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Our Great Tchaikovsky – Steppenwolf Theater – May 5, 2018

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Hershey Felder has made a career out of doing one-man shows about famous composers – Gershwin, Berlin, Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven, Bernstein, and Tchaikovsky. Always informative, always entertaining, as actor and musician, he immerses himself in the character’s story.

For me, the most revelatory fact that Felder imparted was Tchaikovsky’s supposed disdain for two of his most popular pieces, the 1812 Overture and the Nutcracker Suite, both of which were clear favorites of the audience. Afterward, I wished I had asked Felder whether he shared Tchaikovsky’s opinion.

Felder played portions of almost all Tchaikovsky’s best known pieces. He didn’t play Marche Slav (a childhood favorite of mine – it was a dark time). He also didn’t play anything from Eugene Onegin (not to be confused with Eugene, Oregon), though he did vocalize a short passage (vocalize is the best description I could find for something that’s not singing, scatting, humming, or mumbling).

In regard to Tchaikovsky’s youth, I remember Victor Borge saying that “Pete” was born in Votkinsk, May 7 1840, but never played out in the streets of Votkinsk like the other little children of Votkinsk because when he was one month old his parents moved to St. Petersburg (it’s funnier when you hear Borge say it, but I couldn’t find an online recording). Actually, as Felder noted, Tchaikovsky was eight years old when his family moved (thereby crushing my adoration of Borge).

Felder joked during the Q and A session at the end of the show that the average audience members were in their 20’s. Maybe 120’s. Okay, not really, as the oldest person alive today is said to be only 117. The audience probably didn’t average a day over 85, the new 84. As the youngsters in the audience, we took the stairs down from the third floor theater after the show, as most of the others circled the two small elevators like piranha.

Macbeth – Chicago Shakespeare Theater – April 28, 2018

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I have waived my no Shakespeare rule a few times over the years. The rule arises from the fact that, when viewing Shakespeare, I want to have an annotation with me to follow the dialogue (too dark in the theater, flashlights frowned upon) or ask the performers to pause so that I can figure out what they just said (also frowned upon in most theaters).

The waivers typically relate to theatrical productions that aren’t straight Shakespeare. So, in 1983, I saw The Flying Karamazov Brothers juggle their way through The Comedy of Errors. In 2004, I saw The Second City’s Romeo and Juliet Musical: The People vs. Friar Laurence, the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet. In 2016, I saw Othello: The Remix, the Q Brothers hip hop version of the play, with Othello as a rapper; and Celebrity One-Man Hamlet, a show where David Carl portrayed Gary Busey as Hamlet (as strange as it sounds). Tangentially, I’ve seen Something Rotten twice (one of my all-time favorite shows).

My direct route to this production of Macbeth started in 2015, when I saw The Tempest, for which I waived the rule because it was co-directed by Teller, of Penn and Teller, and he brought his personal touch to the show, including the incorporation of card tricks.

Teller’s influence on this production of Macbeth, where he is again the co-director, was obvious in scenes involving the Weird Sisters and various ghosts, though, unfortunately, none of the murders are accomplished by sawing someone in half.

By the way, the acting was superb. And theater has officially entered a new generation, as six of the cast members include either Chicago P.D. (4) or Chicago Fire (2) in their credits. The Chicago shows have replaced the Law and Order shows (only one actor had that credit) in that regard. One Dick Wolf franchise replaces another.

Glass Blowing – Ignite Glass Studios – April 27, 2018

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It’s not everyday that you get invited to a birthday party at a glass blowing studio (great idea). My uncle had done glass blowing as a hobby for years, but he was a scientist with expertise in combustion, so I took no comfort from his experience.

I learned the following things: You don’t mix red with any other color because it overpowers the other color. You don’t touch certain parts of the blowpipe because it’s really hot (good tip). And you don’t tug on Superman’s cape (okay, I already knew that one).

