12-7-07
The Holiday Gift Guide
We’re smack-dab in the middle of Chanukah with Christmas, Kwanzaa and what-not just around the corner, so it seems appropriate (well, at least not inappropriate) to offer holiday gift-buying advice. To start with, two veteran Chicago actors have become authors, not of plays but of actual books, and you might consider their tomes as presents. PerformInk already has covered the hardcover effort of classical actor David Blixt, “The Master of Verona” (St. Martin’s Press, $27.95), a meticulously-researched costume adventure set in Renaissance Italy. It cleverly incorporates a wide swath of Shakespearean lore and literary pedigree—think how many plays have Italian settings—along with actual history and fantasy swirling around Dante Alighieri and his family. For one like me who traveled to Verona during my college years, and partook in the annual medieval carnival celebrated by the local university students, Blixt’s book is a bracing reminder of my own youthful adventures. From the streets of Verona’s 13th Century “Centro Storico” (historic center, which looks much the same today as it did 600 years ago when I was there), to particulars of chivalric combat and even recipes for a feast, Blixt has crammed his action-packed tale with colorful detail. Order through www.themasterofverona.com or Amazon.com.
Blixt already has a sequel in the can (or nearly so) with a third installment beginning to gestate. We have only one suggestion: please, David, put some good Italian Renaissance SEX in the next one! Swashbuckling is good, but swashbuckling AND bodice-ripping are much better.
The second book is by Aaron Christensen, who turns out to be an authority on horror movies. Christensen is coauthor and editor of “Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies, Vol. I” (Midnight Marquee, Inc., $20-$25). Not only has Christensen used his encyclopedic knowledge of some 1,500 genre films to develop and edit the volume, but he’s also solicited help from other horror fans and experts around the world. His volume includes the contributions of 78 writers from 12 countries, several of whom are part of Chicago’s theatre industry. Besides Christensen himself, local contributors to his book include playwrights Brett Neveu, Darren Callahan and Dom Bapst, actors Michelle Courvais and Doug Lamoreux, directors Anish Jethmalani and Charley Sherman, Columbia College professor Peter Christensen, former Chicago actors Eric Fraisher Hayes and David White, musician Richard Sparks and Roosevelt University student Nile Arena.
Naturally, we wanted to know if Mr. C. has a personal favorite horror movie, to which he replied: “All of the films in the book I consider personal favorites for one reason or another, but I will confess to being a sucker for any ’50s-’60s big bug movie, Ray Harryhausen film or Godzilla epic. And seeing Halloween in the cinema at the tender age of 10 was a traumatic experience that I’m still recovering from.” Ah, for the glories of 1950s sci-fi: pod people, whirring Univac computers that filled entire rooms, atomic mutant spiders, grasshoppers and ants…and all of it in vibrant black-and-white!!
“Horror 101” is available locally at Horrorbles in Berwyn, The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square, Quimby’s in Wicker Park and at Victory Gardens Greenhouse (VGG) or through www.horror101withdrac.com or Amazon.com. FYI: Christensen currently is on stage at VGG in Remy Bumppo’s The Philadelphia Story, in which he brilliantly breaks his usual manly type by essaying the Hepburn role. We are loathe to report that he’s really ugly in drag, suggesting the show should be retitled It Came from Beyond the Main Line.
A final suggestion for a good stocking-stuffer: give folks Play Money from the League of Chicago Theatres, gift certificates in various denominations that can be exchanged for tickets to—hey, here’s a thought!—shows that you or your pals are in!!! Details at the League Web site, www.chicagplays.com.
Speaking of The Holidays, our tally of holiday-season shows stood at 36 as of press time, which we believe is a new record. And that doesn’t count dance events or “soft” holiday shows being marketed as Xmas treats such as Meet Me in St. Louis (Drury Lane Oakbrook), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Circle Theatre) and Little Women (Marriott Theatre). There are several new entries in both the family-friendly and adult/alternative categories. Among the former: A Charlie Chaplin Christmas (Silent Theatre Company) and Princess Donkey-Head, A Christmas Tale (New World Repertory). Among the latter: The 12 Steps of Christmas (Drinking and Writing), No-El or How the BlagojeGrinch Stole Christmas (Shantz Theatre) and Every Christmas Story Ever Told! (Noble Fool Theatricals). And sometime before Christmas Day, the Goodman Theatre will sell its 1 millionth ticket to A Christmas Carol. In the true spirit of the story, Goodman has decided that the lucky patron will be charged double for his/her ticket, or triple if it’s a child under 12.
Adventure Stage Chicago (formerly the Vittum Theater) has been invited by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to participate in the 2008 biennial New Visions/New Voices Festival, an intensive workshop that presents rehearsed readings of plays and musicals for young audiences to theatre professionals, educators and others interested in the field. Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) will present Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back, by Jason Tremblay and directed by ASC artistic director Tom Arvetis. The play concerns a New Orleans girl named Katrina who must deal with the hurricane that shares her name, and its aftermath. In addition to ASC, the 2008 festival features theatre companies from Bloomington (IN), Cambridge (MA), San Francisco, Adelaide (Australia), London and Toronto. The Kennedy Center provides transportation to Washington, D.C. as well as stage managers, dramaturges, Equity actors and other production support for each troupe. Sounds like a good deal.
Writers’ Theatre has put out some rather astonishing statistics confirming the troupe’s success. Since the Millennium, Writers’ subscriber base has grown almost 250 percent, from 1,500 in 2000 to 5,200 for the current 2007-2008 season. The company now has 16 full-time employees and an annual budget over $3 million, all with a seating capacity of less than 160 split between two intimate playhouses.
Happy holidays to all! Remember that Christmas follows fast on Thanksgiving’s leftovers.