Chicago Again

This is getting to be a habit, but an enjoyable one. Amtraked in on Thursday and spend a pleasant afternoon at the Art Institute. Dinner with friends and then off to see a production of Dylan Thomas' UNDER MILKWOOD. When you take a joy in language there is no better place to be than in Thomas country. The Caffeine Theatre's production held me tightly for an hour and a half. The people of Llareggub (who are not so good and not so bad) float in and out on the voices of nine actors, each of whom undertakes several roles and most of whom are quite talented.

On Friday it was off to a day at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. We had a full tour of the building in the morning, a nice lunch with some of the staff, and in the afternoon a Shakespearian Verse Seminar with actor Larry Yando. A special treat for the late afternoon was a chance to watch part of the tech rehearsal for Richard III with director Barbara Gaines at the helm. Friday night saw us at a preview of Richard III.
They still have a week to go before the formal opening, but the show is already looking solid.

Saturday was convention day for the Illinois Theatre Association and an energizing address by the managing director of the Court Theatre, Charles Newell, got us off to a rousing start. After that it was some power networking and lunch. Programs in the afternoon. I was lucky enough to host a theatre advocacy session with Ra Joy and Scarlett Swertlow of the Arts Alliance Illinois.

By 4:30 I met the Frau at the Art Institute and we walked back to Union Station for our date with the Illinois Zephyr back to Galesburg. Sorry no pictures, but I left the camera at home.