I loved discovering new authors alongside old favorites. Seriously such an incredible place to visit. If you're in Chicago, even for a day, I hope you'll stop by. It's right downtown and worth every second you spend there!
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
American Writers Museum
Thursday, January 4, 2018
I loved discovering new authors alongside old favorites. Seriously such an incredible place to visit. If you're in Chicago, even for a day, I hope you'll stop by. It's right downtown and worth every second you spend there!
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Labels:
American Writers Museum,
Chicago,
literary road trip,
literary tourism,
museums
Top Ten Favorite Musicals
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Last month I picked my own Top Ten Topic for The Broke and the Bookish meme and I'm doing it again. Here are my Top Ten Favorite Musicals. As I mentioned before, I love live theatre and I'm lucky enough to get to see a ton of productions because I review shows once a week at Stage Write! Musicals get a bad rap sometimes, but they can be so incredibly good without being cheesy when they are well done.
1) Les Misérables
2) Singin' in the Rain
3) RENT
4) The Sound of Music
5) Wicked
6) In the Heights
7) Cabaret
8) Jersey Boys
9) My Fair Lady
10) Chicago
The Book Thief Play in Chicago
Thursday, October 25, 2012
(In front of the theatre after the play)
The
first time I read The Book Thief in 2007 I fell instantly for the book.
I’ve reread it since then and each time my love for it has grown. So
when I heard that it was chosen as this year’s One Book One Town for
Chicago and it would be made into a play as part of the programming, I
was thrilled!
I
immediately planned a weekend trip to the windy city to see the show
with friends. I was a bit nervous about how it would translate to the
stage. How would the narrator, Death, be portrayed? What about Liesel
and Rudy, child actors can be off-putting, would they be over the top?
Turns
out I had nothing to worry about. It was so beautifully done I could
hardly believe it. The book was adapted by Heidi Stillman and each
choice was carefully made. Death is played by a friendly middle-aged
man. He comes across as curious and kind and is instantly relatable. I
can’t imagine how off-putting it would have been to have a lurking Grim
Reaper figure trying to tell the story.
Rudy
was by far one of the best parts of the show. He is so sweet and
sincere, Death puts it beautifully when he says, "He just steps on your
heart!" Papa and Mama were just right as well. Papa was kind, caring for
Liesel and Max in his quiet way. Mama was brash at first, but the
audience quickly realized how deeply she loved her family.
Liesel
came across as hard and vulnerable all at the same time, just as she
did in the book. She deals with so much heartbreak at such a young age,
but she’s still just a girl. Her sobs as she cradles her brother’s body
in the opening scene was enough to break you heart.
(The Stage)
The
stage was bleak and simple. The edges of the stages’ frame have the
look of torn pages. There were also three large strips in the background
that were used to show depth. At times one would be lit up with a color
that Death saw. Other times there were real videos from World War II,
bomber planes or marching soldiers, projected on one of the strips.
Another
great addition was a trio of live musicians performing throughout the
show. They were costumed to look like the German civilians in the show.
One of them played his accordion every time Papa played for Liesel on
the stage. It was truly beautiful.
We
stayed for a discussion after the show and it was such a joy to hear
the reactions of different audience members. Young students were talking
about standing up for what’s right even when it’s hard. Adults were
talking about the grief of loosing those you love. The story deals with
so many issues that it crosses the divides between gender and age with
ease. It is a universal tale, one that means something different to each
person who reads or sees it.
I
can’t say enough about this excellent performance. I hope that it is
successful and is produced in other cities. If not, I hope that people
will read the book no matter where they live and allow their own
imaginations to create the scene in their heads.
For more information about the play and One Book One Town programming visit these sites.
Suey at It's All About Books is hosting a week-long celebration of Markus Zusak's books. Make sure you check it out here!
The Book Thief... a Play!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
The show will be at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago this fall and I have tickets!!! I will be seeing the show October 20th and I can't wait. Here's more info and here's where you can get tickets.
I'd love to hear if any of you guys end up going!
