This Lynn Nottage drama is pure kinetic energy, exploring the illicit ivory trade through the haunting death of Mlima, an African elephant. Griffin Theatre Company’s production, a midwest premiere directed by Jerrell L. Henderson, thrives on its use of movement, sound, and staging to illustrate our shared complicity in the poaching of a vulnerable species. Mlima, whose name means “mountain” in Swahili, is played by a mostly silent David Goodloe, who looms large, literally, over the entire 90 minutes. He’s the show’s emotional canvas, employing ethereal, athletic movements and an intense, textured gaze that as reads both accusatory and mournful. As Mlima’s tusks become increasingly objectified, Goodloe turns his body into a floppy piece of meat, resigned and exhausted.
A tight, propulsive story, this production leverages a capable ensemble of six to bring to life the entire chain of events from Mlima’s death in Kenya to the unveiling of an ivory carving in the home of a wealthy collector across the world. By bringing so many people and geographies under the tent of this shameful practice, from police to park rangers to government officials to pilots, Nottage makes the world a bit smaller and the tragedy less abstract. As does her insertion of well-researched and disturbing facts, like poachers using tourists’ safari photos on social media to locate their prey. After absorbing the question an ivory dealer asks a collector–What price are you willing to pay for beauty?–you’ll walk away questioning the provenance and unknown costs of any rare valuables you possess. v
In 2013, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Deborah Blum wrote an article for Wired magazine titled “The Imperfect Myth of the Female Poisoner” that dispelled the persistent cultural assumption that, as far as murder methods go, homicides-by-poisoning are inherently ladylike. “It’s not, you see, that poison is a woman’s weapon,” says Blum. “It’s that it is an evil one.” And yet, dubiously sourced in historical criminology as they may be, there’s something wickedly satisfying and elegantly badass about artistic depictions of women dispensing revenge with perfume-like vials of death.
In that respect, in this 90-minute dark dramedy set in 17th century Paris, playwright Dusty Wilson has his cake and eats it too, indulging in a fantasy of outlaw women paving their own way while also wrestling with the gender and class-based roles that permit justice for some while dooming others. A talented chemist (Carina Lastimosa) and her tarot-card-reading lover (Lynnette Li) create a cottage industry helping wealthy women murder their plutocrat husbands. Christina Casano’s production for The Plagiarists keeps the grisly consequences of its protagonists’ actions at arm’s length for the most part, focusing instead on their justifications and nights spent spritzing toxic plants in a sparse but romantic hamlet tucked on the outskirts of society. A framing device featuring an interrogator (Bryan Breau) doesn’t quite reach the emotional contrasts Casano and company seem to be aiming for, but there’s some decent fun to be had with a flamboyant rival poisoner (Julia Stemper) and a naive woman of leisure (Brittani Yawn). v
Ruby (Brooke Reams) and Wilson (Kevin Tre’Von Patterson) seem to have a picture-book marriage. While their daughter is away at summer camp, they plan on trying for another baby. But when Ruby’s best friend, Claire (Deveon Bromby), comes to stay a few weeks while recovering from the loss of a husband shot by a white cop, the couple’s seemingly blissful existence is shattered.
Christopher Burris directs this midwest Redtwist premiere of Rabbit Summer, Tracey Conyer Lee’s tense, funny, and angry 2018 relationship drama, which, rather than shying away from facing some of the most complex and systemic issues plaguing this country, takes them all head-on. When it’s not dealing with gun violence, it’s addressing racism; then, for a breather, it tackles infidelity, abortion, and absent fathers. In less-capable hands, this material would have sunk under its own weight, but Lee has fashioned three characters who can pick it up, lift it, and keep going. It is a testament to these three talented actors that no matter how heavy the message they’re tasked with delivering, I never felt for a moment that they were less than fully-formed human beings rather than conduits for information.
Wilson’s prized chifforobe–passed down for generations and used at one time to shelter runaway slaves in its false backing–is the central metaphor and physical manifestation of the warring forces facing African Americans in this country. It conceals as much as it reveals. It carries a weighty load, but with its doors flung open is ready to take on whatever comes. v
This musical version of the 1987 Michael J. Fox vehicle, receiving its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, tells a sweet, lighthearted story–plucky young man climbs the ladder of success from mail room to executive suite–that feels a lot like an updated version of Frank Loesser’s 1961 Broadway hit How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, only without the bite or wit or heart. Where How to Succeed at least attempted to satirize American corporate culture (and largely fell short), The Secret of My Success is content to tell a story that would barely sustain one episode in a sitcom. Even though the story touches on some of the more devastating aspects of contemporary business (layoffs, plant closings, kleptocratic leadership), the show remains relatively toothless.
