(Full disclosure, my daughters Anna and Mollie do part time work and volunteer work with Quest.)
More disclosure is that I am not a theater reviewer and my theater experience is essentially non-existent. I did a review here a few years back on Quest's Peoples History of the U.S. In that case the subject matter was obviously political so I produced a political review. Evolution/Creation has a political component as well as you might imagine.
First let ME state categorically that you should go see this work. Since admittance to Quest productions is by donation when you leave, you can be assured of it being priced right. Don't be fooled by that though. This is a thoroughly professional production. It is being produced through March 28th on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm in the Saint Gregory Social Hall at Ashland and Gregory (1609 West, and 5500 North). Parking is available.
This is an original play with original music written for its ten piece orchestra and fourteen member cast. Opening night was this Friday the 19th and it is already Jeff recommended. (See the non-equity Chicago Jeff Awards listings.)
Avant Garde and experimental have meanings beyond my experience but they certainly seem to apply here. The audience is divided into two groups and each group is directed to a separate set of seats facing each other with the stage between. The stage itself is divided lengthwise into two parts with the orchestra stretching stage right to stage left and separating either side. Whereas normally in theater the curtain comes up after the overture to reveal the stage, in this case the curtain comes down after the overture to hide the orchestra and the stage on the other side.
If that is confusing don't worry. The point is that one set of music will be played twice to two different plays and the audience switches sides at intermission. One play is Evolution while the other is Creation. The artistic director, Andrew Park, who has been working on this project for several years had this to say about the conception:
Last year, I traveled to London and watched the revival of the 1955 play Inherit the Wind. This classic show tells the story of the famed Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925. For me, the London production felt unbalanced. Kevin Spacey played the lawyer defending Evolution in the classroom; he was level headed and quick-witted, multifaceted and specific. David Troughton played the prosecuting attorney fighting for Creation-only education; he was passionate and dogmatic, predictable and verbose. Whether by accident or choice, the production took sides.
The production is multi-media. Besides the acting, music and singing there is a lot of puppetry. To me puppetry is three dimensional cartooning and that is certainly the way Quest uses it here. The ensemble successfully brings all these elements together into an entertaining performance. One mark of an effective production is when you continue to ruminate on the show well after you've seen it. That was my experience. Again I recommend you see the work yourself.
After the break the politics. Since Park wants balance I will present balance, but perhaps not his idea of balance. So lets call this moment before the jump the SPOILER ALERT. Since balance will require some negatives to go with the positives, you would perhaps do better to return to this post after you've seen it so you can compare notes with me. If you are involved with the production itself then I would recommend you come back after the play has run. Here's why: what I am going to do is the classic shoulda, coulda, woulda. Folks working on any production know only too well the things they woulda done if only they coulda.
One parting positive word for you all thinking of seeing it: spectacle. It is quite a spectacle in the true sense of the word. Go see it.
Fox News has its style issues to be sure but they picked up on a practice that was, in part, at issue in the recent campaign finance disclosure complaint filed by Joe Laiacona and Rudy Lozano.
As many of you know, getting what remains of the fourth estate to stand up, take notice and actually report on these things is difficult and, as we saw with the Cohen campaign, sometimes impossible.
Kuddos to Joe and Rudy for starting this and for attorney Rich Means for carrying it forward. There's a lot more to this story. I hope Dane Placko does a follow up, though I would prefer he drop the "madigoons" attribution when he does.
James Warren has been sent by new owners to operate the Chicago Reader, and he wants you to know that Chicago corruption is no big deal. So says Warren's article, published today through the New York Times' Chicago News Cooperative. (NYT - CNC)
Warren's basic premise is "comparative tragedies," also known as moral relativism. As long as we can find worse corruption somewhere else, we should lighten up in Chicago. Warren begins his story with a description of Andy Shaw and Dick Simpson delivering a report that details the extensive corruption in Chicago and Cook County. Warren continues with a recitation of problems in other states and other countries, and concludes that Chicago is really doing okay, especially since we have a free press.
(Fourth in a series on Participatory Budgeting in Alderman Joe Moore's 49th Ward of Chicago. Previous: I, II and III.)
This is a report on meetings held in January. My next report will be on meetings held recently in February.
The first meeting was scheduled for January 7th and since it was snowing I took the el three stops north to Jarvis and the alderman's office where we were to meet. The meeting was to have included a consultation with Erma Tranter of Friends of the Park but due to the snow the trip time from downtown to nearly the Chicago/Evanston border had busted her schedule.
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) Signed A Letter Requesting Stimulus Funds For Illinois Community Colleges. According to a release from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, every member of the Illinois congressional delegation signed a letter urging Gov. Pat Quinn to provide "Recovery Act (ARRA) funding to expand the Illinois Community College Sustainability Network." (ICCSN, 4/14/09)
-Congressman Kirk Voted Against The Recovery Package Twice (Roll Call Vote #46; Roll Call Vote #70)
We respectfully ask that you bring for a vote before the full Senate a public health insurance option under budget reconciliation rules.
There are four fundamental reasons why we support this approach - its potential for billions of dollars in cost savings; the growing need to increase competition and lower costs for the consumer; the history of using reconciliation for significant pieces of health care legislation; and the continued public support for a public option.
