Onstage/Backstage

Daily Rehearsal: Maria Bamford scheduled for October Second City appearance

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 28, 2012

Sep. 28, 2012

- The Chicago Maroon runs down the very basics of Chicago theater for newbies -- and people for whom "theater knowledge doesn’t reach beyond The Phantom of the Opera (the movie)" -- in their Orientation Issue.

- Windy City Times gives a glance at all the fall shows that have an LGBT bent (or were written by those who supported the community). Shoutouts include Someone Who'll Watch Over Me at Oak Park Festival Theatre, Avenue Q from NightBlue Performing Arts Company and Simply Sensational 2 with Kim Kuzma from Pride Films and Plays at Stage 773.

- Maria Bamford will be at Second City on October 4; the show is hosted by Ever Mainard and features Dan Telfer.

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Was Jesus married?

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 28, 2012

Sep. 28, 2012

This internet exploded last week when it became potentially possible that Jesus was not the saint you might think, as a scrap of paper revealed he had potentially been married.

But "The idea that Jesus was married does more than make the New Testament more saleable as a Lifetime mini-series," said James Finn Garner at The Paper Machete. "(You know somewhere the concept has been pitched, and a producer has said, 'I like the story, but this guy Jesus, he needs to be sexed up.') If the scrap proves to be accurate, it might shake the foundations of the Christian church as we know it, at least until the church as we know it squelches it." Read an excerpt below or listen above:

The scrap, cut from a larger scroll, contained seven lines of sentence fragments. Among these were the words: “Jesus said, My wife.” 

Now, I’d like to get address the elephant in the room right now and head straight for the Borscht Belt treatment:  Jesus said, “My wife wants to take a vacation, spark up our LOVE life. Wants to go to the Dead Sea.

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Funding uninsured comedians

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 27, 2012

Sep. 27, 2012

- Frankenstein opens this weekend at City Lit. You probably know what this one's about.

- Zanies is giving all ticket sales in their Chicago, St. Charles and Rosemont locations to the John Fox Memorial Fund on October 4. Fox was a Chicago comedian who died of complications from colon cancer in May of this year; the fund gives cancer check-ups to comedians who don't have insurance. The featured performer in Chicago is Nick Vatterott; St. Charles is Bret Ernst and Rosemont is Jimmy Schubert. You can read more about Fox here.

- Writers’ Theatre is adding two weeks of Hamlet performances, but the show will definitely close on November 25. 

- Questions? Tips?

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McD's: The D is for Defribillator

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 27, 2012

Sep. 27, 2012

"As a culture, we’re impatient with bothersome facts that impede our path to immediate gratification," said actress and writer Robyn Okrant at The Paper Machete. "Not even the wise old owl could wait to find out the exact amount of licks it takes to get the center of a Tootsie Pop. Numbers bog us down. They cramp our style." Most specifically, numbers like those that McDonald's is being required to post, explaining the calorie counts of their food. Read an excerpt below or listen above:

Breaking news. McDonald’s isn’t the bastion of healthy eating that we’ve been led to believe. No, no, it’s true. Sit back down. Hear me out.
 
Last week,  all McDonald’s restaurants posted calorie counts for its dangerously addictive food (I use the term “food” loosely, but the term “dangerously addictive” literally).

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Daily Rehearsal: ABBA, in some form

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 26, 2012

Sep. 26, 2012

-  The original musicians of ABBA and the original designs of ABBA's costumes will be at a performance featuring the band Arrival at the City Winery for Halloween. The shows are October 30 and 31st and they sound...spirited.

- Rivendell theater has extended WRENS through October 20 for a week extra. They're also doing a benefit performance on October 14 with the 1996 cast. WRENS is an "examination of loyalty, morality and duty during World War II centers on a group of young Women's Royal Navy Servicewomen packed together in a tiny barrack on the eve of VE Day."

Questions? Tips? Email kdries@wbez.org.

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Connections, connections

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 25, 2012

Sep. 25, 2012

- Gorilla Tango Theatre wanted me to let you know that they are looking for people to audition for A Nude Hope, which I'm sure you are aware is a burlesque show about Star Wars. But you gotta be 21. Auditions are this Saturday; if you'd like to reserve one, email a headshot and resume to mariecurieosity@gmail.com. Oh and a reminder: "May the force be with you."

- In other weird productions to audition for: Fifty Shades of Plaid  is one option.

- This Sunday, Victory Gardens will be screening the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry; their play Equivocation, is also running now.

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AEA to get special Jeff award

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 24, 2012

Sep. 24, 2012

- Holland Taylor's Ann is opening on Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, reports the New York Times, in March of 2013. The show was in Chicago last fall.

- An older piece but check out all the shows you can see about our election cycle in the Chicago comedy world right now from Jason A. Heidemann.

- The Actors’ Equity Association will get a special Jeff award on October 15 "in recognition of their contributions to Chicagoland theatre.

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The nanny state keeps an eye on baby New York City

By: Kate Dries | Sep. 21, 2012

Sep. 21, 2012

"We are just making healthy choices easier," said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley Wednesday about the city's new ban on large soft drinks.

But Comedian Nicky Margolis thinks the "Greatest City on Earth" (and the people in it) is being treated a little too delicately: So carefully as to almost be a child, unable to protect itself from the world. Read an excerpt below or listen above:

OK Mayor Bloomberg, we're almost set to leave. Thank you again for agreeing to babysit our dear little New York City. Before we leave for the night, we have just a few more instructions for taking care of our precious little city.

Now you already know about his special dietary needs: no surgary drinks over 16 ounces and no trans fat — none! We would also like to add to the list no gluten, no peanuts, no dairy, no niacin just to be safe. And no eating anything that describes itself as marshmallow-y.

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