Part of the problem is the show’s bland, cliche-filled book by Gordon Greenberg (who also directs) and Steve Rosen. You just can’t tell an interesting story if you are content to give us, without irony, a show full of stock characters and predictable plot twists. The show’s forgettable score, by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler, is less shallow than the book, though at times the songs often feel like pastiches of better-known pop tunes of the last 50 years. Still, the tunes are ear pleasing, and the lyrics are frequently playful and witty.
A larger problem though is that the show’s story and message–the vanity of success, the importance of integrity and love–is too intimate for the big stage, and gets lost in all the singing and dancing and general Broadway glitz. Heidi Kettenring and Sydney Morton, as the two major female characters in the show, do a great job bringing heart and fire to the show. But Billy Harrigan Tighe brings no heat to his portrayal of the lead; again and again we found ourselves yearning for Michael J. Fox’s sly Alex Keatonish charm. v
Southern Illinois players, after having been left out of the FCS playoffs last season, are sporting “Nobody Cares Work Harder” shirts this spring during workouts. (Photo by SIU Football Twitter account)
The Southern Illinois football team has forgotten about being left out of last season’s FCS playoff field.
Or, has it?
Before spring practice opened Wednesday in Carbondale, SIU head coach Nick Hill addressed how the team is approaching 2020 after its best overall (7-5) and Missouri Valley Football Conference (5-3) records since 2013.
The season earned praise from around the conference and a one-year contract extension for Hill.
“We’ve put the season behind us, but not forgotten about it, either,” Hill said during a press conference earlier this week in Carbondale. “We don’t need motivation.”
On the team’s Twitter account, a Jan. 16 post said, “Got left out? Nobody Cares – Work Harder!” That accompanied a 1-minute video of players taking part in offseason workouts wearing t-shirts that read, “Nobody Cares Work Harder.”
For some in the program, the playoff snub certainly still stings.
Hill shared a story about University of Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett, whose team lost an opening-round NCAA tournament game as a No. 1 seed in 2018 – a first in tournament history — then rebounded to win the national championship the following season.
“The went from the worst loss in college basketball history, and had 365 days of thinking about it, and used it the right way and went and won a national championship,” he said. “Adversity, if used the right way, can buy you a ticket to somewhere you couldn’t have been before.”
Quarterback talk
Hill said fifth-year senior Kare’ Lyles, who started the final nine games after taking over for the injured Stone Labanowitz, will go into spring ball as the team’s starter at QB.
Lyles led the team to a 5-4 record while throwing for 1,569 yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Accuracy was a highlight for Lyles, who completed 62.9 percent of his passes, which ranks seventh best for a single season in SIU history.
But Hill left the door open for some competition at the position.
“Kare’s our starter going into the spring,” he said. “But I don’t think anything in life is set in stone. Everybody has to come out and compete and re-earn their job every single day.”
Run game returning
The Salukis put together an impressive five-game winning streak last season thanks to an improve run game.
Though they lose four-year starting center Jacob Marnin and left tackle Ernest Dye Jr. to graduation, the SIU run game will still have plenty of punch, thanks to do-it-all back Javon Williams Jr.
He was a second-team All-American, finished third in voting for the Jerry Rice Award – given to the top freshman in FCS – while leading all of Division I football freshmen with 19 touchdowns. A high school quarterback, Williams ran for 1,038 yards, passed for two touchdowns and became the first player to have a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown in a single game.
Williams was a vibrant threat last season as a wildcat quarterback as well.
“You’ll see him back there behind center quite a bit,” Hill said.
Shining on defense
The play of SIU’s defense was a major highlight last season. The unit gave up 18 fewer points and 130 fewer yards a game than in 2018, thanks to the influence of new coordinator Jason Petrino.
The Salukis return plenty of experience at linebacker with sixth-year senior Cody Crider (90 tackles), junior Makel Calhoun (team-leading seven sacks) and junior Bryson Strong (61 tackles).
Fifth-year senior Bryce Notree, who missed most of last season with injury, also will be returning, along with junior Luke Geigling, who started seven games a year ago.
Also back is senior defensive end Anthony Knighton, who has piled up 21 sacks while starting 34 consecutive games.
