RECOMMENDED

No matter how endlessly dismal the winters, you’ve really gotta love Chicago in the summertime; it seems like every band, dance company and arts organization in town plays the Pritzker Pavilion at least once, sometimes two or three times, gratis. Wander past that bandshell resembling a giant space insect sprung from the mind of Frank Gehry any time of any day and you’ll either catch a show or see the setup and rehearsal for a show to come. Even the Harris Theater has joined in the populist sentiment, hosting free “ticketed” performances of music and dance throughout the season. The mood is vibrant; Millennium Park has become the omphalos of the city’s summertime cultural programming and a remarkably successful use of downtown public space.

Next week, the park hosts the third annual Chicago Dancing Festival—four all-you-can-eat days of free performances by sixteen companies from across the United States. Tuesday at the Harris, catch River North, the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Aszure Barton & Artists and the Joffrey Ballet performing newish works by young, emerging choreographers. If you favor time-tested choreography, hold out till Thursday and see some phenomenal companies brandish the precious gems of their repertory in “Modern Masters”: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet do Forsythe, New York City Ballet do Wheeldon and Luna Negra, Limón. Read the rest of this entry »

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, whose current artistic director Jim Vincent is leaving to take the helm at Nederlands Dans Theater, has appointed Glenn Edgerton, a former artistic director of the same Dutch company to take his place. And if you’re wondering what’s so great about about NDT, it just so happens that they’re performing in Chicago next week at Auditorium Theatre.

Here’s the press release from Hubbard Street:

GLENN EDGERTON APPOINTED AS THE THIRD ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IN HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO’S 32-YEAR HISTORY

Nation’s Foremost Contemporary Dance Repertory Company to be led by Former Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans Theater I

CHICAGO – June 10, 2009 – Today, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) announced the appointment of internationally renowned artistic leader and dancer, Glenn Edgerton, to the role of artistic director.  Edgerton’s appointment results from an international search conducted by the board during the last several months following the announcement of the departure this summer of Jim Vincent, HSDC’s artistic director of nine years.

Edgerton, 49, brings over 30 years of experience working with the great dance institutions of the world including the Nederlands Dans Theater, The Colburn School of Performing Arts and The Joffrey Ballet. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

As the winds grow warmer and trees burst into flower, the Joffrey season closes on an appropriately romantic note; the Spring Program is comprised of four works about love—a theme broad enough to leave room for a diverse program and one I hope will exploit the versatility of the Joffrey dancers as successfully as their previous performance (in which the company seamlessly shifted between a minimalist acrobatic pas de trois based on Calder mobiles, the reconstruction of Nijinsky’s riot-inducing “Le Sacre du Printemps” and a blithe, lighthearted number by Gerald Arpino, former artistic director of the Joffrey). The tribute to Arpino—who passed away last year—continues with an uncharacteristically somber piece: “Ronde d’Anges,” about the parting of lovers at death. The celebration of the Ballet Russe centennial concludes with “Les Noces,” an ensemble piece choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska, Vaslav Nijinsky’s sister. Also on the program is “Valses Poeticos,” a tender duet originally choreographed by Helgi Tomasson (AD of the phenomenal San Francisco Ballet) for Ashley Wheater, Arpino’s capable successor. The headlining piece is the Joffrey premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s work set to the score of the musical “Carousel.” (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Auditorium Theater, 50 E. Congress Pkwy, (312)902-1500. May 1-3 and 8-10. $25-$145.

RECOMMENDED

Nine thoughts I had before, during and after the nine-act, five-and-a-half-hour Neo-Futurist production of “Strange Interlude” that concludes the Goodman’s astonishing “A Global Exploration: Eugene O’Neill in the 21st Century” this weekend.

1. At the first of three intermission breaks, a man in the audience began yelling at the theater company: “Why are you butchering this play? Read the rest of this entry »

By Dennis Polkow

From the opening notes of the 1913 world premiere of Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du printemps” [“The Rite of Spring”], there were catcalls due to the audience’s inability to recognize what instrument was actually being heard (a bassoon, a low-pitched instrument by nature, forced to the unnatural upper extreme of its range). By the time the work’s infamous repeated dissonant chord came in and the curtain opened to an encircled group of dancers with long braids, painted faces and long smocks all stomping wildly on the floor and breaking every convention of classical ballet, the audience became more and more audibly agitated until a full-scale riot finally broke out in the theater mid-performance, complete with fistfights in the aisle. Impresario Serge Diaghilev had told conductor Pierre Monteux to keep the performance going “no matter what” and Stravinsky himself had already retreated backstage where he was holding on to the coattails of dancer and choreographer Vasalav Nijinsky, who was shouting out the counts to the dancers because the music could no longer be heard amongst the chaos.

