not every one is a bell ringer

as you know if you follow this blog - we have seen some spectacular theater of late - but last night we saw the less than stellar Stone in His Pocket at Northlight.

here is the good news- for the most part, the cast does a fabulous job with the numerous roles the two cast members take on- and the swift character changes make for an intellectually interesting play (including the use of flashback scenes played out by the same two cast members in various character roles)

however- most of the audience around us (all speaking loudly at intermission) couldn't follow who the characters were (despite clear physical gesture changes when the new character appeared to speak) or the basic (and rather simple) plot. 

the draw here was to see how two men portray a dozen characters (including at least two female characters who our fellow theater goers argued over whether one of them was even female - LOL)

the female characters portrayals were the weakest link of the performances. The performances were laudable in their variety and the stamina needed to make such quick changes for several hours of dialogue.  but in the end their courage didn't hold the audience and half of our row left at intermission - two people in the row behind us left after a mere ten minutes into the first act-

so alas I cannot recommend the play but here is some of the information about it that was provided by the theater....

 

 

 

 

 

next play up- Strindberg's Creditors at Remy Bumppo Theater- next week - but first - dinner at Goosefoot!

a tribute to my husband

LOL- I know I know- I am not exactly Ms. Sentimental -

but here is the thing- life is sometime like the Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi song-

"don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone" and last night I was reminded of that again while dining with a woman I do not know named Laura.  I would describe it as - she was recently widowed - her partner of nine years Nick died ten weeks ago.  he was sick for a long time and was only 42.  I can only describe this woman as RAW with emotion and the newness of her loss. 

my friend Maryanne (who visited in February) also lost her husband of only five years just over a year ago- and having done what I could to support her in the process of grieving and coming to terms with such a blow to their plans for the future I realize that it is a good idea to take the time to "know what you've got" before it is gone....

maybe Phil and I will have decades more but in case we don't I want to mention how precious our time together is to both of us- we are so so so lucky.  we have each other, we have decent health and decent finances and the time to enjoy our lives together - the travel, the theater, the concerts, the restaurants, our lovely home(s) - we are so blessed. 

I thought about it this morning - thinking about Laura and Maryanne and wondered how I would go on...of course you do but I know I would think "what is the point?"

it isn't that I am nothing without him- LOL- far far from it....but it is that my life would not be nearly as "rich" in experiences if we didn't share them with each other.  and the challenges along the way would be so much more difficult to face if we didn't have each other. (even when the challenges ARE each other- LOL)

so I just wanted to take a moment to say how much I treasure Phil and all he brings to my life- thanks so much honey! I love you!

here is a recent photo of us- taken by our dear friend Aase last fall - while we were in Lund, Sweden.

back to Cyrano's

well we had been to Cyrano's once before for an evening of good food and bizarre company... see post from last winter called "two bottles of wine"-

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-two-bottles-of-wine.html

so when the opportunity arose to return to Cyrano's we were happy to sign up for the special meal in celebration of the Lascaux 3 exhibit at the Field Museum.  the menu looked great and we already knew Chef Didier was first rate- so we headed downtown to the area just north of the river for dinner.

this actually calls for a few of my personal favorite photos from the area of Lascaux- the Dordogne in France.

now on to the food-

the chefs and the winemaker introduce their contributions to the celebration of Lascaux III- then we have two starters and then the fish course, the main and the dessert:

the dessert came in a lovely little preserves jar and had to be "unmasked" to see its incredible combination of ingredients! - it was fabulous- I'll have six please!

and our take home prize was a commemorative glass from the winemaker for each of us!  next up- more theater!

a new year of CG

we have been away since the first of the year and so on Saturday we went to our first 2013 Chicago Gourmets event at Del Frisco's steak house on Oak Street in the rehabbed Esquire theater building. 

the menu was straightforward steak house - served by an excellent team of servers in a lovely setting-

DEL FRISCO

A p p e t i z e r 

Shrimp Platter

S a l a d s 

Classic Caesar or Blue Cheese Lettuce Wedge

E n t r é e s (select one)  

Filet Mignon 8oz 

Prime Ribeye 12oz

Salmon Fillet Tchoupitoulas Sauce
Sesame Seared Tuna
Si d e D i s h e s  Chateau Potatoes   and   Asparagus
D e s s e r t s

Chocolate Mousse,   Cheesecake with strawberries,  

Crème Brûlée and  Bread Pudding!

 

 

 

 

 
a filling lunch - so we didn't have a dinner planned - and Phil went off to a concert at the Old Town School while I caught up on my blogging! Later this week we have another CG event at Cyrano's (you might want to read the post on the last time we went to Cyrano's to get you up to speed -  http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-two-bottles-of-wine.html at that linked location.)

more incredible theater

we headed home on Easter Sunday and arrived on Monday night- by Thursday we were back into the depths of a busy social calendar.  On Thursday night we saw another amazing play- one I am still thinking about days later-

The play was The City and The City- an is extremely hard to describe in a short synopsis so I am going to just take from the theater's own materials-

the theater is right across from the El tracks near the Morse station-

an art installation is the neighbor next door-

as if we hadn't seen enough incredible theater in the last couple of weeks on Friday we also saw ANOTHER good play - at the Timeline Theater-

two more winners in our recent theater outings- and we have two more chances in the next two weeks as we go to Remy Bumppo for Creditors and to Northlight to see Stones in His Pocket.... will let you know how those are----