Leadership losses
Running back D.J. Davis and soon-to-be NFL safety Jeremy Chinn are two of the team’s biggest losses.
“Every year, you lose great leaders,” Hill said. “D.J. and Jeremy were two of the best leaders we’ve ever had here.”
Spring schedule
The Salukis will have two practices in February, 10 in March and two in April before the team’s annual spring scrimmage, which is planned for April 4.
Blog co-authors Barry Bottino and Dan Verdun bring years of experience covering collegiate athletics. Barry has covered college athletes for more than two decades in his “On Campus” column, which is published weekly by Shaw Media. Dan has written four books about the state’s football programs–“NIU Huskies Football” (released in 2013), “EIU Panthers Football (2014), “ISU Redbirds” (2016) and “SIU Salukis Football” (2017).
723 South St. in Barrington: $2,200,000 | Listed on Nov. 8, 2019
This privately listed Barrington home lies on a double lot and includes a pool and pool house. The home is set on Baker’s Lake among mature trees. Details include checkered flooring, 12-foot ceilings with 12-inch molding and eight-foot doors framed in limestone casing. The home includes antique and modern imported chandeliers, as well as a lake-facing kitchen with Cararra marble countertops, three Subzero refrigeration units, a Lacanche stove, a dome porcelain chandelier and an adjacent butler’s pantry. The great room features cathedral ceilings, herringbone floors and a fireplace. Outside space includes 2,400-square-feet of decked living space with a pool surrounded by landscaping. The home also boasts solar power and radiant heat in the basement and beneath all bathroom floors.
Agent: Mike Kussmann of Baird & Warner, 312-203-5295
Wrigley is a three-week-old, wiggly but fun Golden hamster baby looking for a loving guardian.
Wrigley is learning to appreciate attention from his people, lots of different foods and treats, spinning on his wheel and exploring his surroundings.
Golden hamsters live alone in their habitats so it’s important to give daily attention and love.
In captivity, these golden hamster can run two to five miles per a 24-hour period and can store up to one ton of food in a lifetime. It’s fun to watch them pack their cheeks with their food.
Since this is a baby, he will need patient daily handling and socialization to tame, so he will be gentle and not afraid of humans.
His adoption fee of $15 benefits the Friends of Petraits Rescue. If you need an entire hamster habitat, aquarium, bedding, food, treats, toys, exercise wheel or flying saucer, hidey hut and water bottle – everything you need including the hamster – the whole package is available for $75.
To meet and possibly adopt Wrigley please contact [email protected].
Wrigley is being fostered in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.
The 2019 Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park, June 2019
Headliners for 2020 include: Shemekia Copeland, Candi Staton, Eric Gales, Jimmy Johnson with Billy Branch, John Primer, Lurrie Bell and Catherine Russell
The 37th Annual Chicago Blues Festival comes to Millennium Park (201 E. Randolph St.)Friday, June 5 to Sunday, June 7, AND at Maxwell Street Market (800 S. Desplaines St.) Sunday, June 7.
The Blues will also be celebrated in various locations around town including Rosa’s Lounge, Chess Records and much more.
This year’s event is part of Chicago In Tune, the NEW 18-day celebration of music at venues and organizations across the city in conjunction with the 2020 Year of Chicago Music.
Kick off event celebrates the 70th Anniversary of Chess Records
On Thursday, June 4, the Chicago Blues Festival will host a special kickoff event at Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation at the Historic Chess Records (2120 S. Michigan Ave.) to celebrate their 70th anniversary and pay homage to artists who electrified the blues and put Chicago on the map.
The special collaboration with the Blues Heaven Foundation and Chicago Blues Revival will include a Record Row walking tour, musical performances and more from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
This year’s fest features a diverse lineup celebrating the blues’ past, present, and future on six stages, the Chicago Blues Festival shares the great Chicago-born music tradition while shining a spotlight on the genre’s contributions to soul, R&B, gospel, rock, hip hop and more.
The Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, at Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue, will be the main stage, with an array of Chicago and visiting headliners.
Among the Pritzker Pavilion highlights:
June 5: Nick Moss Band, 5:45 p.m.; Jimmy Johnson and Billy Branch, 7 p.m.; Shemekia Copeland, 7:50 p.m.
June 6: John Primer and Steve Bell, 7 p.m.; Candi Staton, 7:50 p.m.
June 7: Catherine Russell, 4:30 p.m.; Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, 5:45 p.m.; Erwin Helfer and Katherine Davis, 7 p.m.; Eric Gales, 7:50 p.m.
