| YET ANOTHER TOP TEN LIST
by Jason Loewith on 1/03/2007 04:24:00 PM
I hate Top Ten lists. As someone whose career is so public, I find them anti-art. Watching colleagues become obsessed by them at the end of the year (they pretend to nonchalantly pick up some weekly rag and then frantically open up to the Top Ten list in hopes they'll be validated) is truly distasteful, and I can't stand feeling my own "cultural capital" rising or falling based on the opinions of some troglodyte or other who happens to write for a newspaper. Truthfully, I couldn't care less about them unless they help or hinder my fundraising.
But they do give you a picture of the selector's cultural personality. So, as a game, I did it for myself this year to get a sense of who I am culturally (and to remind me of the fact that I need to get out more in 2007!). We've also asked a few good friends of the theater to add their Top Ten lists... the only requirements are a) you can't use a Next production, and b) that it's TOP TEN CULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF THE YEAR (not Top Ten Theater specifically).
So herewith, my TOP TEN CULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF 2006, in alphabetical order:
1) 24, SEASON 5, on Fox (television). My guilty pleasure and favorite television program. Watching Jack Bauer work his way through an hour's worth of terrorists is an amazing education in dramaturgical form (the Greek ideas of peripateia, or plot reversal, and catharsis) as well as an adrenaline rush.
2) ARGONAUTIKA, directed and adapted by Mary Zimmerman at Lookingglass (theater). Just a joyous exploration of the power of theater, courtesy of a delicious ancient story. I can't remember three hours flying by so quickly in the theater in a long time.
3) BORAT, written by Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles (film). I didn't see too much film this year, but my hat is off to the Clown from Kazahkstan. The controversy he generated here and abroad was worth the price of admission; the film itself and its skewering of American hypocrisy priceless.
4) CHICAGO BEARS VS. BUFFALO BILLS at Soldier Field (sports/architecture). Yes, the Arizona game the next week was certainly more entertaining, but I watched that on television. I actually went to the Bills game, and sitting in that strangely-redesigned (or additionally-designed) stadium with 60,000 screaming fans was a cultural highlight of the year, no matter how you slice it.
5) DISNEY CONCERT HALL, designed by Frank Gehry, Los Angeles (architecture). I've honestly never much appreciated Gehry's sculpture/buildings before, notwithstanding our beautiful bandshell in Millenium Park. But that's because I've only ever admired them, not experienced them as I did the Disney Concert Hall in LA. You can actually walk through the sculpture, find yourself dizzy as you pass through a slanted alley of undulating titanium, catching shadowy reflections of yourself abruptly sliced by curving ribbons of clear blue sky. Unbelievable.
 
6) GOD'S WORK, directed by David Feiner and Laura Wiley at Albany Park Theatre Project (theater). Thanks to Peter Handler for introducing me to the work of this incredible community-based theater troupe. Performed by an ensemble of teens, telling the wrenching story of family abuse endured by one of ensemble members, was thrilling. While the play and performances themselves weren't that skillful, the translation from documentary to metaphor of this first-person narrative moved many in the audience to tears.
7) THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini (fiction). My favorite novel of the year, hands down... a phenomenal story of an Afghani boy's betrayal of his playmate and his coming of age through the Soviet takeover of the country. Along the way, we get an incredibly human portrait of the Sunni-Shi'ite divide; and it's heartbreaking, to boot.
8) LOVING REPEATING, by Stephen Flaherty, directed by Frank Galati at the MCA/About Face Theatre (theater). Nonsensical as Gertrude Stein's poetry, this witty and wacky musical about Gertrude and Alice B. Toklas brought a smile to my face, even if it didn't bring a thought to my head.
9) NIXON IN CHINA, by John Adams/Alice Goodman, directed by James Robinson at Chicago Opera Theater (music). Finally, a production to command the space at the new Harris Theater! This is already one of my very favorite operas, and to see it produced with such vigor and integrity and artistry and smarts was inspiration, pure and simple.
10) JULIE TAYMOR'S STUDIO. I had the lucky opportunity to sit down with Julie Taymor earlier this year in her New York studio off of Union Square (as part of a book of interviews I've been compiling for the past few years). Taymor's light-flooded top-floor aerie is chock-a-block with "art"ifacts from her work: masks from The Green Bird, Diego Rivera murals from Frida, puppets from Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass, and of course, mementos from The Lion King, among many others. Creativity and genius oozing out of every nook and cranny, with a New York Cityscape as backdrop.
HONORABLE MENTION: YOU TUBE. I don't know that I could call YOU TUBE a "top ten" experience, but it's certainly (for better or for worse) cultural... in fact, culturally all-encompassing. If you've not visited, you must. People put the most absurd videos of themselves and their intimates online for the world to see, rate and share. I have yet to decide if I think this is a positive development or not, but I know it's utterly significant.
