I had some events to attend every day of that week, plus trying to get six hours of sleep every day (hopeless), plus everything else.
Out of the six cultural events I attended last week, one was “above categorization” (the screening of the “20 Days in Mariupol), two were in the category “OK, but I won’t lose much if I didn’t attend,” and three were great.
The two were “The Fat Ham” in Goodman
and “Clue” at the CIBC theater.
The audience was ecstatic at both shows, so I guess I should attribute my ambivalence to “I am not in the mood for “just funny” things” these days.
The ones I loved.
“The Pyg Hypothesis” at Above the Law theater.
I like this review of the play in the Chicago Reader.
This play could easily be just a comedy, but it goes much deeper than just reversing the roles in the Show’s Pygmalion. A quote from the above mentioned review:
Having studied women and gender studies in grad school, I know all too well the archetypal persona behind Higgins. It’s what the men who don’t want to share fairly like to pretend feminism is. But that overbearing nature captured so expertly by Gilster is quite honestly the best modern interpretation of this character we could have. Geiser’s biting adaptation of Shaw (directed by Liv McDaniel) speaks so eloquently to this moment. You may catch yourself holding back laughter or rolling your eyes with Pickering scene after scene until the final curtain.
The Golden Hour at Joffrey
This magnificent show consisted of four independent pieces and each of them was a gem.
Under the Trees’ Voices. According to the Joffrey website, it “examines the persistence of community and connection in the age of distance and isolation. Set to Bosso’s Symphony No. 2, Blanc’s choreography arose from his observations of the nuances of people’s temperaments during the spring of 2020 as the weather became warmer and the chill of pandemic restrictions thawed. In four distinct sections, Under the Trees’ Voices imagines a future of hope and unity, reminding us that we are better together than alone”.
Heimat (Home) was set to Wagner’s symphonic poem Seigfried Idyll, and pictured a family in the Swiss countryside.
Next was Shostakovich’s Andante.
And finally, the Princess and the Pea, sparkling, funny, smart and incredibly beautiful!
I loved all four pieces and can’t tell which one I loved more. The Princess and the Pea stand out because it is so funny, even satirical, and also because we had a chance to meet the choreographer before the show.
And finally, I went to the CSO concert featuring Seong-Jin Cho, an absolutely outstanding South Korean pianist. That was one of my “mom’s concerts” – I always try to take her to some matinee shows, but I enjoyed it way more than she 🙂 (She liked it, but these days, she mostly comments on musicians’ looks rather than the music).
I looked at Seong-Jin’s website, but didn’t find a recording of the Prokofiev’s piano concerto he performed on Sunday, but other pieces are great, too 🙂
Hettie's Reflections 