favorite pastime?
Eating!
Does your pet know any tricks?
Many. She is very smart and learns things in about 20 minutes. The last thing was a double high-five.
What’s the funniest thing your pet has done?
Sometimes she sleeps with her head in her food bowl, dreaming of food!
What’s the naughtiest thing your pet has done?
She jumps up and eats the apples off my apple tree.
Do you look like your pet?
I would like to think so, but she looks ...
Lord Thing and The Corner
Former Bank of America Cinema and current CIMMfest programmer Michael W. Phillips screens two early documentaries about the Vice Lords in his South Side Projections screening series:
Robert Ford's 1963 The Corner shows the street gang in the first years after its 1958 founding in North Lawndale, with gang members' voiceovers "powerful in their self-awareness... we hear an articulation of the despair and hopelessness that these young men have about their prospects for a job and financial security, and their knowledge of being trapped in a cycle of poverty," Jason Halprin writes at Cine-File.
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/27/4137786-lord-thing-and-the-corner
What's Up, Merritt Wever? The Nurse Jackie Charmer on Getting Corseted in The Illusion
TV fans fell in love with Merritt Wever from the get-go as adorable newbie nurse Zoey Barkow on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. In a cast that includes theatrical heavyweights Edie Falco, Eve Best and Anna Deavere Smith, Wever more than holds her own—which isn’t really surprising given the fact that she’s been acting professionally for almost half of her 30 years. Currently, she’s charming audiences as a shrewd and ambitious maid in Tony Kushner’s The Illusion at Signature Theatre Company, and she'll be heading to Williamstown in August to star in Bess Wohl's Touch(ed). In conversation, Wever is both friendly and self-deprecating, with zero interest in self-promotion.
What drew you to The Illusion?
It was a challenge. I’d never worked with this kind of language before, so it was scary, which is a good thing. And I love Tony Kushner—I was a little flabbergasted that I got to be in anything he wrote. I wouldn’t want to try to describe it, but I’ve always liked what he has to say about love and life. His writing is so rich that you can mine him for a very long ...
1 dead, 2 hurt when cab hits parking garage in Streeterville
Muscles & Mascara with Priscilla's Nick Adams: Celebrating a Birthday, Gay Pride and the Tonys!
Happy birthday, Nick Adams! It's an exciting birthday month for Priscilla Queen of the Desert star Nick Adams (who turned 28 earlier this June.) In his latest video blog Adams brings his trusty camera along to film the Priscilla crew as they get glammed up to perform at this year's Tony Awards and a Gay Pride Month rally in Central Park. Nick is also asking his viewers to help name a new addition to his dressing room: a giant pink flamingo glass figurine! Click below to get your Nick Adams fix.
Lee Hall?s The Pitmen Painters to Get West End Premiere
Following successful runs in the UK and on Broadway, Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters will receive a West End premiere this fall. The original production will again be directed by Max Roberts, and feature many of the actors who starred at the National Theatre and on Broadway. Performances will begin at the Duchess Theatre on October 5, where the piece will officially open on October 11.
Inspired by a book by William Feavers, the play enjoyed a run at the Live Theatre in Newcastle before transferring to London's National Theatre where it played a sold-out, eight-week run and won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play in 2008. It bowed on Broadway in September 2010 at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, and closed on December 12, 2010, and is currently touring the U.K.
The Pitmen Painters tells the story of a group of Ashington miners who, in 1934, hired a professor to teach an art appreciation evening class. Rapidly abandoning theory in favor of practice, the pitmen began to paint. Within a few years the most avant-garde artists became their friends and their work was acquired by prestigious collections; but every day they ...
Source: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/156885/lee-halls-the-pitmen-painters-to-get-west-end-premiere/
Collaboration or collusion in Chicago TV news?
Local TV news operations across America got hammered Wednesday by a media reform group based in Washington, DC. "Across the country, hundreds of TV stations have quietly merged newsrooms, circumventing the Federal Communications Commission?s media ownership limits at the expense of independent, local journalism," charged SavetheNews.org.?
