VITAL

On Stage with TCD: A Bye Week
On Stage with TCD

A Bye Week

With the upcoming holiday weekend, there isn't much starting up, besides a few items of note. We look at what's going on and why the next few weeks are going to be huge, like an elephant big.

Dear Ken Macha: Bummerfest! (40-35)
Dear Ken Macha

Bummerfest! (40-35)

The slightly greasy aroma of fried foods; the muffled rumble of motorcycles and fireworks echoing in the night; the same interchangeable headliners year after year. Do you know what all this means? It's Summerfest, Ken -- can you feel the excitement? You may not realize it, Ken, but the musical acts at Summerfest have a lot in common with your players. Let's examine a few of those happy and not-so-happy similarities...

The Winter’s Tale, told in the dead of summer

The Winter’s Tale, told in the dead of summer

If the acting of Winter's Tale shines, then it's the APT stage design that intensifies the illumination. The production has been set in the late 19th (and early 20th) century.....Set changes are inventively pared down to the modified placement of a single and simple chair.

Continuing coverage: An Open Letter to Skylight
Continuing coverage

An Open Letter to Skylight

An excerpt from Sarah Krieg Hwangs letter: Being a company with 501(c)(3) status means you benefit the public. If you benefit the public then shouldn't that public be informed? Don't they deserve it?

TCD Summerfest Group Blog: Day Three with Cultural Zero
TCD Summerfest Group Blog

Day Three with Cultural Zero

Those who wander around the Summerfest grounds near the lakeshore may happen across a tiny little stage that is getting no coverage whatsoever and isn’t even listed on the Summerfest website—the Refugee Stage.

TCD Summerfest Group Blog: Day One with Cultural Zero
TCD Summerfest Group Blog

Day One with Cultural Zero

Summarizing Summerfest's opening night with one easily-digestible anecdote.

Dispatch from a Chuck Klosterman book reading

Dispatch from a Chuck Klosterman book reading

"So, Michael Jackson is dead." So Chuck Klosterman, journalist/essayist/pop culture commentator and author of Killing Yourself to Live -- in which the writer visited famous rock and roll death sites -- begins his Thursday night lecture at Boswell Books.

Karma’s a bitch. Or is it?

Karma’s a bitch. Or is it?

On a bad day, I think the ouchy kind of karma is God saying, “Na-na-na-boo-boo.” But it’s more likely something like, “Listen, I’m paying more attention than you think. So shape up and give that whole ‘do unto others’ thing some more thought, wouldya?” The thing is, even though I’ve made some questionable decisions in my youth, in haste and/or under the influence, I’m generally a nice person. So what gives with this whole boomerang effect anyway?

Love and Respect, 100 Years Later: The Philanderer at American Players Theatre
Love and Respect, 100 Years Later

The Philanderer at American Players Theatre

Contrasted against a rugged outdoor setting, the sumptuous turquoise and red late 19th-century scenery at the American Players Theatre production of The Philanderer prepares the audience for contrasts that George Bernard Shaw invokes in his play. Progressive for the time (it was banned at first by British Censorship in 1893), the story contains themes of feminine vs. masculine, father vs. daughter, love vs. lust, and marriage vs. friendship - all mingling together in a captivating script performed by the APT in their Spring Green home.

Move On, Folks, Ain’t Nothin’ to See Here

Move On, Folks, Ain’t Nothin’ to See Here

When I found myself writing about Le Affaire Flynn/McBride last week, I promised myself that I’d return with a thoughtful reflection on why these stories are so irresistible. Then the Mark Sanford story broke and last week seems so, so long ago.

I Hope I Get It: Chorus Line brings renewed relevance to the stage
I Hope I Get It

Chorus Line brings renewed relevance to the stage

In a time in which theater is hurting due to the economy, and in a pop culture environment of reality show competition formats - think American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother, where unknowns compete for a semblance of fame - the current national tour of A Chorus Line is more relevant than ever.

Deep-Fried Romantic: For your consideration, an ALDI flyer in June
Deep-Fried Romantic

For your consideration, an ALDI flyer in June

On the front cover, young white kids are blasting each other with water cannons attached to an 18-foot self-contained water slide. There is no sense of place like a backyard or street since the photo has been skillfully edited. The price? $199.99 each. Not bad, considering most above or in-ground pools run more than that. Four tickets to Noah's Ark in the Wisconsin Dells costs almost $150.00 (not counting transportation).