Winter, Glorious Winter, December in Chicago
Frank Brichetto
Chicago Correspondent
Here we are, friends, amidst the Holidays and facing another winter. Exciting, isn’t it? We’ll get started right away, but let me remind you that several of our adventures this month, even some free ones, require advance tickets, so don’t delay. Get online and book your spots now so we can be sure to meet up and maximize our fun.
This is also winter holiday season for people of many different faith traditions. As we move through this busy month, let’s remember to be calm and respectful of everyone we meet, regardless of their faith, celebratory inclinations, or stressed-out bad attitude. We are called to be “of good will” after all.
It’s Thursday, December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day, so in memory of the “day that shall live in infamy” let’s spend a few moments in silence and prayer, hoping that we humans will someday learn to live in peace. It seems so especially important in the world today, doesn’t it? Praying for peace and justice is a good way to begin the month, I believe.
Here’s a surprise: at 3:00pm today, Sunday, December 10th, we are going to Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., https://chopintheatre.com, to see “Christmas with Elvis”. Playwright Terry Spencer Hesser tells us, “I was originally inspired to write this play when years ago, a friend of mine who was going through a divorce during the holidays expressed her disdain for the music of Elvis Presley. That is, until she got divorced. Then she connected with Elvis’s music on a level she never expected…”
This is about Trudy, who finds out on Christmas Eve that her ex-husband is getting remarried. She has been going through life lonely, anxious and slightly angry, and the news has her ready to unleash waves of misery upon herself. Before that happens, the very dead and not too debauched ghost of Elvis Presley himself shows up right in her apartment.
The Chicago Sun-Times called it “a hilarious comedy that touches the soul.” Trudy is played by Brenda Barrie, a Jeff Award nominated actress we’ll recognize from Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. While Elvis is played by Victor Holstein, a multi-talented stage and film actor/producer, and it’s directed by Dexter Bullard. Get tickets in advance, online at BrownPaperTickets, https://tinyurl.com/TrudyandElvis.
Tonight, Monday, December 11th, is a great evening to visit Lincoln Park Zoo. Zoolights will light up again this year with over one million glittering, sparkling LED lights in every color possible, and on Mondays it’s free. There are always new displays, and this year many have an “interactive” element. Like this one, over here, let’s get involved and interact with a few thousand brightly colored lights. It’s almost magic, isn’t it? Don’t you just love walking through the zoo, at night, with all these lights and displays? A few of the nocturnal inhabitants are walking about their cages, watching us intently. I wonder what they are thinking?
We haven’t done this in a few years, so please, today, Friday, December 15th, meet us about 5:00pm, on Michigan Ave. We can eat in Park Grill, right in Millennium Park; would you like to share an order of cheese curds? I’m having a bowl of soup and a Reuben sandwich, how about you? The burgers are great here, and come with giant pickle spears; try one. So, has anyone finished holiday shopping yet? Do our jobs and workloads have us all tensed up and nervous, or is that just me? Relax, breathe, we are here to have fun.
It’s just after 6:00pm, so let’s head upstairs, near the Cloud Gate, to listen and join in the fun at the Holiday Sing-Along in celebration of Chicago’s diverse holiday traditions. The music begins at 6:30pm, so we’re right on time. There have been a couple of different Chicago choral groups leading the song fests, tonight the singers are from the League of Chicago Theatres, a group dedicated to promoting and enhancing all things theater in the Chicago area. They are excellent, aren’t they? Christmas season has the very best music, don’t you think? Come on, join in! Don’t be shy – please, sing along! See how much fun this is!
Now look, there’s a tent that has hot chocolate, let’s get some and then look around up here before we head home. Cloud Gate and the Christmas Tree with the Chicago skyline behind, is a view never to be missed; did I just see you take a photo of Michigan Avenue reflected in Cloud Gate? Travel safely and we’ll meet again tomorrow.
It will be a totally different experience tonight, Saturday, December 16th, when we take in the Asian Improv aRts MidWest (AIRM) “Reduction 9 concert” at the Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave., https://mcachicago.org. Reduction 9 brings together an internationally renowned group of artists “…with a goal to construct a bridge between tradition and modernity in a single performance and define the contemporary Asian American and Japanese American musical experience. Accentuating the potential and artistry of refined subdued taiko performance, Reduction presents an influx of free fluid improvisational compositions amongst the steady melodies and rhythms of traditional Japanese instrumentation.”
