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Friday, September 7, 2012
Oberhofer Coming To Congress Theater 11/10
Thursday, September 6, 2012
ChiIL Live Shows Sunday At North Coast Music Fest #photo filled recap
Here are ChiIL Live Shows' Shots of Sunday at North Coast Music Festival 2012
Sunday highlights were Chi-town's own Mathien, pictured below.
Mathien even got the "shreddy shirt boy" sighting seal of approval!
We really dug seeing Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans again this year (we also shot them opening for Dumpstaphunk at the after party at Bottom Lounge Sunday night).
Official NCMF After Party Rebirth Brass Band, Dumpstaphunk, Lou Dooben, DJ RC
Even security got in on the squirt gun fun
We also checked out the vendors including the Chevy street team. I told them I'd just won a week loan of an Inferno Orange Camaro SS and they said, "What are you doing HERE, girl?! You should be out driving that convertible!!!!!"
We did see a number of families and kids Sunday.
More highlights were Van Ghost, Big Boi and Pretty Lights.
The Van Ghost girls, and Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band) in particular, just killed it with their stellar vocals and horns. Sure there were some state of the art DJs & super stars at NCMF, but we chose to go old school and focus our lens predominantly on the musicians playing actual instruments and singing instead of the Mac/ scratch fever crew.
Of course we also shot a lot of the creative, costumed crowd like this cow boy below who's out standing in his field.
We wanna see a band named SLUTHAT next year..... Whose with me?!
It was great to see familiar faces from the music industry/press world/blogosphere like Michael Berge, Michael Raspatello, Amy Ravit Korin (AKA: Interactive Amy) and August Forte!
We hit the fest early Sunday afternoon with the plan to shoot most of Mathien's 2:30 set, then hit IndigoSky. Unfortunately the media/photo pass SNAFU screwed up our shoot schedule again. With no separate press entrance, I had to wait behind hundreds of festival goers to even get in, and then security gave me a hassle again about bringing in my gear.
Year 1 we had lanyards/all access. Year two we had a photo pit wrist band which wasn't ideal, but passable. This year, we were approved for two media credentials, but someone had the brilliant idea that GA tickets would suffice.
We were unable to shoot Friday at all, since security wouldn't let me in with my pro-camera gear and I had nothing to prove I really had press clearance. I tried for over an hour to get someone on the walkie to get me in with my gear, and finally left in disgust. I'd taken the el down and couldn't very well just ditch thousands of dollars in cameras outside the gate. We were bummed not to catch King Khan & the Shrines, Knife Party and STS9.
Later that night I e-mailed all my contacts on the fest production end and they assured me I had clearance to bring in a camera as press and that the gate fiasco was a mistake. Yet we had the same issue again Sunday with security and were held up at the gate so long we missed shooting all of IndigoSky and just caught Mathian's final song after literally running across to the far side of the fest. Grrrr.
Saturday went smoothly, aside from wasting shoot time in a mass of GA at the main gate and long lines for basics like portalets and water. Every other major music fest we cover has a press area with free water and uncrowded toilets so press can work more efficiently. It's a no brainer really. Lollapalooza's press lounge is great, with a plentiful water and iced tea, private toilets, chairs for interviews, a free happy hour, swag, and more. Unless things change for the better, this may be the last time we take the time to cover North Coast. They seemed bent on making it as hard as possible for me to do my job and get good coverage for our readers!
Then I ran into one of the NCMF producers I've known for years, who FINALLY kicked me a guest wristband. I still couldn't get any pit photos like we usually run here, but it was a big improvement over nothing. Check out our extensive NCMF 2011 coverage where I shot pit photos from dawn to dusk every day of the fest.
That said, we'll be shooting stills again and catching Mathian's whole set at Reggies Rock Club this Saturday. Come on out and check 'em out. They're excellent. Mathien's on at 7pm sharp, so come early. ALL AGES.
Here's the scoop:
TRIBAL SEEDS
From San Diego, California, award-winning reggae group Tribal Seeds have become known for their spiritually driven, refreshing rock vibe they have infused with the roots style of reggae music.
BALLYHOO!
A rock band with punk energy and pop, reggae grooves, Baltimore’s BALLYHOO! are a fun, fan-loving powerhouse.
MATHIEN
Till next year NCMF....
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
ACT OUT: Profile Theatre's Sweet and Sad Highly Recommended #Review
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Brosilow
Kate Harris (blue dress ), to her right is Eric Burgher sitting next to Kristin Ford and holding hands across the table with Harmony France. Darrell W. Cox is wearing a white shirtPROFILES THEATRE
Sweet and Sad (Midwest Premiere)
by Richard Nelson
Directed by Joe Jahraus
ChiIL Live Shows had the great pleasure of seeing Sweet and Sad on opening night. This is one of the most eloquent memorials to 9/11 out there. The truths that lie in the things spoken, the things forgotten, and the things remembered but left unsaid, speak volumes. Truly, memorials may stand and mark the scene of tragedies large enough to reshape the world, but the purest memorials lie in the works of art, theatre, music, spoken and written word that arise from the effects on real people. Sweet and Sad deals with losses as intimate and personal as the suicide of a child and the slow loss of a life time's worth of memories, and with mass losses like the death toll of 9/11 and our country's loss of innocence, invincibility and sense of security.
Sweet and Sad
is a
thought provoking
must see.