Does this scenario sound familiar? The names of the objects and instruments of theft are different but:
Not helping the bankers were revelations this week that previous Greek governments have entered into secret deals with Goldman Sachs and other investment banks that allowed the government to borrow quietly and evade EU regulations in doing so. The deals involved currency swap derivatives that under normal circumstances would consist of a swap of assets, not a loan. But Goldman Sachs structured these deals so that Greece was given an upfront foreign exchange deal priced way off market and favorably to Greece. The contract generated at least a billion dollars of instantaneous foreign exchange profit for Greece. A reverse foreign exchange contract was also done for a far maturity date, and this off-market contract created a huge loss down the road. The net effect of these two contracts was that Greece received a billion dollars, and paid this amount back with interest far into the future. As collateral for the deal, Greece pledged certain assets, such as all of its proceeds for the next 20 years from the government-run lottery.
A billion dollars. Check! Far maturity date. Check! Off-market contract. Check! Huge loss down the road. Check! Pledged certain assets. Check! All the proceeds for the next 20 years. Ooops, no, 75 years! Government-run lottery. Ooops, no again, government-run parking meters! Goldman Sachs. Check-mate!
And there is more:
The people, or hoi polloi to use the ancient Greek term, are anxious to find out just how much of their future has been mortgaged to Wall Street. Apparently Goldman Sachs earned $300 million in fees on the first currency swap, done in 2001, and was back recently proposing that Greece sell off its revenues from its health care system. No one knows what else has been sold off and for how long, but what started out as a government financing problem has turned into a government bankruptcy problem.
Senator Harkin of Iowa is proposing a reform of filibuster rules in the Senate. When the next congress convenes in January 2011 their first order of business, as always, is to decide on the rules for the next two years. Changing the rules requires 51 votes. Harkin is proposing that the filibuster be changed into a process involving four cloture votes to end a filibuster. 60, 57, 54 and finally 51 votes would be required to move forward at each step.
Now via OpenLeft comes word that Senator Durbin is on board with that proposal.
Chris Bowers argues that it is a net plus for Democrats to support filibuster reform to whit:
The Senate should function by majority vote. While the filibuster makes it easier for progressives to block conservative legislation in the Senate, it is impossible to ever have enough Democratic Senators to form a progressive super-majority in the Senate. For progressives, eliminating the filibuster is preferable to keeping it.
The Appropriations Committee is important because discretionary spending goes through a two-step approval process. The first part is called the authorization. Committees with jurisdiction establish funding levels which are maximums for the government to spend. Authorization bills cover two-year periods.
But before the money can be spend it has to be appropriated. All appropriations go through the appropriations committee. Appropriations happen once per year.
Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) was born in 1951. Jackson was born in 1965. And Kennedy was born in 1967. All the other Democrats senior to Jackson are older than Edwards.
If Jackson doesn't get prosecuted for trying to bribe Rod Blagojevich, Jackson is in position to eventually chair one of the most powerful committees in Congress. This would put Jackson in a hugely powerful position to deliver resources for Chicago and Illinios.
Cook County still don't want nobody that Nobody sent. The Cook County Forest Preserve District is offering jobs to new high school graduates between the ages of 18 to 21. The pay is $9/hour.
The kicker: You have to get your CCFPD aka County Commissioner to nominate you.
The punchline: The program is named after Mr. Patronage himself, John H. Stroger, Jr.
Elsewhere here we have several posts about who we think would be a good choice for the Dems to choose to replace Scott Lee Cohen as the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor. One of my criteria when I start to think about who to support is one of "Who wants it?", first. I've never been a big 'Draft (fill in the blank)' for offices, as I think priority #1 for someone I support is that they actually want to serve in the office more than I want them to serve in the office.
For this thread, I suggest that people put the name of the person who has expressed interest in being nominated, and then a specific cite of where we've seen or heard that they've expressed distinct interest. If we don't have a direct cite, don't post it. For example, although I've heard or read that Boland and Turner want it, but I don't have a direct cite. This might cut down on wasted time talking about people like Hynes who have said that they don't want it.
It has taken a little time to process what I observed at the Illinois State Board of Elections. To the uninitiated---which may be everyone other than the handful of people who regularly work at the Board or appear before it---I think it’s fair to say it was a looking glass experience.
To summarize briefly, two candidates, Joe Laiacona and Rudy Lozano, filed a complaint against four candidates for not reporting the value of the litigation support and legal fees expended on their behalf in advance of the February primary. Each of the four named respondents---Representatives Burke, Mell, Sente and Zalewski---were engaged in ballot access challenges.
At issue was a disagreement about how the State Board of Elections has historically interpreted Sec. 9-1.4 of the Election Code. There have been recent rulings that suggest that the State Board’s interpretation may be shifting. Similarly, at the federal level, there have been contradictory decisions which is why the challenge embodied in the complaint seemed ripe.
Carl Nyberg has set up a Condorcet poll here for voting on a Candidate for Lt Governor now that we have lost Scott Cohen. Use this diary to discuss that poll. Or anything else LG related.