Fast forward ninety-six years later when choreographer and dance reconstructionist Millicent Hodson is taking a group of Joffrey Ballet dancers through those same revolutionary paces during an intense day-long rehearsal at Joffrey Tower. “That’s it,” she shouts, “cupped hands. Reach.” Two pianists are pounding away a dizzying array of notes to a conductor with his head in both Stravinsky’s orchestral score and the four-hand piano version; the orchestra itself, which has its own rehearsal schedule, will not be combined with the dance element until the dress rehearsal.

Catching Hodson on a less frantic Sunday morning, she sums it all up: “ ‘Sacre’ changed everything.” Hodson’s own fascination with the work goes back to her childhood where, as someone who had been dancing “since the age of three, hearing the piece made me want to be an orchestral timpanist, which was not really a feminine option when I was growing up,” she says as she hums the famous syncopated timpani pattern in perfect rhythm. The revolution that “Sacre” caused that is still resonating became increasingly fascinating for Hodson as choreographers took more and more liberties with it: “Everyone has their own ‘Sacre’ because the score is so evocative. During the 1960s, it was often staged as an orgy reflecting the counterrevolution, sometimes erotic, sometimes violent, but I became increasingly fascinated with what Nijinsky’s own original intentions actually were.” Although there were photographs and newspaper accounts that largely concentrated on the riot, “Sacre” had only been staged another handful of times in its original form and the particulars of its steps became lost to history when Nijinsky later ended up in a mental institution.

Was it possible, Hodson pondered, to do some detective work and attempt to reconstruct what those first steps had been? One valuable ally in the process was none other than Robert Joffrey, whom Hodson had first met when she was an undergraduate in 1971. “We had a long talk about the piece, and many other things,” Hodson recalls, “and he was intrigued. ‘Call me when you have something,’ he said, ‘and make sure that I am the first.’” From the beginning, Joffrey recognized the immense importance of such a reconstruction and wanted his company to be in on the ground floor.

Hodson’s detective work meanwhile became more and more diligent, one puzzle piece after another gradually coming to light and fitting together piece by piece, among these being Nijinsky’s sister Bronislava Najinska, who had danced the piece, and his assistant Marie Rambert, both meticulous eyewitnesses to the preparations. Another gold mine was getting Stravinsky’s assistant Robert Craft to share a photocopy of Stravinsky’s own score from the premiere preparations with the composer’s own annotations from rehearsals.

The reconstruction, which by now included equally detailed re-creations of the costumes and sets by artist Kenneth Archer, who became Hodson’s husband along the way of their shared journey, received its premiere by the Joffrey Ballet in 1987, just a year before Joffrey’s death. “He was already ill,” Hodson recalls, “but was so excited.” A documentary on the reconstruction process was prepared and an entire Joffrey performance filmed, which was widely shown on PBS for a time but which has remained unavailable on DVD due to union restrictions, although Hobson is grateful that, as she puts it, “It remains one of the most widely pirated videos on the planet.”

Meanwhile, Chicagoans will have a rare live chance to experience the fruit of Hodson’s long quest to reconstruct a revolution as part of the Joffrey’s Winter Program as a centennial salute to the Ballet Russes that spawned “Sacre” and other monumental dance works from 1909 until Diaghilev’s death in 1929.

The Joffrey Ballet’s “Winter Program” runs February 18-March 1 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Parkway, (312)902-1500. $25-$145.