[ Read more ]
What's Up, Merritt Wever? The Nurse Jackie Charmer on Getting Corseted in The Illusion
TV fans fell in love with Merritt Wever from the get-go as adorable newbie nurse Zoey Barkow on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. In a cast that includes theatrical heavyweights Edie Falco, Eve Best and Anna Deavere Smith, Wever more than holds her own—which isn’t really surprising given the fact that she’s been acting professionally for almost half of her 30 years. Currently, she’s charming audiences as a shrewd and ambitious maid in Tony Kushner’s The Illusion at Signature Theatre Company. In conversation, Wever is both friendly and self-deprecating, with zero interest in self-promotion.
What drew you to The Illusion?
It was a challenge. I’d never worked with this kind of language before, so it was scary, which is a good thing. And I love Tony Kushner—I was a little flabbergasted that I got to be in anything he wrote. I wouldn’t want to try to describe it, but I’ve always liked what he has to say about love and life. His writing is so rich that you can mine him for a very long time as an actor and not come to the end.
Has it been fun to do a ...
Best new novel by a Chicagoan
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/best-new-novel-by-a-chicagoan/BestOf?oid=4078333
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Weekend Poll: Happy Pride! Which Gay Theater Classic Should Return to Broadway?
New York City is gearing up for its annual gay pride march this weekend, and Broadway has no shortage of productions of interest to the LGBT community, from the flashy musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert to the riveting Tony-winning revival of The Normal Heart (not to mention the hilarious Tony-winning satire The Book of Mormon!) Broadway.com started thinking about the great gay-themed plays and musicals that have graced the Great White Way over the years which might be ripe for revival. So we want to know: Which gay theater classic would you like to see come back to Broadway? Vote below!
Collaboration or collusion in Chicago TV news?
Local TV news operations across America got hammered Wednesday by a media reform group based in Washington, DC. "Across the country, hundreds of TV stations have quietly merged newsrooms, circumventing the Federal Communications Commission?s media ownership limits at the expense of independent, local journalism," charged SavetheNews.org.?
[ Read more ]
Grant Achatz justifies the Office
I generally don't make a practice of doing restaurants' public relations work for them. When a new place sends out its menu, I like to leave it to others more skilled in the art of cut and paste.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/24/grant-achatz-justifies-the-office
What's Up, Merritt Wever? The Nurse Jackie Charmer on Getting Corseted in The Illusion
TV fans fell in love with Merritt Wever from the get-go as adorable newbie nurse Zoey Barkow on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. In a cast that includes theatrical heavyweights Edie Falco, Eve Best and Anna Deavere Smith, Wever more than holds her own—which isn’t really surprising given the fact that she’s been acting professionally for almost half of her 30 years. Currently, she’s charming audiences as a shrewd and ambitious maid in Tony Kushner’s The Illusion at Signature Theatre Company. In conversation, Wever is both friendly and self-deprecating, with zero interest in self-promotion.
What drew you to The Illusion?
It was a challenge. I’d never worked with this kind of language before, so it was scary, which is a good thing. And I love Tony Kushner—I was a little flabbergasted that I got to be in anything he wrote. I wouldn’t want to try to describe it, but I’ve always liked what he has to say about love and life. His writing is so rich that you can mine him for a very long time as an actor and not come to the end.
Has it been fun to do a ...
From Mom to Moll: A Day in the Life of Anything Goes Scene-Stealer Jessica Stone
Pushing strollers through the streets of Manhattan and vamping it up on the stage of the Stephen Sondheim Theatre are all in a day’s work for Jessica Stone. The Broadway regular is currently strutting her stuff as man-eating miscreant Erma in the Tony-winning revival of Anything Goes. Stone's resume includes everything from Grease and the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to comedy gems The Odd Couple and Butley, and now she's winning laughs as sidekick to Joel Grey’s Moonface Martin in the classic musical. Stone recently invited Broadway.com photographer Jenny Anderson to tag along as she and her husband, fellow Broadway vet Christopher Fitzgerald, enjoyed a morning out with their two curious toddlers before the actress headed to Broadway for two shows as a stage vixen. Click on to enjoy this family-friendly day!
This week on the B Side
If you've been paying attention to all the excitement leading up to this week's Reader, you'll know why the current issue is such a super huge deal: our long-awaited guide to the Green Music Festival featuring Yo La Tengo and Les Savy Fav.
