From the moment the curtain was raised, revealing the stunning scenic set design and twenty-four member choir at the Cahn Auditorium in Evanston for Music Theater Works production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” the audience was thoroughly captivated.
The story revolves around the character of Quasimodo an orphan who was born with a number of physical anomalies and raised to adulthood completely within the confines of the cathedral, purportedly to shield him from being reviled and tormented by the masses who would see him as a monster and treat him as an outcast.
Listen to our podcast coverage of the Retro on Roscoe Festival a three-day street fair taking place in Roscoe Village between Western and Damen. There are all kinds of things to do in the summer in Chicago and these neighborhood fests can be a lot …
July kicked off with some out-of-town family and a visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a steamy day in Chicago but still a lot of fun that included several of our clan catching a breeze by taking a quick ride on the zoo’s vintage carousel.
Silent film organist, Jay Warren
Friday, July 12th we went with another couple to City Newstand Café in Portage Park to see THE GENERAL a silent film starring Buster Keaton.
The film featured live music expertly played on a synthesized organ by Jay Warren.
This movie may very well be the earliest train chase on celluloid and for that reason it’s easy to look at it and think – it’s cliché – – but then you are reminded that it’s cliché because this is the very movie every other movie that includes a train chase has copied or drawn information from.
One of my friends who was not sure what to expect said she enjoyed the experience 10 times more than she expected.
Afterwards, we headed over to Bistro 6050 on Irving Park for Crepes and Ice Cream.
View from a top Cricket Hill in the lakefront park near Wilson.
Saturday it was pleasant and bit cooler when we took a stroll around Montrose Beach and Harbor stopping for lunch at THE DOCK and lounging in the grass at the top of Cricket Hill.
Sunday, July 14th we took a walk around the Square Roots Festival north of Lincoln Square between Montrose and Wilson. I remember this event as being much folkier in the past.
Square Roots Festival near Lincoln Square.
This year seemed much like every other street fair around the city with many of the same vendors and a similar lineup of pop musicians. It’s possible we missed much of the more eclectic music the day before or earlier in the day.
We were able to partake in a pop-up choir at the Old Town School of Folk Music led by two lovely ladies who separated the participants in first-floor auditorium into sections and led us in song which was interactive and fun.
Pop-up choir at Square Roots Festival Chicago
Wednesday July 17th I attended the Northside Networking luncheon meeting held at The Breakers on the Lake, a popular senior apartment building on Sheridan Rd near Foster, to take part in some speed networking with fellow northside lakefront business owners.
Awkward selfie of me at Northside Networking.
Northside Networking is a great group that draws from about 5 chambers of commerce from Chicago’s north lakefront communities including Rogers Park, West Ridge, Edgewater, Andersonville, and Uptown.
Wednesday night we attended the opening of “Blinded by the Light” a soon to be released movie about a Pakistani teenager living in London who is obsessed with Bruce Springsteen.
The movie was screened at the Century Landmark Theater at the Century Center near Diversey and Clark. The film is directed by the director of “Bend it Like Beckham” and “Bride and Prejudice.” Look for my review which will be posted separately.
Because I spend a lot of time at the computer – – writing, making podcasts , and editing video I have to consciously make an effort to get up, get out and move around.
I often walk over the West Ridge Nature Preserve at Hollywood and Western to get some fresh air and exercise. You can look for the video I posted on our website last month, showing the unveiling of the new children’s area.
This week for air and exercise I drove over to Diversey and Kimball in the Avondale neighborhood to hear my good friend Stann Champion who was joined by Steve Kaiser in an outdoor dual guitar and vocal concert at the Woodard Plaza.
Stann Champion at Woodard Plaza in Avondale Neighborhood Chicago.
The chamber of commerce in conjunction with the North West Arts Connection presents musical events and other activities at this location every Thursday evening in the summer.
As I prepare this podcast I am also planning to see the musical play NOW AND THEN at the Pride Arts Theater on Broadway just north of Irving Park. Look for my review which will be posted separately.
Just remember that Chicago is full of a lot of fun stuff to do all year but even more so in the summer months with scads of outdoor festivals and entertainment that adds to the already plentiful year-round activities.
