DIY Messiah

OK, first off, I haven't posted in a while. Nothing I wanted to discuss, no time in which to discuss it. But anyway...

Last night we went to the Do It Yourself Messiah at the Lyric Opera. Holy wow. In this, there is an orchestra, conductor and four opera singers. The professionals cover the solos, but the chorus, that's all the audience. And what a kick in the pants it was.

There are four parts to sing: Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. You have a copy of the music (which you can buy there), and you read along, hoping you can read music and know what to sing. Here's the deal, though. I didn't know what to sing (I settled on Bass), and I can't read music. Completely. At first, I had to study the score to even figure out what was going on, but I found it quickly began to make sense. Reading the music felt a little like watching a subtitled movie. At first, you're reading, and not really being able to focus on the action so much, but after a few minutes, you're able to absorb both. Now, to be fair, I had a few years of piano when I was a wee lad, so I knew the basic premise of musical notation, but it has been nearly three decades since that. It helped that I was sitting near some other Bass folks, but I found myself able to adapt to the music before the intermission.

In any case, this was a wonderful experience, one that I can recommend to anyone that has even a passing interest in classical music. The conductor was witty and clever, the music was absolutely wonderful, and the sensation of singing this brilliant piece of music with hundreds of other people was powerful. That, and it was free.

Next year, go. I command thee.

Funeral Wedding

I recently saw Funeral Wedding at the Athenaeum Theatre, and let me offer this two word synopsis of the play: See it.

Expanding on that a bit, this was the best small theatre production I have seen in 15 years. It was a dark comedy about this guy, Alvin Fisher (no relation, thankfully), who was fraught with anxiety over some stabbed corpses he had discovered on the beach when he was a child. Or so it would seem. In a merely good play, this would be about the murder mystery, but it wasn't so much. It was about the dysfunction of Alvin's family and why they were as messed up as they were, and what each member could possibly do to rectify it. The play was written beautifully, with wit, charm, intensity, creepiness, poignancy, and above all else, skill. Every single performance brought both an intensity and a subtlety that had me engrossed from beginning to end.

If you are in the Chicago area, and have even a passing interest in live theatre, you really owe it to yourself to go see this show. I recommend going to the box office directly, as you'll save yourself a sizeable amount in tickemaster "convenience fees," but freakin' wow. I wish it was a movie, so I could buy it on DVD when it comes out.

The Talisman Ring

Heidi and I just saw The Talisman Ring at Lifeline Theatre yesterday. I wanted to see it because my friend Rob was in it, and I really dig his acting ability. This can't really be described as anything other than a rousing romp. It was a historical piece, placed during the French Revolution, but having been written in the mid-20th century. Therefore, all the women had minds of their own, and one woman even did fairly well in a fight, but there was still plenty of swoony romance (most of it made up in the show because the trashy-romance-obsessed younger character thought it should be that way), swordplay, secret chambers, devious plots, and clever wit to go around. If you're in the Chicago area, I highly recommend this show.

"Peter Pan is dead!"

So I was hanging with the theatre-geek crowd this Sunday, and I heard a horrible/hilarious story. Supposedly, during this performance of Peter Pan, the understudy for Peter was doing the show. The wings of this particular theatre were really narrow, so when she (Peter Pan is traditionally played by a young woman) flies, she was hoisted around the stage and had to flit into these really narrow wings. Well, she didn't make it once, and took a header into a brick wall. So Peter Pan comes swinging back out on stage, unconscious and bleeding from the head. Somebody in the audience shouts out "Peter Pan is dead!" and all the kids in the audience started clapping, thinking it would bring Peter back to life.

I was turning different colors, I was laughing so hard at that one.

As a postscript, the actor is just fine.

Blue Man Group

My friend Steve (who has auditioned to be a Blue Man twice, and once for one of the band members) gave me a heads up for a job with the Blue Man Group, as a Video Engineer. Not that he has any special "ins" or anything, but he saw it in the Reader and gave me a call, in hopes that I would be interested. Had I not been driving and tired, I would have done a little jump up and clicked my heels together. Heidi helped me out with the cover letter, and it looks really good, so I'm almost definitely getting an interview. The job itself, I'm qualified for, but they'd be taking a chance. A chance that would pay off, but a chance, nonetheless. But I still think I have a good shot at this thing. For those of you reading this that pray, pray hard. This would kick butt. A lot.