Yankee Doodle went to London, dear readers. Yes, Jonny has been sojourning abroad and hanging out at the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain with Tony Award winner Elizabeth Franz and curmudgeonly character actor M. Emmet Walsh. The two Americanos were imported for a brand-new production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child. The critics lavished particular praise on Walsh and gave the entire production generally high marks.
Jonny slipped over to the Old Vic one evening, just a few blocks from the Royal National. One of London's most beloved old playhouses, the Old Vic has entered a new era under American artistic director Kevin Spacey—yes, our own Kevin Spacey—and his chairman of the board, Sir Elton John! Kevin and Elton have given the Old Vic a luscious new cream-toned paint job that spruces the old lady up quite a bit.
Spacey opened his first Old Vic season just one night before Buried Child opened at the National Theatre. Spacey selected a completely unknown, very ribald dark comedy, Cloaca, by an unknown Dutch writer. Well, dear readers, the critics clobbered Cloaca! Fortunately, Kevin could soothe his wounds in the basement bar at the Old Vic, appropriately called The Pit, which has a 2 a.m. license. Very, very smart, for those who know London know that pubs close at 11 p.m. Now, everyone from the National Theatre and from the nearby National Film Theatre and Royal Festival Concert Hall flocks to The Pit. That's where Jonny and Emmet found Kevin holding court, among a myriad of attractive young men and women dressed in black. Kevin came up to chat, no doubt noticing that Emmet and Jonny were the only two men in the place older than he is. Actually, Spacey and Walsh have worked together, so Spacey recognized Walsh at once.
Eclipse Theatre Company, which devotes each season to the work of a single American author, has selected Lanford Wilson for its 2005 season. The very out Wilson, now 67, was a pioneer in the Off-off-Broadway theater movement of the 1960s and right from the first included gay characters in his plays, among them The Madness of Lady Bright (about an aging drag queen) and The Fifth of July. Eclipse will open its season with The Rimers of Eldritch, and early Wilson full-length play set in Bible Belt America (Wilson hails from Missouri, although he lived in Chicago as young writer before heading to New York).
We are happy to report that a small fire in the basement of the newly refurbished Athenaeum Theatre is having no effect on operations or scheduled performances. Forever Tango opens tonight, and the 10th annual Dance Chicago Festival plays as planned Nov.6-Dec. 5.
Actually, there's lotsa' good dance stuff happening all over town in the next few weeks. The vibrant Luna Negra Dance Theater performs at Northeastern Illinois University this weekend, and a different program with the Chicago Sinfonietta next Monday (Oct. 25) at Symphony Center.
Dance Center of Columbia College will welcome back its founder, Shirley Mordine, for Nov. 4-6 performances of Mordine & Company. It features the premiere of Mordine's newest, an untitled work for four solo artists. Two works will feature the designs of outstanding visual imagist John Boesche.
Nov. 11-13 are the dates for the Harris Theatre debut by Deeply Rooted Productions, the performance troupe that has used dance to explore HIV-related issues. The downtown debut will feature the world premiere performances of the now-complete three-part work, MOVE!, that involves dance, text and original music ranging from club beats to morning-after joy. Kevin Iega Jeff is artistic director of Deeply Rooted Productions.
The cabaret and concert calendar is full, too. Next Wednesday (Oct. 27), musical impressionist Daryl Nitz brings his entire galaxy of stars (Carol, Judy, Billie, Louis, Frank, Eartha, Pearlie May, etc.) to Maxim's, the gorgeous Art Deco room on Astor Street for which the city is the presenter (and, yes, they do have a bar). In the Halloween spirit, audience members are invited to come in costume as their favorite celebrity.
Saturday, Nov. 6, brings Patti LuPone to the Chicago Theatre with her one-woman show, Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda. It's a benefit for Urban Gateways. By the way: the Chicago Theatre is a great venue, but it's 3,400 seats. You coulda—maybe shoulda—heard LuPone do the same act at the Ravinia Festival this summer in the 900-seat Martin Theatre.
Happy Halloweenie from your ghoul-friend, Jonny!
