For the uninitiated, this is what the first 80 degree day in Chicago looks like. To be fair, this is also what the first 68 degree day in Chicago looks like. (By 55 degrees, we’ve thrown winter coats into deep storage.) So yeah, it’s just as euphoric as it looks. Take that, nine months of winter!
GIRLFRIEND Had A Stellar Opening Weekend, And I Can Exhale.
April 29, 2013 By 8 Comments
This weekend’s premiere of Girlfriend was insane. As in, I nearly lost my mind. I had been bandying this play around (in my brain, on paper, to the occasional passerby) since 2008, but had really been hammering out drafts in earnest since last summer. In essence, this play was my baby. My colicky, allergic, and stranger-phobic baby. And the idea that this baby was going off to be seen and
Girlfriend, By Keely Flynn. Oh Wait, That’s ME.
April 25, 2013 By 10 Comments
Lately, I’ve spent a bunch of time reviewing and promoting some terrific shows around town. But there’s one very important show opening in previews tonight… ‘Cause it’s mine. Girlfriend is the story of Anna and Caro, two twentysomething gals who have been friends forever and ever, Amen. As they attempt to navigate the ups and downs of functional adulthood and the Chicago theatre scene, they also redefine friendship- and just how heavily you can lean on those pals before you {Read More}
An Early Birthday Present, Dad.
April 24, 2013 By 8 Comments
Dad, Tomorrow is your birthday. Today is your 9th round of chemo. One of those things is awesome…and the other is rather annoyingly unfair. (Like when the segues between MST3k clips seem to go on and on and on and what is with all of the chatter, people?) So to celebrate the former- and distract you from the latter- here’s some stuff I’m pretty sure you’ll just love. Like Johnny At The
TUTA Theatre Chicago’s The Silent Language.
April 23, 2013 By 1 Comment
People, people, there is so much good theatre going down around Chicago this month. But right up there at the tippety-toppest is TUTA Theatre Chicago’s darkly comedic fairy tale The Silent Language, directed by Jacqueline Stone; meaning, seriously, don’t miss this one. The U.S. premiere- written by Serbian playwright Miodrag Stanisavljevic and translated by Zoran Paunovic- is TUTA’s first foray into performances intended for younger audiences. And it’s spot on. Poor Gasho (Max Lotspeich) plays the guitar in TUTA’s The Silent Language Photo {Read More}
April Date: Folk Music And Empanadas And No Falling Asleep.
April 22, 2013 By 1 Comment
With all of the madness and world events and still jet-lagged children, I wasn’t sure we’d manage a Date Night this month. However, P.J. wasn’t about to end his streak o’ dately awesome since Christmas– and surprised me with tickets to see Hem at The Old Town School of Folk Music. (Which, if y’all locals haven’t managed to see a show there, do it. ‘Cause it’s the loveliest.) Hem, a terrific folk band, hasn’t toured in about six years and is now promoting {Read More}
A Party, Some Chubby Toddler Legs, And Wal-Mart’s White Cloud Diapers.
April 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
(I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with Wal-Mart and receive their new White Cloud diapers for Susannah to try out. This is a sponsored post, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.) *** This past Wednesday I hosted a bevy of Chicago-area mamas and their adorable offspring for a party featuring Wal-Mart’s reintroduced line of White Cloud diapers. And what a crew! While
My Family’s Ridiculously Close Call At The Boston Marathon.
April 18, 2013 By 15 Comments
This is not my story. It’s my family’s story. My family was in Boston on Marathon Monday. My entire side of the family. My marathoner sister Rachel- who raised over 11k in honor of my Dad for Dana Farber- my parents, my sister Emily, Rachel’s best friend Barry, my sister Kate, her husband Tom, and their three little boys Quinn, Cole, and Declan. I wasn’t there. I was at Disneyland. (More on that bizarre juxtaposition later.) When the first bomb {Read More}
