A look at how I've been diverting myself lately.
Books
READ: The Curtain by Milan Kundera, trans. by Linda Asher [a seven-part essay detailing the author's thoughts on the novel, a prosaic-comic-epic form that reveals the nature of the quotidian by pulling back the curtain of conventional wisdom, preconceived notions, readymade interpretations; paradoxically, then, capturing the everyday requires bold experimentation and embracing the new (it's not called the "novel" for nothing)].
COMING UP: Don DeLillo, Evelyn Waugh, Zoe Heller.
Plays
SAW: Fuck You, I Love You, Bye: The Rahm Emanuel Story (The Annoyance) [as part of my New Year's resolution to see more extracurricular theater].
Movies
LAST WEEK'S MOVIE NIGHT PICKS:
THEME: Lesbians.
KITO'S SELECTION: Set It Off (dir. Gray, 1996) [Queen Latifah plays a lady bank robber with a mute, ever-writhing moll].
MINE: Personal Best (Towne, 1982) [don't worry: I held Kito and dried his tears during the sex scenes].
Art
SAW: "China Revisted" @ Schneider Gallery [a group show of photos and paintings about the sometimes jarring juxtaposition of old and new in contemporary China].
Current Interests
Coffee, movies, Chicago history, US politics, Chicago theater, attractive men, fashion, kids, TV, female pop stars, books.
Fool's Four
FOUR THINGS HEDY WEISS SHOULD SHOW US NEXT:
1. Her medicine cabinet.
2. Her dream journal.
3. Her collection of Civil War memorabilia.
4. The silver-plated hairbrush she runs through her waist-length hair each night while chanting self-encouragement slogans into the mirror.
Flashbacks
ONE YEAR AGO: "Four Songs My Mom Can't Get Out of Her Head."
FIVE YEARS AGO: "It'll be a cold day in Brisbane before I let The Coast become a portal to naked ladies."
&
"Travelling is a fool's paradise."
Glitter
I'm seeing Gypsy on Thursday at Drury Lane Oakbrook. So let's watch Bernadette Peters, who was in both the second national tour as Dainty June's understudy and the 2003 Broadway revival as Mama Rose, perform the climactic breakdown scene. Here she is, boys! Here she is, world! Here's Rose!
ELSEWHERE:
My review of Lookingglass Theatre Company's Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting is in the latest Chicago Reader.
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