| FIVE CULTURAL EVENTS I'LL SEE THIS YEAR
by Jason Loewith on 1/23/2007 07:15:00 PM
The reverse of the Top Ten list is the "what I'm looking forward to list", and here's five promising picks for 2007... none of the theaters in town have announced their 07-08 season yet (Steppenwolf should announce in the next week or two), so I'm leaving plenty of room to round up to 10!
1) THE COAST OF UTOPIA: VOYAGE, SHIPWRECK and SALVAGE (variable dates). I'll be heading to Lincoln Center in New York in February to catch a three-play Tom Stoppard marathon about the cultural revolution in 19th-century Russia. Masochistic? Perhaps. But nonetheless sure to be the most brain-stimulating 12-hour event of the year. Visit www.lct.org to learn about the very few marathon dates available - a once-in-a-lifetime event!
Shipwreck at Lincoln Center
2) CEZANNE TO PICASSO at the Art Institute (2/17-5/12). The traditionalist in me can't wait to visit old friends like Cezanne's apples, Picasso's blue guitar, and the other works gathered by one astonishingly prescient collector.
The Bay of Marseilles, Seen from L'Estaque from Paul Cézanne
3) HIP-HOP THEATER FESTIVAL at the Museum of Contemporary Art (5/3-5). Hip-Hop Theater has taken off in New York and San Francisco, but has been slow to reach a mainstream audience in Chicago. I don't know what it's about, but I am very eager to learn what the next generation of urban poets and theater artists are making. Kudos to MCA curator Peter Taub for putting together the most consistently interesting seasons of Chicago performance.
4) CHICAGO HUMANITIES FESTIVAL, CLIMATE OF CONCERN (fall 2007). The program is yet to be announced, but new Executive Director Ren Weschler is going to produce one of the hottest topics (pardon the pun) in formats we have yet to imagine. I won't feel guilty about not having seen Al Gore's movie anymore.
5) ANYTHING CHARLIE NEWELL DIRECTS (who knows?). Court's Artistic Director - who mentored me when I came to Chicago - has done some amazing work of late. His VANYA, currently playing, is a thrilling production that demonstrates Charlie at the top of his game... it's the kind of directing I wish I could do - but I just don't think in so creative a way. With so much recent success, I can't wait to see where he goes next.
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Regarding Cezanne and Picasso, given the public's fascination with these artists, you'll be lucky to see anything but the backs of peoples' heads. These blockbuster shows are rarely anything other than
crowd control exercises and big money makers for the Art Institute.
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