What they did this yea was the best. They didn’t have a sit-down dinner with fishes staring at you from all sides. They didn’t have speeches in the Oceanarium theater and they didn’t have performances. Instead, they just let people come and enjoy the museum without big crowds. It was amazing how close you could get to everything! I loved it!
Mom forgot that she had been to the Aquarium before, and she forgot what corals are, but she liked everything she saw, which was the most important thing.
I am inserting my Instagram posts just so that I won’t need to save videos one more time 🙂
I am really happy we made it, even though it was a very long Uber ride home (it was Friday night, and everybody was out, and both Columbus Drive and Lake Shore Drive were jammed)
Did you ever hear about Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment opera? If you did’ good for you, but I only learned about this opera when I saw it in the Lyric Opera calendar. I have to admit that my knowledge of the operas was naturally limited to Russian operas and a relatively small number of “all others,” while I was growing up. That’s not an excuse for not exploring what else is out there, but it is what it is.
I had so much fun! I am thinking about last night and smiling. I copied all the video clips I found on the Lyric Opera website because if I just post the links, they will be gone by the end of the season. Just play the clips, and you’ll see for yourself how awesome it was! The only other thing I wish they would have would be a picture of the last scene with a tank breaking into the Marquise’s castle:).
I love both leads: Lisette Oropesa as Marie and Lawrence Brownlee as Tonio. Both have unimaginably beautiful voices and brilliant acting. I almost want to go one more time :).
The week is almost over, but it feels like it was just yesterday: I went to Theo to see a performance of Assassins with my long-time friend who is very much into musical theater.
That was a perfect outing for us! The first time I saw a show at Theo, I loved it but realized I wanted to be at the table. Then, I subscribed for a table sitting, and it was awesome. This time, I added a ticket for my friend and dinner for both of us. I didn’t want to add a dinner just of myself, and I was not sure whether I wanted to spend an extra hour and a half in the theater before the performance. With my friend, however, everything was just perfect!
We both liked the food, and we had enough time for a long conversation, and she liked the show, and she liked the whole cabaret idea (and I liked it, too!).
Today, I was finally able to find a show clip, which I am happy to post.
And here is more reading about the musical. It is running for five more weeks! (And I just can’t believe I am so fortunate to have several amazing theaters so close to home)
One one-time participation in the discussion of the CSO youth programs and my readiness to be one of the CSO for Kids ambassadors keeps getting me unexpected benefits.
I had tickets for the “bigger kids concert” for last Saturday’s matinee, and about ten days before that, I received an invitation for the exclusive behind-the-scene tours, for which I happily signed us both. Since Anna is not exactly in a position to travel, on Friday, I took Haiawata to Milwaukee; Anna dropped Nadia off at the train station, and we got on the same train back to Chicago (as usual, the conductor said: hope to see you again soon! and I replied: you’ll see me very soon!
Saturday was the CSO day. We had this amazing backstage tour an hour before the concert:
We had a family activities day at Jarvis Square on Saturday. It was the first time we had such a family-style celebration (the adult part followed after 8 PM). There was free face painting, and free s’mores, and trick-or-treating, and drumming, and Taro fortune telling. Most importantly, there were kids in costumes who had enormous fun! I walked there with my mom, and we walked around and made our s’mores over the fire, and then I got the butternut latte in the Charmer’s Cafe for myself and caramel cider for mom, and we sat there and watched the kids running around with the buckets, sitting for the face painting and drumming.
Mom was saying that it’s too bad we can’t take pictures, and then she added that it’s impossible to tell others how good it was because no words and no pictures can reflect the feeling and the atmosphere. That was one of the rare moments when she felt the way I hoped she would feel after moving here.
We saw Channel 5, and one kid yelled: Mom, we are on the news! The reported was interviewing one of the organizers, and I heard that she said that “it feels very safe,” which I couldn’t agree more.
Theater Above the Law is the best of all Rogers Park small theaters. On Friday, my mom, Igor, and I went to see “Grimm,” and it was flawless! My mom, not being able to understand what’s going on, still appreciates their acting each time I take her to Above the Law. I can’t stop comparing them with the Lifeline Theater – I made the right choice when I decided to subscribe to Above the Law and to hold off with the Lifeline.
It is flattering when the theater director recognizes me even from afar, and waiving: Hi Henrietta, your family is already in!
The play was great. A very accurate take on the Grimm Brothers’ tales, without any “humanization” and “adaptation.” Horrible stories of horrible times.
Tuesday’s concert was indeed one of a kind! The program included
One composer unknown to me
A soloist unknown to me
Three pieces unknown to me
… and all of them were so good!
Each of the pieces was a gem, but Gershwin’s Piano Concerto stood out. I wish I would have the right words to describe it! The program said that Gershwin wanted to combine classical musical forms with jazz and blues, and that’s exactly what it was. The music was all around us and filling each corner of the space. I was bathing in the sounds of music, and each next phrase felt absolutely unexpected and at the same time perfectly in the right place.
OK, I just do not have enough words to describe it! The soloist told the audience how he was coming to CSO as a kid, and how happy he is now to perform on that stage. And again, I do not know how to describe how amazing he was!
Yesterday, we had a “Women’s Night Out” in our firm: we had a floral workshop with Flowers for Dreams at the Riverfront Terrace of Beatnik on the River. I thought from the start that this would be a great activity, and it was even better than I thought! Also, I didn’t like Beatnik that much before because they always have very loud music, but when you are down in the Terrace, you do not hear the music from the street level, and being right there by the water feels like magic!
Chicago International Film Festival is in progress, and I had absolutely no time to see anything. Except for when I saw that documentary in the list of participating films, I knew I would find a non-existent time.
It was not even in the Siskel Center, but fortunately, on my way from work to home (I had to leave about an hour earlier to make it, but there were only two screenings of this film!).
It’s an unimaginably difficult film to watch. Even though there is no fighting, no shooting, no explosions, and even though we’ve seen footage of buildings damaged by Russian shells, you feel it differently watching from inside an evacuation minibus. Most of the people whom Maciek was evacuating were Russian speakers, and it was especially horrible to hear them referring to the “Russian tanks” as enemy tanks. About twenty minutes into the documentary, I started to cross my heart and didn’t stop till the end.
Maciek Hamela was there! The funniest thing is that he entered the building right before me, and like I, he was a little bit uncertain about where theater 13 was, where the screening was about to take place. And I heard him talking in Polish on the phone, and I thought that he might be going to the same screening, but I could never imagine it was a filmmaker! He talked a little bit before the screening and after (he answered many of the same questions in the interview below), and then he answered questions from the audience. And then people started to thank him and started to come down and hug him, and then I left. May those who brought this war to the land of Ukraine burn in hell!
The day started with the pouring rain, and I was unsure whether it was still a good idea to go with our original plans for the OHC Day. Igor said he would go with me or without:), and I decided to go, hoping for the rain to stop later in the day. It eventually stopped, and the trip “to the other side of the world” was totally worth it.
As usual, I hope to tell more about what I saw a little bit later, but judging by my recent level of busyness, it is not very likely to happen, so I will at least mention the highlights of the day.
First and foremost – Beverly Hills is so beautiful! Regardless of the OHC sites being open to public, it was such a pleasure to walk the streets, to see houses and trees, and just take in the spirit of the place.
Hettie's Reflections 