What makes Chicago’s theater world special? We picked up the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly for clues. In the cover story, “CSI” star William Petersen explains his decision to leave his role as one of the top paid actors in television, earning a rumored $600,000 an episode, to move back to Chicago and Chicago theater: “It was too safe for me at this point. So I needed to try and break that, and the way to do that, for me, is the theater.” EW went on to credit Petersen for much of the show’s success, notably bringing a theatrical ensemble philosophy to play in its production. Or consider the runaway success of Steppenwolf’s “August: Osage County,” which transferred to Broadway,  receiving critical acclaim and multiple Tony Awards, not by shaking it up with Broadway “names” but instead by virtually transferring the Steppenwolf production intact, with the addition of lead producer and fellow Chicagoan Steve Traxler. What makes Chicago theater—or for that matter, Chicago dance or any other form of performance practiced on our stages—special? We’d contend it’s the power of the ensemble, the spirit of collaboration that champions artistic risk-taking and subordinates the commercial. And so, in that spirit, the critical ensemble responsible for Newcity’s ongoing stage coverage presents our take on the most influential people on and offstage in Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »

Top 5 Shows

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“A House with No Walls,” Timeline Theatre

“The Glass Menagerie,” Steppenwolf Theatre

“No Darkness Round My Stone,” Trap Door Theatre

“The Birthday Party,” Signal Theater

—Monica Westin

Top 5 Shows

“Jon,” Collaboraction

“A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant,” A Red Orchid

“Be More Chill,” Griffin Theatre

“Men of Tortuga,” Profiles

“Picked Up,” Neo-Futurists

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Theatrical Experiences

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Columnibus,” Raven Theatre

“As You Like It,” Writers’ Theatre

“The Comedy of Errors,” Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“Romeo y Julieta” (Staged Reading), Chicago Shakespeare Theater/Shakespeare in Español

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Guilty Pleasures

“Jarred: A Hoodoo Comedy” by Tanya Saracho, Teatro Luna

“Speech and Debate” by Stephen Karam, ATC

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl, Steppenwolf

“The Little Dog Laughed” by Douglas Carter Beane, About Face Theatre

“After Ashley” by Gina Gionfriddo, Stage Left Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 New Plays

“Kita y Fernanda” by Tanya Saracho, 16^th Street Theater

“The U.N. Inspector” by David Farr and James Sherman, Next Theatre

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl, Steppenwolf Theatre

“Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat” by Yussef El Guindi, Silk Road Theatre Project

“Superior Donuts” by Tracy Letts, Steppenwolf Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Revivals

“The Maids,” Writers’ Theatre

“The Lion in Winter,” Writers’ Theatre

“Requiem for a Heavyweight,” Shattered Globe

“Plaza Suite,” Eclipse Theatre Company

“The Birthday Party,” Signal Ensemble Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Play Revivals

“Our Town,” Hypocrites

“The Lion in Winter,” Writers Theatre

“Requiem for a Heavyweight,” Shattered Globe

“Journey’s End,” Griffin

“M Butterfly,” BoHo

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Memorable Productions by a Smaller Theatre Troupe

“Multi-Purpose Doom,” Sandbox Theatre Project

“The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler,” Dog & Pony

“Termen Vox Machina,” Oracle Productions

“On My Parents’ 100^th Wedding Anniversary,” Side Project

“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” (original mounting), Gift Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Directors

Ann Filmer for “Kita y Fernanda,” 16^th Street Theater

Charles Newell for “Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

Sean Graney for “Edward II,” Chicago Shakespeare Theater

William Brown for “As You Like It,” Writers’ Theatre

Greg Kolack for “Columbinus,” Raven Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Musicals

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Grey Gardens,” Northlight Theatre

“Tell Me On A Sunday,” Bailiwick Theater

“The Full Monty,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

“All Shook Up,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 New Musicals

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Grey Gardens,” Northlight Theatre

“Songs for a New World,” Porchlight

“The Ballad of Emmett Till,” Goodman Theatre

“I Am Who I Am: The Story of Teddy Pendergrass,” Black Ensemble Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Musical Revivals

“Tell Me on a Sunday,” Bailiwick Theater

“Sweet Charity,” Drury Lane Oakbrook

“1776,” Signal Ensemble

“Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Lovers of the Night,” Theo Ubique

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Circle Theatre

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Worst Musicals

“Shout! The Mod Musical,” Drury Lane Water Tower

“Avenue Q,” Broadway in Chicago

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Russian on the Side,” Royal George Theater

“Gutenberg! The Musical,” Royal George Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Worst Musicals

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“The Kid from Brooklyn,” Mercury Theater

“Gutenberg! The Musical!,” Royal George Theatre

“Jekyll & Hyde—The Musical,” Bohemian Theatre Ensemble

“Sweeney Todd,” Broadway in Chicago

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Operas

“Manon,” Lyric Opera

“The Abduction From the Seraglio,” Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia

“Lulu,” Lyric Opera

“Porgy and Bess,” Lyric Opera (second cast)

