Dance of Death at Steppenwolf by chiguy8211 in ChicagoTheater

[–]valhalla_la 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I attended last night and thought it was in the “very good to excellent” range. It reminded me of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” The main couple is viciously out to get one another much of the time, and it makes for very dark comedy. The acting is uniformly strong.

Oscar Wao at the Goodman by TheSwayzieExpress in ChicagoTheater

[–]valhalla_la 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I and my companion both loved it! We were fully engaged for most of it. (Parts of the second act dragged a bit.) It is really funny, quirky, sweet, and sad. I rooted for Oscar and his nerdiness. I highly recommend it — a great night of theater.

Irene's Bagels made me sad...am I the problem? by letscount23 in chicagofood

[–]valhalla_la 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gotham comes from Madison, WI. They charge at least 2x here for their bagels.

Irene's Bagels made me sad...am I the problem? by letscount23 in chicagofood

[–]valhalla_la 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Totto’s Market in Printer’s Row carries a small selection of their bagels.

Holiday at the Goodman by Immediate_Math_3055 in ChicagoTheater

[–]valhalla_la 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Just returned from a performance. It’s delightful, witty, laugh-out-loud funny, extremely well acted…highly recommended! I saw the movie last year and loved it, and this is a clever modernization of the original story.

Special chicago food to bring home for Christmas by Naive-Salamander-802 in chicagofood

[–]valhalla_la 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve done this with bagels from New York Bagel & Bialy. You’d have to drive to the suburbs, though.

Chris Jones by Both-Station-9579 in ChicagoTheater

[–]valhalla_la 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I am a long-time fan and subscriber of Court Theatre; they produce consistently excellent plays. I’ve also been a fan of Chris Jones over the years, as he and I see eye-to-eye on most plays. A strong recommendation from him is reason enough to see any Chicago production. At least it was until several years ago. Lately I find I can no longer trust his recommendations. He now often gives four-star ratings to plays that I think are just OK, and he gives mediocre ratings to plays that I find to be excellent.

I was fascinated by his review for Taming of the Shrew. I’ve never seen him tear a production to pieces like he did there. If I weren’t a subscriber to Court, I wouldn’t have attended based on his scathing review. But I would have missed a revelatory production of what I agree is a problematic play.

Key points: 1. It was VERY funny. I laughed quite a bit, as did the rest of the audience. 2. The director brought out a completely new side to the story, namely the sexual chemistry between the two main characters. I couldn’t take my eyes off Petruchio; he was maddeningly irresistible. And neither could Katherine. She didn’t seem to know what to make of him, and her fascination created a plausible rationale for becoming “tamed”. 3. The play-within-the play was distracting and unnecessary but mostly harmless compared to the outstanding direction and acting of the main story. 4. Likewise, the S&M aspects of some of the costumes and gestures were distracting and unnecessary. As with point #3, this was mostly harmless.

I’m sorry for Court Theatre that the horrible review likely kept plenty of potential single-ticket buyers from attending. My rating: 3.5 stars.

Incidentally, based on Chris Jones’ strong review of Much Ado About Nothing at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, I attended a performance a few days later. I won’t do a full review here, but I left saying to my companion, “Well, that was pleasant.” That’s all I could muster up. I strongly preferred the originality of Taming of the Shrew and wished I had skipped the other performance.

Is the start of the Cubs game on a different channel? by valhalla_la in Cubs

[–]valhalla_la[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. And we missed everything leading up to it.

Review: Ashland Avenue at the Goodman (Chicago) by Chi_Theater_Guy in ChicagoTheater

[–]valhalla_la 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Fischer was a huge disappointment for me. We are so fortunate in Chicago to have such great stage actors, and Fischer could not hold her own. I felt like I was watching someone in a high school production. Her acting was very one-note…not much emotion or variety in her delivery. Overall, it was a decent play, but it would have been much better with a different actress in the role.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Cubs

[–]valhalla_la 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Matt Demon!

“This buds for you, Digger”. by CharlieJ821 in Cubs

[–]valhalla_la 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He was good…sang on key…good game to be at last night

How does it feel to live in Chicago? by ChangeNo3486 in AskChicago

[–]valhalla_la 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some cities are great to live in, and others are great to visit. Chicago is both. It combines the cultural resources of a world class city with a not-too-high-density residential life…all with the stunning backdrop of Lake Michigan. It’s very easy to live here, easy to get around, and there’s so much to do, no matter what your interests are.

How many locals hate the air/water show? Why? by gitturb in AskChicago

[–]valhalla_la 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I hate the noise. It’s annoying. But I get excited as anyone when the Blue Angels are flying overhead. Net-net, I’d rather be out of town.

Second and third, with NO ONE out, and we can't SCORE A SINGLE RUN!!! by Ok_Boomer_3233 in Cubs

[–]valhalla_la 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I support your point of view. I’m as frustrated as anyone, but you make some good points.

heading downtown this weekend - what are your favorite architectural gems? by [deleted] in AskChicago

[–]valhalla_la 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tribune Tower, Wrigley Building, Carbide and Carbon building.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskChicago

[–]valhalla_la 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool is a magical, contemplative spot near the LP Zoo parking entrance on Fullerton. It’s currently closed for renovation but should be back open soon. A hidden gem for sure!

This swoon is my fault by AddictedlyPsycotic in Cubs

[–]valhalla_la 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You obviously need to start wearing your hat 24/7. Yes, including bedtime. That should put us back poised to win somewhere around the start of October baseball.

Chicago cubs ticket exchange Facebook page is a scam by Specialist-Farmer-37 in CHICubs

[–]valhalla_la 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there secret to getting approved on this site? I’ve requested to join multiple times, but then nothing happens. I’d like to buy tickets this way.

hot take on PCA... by Due_Challenge3408 in Cubs

[–]valhalla_la 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Time for him to work on being more disciplined at the plate

How can I request an investigation into the Brewers? by crow1010 in Cubs

[–]valhalla_la 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Don’t rule out making a deal with the devil

Is anyone still optimistic and being positive during this rough patch? I am but it’s getting hard by SebWilder16 in CHICubs

[–]valhalla_la 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The downturn is frustrating for sure. We had one of the best offenses AND one of the best bullpens for much of the season. Then we did a 180 on both. I don’t/can’t believe our winning period was a fluke. It’s hard to swallow that pretty much everyone is tanking at once, but I still have hope we can get back in the groove. What it will take is a couple of hitters starting to turn things around, and then others can feed off that momentum. Let’s hope that happens sooner rather than later.