All performances are free, and the park will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, with attractions on several side stages. For complete schedule, visit www.chicagobluesfestival.us
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No one will ever admit to being a bad driver, or a bad lover. In the case of the former, typically your driving record speaks for you, but now there is a new, additional level of monitoring and evaluation that has come along.
It’s not just Big Tech and online media companies that want to collect your data these days, the automotive industry is getting in on the act as well. After all, every new car these days is highly computerized, and any automobile with a navigational system is tracking you through satellite data. And Ford motor company is banking on the idea that you’ll forgo some of your privacy in exchange for cheaper auto insurance.
The idea is that you’ll get discounted insurance, in some cases up to 40 percent, and that the concept of insurance will become more appealing now. The trade-off is giving more of your data to a third party, and of course what they do with that data remains to be seen. Given what we know about Facebook, Google and other tech/media companies, it’s easy to skeptical.
According to EnGadget, the technology: “tracks distance, your aggressiveness with pedals, idle time and night driving. You’ll get a better deal if you’re a gentle commuter than a foot-to-the-floor enthusiast, in other words.”
As is the case with all data collection and tracking services, they try to make it as easy as possible for you to sign up. Both the Ford and Lincoln apps arrive with some of the details already filled in for you. This type of insurance is now available now in 39/50 states, with a belief that it will be universal eventually. Funny, how we didn’t hear much about this feature, or its bugs, earlier this month when the Chicago Auto Show was in full swing. Of course, we didn’t hear about much at all from the 2020 CAS.
Chicago’s Auto Show is behind only Detroit in terms of importance, and when it comes to size, it’s the biggest in the country. This year however, it was an event that had to compete with the NBA All-Star Game for attention within this city. Perhaps Ford’s new initiative isn’t all that unique after all? Maybe this is the new world we live in? Where “data is the new water” as many a pundit have said?
The most important thing to remember is that nothing is free (certainly social media truly is not), including car insurance discounts. Everything comes with a price, and the more data companies have on you, the more effectively they will market to you.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and ChicagoNow.
He’s been a featured guest in dozens of media outlets including The History Channel. His work has been cited in hundreds of publications including the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
This week at the 2020 NFL Combine, there has been a lot to learn about the future of the ChicagoBears, especially in regards to Mitchell Trubisky.
It’s that time of the year where owners and coaches get to chat a little bit, meanwhile all of the media reaps the dividends. Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy are in Indianapolis for the 2020 NFL Combine, and both spoke to the media on Tuesday.
Pace had a lot to say, especially about the quarterback position. As usual, the media, along with the fans, have differing views on what Pace’s comments might mean.
On one hand, Pace declined to say whether or not the team would pick up Mitchell Trubisky’s fifth-year option. Pace told the media he would make that decision in May.
For those keeping track, that means he will make the final decision after free agency and the NFL Draft.
Pace also talked about looking at other options at quarterback, whether it be via free agency or the draft. The bottom line appeared to be that, no matter what, he will bring in some competition to help push Trubisky.
#Bears GM Ryan Pace does make it clear that the team will look at QBs in free agency and in the draft. He also expressed faith in Trubisky.
But as we’ve said, the Bears want competition at quarterback.
Tuesday afternoon, NFL Network was busy airing their program “NFL Now,” which catches up on all of the latest news and notes around the league. The star of that show is typically Ian Rapoport, one of the most trusted and respected NFL insiders in the business.
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Rapoport was asked by Andrew Siciliano about Pace’s comments on Tuesday.
“…the end result, from what I understand, is going to be the Bears standing by (Mitchell) Trubisky.”
He also included that he fully expects the Bears to pick up Trubisky’s fifth-year option. Rapoport indicated that the option would be fully guaranteed for injury only, through the start of the 2021 season.
Whatever your opinion is on Trubisky, as a Bears fan, you may just have to accept the fact that Pace is still 100 percent committed to the former no. 2 overall pick.
Hopefully, one of two things happens. Either Rapoport is wrong (which rarely happens) or Pace is playing us all.
The latter is much more likely to be true, as he’s kept a few deals under wraps in the past. Pace has shocked us before, both positively and negatively. But, let’s not put anything past the guy who once landed Khalil Mack.
If Rapoport is correct, and the Bears pick up Trubisky’s option for 2021, hopefully Pace is fine paying his backup quarterback over $20 million — assuming the Bears see a better option surface between now and then.
