Deconstructing India

Well, Laughter came to town again...he saw the final performance of A Passage to India. For the record, Bart and I attended the penultimate showing with Bart's aunt and family friend. After the show, Laughter came to our place (where I showed him Mario Kart Wii.) Always good to hang out with a best friend, no? He stayed the night. We left the next morning for the theatre. Strike. Yup, the magnificent set of the Jeff Recommended A Passage to India came apart, on purpose. Crowbars, hammers, drills, yanking...tearing down the opulance. Laughter had designed it in large pieces so much of it merely needed to be taken apart. The archways and pillars and such can be used in another show at some point. Anyway, a good time despite the work. But then, destructive work is always more fun. Congratulations to Vitalist Theatre on their latest masterpiece. Looking forward to the next one. And yes, I'll be there volunteering my time then as well.

Extending India...

I just got this news, so I'm passing it along. Vitalist Theatre's A Passage to India has been extended! Bravo to the cast and crew! I'll be there again before long, I hope!

It's Not Just Me II

For anyone with lingering doubts, here's a link to show that it's not just me who feels Vitalist Theatre's A Passage to India deserves high praise. Bravo!

Culture Weekend!

Quite a packed few days! On Friday night Bart and I attended the American Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty at Lyric Opera. The story is one of Bart’s favorites so his joy made up a large part of the treat for me. Truthfully I had never attended a full length ballet before. Quite stunning. Though I appreciated it greatly, it’s not quite my thing. But I sat amazed at their craft, by which I mean the exquisite set, dancing and costumes. And Tchaikovsky’s score is a delight just by itself. We topped it off with a late dinner in Greektown.

On Saturday Lemonie came to Chicago. She, Bart and I, as well as our friends Cassidy (from the suburbs), Mina and Sunshine had a scrumptious Pan-Asian dinner and then had our funny bones tickled and senses reeled by The Drowsy Chaperone. We went to one of the last two performances of the touring company of the show which lovingly pokes fun at musicals and won 5 Tony Awards doing so. Quite entertaining and even more so given its originality.

Lemonie and Cassidy came back to our place for a little socializing and the next morning I brunched with Lemonie (who stayed the night, of course) and Sunshine. Dragonfly meant to join us, but a flu took him, as well as poor Bart.

On Sunday I saw Vitalist Theatre’s A Passage to India again. Besides being a show that warrants another viewing, I came especially for the poetry readings after the show. Vitalist merges many artistic mediums and will often host such events. I had the honor of hearing the vocal performances of Indian and Napali poet Yuyutsu R.D. Sharma, internationally renowned American poet and translator David Ray and Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan Thomas’ daughter. A wide range of emotions, from light-hearted fun to deep insights about culture.

My weekends aren’t normally so crammed with culture, but it’s nice when they are.
Thank you to everyone involved!

A Passage to Excellence

Last night I attended the opening of Vitalist Theatre’s A Passage to India. Once again they have shown true artistic prowess. As Laughter (the Scenic Designer and my best friend, see my previous post Serendipity Anyone?) put it after the show, the staging is poetic. Poetry is a theme and Forster's novel is lyrical in and of itself. Thus, when adapting the words to the stage, it had to become a visual poem. And it did. The clever way in which the caves and rocky terrain surrounding them is done illustrates this concept alone. Bravo! And you have to believe me, I’d be attending Vitalist productions even if I were not friends with its founders and team. It’s just downright impressive theatre. If you live in the Chicago area, do go see it. You can find info at the link in my “Also Visit” list.

After the show Laughter came to our place for some much needed socializing. You might recall that I barely get to see him anymore. And as the saying goes…just like old times. Prior to last night, Laughter had yet to experience the Nintendo Wii. Once he got the swing (literally) of it, he too realized the genius way that the big N once again revolutionized video gaming. He wants one, of course. But he also knows his schedule would not permit the time he should be putting into it. I hope he does, however, so we can play Mario Kart online along with Sunshine and her husband, Doc Holiday.

Serendipity Anyone?

Last night Great Spirit doled out some of Its magic.

I attended a dinner date that almost didn’t happen due to scheduling. While waiting for our friends to arrive, who should walk in but my best friend. I barely (we’ll just go ahead and say never) get to see him anymore. For one thing, he lives too many miles away. He’s a professor at Knox College of which we’re both of alums. For another, when he’s not teaching or in the field, he’s a husband to a charming lady (a professor and performer of dance) and father of two lovely girls. The poor guy hardly has time to himself. Anyway, the restaurant happened to be one of three that he could have gone to at the suggestion of the guy with him. On the way to take him home, they picked up some take-out, a dinner break. My buddy had come to town to work on Vitalist Theatre’s latest production: the American Midwest Premiere of E. M. Forster’s saga A Passage to India, adapted by Martin Sherman. I’m also friends with the founders and director of Vitalist Theatre, too. They happen to be professors at Knox as well.

Needless to say after dinner I swung by the theatre and started painting. As if I would miss an opportunity to be with my best friend and help out my college mentor and his wife, the director! They’ve been especially generous with their time, resources and advice throughout the various stages of getting my novel Peter Pan’s NeverWorld off the ground. I just don’t see how there could be any place else I should have been last night. Hopefully I will get to help paint and do other various tasks for this show again tonight. I’ve helped them out every chance I could. This is their 10th Anniversary Season.

My buddy is the set designer and I’ve seen some impressive and unbelievable transformations of theatre space. I must say… he has outdone himself. It’s exceptional. And given the caliber of past Vitalist performances, I am quite looking forward to seeing this one unfold on this work of grandeur.

What are the chances of a dinner taking weeks to make happen being the same night, time and choice of take-out, etc.? I love it when serendipity conspires in your favor. It makes me feel like I’m in a novel.