You wipe the end of the blowpipe off with alcohol to clean it before blowing into it. I don’t like to drink and drive, so I opted for making a paperweight (even though I haven’t used paper in years), for which you don’t have to blow (so I don’t know what to call what I did).

The staff of the studio kept things simple for us (thank you), but I think we used things called pincers, markers, blocks, tweezers, and paddles, based upon my post party investigation (https://www.thehouseofglassinc.com/dictionary.htm). The most important tool, however, was the staff, without whose considerable help we would have wound up with items that looked like they went through the transporter in Jeff Goldblum’s version of The Fly, instead of the very nice pieces we crafted.

There were many conversations at the party, but my favorite (which I gratuitously mention for a couple of my followers) was the one I had, with a guest who knew him, about the eating habits of former St. Louis University Billikens basketball coach Rick Majerus. You just can’t pick that kind of information up on the street.

The only thing missing from the party was background music. Perhaps a nice oldies medley including Ring of Fire, Glass Onion, and Blowin’ in the Wind would have been appropriate.

The Thrill of the Grass: Celebrating Baseball Writing for the Ages – American Writers Museum – April 17, 2018

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When I was young, I read a lot about baseball. I knew all the stories. So I couldn’t pass up this program featuring baseball authors Dan Epstein, Josh Wilker, and Joe Bonomo.

Among other selections, the program included readings by Epstein from his book, Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of 76 and by Wilker from his book, Cardboard Gods: An All American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards. And Bonomo read Roger Angell excerpts to promote Bonomo’s forthcoming book, No Place I Would Rather Be: Roger Angell, a Writer’s Life in Baseball.

What did these books (and the program itself) have in common besides baseball? Colons. Remember when book titles didn’t have colons followed by a descriptive phrase? It was War and Peace, not War and Peace: A Russian Tale of Five Families in the Time of Napoleon.

This led me to look for and discover an article about the trend toward “colonization” in book titles, thus proving that there’s an article somewhere online about anything you can imagine.

My examination of colons (colonoscopy?) aside, this was yet another of the American Writers Museum fine programs. But remember when you went to bookstores (remember bookstores?) to hear writers, and celebrities pretending to be writers, talk about their books? For example, I remember seeing Gene Hackman discuss his book (for which he had a cowriter) Wake of the Perdido Star: A Novel (good thing his publisher included the colon and that explanation, otherwise I might have thought it was a painting) in 1999 at the Michigan Avenue Borders (RIP).

Despite my nostalgia for brick and mortar bookstores, I have come to prefer reading ebooks. And here I am writing a blog, for which, it now occurs to me, I may need an expanded title that includes a colon, and phrase to follow, if I want to expand my reach.   I’m thinking about Art Gets Out: A Blog That Has Nothing To Do with Hotels or Facebook (by far the two most searched for keywords according to PageTraffic.

 

Marianna Prjevalskaya (piano) and Tomer Gewirtzman (piano) – Chicago Cultural Center – April 11 and 25, 2018

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As usual, the performances at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts were excellent. For Prjevalskaya’s performance I was seated behind her and paid particular attention to her movements, partly because I forgot my glasses and therefore couldn’t sit there reading the program or the news alerts on my phone (on silent) while she was playing. In any event, the way she swayed her body and bent her elbows to get her hands into the best position at all times was instructive.

In regard to reading the program, three things jumped out at me at Gewirtzman’s performance (for which I had my glasses). First, there were no program notes. They were replaced by an upcoming concerts page. I like having program notes in front of me during the performance (even when I make fun of them – see my April 4 blog), though I admit I don’t know what’s involved in producing them. Are there canned notes available somewhere for oft-played pieces (that weren’t available for Gewirtzman’s)? Or does someone write them up anew each time (and was that person on vacation)? I can live without a description of the music, but like having information about the composer and the time frame of and backdrop for the composition. Such a reduced note would be easier to produce (I presume) and would still leave room for an upcoming concerts schedule.

