July 2014: Chicago

Lady Gaga's artRAVE at the United Center

She’s getting better! That’s about all I can say for Gaga’s performance on her new tour. The stages keep getting more and more elaborate (the poor little monsters on the general admission floor couldn’t find a single spot that provided a good view of the whole show), but Gaga herself still fails to be a complete showman. Thankfully, she only exited the stage once while still singing (depriving every song of a button to facilitate a costume change totally marred her last tour, the abruptly-cancelled-due-to-injury Born This Way Ball). Her desire to freely show off her body unfortunately limits her costumes to bra-and-panties variations, but she was most successful when she covered herself up with a fun Harajuku-esque number for the end sequence. While fun things are happening in terms of sets and lighting in arena tours, I wish the performers could keep up with the technical brilliance. Unfortunately, not everyone can be Madonna.

 

Magritte, The Mystery of the Ordinary at the Art Institute

Wanting to show David what Rene Magritte is all about (and trying to take advantage of my membership before it expires) warranted a repeat visit to this exhibit first seen at MoMA . While hosting most of the same art, it amazes me how the way the work is displayed can affect how you view the art. MoMA needs to take note of how the Art Institute totally improved upon this exhibit. Well-spaced with all of the walls black and the work dimly lit, the viewer is easily enraptured with Magritte’s surreal imagery. One long space interrupted with central walls let the viewer weave in and out of the art, which all faces the same direction. It the viewer looks back, the paintings seemingly disappear with an empty dark hall remaining. The whole city seems to be taken with the artist with various shops along Michigan Avenue offering surrealist window dressings. This is the Summer of Magritte in Chitown!

This is Our Youth at Steppenwolf

I had never seen this much produced, three-character play clearly set in the 1990s, but it definitely has its charms as viewed in Steppenwolf’s small, upstairs, alleyway space. I fear this one will get swallowed up though when it gets re-configured for its big Broadway debut in a proscenium theater this fall. The draw here is Kieran Culkin and Michael Cera as the central characters, two spoiled young adults concerned mainly with getting high and finding ways to avoid not working for a living. Not much happens with the plot, which concerns the Michael Cera character stealing money from his father and Culkin’s attempts to turn a profit with it before giving it back, but these two actors (both of whom have done the play before) fully inhabit these roles, which are very specific while thematically very representative of that generation, and are a total delight. I can’t speak too highly of the supporting female role since I didn’t care for fashionista Tavi Gevinson’s performance at all, but the character is also not as interesting or developed. Worth it though for the Culkin and Cera show!

The Last Ship, pre-Broadway engagement

I didn’t really care to see this Sting-penned musical when it was first announced nor when his concept recording came out, but boy am I glad I did! I was worried that the story about a dying ship-building company in England wouldn’t hold my interest (Kinky Boots 2, anyone?), but I was totally wrong. The story is actually fantastic as the lead character escapes his destiny of working in the shipyard only to get sucked back in when he returns for his father’s funeral. Realizing how much (and who) he left behind, he decides to stay and help the townspeople build one last ship. The first act is tight and a total winner. I had a few quibbles with the second act (where exactly is this ship going? and, how long exactly will it (and some of the characters) be gone?). This one should be a big hit in NYC and I’m now totally crushing on lead Michael Esper (Nurse Jackie’s drug dealer and American Idiot alum).