The scene opens on a stark and barren stage, leaving everything to the audience's imagination. Then the trappings of polite society are unfurled, physically and metaphorically, as an Oriental rug is rolled out, a table is set for a large, family brunch, and a buffet of real food is paraded out. As the Apple extended family digs in to their meal and each other, the audience becomes a fly on the wall, in this highly engaging, realistic, family ritual. It's amazing just how effectively Profiles was able to pull off a theatre in the round production in their intimate, new space. The banter and timing come off realistically, and there are certainly funny moments and more than a few chuckles of recognition of real life "characters".
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Brosilow
Robert Breuler with castOf course, with another impending 9/11 anniversary next week and the election buzz in full swing, this show is as timely as ever. In fact, they are adding a special extra 9/11 performance.
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Brosilow
Darrell W. Cox standing over Robert BreulerSweet and Sad is an excellent choice to introduce The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway, next door to Profiles Theatre's long time home, now called The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway. The Second Stage, rental space, has now been transferred to Rare Terra Theatre Company as of August 15th.
Featuring Profiles ensemble members Darrell W. Cox and Eric Burgher with Robert Breuler, Kristin Ford, Harmony France and Kate Harris
August 17 – October 7, 2012
Profiles Theatre, The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway
Tickets: $30 - $40
Box Office: www.profilestheatre.org or (773) 549-1815
With Sweet and Sad, Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Nelson continues his series of plays exploring the immediate present and the ever-changing state of the nation. Over Sunday brunch on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the Apple Family finds themselves talking about loss, remembrance and the family struggle to maintain its moral equilibrium in a world that no longer reflects its values.
Profiles Theatre’s production follows the highly acclaimed world premiere at The Public Theater in New York last season. Named one of the top ten plays of the year by the New York Times, New York Magazine and Bloomberg News, Sweet and Sad is part of Richard Nelson’s planned series of four works charting the changes undergone by an extended family from the village of Rhinebeck, New York. Beginning with That Hopey Changey Thing in 2010 and the upcoming Sorry opening at The Public Theater in October 2012, the plays take place in real time and have their World premiere on the dates they are set.
Regular Run: August 24 – October 7, 2012
Schedule: Thurs., Fri.: 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 5:00 p.m. and 8:00p.m. (no 5pm show August 18 and 25)
Sunday: 7:00 p.m.
Added Performance: Tuesday, September 11 at 8 pm
Location: Profiles Theatre, The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway
Parking is available for $10 - $12 at 4100 N. Clarendon
(One block east of the theatre at the corner of Clarendon and Belle Plaine)
Ticket prices:
Thursdays are $35, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are $40; Tuesday, September 11 tickets are $40. Students and Senior Citizens receive a $5 discount on all performances; Group rates are available.
Box Office: Buy online at www.profilestheatre.org
or call (773) 549-1815
Now that Profiles has new digs, they're off to a great start to their 24th season, with two openings in rapid succession. ChiIL Live Shows will be there for opening night of After tonight (9/5) and we'll have a full review shortly.
Profiles Theatre continues 24th Season
with the Midwest premiere
of After by Chad Beckim
directed by Matt Hawkins
Profiles Theatre announces the Midwest premiere of After by Chad Beckim, the second show of the company’s 2012-2013 season. After, directed by guest artist Matt Hawkins, runs August 31-October 14, 2012. Performances are held at Profiles original venue, The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway.
When a wrongfully imprisoned man is exonerated by DNA evidence after seventeen years in prison, he is forced to re-assimilate into a cold, foreign world of toothbrush shopping, doggy day care, and a friendship with an anxious young woman with secrets of her own. After is a compassionate portrait of a man struggling with the challenges of socializing and the anger he still feels for having his youth unjustly destroyed.
After, written by Chad Beckim, received its World premiere production in September 2011 by Partial Comfort Productions in New York where he is co-Founder and co-Artistic Director. His playwriting credits include …a matter of choice, `nami and Lights Rise on Grace which won Outstanding Play at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival and finalist for the 2007 Princess Grace Award. Chad holds an MFA in Playwriting from Mac Wellman’s Brooklyn Colleges Program and in July 2007, he was named one of 50 Playwrights to Watch by the Dramatists Guild.
Matt Hawkins (director of Cabaret at The Hypocrites) directs for the first time at Profiles. The production features guest artists Alice da Cunha, Carlos Rogelio Diaz, J. Salome Martinez, Stephenie Park, Gabriel Ruiz and Foster Williams, Jr., all making their debut with Profiles Theatre.
“There’s a delicate balance to my work; a dark, often bare-knuckle aesthetic entwined with levity, heart and hope,” says playwright Chad Beckim. “This is particularly true in the slippery landscape of After which demands a bold production team. Like any playwright, I’ve longed to find a home in Chicago, and am thrilled that Profiles Theatre—a company with a rich history of staging similarly daring voices and intrepid worlds – has carved out space for my baby. I’m eager to see how audiences of such a theatrically savvy company in such a theatrically savvy town embrace this story.”
The designers are Dan Stratton (set), Bekki Lambrecht (lights), Jeffrey Levin (sound and original music), and Brittany Bodley (costumes). Krissy Larson is the stage managerand Elise Spoerlein serves as assistant director.
After is the second production of Profiles Theatre’s 24th season. The Midwest premiere of Sweet and Sad by Richard Nelson opens at Profiles Theatre’s Main Stage on August 24, 2012. The season also includes the 20th Anniversary production of Hellcab by Will Kern, and the Midwest premieres of The Dream of the Burning Boy by David West Read andThe Break of Noon by Neil LaBute.
Tickets for After are $35 for Thursdays, $40 for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are available by phone, (773) 549-1815, or online, www.profilestheatre.org. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 5:00 and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 7:00 p.m.
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