I invite you to share yours below!
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I'm writing this on 12th night, so it's appropriate that I sing the praises of the Russian Twelfth Night that Chicago Shakespeare Theatre brought to the Courtyard Theatre at Navy Pier in late November as part of The World Stage program.
The company of 13 men, nimble clowns and musicians all, assume their characters before our eyes. It is part Shakespeare, part Comedia, part cabaret act, and pure theatre.
I've always felt that one of the great truths in Twelfth Night is that love is a more embracing and simple force than we imagine. Love is beyond gender. Never have I seen a clearer proof of that than in the artistry of these wonderful, passionate Russians.
The Chekhov International Theatre Festival's Twelfth Night was directed by Declan Donnellan. To a man the cast was supurb. My own favorite was Ilia Ilin who played Maria.
I saw Twelfth Night twice. So there you have my Top Two.
Well, I for one like top-this-and-that lists. But the close of the calendar year has never been a time for reflection for me... my friend asked me on New Year's eve if I count the year based on the calendar year or my birthday... and well, I've always thought of it as the school year and theatre season... and since my birthday falls at the beginning of both, and I've never been without at least two of those landmarks, it's tough to discern which is guiding my personal time-line.
Faced with a top ten of 2006, I found the biggest challenge was remembering what actually happened THIS year, not just last season! I'm pretty sure these all fit the bill. In abc order:
10. Barrel of Monkey's Celebration of Authors 2006 (theatre, children's outreach). The Monkey's work in a wide variety of public school and after-school programs teaching young kids to release their inner writer. The pieces are then transformed, sometimes word-for-word, sometimes in the abstract, into theatre performed for the kids. Celebration of Authors is a rare chance to bring together a select group of kids and their families from all over Chicagoland to see their stories performed in a real theatre. What a special treat to witness not just the amazing work of the Monkeys, but to see the joy, embarrassment and delight on the faces of the authors and their proud parents.
9. Begin to Hope, from Regina Spektor (music album). Regina's previous major release, Soviet Kitsch, also came my way this year and I love them both. Begin to Hope has the added value of full orchestrations and increased production values making this Russian-born New Yorker's piano-pounding indie-pop soar beyond the feeling of home-grown find to full-fledged rock star.
8. Dustbowl Gothic at The Building Stage, directed by Blake Montgomery (theatre). An intimate and heartbreaking riff on American Gothic and perhaps The Grapes of Wrath (or is that my Stienbeck-love talking...?) where 6 actors repeat the physical and verbal aspects of crucial moments of decision, private snippets of self-discovery and self-sacrifice, and routine household chores. With the repetition comes tremendous insight into their determination to build a life where everything living struggles against all odds to survive.
7. Improvised Shakespeare Company at I.O. (Improv). In the long-form improv tradition of I.O., this company cracked my up like no other comedy this year. I was witness to (as they say) "opening and closing nights" of Mercutio, the Early Years, and Merchant of Skokie. Fully formed plays spoken in improvised verse, complete with proper act structure, foreshadowing and resolve thrilled the audiences. Though we laughed til we cried, this troupe knows the value of not always needing to make you laugh in long-form triples the comedic return in the end.
6. Inside/Out from Hubbard Street Dance, at The Athenaeum (dance). This was my second year attending this presentation of new works, choreographed by the company's dancers in a very short rehearsal period. Though I'll say I liked the '05 sharing more, this was still one of the more innovative and exciting events in Chicago in '06.
5. Massive Change at MCA Chicago (exhibition). From Massivechange.com, "...the exhibition invites viewers to consider the dynamic future of design culture and the crucial real-life choices we must make. Massive Change is dramatic, engaging and critical, immersing visitors in a series of powerful encounters with the latest innovations in the fields of urban design, transportation, information design, revolutionary material and more." Yep, that's how it was, and I loved it.
4. One False Note, or How to Rob a Bank, Plasticene at The Storefront (theatre). A clever, often hilarious, and delightfully surprising exploration of bank robberies large and small. Ensemble generated movement shows are always tops with me, and I learned a lot watching this one.(though a little less talk a little more action would have been ok too.)
3. SITI Company rehearsal for Hotel Cassiopeia (theatre). Don't get me wrong, I loved the show too (re-mounted as part of Court's season), yet the magic of watching this group of actors, designers, writer Chuck Mee and director Anne Bogart work, sifting the balance of power to and from one another effortlessly and without ego was astounding. Their finely-honed method allows tremendous freedom to create shows that are both emotionally intimate and visually stunning.
2. Studio 60, Season one, on NBC (Television). I love this show. I love the language, the premise, and the chemistry between Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford. I love that I have to watch it twice to get all the little delicious language-morsels, because I get so caught up in one, I miss the next.
