Posted on September 6, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Thursday, September 9 Red Herring by Michael Hollinger Noble Fool Theatricals at Pheasant Run Resort 4501 E. Main St., St. Charles Come to Jambalaya before the show to enjoy hot spinach dip, cheese, crackers and a special Sparking Red Sangria cocktail by the resort’s New Orleans-inspired restaurant. Then stay for the murder mystery comedy Red [...]
Filed under: Noble Fool Theatre, Pheasant Run Resort, Theater Thursdays | Tagged: Theater Thursday, Pheasant Run Resort, Noble Fool Theatricals, John Gawlik, Red Herring, Michael Hollinger | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 30, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Check out early commercials done by two Emmy winners before they hit it big – Tina Fey and Jane Lynch (for Mutual Savings Bank and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes respectively)
Filed under: Mental Health Break, Video, YouTube | Tagged: Mental Health Break, Tina Fey, Sanity Break, Tina Fay, Jane Lynch, Tina Fey YouTube video, Jane Lynch Kelloggs Corn Flakes, videos before they were famous | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 30, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Enjoy the world premiere production of Hideous Progeny then join LiveWire Chicago and the Progeny creative team for a post-show discussion on the mezzanine of the Storefront Theater for tea and desserts. It was a dark and stormy night in a house by the lake, when Mary Shelley famously took up her host Lord Byron’s challenge to write a terrifying story and created Frankenstein, one of the most famous novels in the Western canon. Witty, salacious, and often melodramatic, Emily Dendinger’s world premiere play directed by Jessica Hutchinson depicts the larger than life romantic figures as the normal teenagers they were – overeducated, egotistical, and ready to change the world.
Filed under: DCA Theatre, LiveWire Chicago, Storefront Theatre, Theater News, Theater Thursdays | Tagged: DCA Theatre, Emily Dendinger, Jessica Hutchinson, LiveWire Chicago, Storefront Theatre, Theater Thursday | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 26, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Join Babes With Blades ensemble members and the artistic staff for a pre-show reception! Enjoy Greek-themed hors d’oeuvres and a behind-the-scenes peek at the people and processes that guided The Last Daughter of Oedipus to its world premiere (our review ★★★½). Then settle in for the show, and follow Ismene, sole surviving child of Oedipus and Jocasta, as she fights to break the curse that devastated her family and now threatens to destroy Thebes. This groundbreaking production combines sword and shield, staff, and unarmed combat with voice and movement work to push the boundaries of physical and vocal storytelling
Filed under: Babes With Blades, Theater News, Theater Thursdays | Tagged: Babes With Blades, Jennifer Mickelson, Lincoln Square Theatre, The Last Daughter of Oedipus, Theater Thursday | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 25, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
25.94 seconds. That’s how fast Melissa Thompson of Salford, England, was able to type a complex sentence, which makes her the new Guinness World Record holder for fastest typing on a phone.
Filed under: Wednesday Wordplay | Tagged: Entertainment Weekly, Wednesday Wordplay, Voltaire, George Washington, The Talmud, Cynthia Ozick, Sidney J. Harris, Ed Norton, texting world record, Franklin Page, Melissa Thompson texting | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 20, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Here’s a really, really cool video remix of Taiwanese “American Idol” singer Lin Yu Chun (called “Superstar Avenue” in Taiwan) – who took the world by storm with his rendition of “I Will Always Love You” as sung by Whitney Houston (and composed by Dolly Parton). This remix mashes Whitney with Lin Yu, showing just how amazingly close he matches her performance of the song! Amazing!!
Filed under: Mental Health Break, YouTube | Tagged: Susan Boyle, Whitney Houston, Ellen Degeneres Show, Chinese kid singing Whitney Houston, Chinese American Idol, Asian kid American Idol, Taiwan singing show, Yin Lu Chun, I Will Always Love You, Dolly Parton, Taiwanese, Amazing Grace, Superstar Avenue, fat Chinese kid, reality Tv, Extreme Home Makeover | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 18, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Motivational Quotes There’s the country of America, which you have to defend, but there’s also the idea of America. America is more than just a country, it’s an idea. An idea that’s supposed to be contagious. — Bono, Oprah Winfrey Show, 2002 The best and safest thing is to keep a balance [...]
