Train, automobile and plane! No, I’m not confused about the movie title. This is my holiday travel plan. I rode into Elkhart on a train on Sunday night. The next day, I set out with my parents for Myrtle Beach. It was a 14-15 hour excursion over Monday-Tuesday. It’s a one way automobile adventure because ...
The long train home
I rode the Amtrak train from Chicago to Elkhart last night. This experience was lackluster compared to my Thanksgiving enchantment on the rails. First, Union Station was bustling with locals traveling to holiday destinations and dejected Chicago Bear fans returning to the ‘burbs. I avoided the over-crowded food court knowing that there was a dining ...
Review “Cinderella” (Broadway in Chicago): A Fairytale for the Ages
Broadway in Chicago presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA. The 2013 Tony Award-winning production of “Cinderella” is touring the country. And the beloved fairytale has gotten a contemporary makeover. The vital story elements are still present. Glass slipper, check! Pumpkin carriage, check! Kingdom corruption, ch--- wait! What? Under the new book by Douglas Carter Beane, Cinderella is ...
EXTENDED “Airline Highway” (Steppenwolf Theatre): Road to Human Discovery
Steppenwolf Theater presents the World Premiere and Broadway-bound AIRLINE HIGHWAY. Everyone has a story. And Playwright Lisa D’Amour has a multitude. In her tightly-packed, ensemble-driven jambalaya, D’Amour tells tales of regret. From the moment we arrive at The Hummingbird Motel, we are intrigued by these colorful misfits that are oddly detached but also together. This motel-made ...
It’s the year for firsts
Katy's first couch It’s my fifty-first birthday. Or it’s the first anniversary of my fiftieth birthday. No matter the perspective, it’s still the first in my favorite decade to date. And I love the fifties. It’s not without it’s hiccups. I mean I’m still me. I don’t always get it right. I often say the ...
Review “Burning Bluebeard” (The Ruffians): A Perfect Tragedy
The Ruffians present BURNING BLUEBEARD. December 30th will mark the 111th anniversary of the Iroquois Theatre fire. On that tragic day during the 3pm matinee, a fire killed 600 people. If that doesn’t sound like the premise to a hit holiday show, you’ve never experienced The Ruffians before. This was my second time reliving their historical ...
In the perfect birthday aftermath…
A year ago today, I was sipping coffee on a terrace overlooking Lake Atitlan. I spent my final days of my 40s in Guatemala. I entered my 50s in Cancun. It was a wondrous vacation. And the absolute most perfect birthday was the crowning jewel. So what about this year? For years, no decades, I’ve treated my ...
Review “Newsies” (Broadway in Chicago): Billy Elliot on Steroids Times 12!
Broadway in Chicago presents Disney’s NEWSIES. This Tony Award-winning musical features butch ballet. Choreographer Christopher Gattelli has these rag muffin guys regularly in the air. Instead of walking across the stage, they often flip...sideways, backwards, over another guy. Their athletic feats are marveling. And even when they do a graceful pirouette, it still looks every bit ...
Review “Twist Your Dickens” (Goodman Theatre, The Second City): F#cking Funny!
Goodman Theater, in conjunction with The Second City, presents TWIST YOUR DICKENS, OR SCROOGE YOU! This was my third installment of The Second City’s local collaborative spectacles. Previously, The Second City had partnered with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Hubbard Street Dance Company. “The Second City Guide to the Opera” and “The Art of Falling” cleverly infused very ...
Review “Pericles” (Chicago Shakes): Muddled!
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents PERICLES. There’s a reason that PERICLES is a lesser known work of Shakespeare. It’s muddled! Based on the real life of a prominent Greek Statesman (495-429 BC), the play takes us on a voyage of Pericles’ life… actually multiple voyages. And unlike in the literary stories of “Nicholas Nickleby” or “Robinson Crusoe,” ...