Busy! Busy! Our weekend was spent chatting amiably with good friends, re-meeting a cousin and his family that we had not seen in six years, partaking of delicious ethnic food, and seeing two plays, a symphony concert, and some fine pictures at the Art Institute. It's hard to find a better combination of activities this side of fine arts heaven.
The friends were old colleagues who retired to a Chicago apartment and were gracious enough to invite us to spend a few days with them. The cousin and his family had made a trip back to Cedar Rapids from the Northwest and we were lucky to be able to find a few hours to re-acquaint ourselves at my daughter's home. Inbetween, a pleasant train trip to Chicago reigned supreme. The Vollard show at the Art Institute was impressive and full of dynamite 19th century masterpieces. The Mahler first anchored by the young South American conductor Dudamel, who has just been appointed the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, had people leaping out of their chairs in acclaim. Our first dramatic interlude took us to the Gorilla Tango Theatre where a production of Nick Ryan's Deviled Eggs was directed by a former student of mine. In the cast were three other former students. They are young and struggling to make a name for themselves in a business that is tougher than nails. My hope is that they will be another Steppenwolf some day. On Sunday we traveled to the world of the "already made it" theatre practicioners. At the Goodman Theatre we saw a moving show by David Lindsay-Abair titled Rabbit Hole. It is far more traditional in style and theme that some of Lindsay-Abair's earlier work like Fuddy Mears, but provided a tender and thoughtful discussion of the grieving process.
The food was Mexican on Friday night and Greek on Sunday. And in the free times there was plenty of browsing at Borders and shopping along the Miracle Mile. All told couldn't have been better. Well, it might have been warmer.
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