“Don Giovanni,” Chicago Opera Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Productions of Shakespeare

“As You Like It,” Writers Theatre

“Comedy of Errors,” Chicago Shakespeare

“Much Ado About Nothing,” First Folio

“Merchant of Venice,” Boho

“Twelfth Night,” City Lit

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Touring Shows

“Saint Joan,” Shaw Festival Canada, Chicago Shakespeare

“Cirque du Soleil: Kooza,” United Center

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” Broadway in Chicago

“My Fair Lady,” National Theatre London, Broadway in Chicago

“Jesus Christ Superstar,” Broadway in Chicago

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Holiday Shows

“The Christmas Schooner,” Bailiwick Theater

“A Dublin Carol,” Steppenwolf Theatre

“A Christmas Carol,” Writers Theatre

“Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular,” Rosemont Theatre

“The Seafarer,” Steppenwolf Theatre

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Comedy Shows

“Impress These Apes,” Blewt!

“Shatter,” Pat O’Brien’s solo show at Second City e.t.c.

“Steve and Jordan, Respectively” i.O. Theater

“Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?” Second City e.t.c.

“PennyBear: A Collection of Miniature Plays and Curious Diversions,” Apollo Theater Studio

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Female Performances

Janet Ulrich Brooks, “Golda’s Balcony,” Pegasus Players

Christina Anthony, “Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?” Second City e.t.c.

Erin Barlow, “Red Angel,” LiveWire

Sarah Goeden, “13 Dead Husbands,” Sansculottes Theater

Rachel Quinn, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Circle Theatre

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Male Performances

David Cromer, “Our Town,” The Hypocrites

Usman Ally, “Celebrity Row,” American Theater Company

Steve Wilson, “Red Angel,” LiveWire

Edward Thomas-Herrera, “The Last Days of Beast,” Live Bait’s Fillet of Solo Festival

Daniel Behrendt, “Beggars in the House of Plenty,” Mary-Arrchie

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Out-of-the-Box Performances

“Inner Space,” Joffrey Ballet’s American Moderns

“Walking Mad,” Hubbard Street Dance Winter Series

“The Young Ladies Of…,” About Face Theatre

“Dr. Egg and the Man With No Ear,” Redmoon Theater

“One on One,” Hubbard Street Dance Winter Series

—William Rogers

Top 5 Dance Shows by Chicago Companies

“The Sky Hangs Down Too Close,” Lucky Plush Productions

“Nuevo Folk,” Luna Negra Dance Theater

“De-Evolution of Mudwoman,” Breakbone DanceCo

“Vintage Modern,” Same Planet Different World Dance

“American Moderns,” Joffrey Ballet

—Sharon Hoyer

Top 5 Overrated Productions

“Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe,” House Theatre

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Shining City,” Goodman Theatre

“The Glass Menagerie,” Shattered Globe Theatre

“Scenes from the Big Picture,” Seanachai Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Theatrical Disappointments

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Les Miserables,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

“Yohen,” Silk Road Theatre Project

“Richard III,” Strawdog Theatre

“Macbeth,” Greasy Joan & Co.

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

 

RECOMMENDED

As certain as there is eggnog and mistletoe, there is an annual production of Tchaikovsky’s best-known work. The Joffrey adorns the holiday confection with felicitous glitz and spectacle; bejeweled costumes, a children’s chorus, rapid-fire virtuosic solos (in the Land of Sweets scene) ornament the stage of the golden Auditorium Theatre—a plush visual gift wrap for one of the most famous pieces of classical music and dance ever set to stage. Featuring Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino’s elegant choreography, the Joffrey “Nutcracker” holds strong as a seasonal family treat and the gateway ballet for those who tend to run at the first sight of tutus and men in white tights; strap a giant rat king head on one of your principle dancers and all those fussy French moves seem a lot less stuffy. Sure, you’ve seen it a half-dozen times, but that doesn’t stop you from watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” every Christmas, or insisting your friends who haven’t do so immediately. Take the family, take someone who’s never seen a ballet, sit back and feel like a kid again. (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkway, (312)902-1500. December 18-28. $25-$100.

By Sharon Hoyer

This time last year, Ashley Wheater took the helm of the Joffrey Ballet, filling the formidable shoes of Gerald Arpino, who co-founded the company alongside Robert Joffrey more than fifty years ago. This, the first season under Mr. Wheater’s direction, is both a Romantic tribute to the masters who have directly influenced the Joffrey and a look into the future of Chicago’s premiere classical ballet company.