Filed under: Samuel Beckett, Wednesday Wordplay | Tagged: Bono, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Euripides, FDR, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martha Steward, Motivational quotes, Oprah Winfrey, Pan American Day, Philip Adams, Phillip Adams, Samuel Beckett, Wednesday Wordplay, William Carlos Williams | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 17, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
After the Fall is Arthur Miller’s most personal play. He exposes the implosion of his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, set off by addiction, driven by the demons of childhood sexual abuse and Hollywood exploitation. It’s a play in which Miller acknowledges his own failed attempts to save her from any of it. In the play, Miller’s persona, Quentin (Nat Swift), marvels at and abhors the sexual fascination that Maggie (Nora Fiffer), Monroe’s persona, casts over men—a power that makes her vulnerable to all sorts of exploitation. But even as he attempts to protect her, he acknowledges his own culpability and morally compromised state in succumbing to her bombshell beauty and erotic, childlike nature.
Filed under: Arthur Miller, Arthur Miller Project, Eclipse Theatre Company, Paige Listerud, YouTube | Tagged: After the Fall, Arthur Miller, Eclipse Theatre, House Un-America Activies Committee, HUAC, Loyalty Oaths, Marilyn Monroe, McCarthy Era, Nathaniel Swift, Nora Fiffer, Steve Scott | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 11, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Motivational Quotes People don’t have to like or support you, so you always have to say thank you. — Ruben Studdard, Seventeen Magazine, Sept 2003 A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck. — James A. Garfield Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if [...]
Filed under: Wednesday Wordplay | Tagged: Oprah Winfrey, Wednesday Wordplay, Horace Mann, Franklin D. Roosevelt, mattress worship, Gleeks, Arthur C. Clarke, Stephanie Klein, James A. Garfield, Ruben Studdard | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 8, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
I think this first-act finale is one of the finest writing Sondheim has every done. From A Little Night Music, here’s Beverly Lambert, Michel Maguire, Maureen Moore, Regina Resnik, Kevin Anderson, Susan Terry and Danielle Ferland - among other cast members – performing “A Weekend in the Country” at the Lincoln Center, 1990.
Filed under: Stephen Sondheim, Sunday Night Sondheim | Tagged: Stephen Sondheim, A Little Night Music, Susan Terry, Danielle Ferland, Kevin Anderson, Maureen Moore, Beverly Lambert, A Weekend in the Country, Michel Maguire, Regina Resnik | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 6, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
While most kids Kieron’s age are still trying to color inside the lines, Kieron Williamson’s art is selling out, and at top dollar. British media has coined the prodigy as "Mini Monet," who has got the impressionist style of his namesake down pat. And the world is starting to notice: All of his [...]
Filed under: Mental Health Break | Tagged: 7-year old art prodigy, child art prodigy impressionist, Kieron Williamson, Mini-Monet, YouTube art child prodigy Mini-Monet | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 2, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Thursday, August 5th Escape from Happiness by George F. Walker Infamous Commonwealth Theatre Raven Theatre’s West Stage, 6157 N. Clark (map) Join Infamous Commonwealth Theatre as they continue their exploration of the topic of redemption. See George F. Walker‘s Escape from Happiness; a dark comedy that follows the deeply eccentric members of a family [...]
Filed under: Infamous Commonwealth, Raven Theatre, Theater Thursdays | Tagged: Escape from Happiness, George F. Walker, Infamous Commonwealth Theatre, League of Chicago Theatres, Raven Theatre, Raven Theatre West Stage, Theater Thursday | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 26, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Theater Thursday Thursday, July 29 Talk Radio by Eric Bogosian The State Theatre of Chicago at Heartland Studio, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave Visit the Heartland Studio for a radical re-imagining of Eric Bogosian‘s Pulitzer-Prize nominated play, Talk Radio. Then stick around immediately following the performance for a discussion with the director, cast, and Artistic [...]
