Back in the saddle again

I got back to Chicago late Monday night, and I'm immediately making up for my four days away from the city by hitting the theater six days in a row. The things I do for you guys.

Last night I attended the press opening (or re-opening, rather) of A Steady Rain, Keith Huff's hit Chicago cop drama that ran at Chicago Dramatists last fall. It's now back in an open commercial run at the Royal George. I missed seeing it the first time around (one of my many 2007 regrets, but try as we might, we can't see everything), so I was really excited to catch it now. But then…well, maybe all the glowing reviews created unrealistic expectations in me, but I was underwhelmed. You can read my thoughts on the show at the TOC blog.

While you're over there, check out the TOC website's new design, which went live tonight. (Here's a direct link to the Theater section, highlighting our interview with Ambassador of Awesome Lois Smith.) And keep checking back, as we've received major season announcements this week from the Court, Goodman and Steppenwolf, and we'll probably be responding to those in the coming week.

One last note, referring back to my post last week about the cancellation of Assassins at Arkansas Tech. On Sunday, while I was in Arkansas, one of the local papers ran a fairly in-depth piece about the brouhaha; the skinny is that, in the face of pressure from across the country, including from Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman themselves, Ark Tech will let the show go on for four performances next weekend.

Comments

[Packrat]

Hi Kris-
The new look is interesting. One thing I'm curious about- it looks like the blog post on theatres that don't keep agreements to pay their actors/designers etc (with an implied focus on the Bailiwick) isn't a link on the blog anymore. What gives?

[RebeccaZ]

Somebody (me) looks at the theatre section everyday and I just wanted to let you know, Packrat, that the article was never in the blog section of the website, but was an article written separately that was included in the printed magazine. If you click on the link again, you'll see the picture to the right of Lois's picture, second down.

RZ

[RebeccaZ]

Sorry for answering the question posed to you, Kris. =)

[Packrat]

Oops! My bad. I look at the theatre section daily, too, but in the old format I guess I was mistaking some of the articles for blog entries. Thanks Rebecca.

[Bilal]

Kris -

Since you've taken your recent response post down or to a more private setting, I just wanted to mention that I appreciated reading it while it was available for public consumption. I don't know your reasons for taking it down, or need to know them...just wanted to say that I read it and thought it was a good post.

[Nick Keenan]

Seconded. I'm glad with Tony's increased coverage on the coverage that there's a critic out there encouraging all the enhanced transparency. It's not for everyone, apparently, but boy does it make for a healthier - and stronger -conversation. Reality checks all around are ultimately good for the art.