March 17, 2012
Happy St. Patrick's Day
As it has been a tradition in the city of Chicago, the Chicago River turns green again today at 10 am. It has been a city practice since 1961.
To learn more about this fascinating event, I am attaching this article by Dan O'Leary about the Story of Behind the Dyeing of the River:
A modern day miracle occurs each year as part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebration when the Chicago River turns an incredible shade of Irish green. This spectacular transformation ranks right up there with the parting of the sea by Moses and the Pyramids of Egypt.
For the past 43 years the Chicago River turns green for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebration. One would ask how this is different from the rest of the year when the river is always a murky shade of green. The difference is both significant and breathtaking because the color green is identical to the greens of Ireland from where it got its name “The Emerald Isle.”
In 1961 Stephen Bailey was approached by a plumber who was wearing some white coveralls, they knew this only because they could see some of the original color. These coveralls had been mostly stained or dyed a perfect shade of green, an Irish green to better describe it. It was when Stephen Bailey asked how the coveralls got this way, that they discovered that the dye used to detect leaks into the river turned green, not just any color green, but the perfect color green. “A tradition is born”
Today this miracle belongs to Mike Butler and his crew, which he claims to always have a little help from a leprechaun who seems to just appear at this time each year.
If you were watching this for the first time you would think this is a mistake or a bad joke. You see the dye is orange and its initial color on the surface of the river is orange and you would think to yourself what heathen would do something like this. After a moment or two you then see the true color magically appear.
Two miracles appear that day, the river turns a perfect shade of green something that many other cities have tried but have not been successful at doing, and the second miracle by starting with the color orange giving the impression that river will be orange only to convert the river to that true Irish green. We believe that is where the leprechaun comes in.
As the late Stephen Bailey has said, the road from Chicago to Ireland is marked in green. From the Chicago River to the Illinois River, then to the Mississippi, up the Gulf Stream and across the Atlantic you can see the beautiful green enter the Irish Sea, clearly marking the way from Chicago to Ireland.
March 16, 2012
Once on This Island of Manhattan
Once the Musical was my birthday show this year. And what a treat it was! When I entered the Bernard Jacobs Theatre, the cast members (who all sing and play their own musical instruments) were already having a jam session onstage, playing beautiful Irish music. The stage was set up as a pub, with the actors moving furniture and other props as the scene requires. At intermission, they actually served drinks from the onstage bar to the audience members!
Based on the enchanting film Once, it features Glen Hansard's and Marketa Irglova's music from the movie, as well as some new songs. Steve Kazee plays the Guy, a broken-hearted Dublin busker/Hoover fixer who forms a friendship/love affair/creative partnership with a piano-playing and song-writing Czech Girl (Cristin Milioti). Mr. Kazee is such a handsome man that I initially thought it would be difficult to see him as luckless. But he quickly won me over with his performance. Each song he sang was deeply affecting, raw, sincere. I was touched by his sadness over unfulfilled aspirations.
The supporting cast members are more fleshed out here than in the movie. Girl's roommates are a zany Czech mix (see what I did there?!) obsessed with 'Fair City', learning English the soap opera way. The banker (Andy Taylor), a fledgling musician, gets more singing time. David Patrick Kelly as Da is a loving and supportive figure. Paul Whitty is Billy, the wacky music store owner harboring a crush on our Girl. Lucas Papaelias is a scene-stealer as the over-enthusiastic drummer. The choreography is unique and interesting. The staging is modest but creative. That scene where Guy and Girl look over the city of Dublin is gorgeous and magnificent in its simplicity.
While the people around me kept describing the Girl as adorable and hilarious, I actually felt maybe she was overwritten to be this spirited life-changer for our Guy. She is given the funny lines, and she gets the laughs, but she came off too feisty for me. Perhaps because she's not an actress, Ms. Irglova's scrappy Girl was natural and understated. But to Ms. Milioti's credit, her achingly beautiful renditions of "If You Want Me" and "The Hill" are so heart-wrenching you realize that her outward confidence hides her inner torment.
The musical is fresh, bittersweet, and immensely satisfying. Like the movie, you'll cry tears of joy and sorrow. You'll leave the theatre humming and singing the sublime "Falling Slowly".Click here for tickets. It opens 18 March.
Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!
March 15, 2012
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.....what a peculiar title for a movie but what a delightful film it is!
Well, it is actually based from a book of the same title by Paul Torday with a script written by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire). Helmed by Cider House Rules director, Lasse Hallstrom who brought together a cast of some of my favorite British actors.
Avid fisherman and wealthy sheikh, Sheikh Muhammad (Amr Waked) hires consultant Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) to help him accomplish his vision of bringing the sport of Fly Fishing to his country. Ms. Chetwode-Talbot, is efficient and very effective that she manages to lay down the fundamentals of the project. She hits a stall when she emails fisheries expert, Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) about the project. A science man and a bit socially inept, Dr. Jones thinks that the project is impossible even to the point of being ludicrous. However, the Salmon Fishing project gets a jolt of support from the Office of the British Prime Minister when Press Secretary, Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott-Thomas) needed to divert attention from some bad press from Afghanistan. Eventually, Dr. Jones is pushed into the project due to pressures from the bureaucracy and agrees to have a meeting with the Sheikh. Alfred connects immediately with the sheikh through their mutual love of fishing. What follows is the meticulous planning of this grand undertaking.
I have to say thought that as soon as you meet the sheikh on screen, one realizes that it's not just really about a whim of bringing fishing to Yemen but he is indeed a visionary. He brings wisdom and understanding not just about fishing but in life. It's an unexpected experience sitting in the audience because as you realize this, Ewan McGregor's character, Dr. Jones also comes into the same realization. You soak up the revelation, very much like the principal character and one feels like you are also pulled into the story. From then on, I was emotionally invested in the Salmon Project.
I truly enjoyed Ewan McGregor's social ineptness and was engrossed with Emily Blunt's vulnerability. While Kristin Scott-Thomas was perfect as the very hard edged publicity opportunist, Amr Waked was penetrating with his wisdom. Even more enjoyable was that these gems of wisdom were not cliches nor were they hammered into you. It just naturally and unexpectedly trickled down from the screen. Go and try to catch it in the theatres. It's a capitivating story about connection, faith and the power of possibilities.
March 10, 2012
March 8, 2012
DVR Alert: Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary
Watch The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall on PBS. See more from Great Performances.
Last weekend, I caught the broadcast of the 25th Anniversary celebration of Phantom of the Opera on PBS. The show starred Ramin Karimloo (Phantom) and Sierra Boggess (Christine) and filmed at the Royal Albert Hall. It's being shown as part of Great Performances throughtout this month. To check out this very grand production, please click here for local listings.
March 7, 2012
DVR Alert: Oscar Hammerstein II Documentary
Watch Oscar Hammerstein II - Out of My Dreams Introduction on PBS. See more from pbs.
PBS will broadcast a documentary on Oscar Hammerstein II called Out of My Dreams in the coming weeks. Here in Chicago, it will be on March 11, 2012 at 5pm on WTTW Channel 11. To check your local listing, please click on the links above.
March 6, 2012
Summertime in Winter
Audra McDonald from The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess performs Summer time on The Colbert Report.
The Colbert Report
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March 3, 2012
February 27, 2012