This is sure to be both exciting and wonderful. Get tickets ahead of time at taikolegacy.com or the Taiko Legacy Hot Line, (312) 610-2581. Remember to also get tickets for tomorrow’s concert because we must experience the 28th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival that precedes “Taiko Legacy 20th Anniversary” Concert. For those who are not familiar, “taiko” refers to any of a wide variety of Japanese drums. If you’ve never heard them, you are in for a real treat.
Chicago is full of world-renowned theaters, and justifiably, the most famous is the Auditorium Theater, 50 E Ida B Wells Dr., https://auditoriumtheatre.org. So please join us there this evening, Friday, December 22nd, at about 7:30pm. The show, Sugar Hill, starts at 8:00pm. Here’s an excerpt from the official description:
Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker
An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.
SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.
A new, very American, classic jazz rendering of The Nutcracker Suite is in good order, and I’m sure we will thoroughly enjoy it. Take your seats, the curtain is about to go up.
Today, Sunday, December 24th, is Christmas Eve. We’ll be spending time with our relatives in Wisconsin today, catching up with nieces and nephews and their marvelous children. This will be oodles of fun: noisy, confusing, cheerful, full of both joking and good conversation over a deliciously roasted turkey with all the trimmings and sides. Pass the coffee, please. We have time for a table game, don’t we?
And now it’s already Christmas Day. Time to meet with the other side of the family. It will be a similar experience, with the addition of even more noise from sports fans as they cheer on their favorite teams and calculate the effect each game is having on fantasy football. The food is equally good, and we brought the best dessert, complete with fudge sauce. We hope that all our friends have a few days that are as deeply satisfying as ours have been. Tell us all about it at the New Year’s Eve party.
New Year’s Eve, is today, Sunday, December 31st, and it’s time to finish this hectic, busy, and wonderful year in style. Instead of the big-bash hotel parties, or wickedly overcrowded Navy Pier fireworks, we hope you can please join us at the MAC, https://www.atthemac.org. The McAninch Arts Center, at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, is hosting the New Philharmonic and Maestro Kirk Muspratt, with guest baritone Richard Ollarsaba. The show will reflect back on 2023 and look ahead to 2024 with a celebratory program of waltzes, polkas, light classical and pops music. There’s even a champagne toast! Mr. Ollarsaba has been described as a “meltingly smooth bass-baritone;” with “robust, flavorful, agile vocalism.” The last show starts at 8:30, so drive with us and we’ll eat at Lao Sze Chuan, 1331 Ogden Ave, Downers Grove, https://laoszechuandgi.com, on the way.
Now relax, sit back and enjoy the concert. Waltzes and polkas, oh my, this is different, and quite fun. Now we can drive back to your place in time to watch the ball drop and fireworks on your TV, clink glasses to another toast for the new year. Don’t worry, we’ll drive safely and see you in the morning.
Rise and shine this morning, because it’s January 1st, New Year’s Day, and we really want to get a good start to the year. So, dress appropriately, grab your skis and poles, maybe some extra clothes. We’ll drive a bit north and west of Milwaukee, and find some deep snow in the Kettle Morain area. There are lots of trails here, so let’s warm up on a few of the easy ones, gliding through the trees and across the open slopes. After this hectic year, getting out in the cold for some vigorous activity is just what I need to clear my lungs and my head. How about you? Are we ready to get out on some more advanced trails? Fast or slow, I love the smooth rhythm that comes with cross-country skiing. Let’s find a place for a quick dinner before we drive home, shall we? Thank you for joining us!
Today, Tuesday, January 2nd, unfortunately, is “Back-to-Work-Day”. Sigh. But hey, it pays the bills, right?
Thank you, everyone, for being with us throughout the last twelve months. It has been quite the whirlwind of experiences, hasn’t it? Well, friends, we’re now in 2024 (I know, I don’t believe it either), and heading straight into a whole new year of excitement and adventure. Join us again next month, please.