JK/LOL, of course.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/23/this-week-on-the-b-side
Wisconsin governor makes 50 vetoes in state budget
What's Up, Merritt Wever? The Nurse Jackie Charmer on Getting Corseted in The Illusion
TV fans fell in love with Merritt Wever from the get-go as adorable newbie nurse Zoey Barkow on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. In a cast that includes theatrical heavyweights Edie Falco, Eve Best and Anna Deavere Smith, Wever more than holds her own—which isn’t really surprising given the fact that she’s been acting professionally for almost half of her 30 years. Currently, she’s charming audiences as a shrewd and ambitious maid in Tony Kushner’s The Illusion at Signature Theatre Company. In conversation, Wever is both friendly and self-deprecating, with zero interest in self-promotion.
What drew you to The Illusion?
It was a challenge. I’d never worked with this kind of language before, so it was scary, which is a good thing. And I love Tony Kushner—I was a little flabbergasted that I got to be in anything he wrote. I wouldn’t want to try to describe it, but I’ve always liked what he has to say about love and life. His writing is so rich that you can mine him for a very long time as an actor and not come to the end.
Has it been fun to do a ...
Surprise! Billy Elliot Welcomes 1.5 Millionth Audience Member to Broadway
The cast of Billy Elliot crossed another Broadway landmark on June 22 when they welcomed a very special guest to the Imperial Theatre: their 1.5 millionth audience member! After the cast took their bows at the matinee performance, Billy (Peter Mazurowski) and his onstage Dad (Gregory Jbara) came forward to surprise the milestone audience member, Caty Dougherty. The Philadelphia resident’s Billy Elliot ticket was the 1.5 millionth scanned at the Imperial Theatre, and in honor of her special place in the story of Broadway’s Tony-winning show, she was welcomed onto the stage for a once in a lifetime photo with the cast. The lucky lady not only got to spend some quality time with the cast, she took home a bag of Billy swag, a special framed window card signed by the whole Billy Elliot family, gift bags from Molton Brown and Serendipity 3 and dinner for two at Glass House Tavern. Congrats Caty! Photo by Jenny Anderson for Broadway.com
Rachel Potter on Her Country Music Ambitions and Going Grim as The Addams Family's Wednesday
Age & Hometown: “Old enough to drink”; Seminole, FL
Current Role: Making her Broadway debut as dour daughter Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family.
Disney Roots: Potter’s parents met in a rock 'n' roll band, so it was only a matter of time before she began taking voice lessons from her mother. And yet “theater wasn’t even on my radar,” she says now. “I wanted to be a recording artist and used to design my own album covers when I was a kid.” That changed when Potter headed to Orlando for college and landed a job performing as The Little Mermaid’s Ariel at Disney World. “I feel like I received most of my education at 'Disney University,'” she says fondly. The actress continued to play dress-up when she joined the Wicked national tour as a Glinda understudy. “I fell out of the bubble my first time on,” she laughs. “It was terribly embarrassing, but [the performance] still felt so special.”
Wednesday Every Day: Transitioning from peppy Glinda to gloomy Wednesday wasn’t a drastic change, according to Potter. A veteran of beauty pagents, she recalls, “I was never really like the other girls. I was a little darker ...
Alien Singing Group The Voca People Beam Into Off-Broadway's Westside Theatre
With over 20 million YouTube views to their name, The Voca People are ready to invade New York City. This international singing group claims to be a collection of aliens from the planet Voca who crash-landed on Earth and now want to share their gift of song. On June 23 the day of the show's first off-Broadway preview, the a cappella crew invited the press to their new home at the Westside Theatre for an otherworldly meet-and-greet and performance sneak peek. The show includes more than 70 hits songs including 70s rock songs, 50s doo-wop, classic movie themes, boy band ballads and more. Click below to meet The Voca People.
Afinidades
Jorge Perrugoria and Vladimir Cruz, who costarred in Tomas Gutierrez Alea's 1994 gay love story Strawberry and Chocolate, wrote, directed, and star in the Cuban psychological drama Afinidades, based on Reynaldo Montero?s novel Musica de Camara.