The second thing I noticed was that Gewirtzman served in the Israeli Defense Forces “Outstanding Musician” Program. That led me to finding an article about that program (https://www.israel21c.org/making-music-in-the-military/). Interesting stuff.

The third thing had to do with descriptions of movements. One that Gewirtzman played was shown as andante con espressione (at a walking pace, with feeling – why would you ever play without feeling?). There are apparently at least 20 basic tempos, and an greater number of mood markings (https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Tempo.html). It makes my head spin, allegrissimo.

Earth Day (a day early) – Washington Square Park – April 21, 2018

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I raked some lawn; I swept some sidewalk; I talked to Howard, who moved here a month ago from China, and whose English is a lot better than my nonexistent Chinese; I had my picture taken as part of the group, but didn’t stay for the pizza (though I did have two donut holes); and I got some exercise and a t-shirt for my efforts.

This was the third time I’ve helped clean up the park and lived to tell about it (not even any soreness the next day), which is good because I signed a waiver that I didn’t read. (Where was there a lawyer when I needed one?)

My best waiver story is from a race I ran in many years ago. The waiver included a clause that said I would be liable for the race promotor’s attorney’s fees if I were the plaintiff in a suit against the promotor as a result of anything arising out of the race. I added language to the effect that I would not be responsible if I were such a plaintiff as a result of being part of a class action. No one challenged my addition, probably because they didn’t even notice it.

One of the other helpers in the park was a young lady who dances in Hamilton and raked before heading for her Saturday matinee, whereas I raked before taking a nap.

Given that the theme of this year’s Earth Day was End Plastic Pollution, it was odd that they had plastic bottles of water for the helpers and were putting garbage into plastic bags, but we’ve only been celebrating Earth Day since 1970, so maybe they’ll get it right in the 50th year, next year.

Amplified Chicago Blues – Chicago History Museum – April 24, 2018

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In the 1970s I went to hear the blues fairly often, at places like Kingston Mines and The Checkerboard Lounge, where I accompanied a friend who was “dating” blues guitarist Lefty Dizz at the time. Neither Lefty (who wasn’t a big enough name) nor the Checkerboard (which didn’t open until 1972) made it into the Chicago History Museum Exhibit, which is more about earlier years; places like Pepper’s Lounge, Delmark Records, and The Fickle Pickle (you have to love that name); and more well-known musicians like Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf.

The exhibit features a lot more pictures than music but there are three musical parts of the exhibit.

There is a karaoke room, where you can sing Sweet Home Chicago. No one tried it while I was there, including me, for which I’m sure everyone wandering around the museum was grateful. There were school children in the building who could have been scarred for life.

Another part of the exhibit gives you the opportunity to learn how to play blues on an electric guitar. The sounds coming from the guitar when I tried to follow the instructions sounded nothing like blues, or music for that matter. The exhibit will be there until August 10, 2019. I’ll go back and try again.

There also is a sound panel where you can learn how to mix music, I think, because it wasn’t working. I would have been better at that. I made a lot of party tapes in college. I’ll go back when it’s fixed.

From the gallery outside the museum’s theater, it sounded like there was a blues movie playing, but the theater was closed for a private event. One more reason to go back.  Good thing it was a Tuesday afternoon, when the museum is free for Illinois residents, or I might have been miffed.

As a result of these issues, I only spent 45 minutes at the museum. Of course I only spent 45 minutes at the Louvre when I was there. Mostly pictures there too (some sculptures), no music.

Hay Fever – Ruth Page Theater – April 23, 2018

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“Even a cuckoo has charm, in moderation.” So wrote Noel Coward in his play Hay Fever. That’s sort of the way I feel about British accents and the reason I don’t watch the BBC. But I had no trouble understanding what the actors in Hay Fever were saying, even if I occasionally didn’t understand what they were saying. (I managed to figure out that when two characters left the house to go punting, they were riding on a boat, not playing American football.)