Filed under: Heartland Studio Theatre, Pulitzer Prize, State Theatre, Theater Thursdays | Tagged: Eric Bogosian, Heartland Studio, State Theatre of Chciago, Talk Radio, Theater Thursday | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 24, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Posted on July 21, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Come to Oak Park Festival Theatre before the show to enjoy light refreshments and interaction with the cast. Then stay for the classic Shakespeare comedy, followed by a post-show dialogue with the cast and director.
Filed under: Oak Park Festival, Theater Thursdays, William Shakespeare | Tagged: Austin Gardens, Loves Labours Lost, Oak Park Festival Theater, Theater Thursday, William Shakespeare | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 8, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
INDIVIDUALITY Conversations with the Chicago Cast of Billy Elliot the Musical By Michael L. Harris From London’s West End to Sydney and Melbourne Australia, on Broadway and now in Chicago, Billy Elliot the Musical is taking the world by storm or perhaps by dance… It is, according to the New York Post, “The best show [...]
Filed under: Oriental Theatre (Ford), Theater Interviews | Tagged: Armand Schultz, Billy Elliot the Musical, Cesar Corrales, Cynthia Darlow, Gabriel Rush, Giuseppe Bausilio, J.P. Viernes, Keean Johnson, Michael L. Harris, Sir Elton John, Stephen Daldry, Tommy Batchelor, Tony Awards | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 7, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Motivational Quotes So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ [...]
Filed under: Wednesday Wordplay | Tagged: Oprah Winfrey, Wednesday Wordplay, Steve Jobs, O Magazine, Chicago Theater Blog Wordplay, Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear, Frank Herbert, Herbert Dune, Albert Pine, Steve Jobs Atari Hewlett Packard | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 3, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
4th of July can be a fun time for the entire family, but that doesn’t mean that everything will go smoothly, especially when taking family photos. Here’s some examples: Ignore the smoke bombs and smile, dammit!!! The family that ties together, dyes together! American flag Snuggies? Now that’s one classy patriotic hat! I [...]
Filed under: Just For Fun, Mental Health Break | Tagged: 4th of July family photos, awkard 4th of July photos, Awkward Family Photos, awkward holiday family photos, Mental Health Break, patriotic awkward photos, Sanity Break | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 29, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Thursday, July 1st The Tallest Man by Jim Lynch The Artistic Home, 3914 N. Clark (map) Come before the show to enjoy a pint of Murphy’s Stout and live Irish music with playwright Jim Lynch. Then stay for the show the Sun-Times has called "forged in the tradition of such grand Irish writers as [...]
Filed under: Artistic Home, League of Chicago Theatres, Theater Thursdays | Tagged: 3914 N Clark, Jim Lynch, John Mossman, Lynch Synge O'Casey, The Aritistic Home, The Tallest Man, Theater Thursday | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 26, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Free Broadway in Chicago concert at Taste of Chicago Monday, June 28th, at 6pm Petrillo Music Shell, Grant Park (235 S. Columbus) Come enjoy the best of Broadway FREE on Monday, June 28th, including performances from Billy Elliot the Musical, Shrek the Musical, Rock of Ages, Disney’s Lion King, Traces, Wicked, working, Hair, [...]
Filed under: Broadway in Chicago, Explore Chicago, Outreach | Education, Petrillo Band Shell | Tagged: Broadway in Chicago, Wicked the Musical, Million Dollar Quartet, Hair the Musical, Shrek the Musical, Rock of Ages, Billy Elliot the Musical, Petrillo Music Shell, Petrillo Band Shell, Disney's Lion King, Chicago Grant Park, Taste of Chicago music concerts | Leave a Comment »