One of the best reasons to live in Chicago is to enjoy the beautiful summer including the many outdoor events and festivals. Here is a list of some of what is happening around Chicago neighborhoods in 2019 July through September. Ongoing: Through Aug. 1 : …
Agency Theater Collective and End of the Line Production Presents “International Falls” by playwright Thomas Ward at the Nox Arca Theater in Chicago near Irving Park and Ravenswood through August 31, 2019. With Sean Higgins as Tim and Marie Weigle as Dee using humor to …
An entertaining show-lounge style cabaret performance. “You Can’t Fake the Funk (A Journey Through Funk Music) presented by Chicago’s Black Ensemble Theater, works hard to “turn this mutha out.”
Writer/director Daryl D. Brooks wants us to party and the music aboard the “Mothership” makes this journey worth the trip — after all FUNK is mostly F.U.N.
“Word up,” so even if you’re not a “Superfreak” you won’t feel like you got the “Shaft” as this funky production lights up the finale with George Clinton’s Funkadelic “Flashlight.”
“You Can’t Fake the Funk (A Journey Through Funk Music) is at Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark Street, Chicago, through September 8, 2019. Running time is about two hours with one intermission. For tickets and information visit blackensembletheater.org or call (773) 769-4451.
Listen to our podcast above or read the entire theater review at ChicagoTheaterandArts.com.
July 27, 2019, is the anniversary of a most shameful and unfortunate event that has left a deep scar in the history of Chicago.
Though this took place one hundred years ago, it unfortunately sounds all too modern and has set the tone for race relations in the city that resonates even today.
Daniel and Greg meet at a college open mic night and stay together for 42 years. Daniel is an aspiring singer/songwriter while the more pragmatic Greg has aspirations of being a stand-up comedian. “Now and Then” is a play about love and commitment that speaks …
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Chicago’s Navy Pier presents the Vegas-like pop-concert musical “Six” by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss featuring the story of the six wives of Henry VIII in song.
“Divorced, Beheaded, Died; Divorced, Beheaded, Survived” is the leitmotif of the opening number, the first of nine songs center around a common theme presented as a kind of musical competition with each of the “Six” wives taking turns telling her life story, including their relationship with the notorious King Henry VIII.
Each of the wives draws from a narrow range of music in the style of one or more of a dozen contemporary female pop icons including Beyonce, Brittney Spears, Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, and others who are indicated in the program as the character’s “Queenspiration.”
The West Ridge Nature Preserve unveiled their new children’s play space. Festivities included live music, fun with dirt and sticks, as well as roasting marshmallows in a fire pit. When visiting you can watch the ducks, geese, seagulls and other waterfowl cavort in the pond, …
Podcast theater review of “The Flower of Hawaii” features tenor Rodel Rosel and soprano Marisa Buchheit. An American premiere presented by “Folks Operetta” as part of their “Reclaimed Voices Series at Stage 773 on Belmont through July 14, 2019.
As part of “Make Music Chicago” celebration, Julie Lovison, Director of The Lake Shore Music Studio and a few of her students performed at Washington Square Park in the Gold Coast area near Rush Street (actually just off Walton).
The piano was provided by the “Pianos in the Park” project.
Pianos have been placed in ten parks around the city providing venues for scheduled and impromptu performances through August 1st.
This particular event was sponsored by The Newberry Library and the Washington Square Park Advisory Council as part of a global endeavor to celebrate music worldwide.
Based on the French Fête de la Musique, the largest world-wide single-day music festival connecting Chicago with over 60 other U.S. cities and 800 cities in 120 countries around the world also celebrating this day of music.
Part of being a good musician is not simply playing by rote. If you have merely memorized a piece you will be easily thrown-off by the unexpected. This includes an environment in which a jack-hammer might be pounding nearby or the piano has a sticky key or two.
If you can deal with that then a routine performance will be much less intimidating.
Piano teacher Julie Lovison teaches her students that regardless of the quality of the instrument that you are presented with, you should learn to do your best to adapt and give a seemless performance (within reason of course).
If you understand the piano’s limitations and how the music is composed you can improvise as necessary, and unless your audience is familiar with the piece note-by-note they will in most cases never be the wiser.
The goal is to try not to interrupt the listener’s overall experience.
These pianos in the park are in various conditions but for the most part are useable in capable hands with some deft adjustment to the music and the player’s technique.
As part of “Make Music Chicago” celebration, Julie Lovison, Director of The Lake Shore Music Studio and a few of her students performed at Washington Square Park in the Gold Coast area near Rush Street (actually just off Walton).
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