The Girls of Murder City
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Girls of Murder City
Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who Inspired Chicago
by Douglas Perry
★★★★
I’ve seen the 2002 film of the musical Chicago, I’ve seen the live stage performance, but I never realized just how much of the story was based on fact. Perry tells the nonfiction tale of the actual murderesses, the crimes they committed and the media frenzy that followed in their wake. I thought the book was fascinating because the true story is even more intriguing than the fictionalized stage version.
In 1924 there were a surprising number of murders committed by women in Chicago. Two of the most famous cases involved Beulah Annan and Bella Gaertner. Both women were arrested and tried for murder and both were acquitted. The two women inspired the characters of Roxie Hart (Beulah) and Velma Kelly (Belva) in the 1926 play Chicago (originally called “Brave Little Woman”).
The play was written by Maurine Dallas Watkins. She covered both trials while working as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. She took a course at Yale on play writing and Chicago was the result. It didn’t become a musical until the 1970s. I did think it was fascinating that Beulah and Belva actually saw Chicago performed live!
The entire time I was reading the book I kept hearing all the songs from the musical in my head. When I read about the defense lawyer I heard “All I Care About” and during the descriptions of Beulah roping her husband into covering for a murder she committed “Funny Honey” was on repeat in my brain.
I related the most to the reporter Maureen. She was originally from Crawfordsville, IN, about 15 minutes from the city where I worked when I was first a reporter at a daily newspaper. I actually covered a few trials in Crawfordsville during that time.
Watkins also reported on the famous Leopold and Loeb case, which quickly overshadowed the coverage of the murderesses’ verdicts. It’s interesting how a piece of news can become a huge deal, or so easily be cast aside depending on what else has happened that day. Like celebrities dying on the same day, Michael Jackson’s death left no room for coverage of Farrah Fawcett’s and the same is true for other major events in history. If it had been a slow news day, the women’s acquittals might have been a huge deal, but instead they were barely noted while all eyes focused on the now infamous Leopold and Loeb case, which inspired the film Murder by Numbers and the play Never the Sinner.
So if you’re looking for a great nonfiction read in the same vein as The Devil in the White City or if you’ve ever been curious about the story behind Chicago, this one is for you.
Reading the States: Illinois
Friday, April 6, 2012
State: ILLINOIS
Fiction:
- The Jungle* by Upton Sinclair
- The Actual by Saul Bellow
- Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
- Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams
- If You Eat, You Never Die: Chicago Tales by Tony Romano
- Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
- The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek
- Crossing California by Adam Langer
- Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
- The Book of Ruth* by Jane Hamilton
- Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
- Dandelion Wine* by Ray Bradbury
- Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins,
- So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
- Catch by Will Leitch
- Divergent* (series) by Veronica Roth
- Something Wicked This Way Comes* by Ray Bradbury
- The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
- Letting Go by Philip Roth
- Endless Love by Scott Spencer
- The Death of the Detective by Mark Smith
- Maud Martha by Gwendolyne Brooks
- Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen
- Maud Martha by Gwendolyne Brooks
- Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen
Nonfiction:
- The Devil in the White City* by Erik Larson
- Chicago Tavern: A Goat, A Curse, and the American Dream, by Rick Kogan
- Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago by Mike Royko
- Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago by Alex Kotlowitz
- Cahokia by Timothy R. Pauketat
- The Girls of Murder City* by Douglas Perry
- Moanin' at Midnight by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman
- Chicago: City on the Make by Nelson Algren
- Moanin' at Midnight by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman
- Chicago: City on the Make by Nelson Algren
Authors Known for Writing about the State:
- Carl Sandburg
- Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files)
- Michael Harvey
Authors Who Lived Here:
- Ray Bradbury
- Saul Bellow
- Diane Ackerman
- Stephen E. Ambrose
- Dave Eggers
- William Goldman
- Ronald Reagan
- Elizabeth Berg
- Sara Paretsky
- Barack Obama
- Barack Obama
Great Bookstores:
Photo by moi.
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