1. Wine flights and cheese tastings at Webster Wine Bar (food and wine). Somehow I managed not to visit any of the new hip foodie finds this year! But frankly I love food no matter the level of schmancyness. Webster is the perfect balance of moody indulgence and unpretentious (downright fantastic) service. Be sure to have the Spanish Manchego cheese, (no I don't remember any of the wine names). Perhaps making the trip with my soon-to-be-sommelier sister made it more fun, but our pre-Thanksgiving evening here might have made itself a new tradition.
Honorable mentions: Myspace.com, and indiebride.com. My favorite web-obsessions this year, and cultures all their own.
OK. I'm jumping into the pool with Jason, Wendy and Chelsea, but rather than ten best, here are the best in each cultural category.
Best Book - Europe Central by William Vollmann. This is a fat, challenging look at WWII through the eyes of two generals, Russian and German, who come to bad ends because their humanity forces them to make choices not in the best interests of their countries, and through the eyes of Dimitri Shostakovitch, who, though abused by Stalin and in love with the wrong woman, manages to survive and compose through it all. This wasn't quite poetry, but was close.
Best Theater (other than Next). The Pillowman, at Steppenwolfe. Jim True was terrific as the persecuted writer with a vivid but antisocial imagination. The set, a worn out theater building with a small stage within a stage, on which were acted out his disturbing imaginings, was excellent.
Best New Theater Building. The new home of Victory Gardens at the Biograph. The theater is still small enough to be intimate, the sight lines are good, the expanded wings, stage and fly increase the theatrical possibilities and the seats are comfortable. Unfortunately the Snow Queen, an inappropriate production for the subscription series, was probably the worst show of the year. It was a musical that couldn't decide whether it was for children or adults. It barely edged out Lear at the Goodman, which somehow managed to lose a great play in a mish mash of showy gimmicks, for worst play of the year.
Best Art Exhibit. The Richard Tuttle retrospective, still up at MCA. This artist works with crude scraps of paper, wood, wire and paint to create very simple constructions which are misleadingly naive and compel the viewer (this one, anyway) to think long and hard about what he is looking at and where it leads. One piece was a bent wire that hung on the wall and cast a simple, curved shadow.
Best TV Show. Deadwood. I loved the mixture of formal, Shakespearean rhetoric with crude, western profanities,and the knowledgee that primitive violence was always nearby. The writing and the actors made the characters vivid and fascinating. I will miss it.
Best Move. There were a lot of these. I liked the Quiet American, the story of the CIA, centered around Matt Damon as an uptight member of Skull and Bones who is recruited by other members of the good old boy network into the spy business at the beginning of WWII. Lots of tough questions and ambiguous answers. Sort of like reality. I hate those tough questions.
Best Musical Event. The Winter Chamber Festival at Northwestern. This is three weekends every January for the past eleven years. First rate chamber music at Pick Steiger. Some years they have celebrities like Yo Yo Ma, Zuckerman, Barenboim, and some years not, but it's always good.
Best Athletic Event. Basketball in the basement with my grandsons, two and five. I always win. You're welcome to come and watch. I can dunk sitting down.
David Hart 1/9/2007
Jason:
I want to add to your comment about You Tube.
In addition to providing a window to our culture--so far, most of the videos come from America--You Tube is liberating for artists whose talents might never be revealed otherwise.
Take "Christine" and her delightful, low-budget, shot-in- her bedroom production company: www. happyslip.com
This young woman is a fabulously talented performer, writer and sketch artist. Chicago's Second City should call her now!
Her hilarious videos usually center on her Filipino immigrant family, and are always affectiontely done.
She plays all the roles herself, and there is an admirable consistency to her work.
Now, would Christine have ever come to my attention--or to anyone else's for that matter--had it not been for You Tube? She's now ranked as #35 on You Tube's most- watched list.
This is probably the best example of the democratization of the Internet in the arts.
Mark Ragan
(from your Henry V class)
I will confine myself to one great cultural event of 2006: "Snakes on a Plane". This unapologetic pastiche of grand guignol was the product of a revolutionary artistic feedback loop. The internet allowed its potential audience to help shape the film even before the first clips were available. We didn't just anticipate the film, we took varying degrees of ownership.
With love and enthusiasm (and snakes), the film brought to the fore a central question of art: does great art seek to make itself accessible to the patron, or does great art define its own terms for viewing?
Like Cornell's shadow boxes or Karen Finley's performances, SoaP caused much tutting amongst the critics, but its fans will tell you that the critics missed the point. Like St. Francis of Assisi, it was unadorned by pretense, and openly invited our commentary and criticism. Faulting it for pandering to its audience is like faulting Mr. T for pitying too many fools.
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