"We are only trying to meditate about the human being and their complexities, facing emptiness and the lack of rational explanation for many of the problems of the contemporary world, sometimes appearing that the only way out is to take refuge in instincts," Cruz said on the film's release last year.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/25/afinidades
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Baby It's You's Shirelles Harmonize Backstage on Rihanna's 'Only Girl'
On the heels of their first backstage video, “Forget You,” the ladies of Baby It’s You decided to put their spin on another current pop hit, Rihanna’s “Only Girl.” Erica Ash provided lead vocals, with Kyra Da Costa, Christina Sajous and Crystal Starr joining in perfect harmony. Step into the stairwell at the Broadhurst Theatre and listen to Broadway’s Shirelles show off their real-life pop skills.
Grammy Winner Terence Blanchard to Score A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway
Five-time Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard has been tapped to compose original music for the upcoming revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Blair Underwood in his Broadway debut as Stanley Kowalski. The Emily Mann-helmed play is scheduled to hit Broadway in spring of 2012. No exact dates or theater have yet been announced.
Blanchard, who scored the currently running Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Motherf**ker With the Hat, is an influential jazz musician and composer. This Grammy-winning artist tours with his own band and performs with jazz greats including Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, as well as with the rap artist Common. He is currently working on his first opera.
Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning Streetcar tells story of the mental and emotional demise of the determined yet fragile Blanche DuBois in the squalid French Quarter apartment of her married sister and animalistic brother-in-law Stanley (Underwood). The play was last revived on Broadway in 2005 with Natasha Richardson, Amy Ryan and John C. Reilly.
Muscles & Mascara with Priscilla's Nick Adams: Celebrating a Birthday, Gay Pride and the Tonys!
Happy birthday, Nick Adams! It's an exciting birthday month for Priscilla Queen of the Desert star Nick Adams (who turned 28 earlier this June.) In his latest video blog Adams brings his trusty camera along to film the Priscilla crew as they get glammed up to perform at this year's Tony Awards and a Gay Pride Month rally in Central Park. Nick is also asking his viewers to help name a new addition to his dressing room: a giant pink flamingo glass figurine! Click below to get your Nick Adams fix.
Preckwinkle appoints Cox
Reader contributor Ted Cox has been named deputy director of communications to Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board. He starts July 5.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/23/preckwinkle-appoints-cox
Best advocate for the arts
Arts of Life
2010 W. Carroll
312-829-2787
artsoflife.org Runners-up?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/best-advocate-for-the-arts/BestOf?oid=4077970
The Rage of the Slouchy Dad
Noted postfeminist Katie Roiphe comes out this week with a few observations on the book Go the Fuck to Sleep, which is a sort of 2011 analogue to the popular blog-turned-book Stuff White People Like: witty, ironic yuppie fare. It?s an illustrated kids?-lit parody written in a profane bedtime-story-style rhyme; a sample, via Roiphe?s review: ?The owls fly forth from the treetops.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/24/the-rage-of-the-slouchy-dad
The Rage of the Slouchy Dad
Noted postfeminist Katie Roiphe comes out this week with a few observations on the book Go the Fuck to Sleep, which is a sort of 2011 analogue to the popular blog-turned-book Stuff White People Like: witty, ironic yuppie fare. It?s an illustrated kids?-lit parody written in a profane bedtime-story-style rhyme; a sample, via Roiphe?s review: ?The owls fly forth from the treetops.?
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Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/24/the-rage-of-the-slouchy-dad
Weekend Poll: Happy Pride! Which Gay Theater Classic Should Return to Broadway?
New York City is gearing up for its annual gay pride march this weekend, and Broadway has no shortage of productions of interest to the LGBT community, from the flashy musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert to the riveting Tony-winning revival of The Normal Heart (not to mention the hilarious Tony-winning satire The Book of Mormon!) Broadway.com started thinking about the great gay-themed plays and musicals that have graced the Great White Way over the years which might be ripe for revival. So we want to know: Which gay theater classic would you like to see come back to Broadway? Vote below!
Afinidades
Jorge Perrugoria and Vladimir Cruz, who costarred in Tomas Gutierrez Alea's 1994 gay love story Strawberry and Chocolate, wrote, directed, and star in the Cuban psychological drama Afinidades, based on Reynaldo Montero?s novel Musica de Camara.
"We are only trying to meditate about the human being and their complexities, facing emptiness and the lack of rational explanation for many of the problems of the contemporary world, sometimes appearing that the only way out is to take refuge in instincts," Cruz said on the film's release last year.?
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/25/afinidades