During a particularly hectic week with a ballet master sick and twelve days till opening night, Wheater took time during his lunch break to chat with me about the upcoming fall program at the Auditorium Theatre—as well as his personal experience as the third artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet.

“The company has worked so hard,” Wheater says between bites. “I think they’ve really improved; there’s a different quality to the work. And that was my goal, to show them another way of doing things. I feel the company is deepening and expanding in its talent and performance ability.”

Part of the growth can be attributed to fresh material. The fall program features the world premiere of “Age of Innocence—a nostalgic work by rising star Edwaard Liang, former soloist with the New York City Ballet. Inspired by the novels of Jane Austen and set to music by Philip Glass and Thomas Newman, Liang’s piece investigates the sensations and emotions roused by an empty ballroom.

“Ed is a very talented young choreographer,” Wheater says. “I wanted to bring him here because there hasn’t been a lot of new work choreographed on the company. I feel the choreographic process for both dancer and choreographer is so important because it deepens the understanding of the company. They get to explore the quality of their movement.”

Also new to the company is renowned master Jerome Robbins’ classical piece “In the Night.” Set to the Chopin Nocturnes, the piece is a series of pas de deux that explore three permutations of love and is, in the words of Wheater, one of Robbins’ most sublime pieces of classical ballet. The Joffrey is the first company granted a new production of the work.

The program opens with a tribute to the founder of the company: a revival of “Postcards” by Robert Joffrey—the first performance of the piece in twenty years. It is a fittingly romantic work, set to the music of Erik Satie and evoking images of Paris in the early 1900s. While there is a sweet nostalgia to the fall program, the overall theme of the year is forward momentum; the 08-09 season is entitled “Time to Move!”

“This is such a new beginning for this company,” Wheater tells me. “There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of energy, a lot of opportunity. We’ve moved into a new building,” referring to the new Joffrey Tower on Randolph. “We have a fantastic team in place. Christopher Conway took over as executive director last year and we make a great team; he’s done so much to move the company forward in an administrative position.”

Ashley Wheater has deep roots with the Joffrey—he danced with the company years ago, when he moved United States from Australia. Wheater has spent the last nineteen years with the celebrated San Francisco Ballet. Of his return to the Joffrey and his relationship with American ballet, Wheater says, “Chicago is, to me, a great, great city. To be a part of the cultural scene in Chicago, I feel a huge responsibility.”

When I ask what he’s learned from his first year working with the company, Wheater says without pause, “A lot. I had known Jerry Arpino because he brought me to America from Australia. But what I think is so special about Chicago and the people of Chicago—and the executive board, and the women’s board—there are so many amazing people in this city who love the Joffrey. So many people who’ve committed so much time and talent and energy. And all the dancers who’ve been in this company and kept it going and kept giving it the quality of dancing that people have come to expect. I realize how much everyone has put in and I’m really grateful.

It’s a really stunning program,” he adds. “I encourage anyone who is curious about dance and ballet to come out and have a look.”

At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 East Congress, (312)902-1500. October 15-26.

RECOMMENDED

“American Moderns” is finally here. The name of the program refers to choreographers that challenge expectations and broaden the definition of what dance can be. It is Joffrey Ballet, however, that is truly the master. Nowhere will you find such grace, athleticism and all around badassery as you will on the stage of the Auditorium Theatre right now. From beginning to end it is one delicious dance after the next. Paul Taylor’s “Cloven Kingdom” fits elegantly a company in top physical condition. I can’t imagine it fitting anyone better than Joffrey. The three dancers in Mehmet Sander’s “Inner Space” wiggle around inside a Plexiglas box in a way that defies logic. It is funny and fantastically absurd. The company premiere of Lar Lubovich’s “…smile with my hear” is a fresh tribute to Broadway composer Richard Rodgers and a light palette cleanser before the next of the evenings premieres. Twyla Tharp’s quirky choreographic feast “Waterbaby Bagatelles” is a definitively Tharp showpiece for the entire company. As schools of fish under the florescent lighting of a tank, the stars of these dancers glisten. Complex and joyous, this dance should join Joffrey’s permanent repertoire. There are four more performances of “American Moderns” left. I wish I could see it four more times. (William Scott)

At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, (312)902-1500. This production is now closed.