Not exactly the way I had planned spending two beautiful fall days, but being confined to my sofa having to deal with a stomach bug that snuck up on me, I had the chance to surf local cable offerings and all I can say is thank goodness for reruns, the Golf Channel and when my stomach permitted, the Cooking Channel.
The latter was more in honor of my wife; I am always on the lookout for hints for the new kitchen.
Anyway, I am ever thankful, (and it’s not just a guy thing) for remote control units. It got to the point however, that I just had to turn it off and rest. Even ’50s and ’60s stalwarts “Leave It To Beaver,” “I Dream of Jeanie” and “Betwiched” could not hold my attention and I knew then that I must really be ill. That bug really did sneak up on me, so a word to the wise.
I have always taken this period to update you on the comings and goings in New York.
I like to remind myself that many of the shows that begin their commercial runs during this time of the year will eventually make it to our part of the country and become a part of the Celebrity Attractions or Lyric seasons.
With the recent announcement of the closing of “Shrek, The Musical,” it is my hope that we will be seeing it and maybe the long exited hit “Young Frankenstein” making their ways across the nation. Back to Broadway: What to watch for in the coming season: “The Addams Family,” based on the famous cartoon strip is a musical as is the highly anticipated “Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark.”
Oscar winning actor Denzel Washington will appear in August Wilson’s, “Fences” in the spring and film actress Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia in “Star Wars” continues her run in “Wishful Drinking” through the middle of January.
Other notable productions will be interesting to watch as they make return engagements: “Ragtime,” “Promises, Promises,” “Finian’s Rainbow” and “Bye, Bye Birdie” will continue to shine as their once dimmed lights again brighten with those on the Great White Way.
I learned over my protracted stay at home that the NYC restaurant business is rebounding and along with current and future theater offerings, the holidays are looking to be a bit brighter and that is eventually good news for all of us.
And finally, as promised, a parting note on my favorite city, Chicago. Speaking with a colleague who happens to be a professional artist in his spare time, he remarked how much he enjoyed spending time in the city.
That is, for me, an enduring part of my personal journey: It does my heart good when people I meet who know nothing of my history and I get to talking about the arts, culture and certainly the theater and almost to the person, they single out Chicago as a special place from their past. It was, and it is.
Stay well, with your remote clearly at the ready, and a special thank you to our men and women in uniform for their service to our town and towns across the world.
Arts & History
A view from the sofa
- Arts & History
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‘Anonymous’ decent fiction, though pretentious
The art of the lie is one thing humanity has never let fall into disuse and it has many uses from trying to hide something to creating a good old fashioned conspiracy theory when we don’t want to accept the facts.
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Maysville history comes to life one act at a time
Ever since the dawn of classroom based learning, teachers and administrators have struggled to find ways to engage their pupils in each semester’s curriculum.
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‘The Iron Lady’ an emotional ride through adversity
As someone who has easily dedicated a lifetime’s worth of television hours nerding out to stuff like the History Channel, it is no wonder why I always eventually cave to biographical movies on some of the most famous/infamous people to make something of their humanity.
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‘J. Edgar’ a win for DiCaprio, flat elsewhere
History can often favor the victorious and ignore a lot of wrongs, but sometimes the most vile cannot completely wash away the grime.
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Team recycles for fashion
Art in some ways can always involve taking an otherwise cast aside object and giving it new use, but for three Pauls Valley business owners, it’s also a chance encourage environmental responsibility in others.
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‘Hugo’ a beautiful exposition of art in film
Though I tend to feel slightly squeamish when it comes to movies which go overboard in the artsy department, there is a way to incorporate a refined feeling without boring the heck out of everyone.
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‘The Conspirator’ perfect commentary on blind justice
In this episode of Oklahoma Ezra and the Temple of Film we dig up yet another movie lost to the box office ages, one with a fascinating premise, but lousy attendance.
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Missoula prepares for audition rush Feb. 20
Every community has traditions which carry with them a guaranteed level of excitement and one synonymous with Pauls Valley for the past 15 years has been Missoula Children’s Theater.
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‘Moneyball’ cash in the bank for best actor
Maybe it’s because math was always a special kind of hell for me throughout the education process, but any sort of award attached to a movie where it is the major dynamic seems like a cruel joke.
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‘The Grey’ follows typical blah early year trend
As a relatively balanced movie fan, I tend to be open to the possibility of any time of the year having the chance to win over audiences, though there remains reasons why most of the awesome of the box office begins around summer.
- More Arts & History Headlines
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