Produced by ShawChicago, this was a concert reading, which apparently is defined as a little more in depth, and with a little more movement, than a stage reading. (http://southernwritersproject.net/?p=570)

In that vein, the cast wore costumes, with changes between acts. But, in the first act, and only the first act, those members of the cast who weren’t in the scene sat in seats upstage, even while theoretically offstage in the play. I’m not sure why it was staged that way, but I’m glad it was as some of the actors tried desperately and ineffectively to hide their amusement at others’ dialogue, which added to my amusement. It was unintentional (I think) and unprofessional, but fun. And at least they were only grinning, not scratching their private parts.

All the actors were otherwise excellent. Though Mary Michell had the juiciest role as the matriarch of the family, I will give a special shoutout to Callie Johnson, whose vacant stare while portraying a particularly simpleminded character brought repeated laughter from the audience.

I also took particular interest in the dance of the nine music stands the actors used to hold their scripts, as each time an actor went to a different stand they adjusted its height based on theirs. Their differences in heights made this a wonderful ballet for me, as I am easily amused, just as the actors were in the first act.

Memphis – Porchlight Theater – April 22, 2018

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I first saw Memphis in 2011 when it came to Broadway in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theater. I remembered it as a high energy show (with a message), and so it is again at the Porchlight Theater, whose intimacy makes it all the more electric (though, as noted below, I might have preferred more acoustic).

Because the show was still in previews, we received an audience response form encouraging us to give the Artistic Director our suggestions and constructive criticisms about the performance. With apologies to The Rolling Stones, I said I know it’s only rock ’n’ roll (and I like it), but please turn down the volume. The four of us who went together to the show were in agreement that the music was almost painfully loud in spots and that it would be nice to be able to hear all the lyrics.

A detail I had forgotten about the show is its amusing snipe at Perry Como, which is consistent with the opinion of my recent Newberry Library music class instructor (see post on Adult Seminars), who made a special point of telling us how mundane he thought Como’s singing style was and then played one of his records to prove it. (Como fairs somewhat better in the movie Blast from the Past, where Brendan Fraser’s character fawns over Como’s rendition of Round and Round to the amazement of Alicia Silverstone’s character.)

Because it was my first time in the balcony at Porchlight, I was relieved to discover that its front row had plenty of leg room and was far enough back from the railing that my fear of heights was not triggered. It’s easier to enjoy a show when your only concern is permanent hearing loss.

Ian Maksin (Cello) – Fourth Presbyterian Church Noonday Concert – April 20, 2018

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Maksin was introduced and sprinted to the front of the room, cello in hand, sat down, and immediately started playing, without a word. The program listed his first selection as a Bach suite, but even to my unsophisticated ear it didn’t sound like Bach. Phew, I was right. When he finished the selection, he stood and said yes, the audience was right in thinking it wasn’t Bach. He had added something of his own to the program based on some music he had recently heard in Turkey.

He also added a new composition of his at the end of the program that included an electronic element. I would have preferred it played acoustically.

In between, Maksin played a couple compositions by friends and three of his own, one of which included nine variations on a Russian theme, which he described as a journey through geographic regions. This reminded me of the great Victor Borge, who famously played his nine variations of Happy Birthday, as if played by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Brahms, Wagner, Beethoven, Strauss, Mozart, Berlin, and Shostakovich.

In addition to his musical abilities, Maksin has an engaging personality, but Borge was a classic (and an excellent musician). Do yourself a favor and watch and listen to his Happy Birthday variations at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkHz8xq7lE.

Maksin seemed very much to lose himself in the music, as evidenced in part by him closing his eyes (or so it appeared from where I was sitting) during much of his playing. This took me back to violinist.com once again, this time for a discussion about playing with eyes open or closed (http://www.violinist.com/discussion/archive/4385/). The key takeaway from my perspective is, don’t play with your eyes closed unless you know the music by heart (Maksin did).