Out of my head and into the world - starting with Sex with Strangers

As I continue to create my midlife crisis in 2011, I'm excited to move into April's theme - Inspiration. I used the frigid winter months to figuratively and literally clean house - take care of my body, my surroundings, my calendar, my mind. I've decluttered, pared down and cut back. Now I'm ready to get out there and seek  new ideas and experiences.  And April is the right month to get started.


It's still gray and bare here in Chicago; we're caught in the fifth season columnist Mary Schmich calls "Waiting for Spring." Her article about it in today's Chicago Tribune is hilarious. But I like e. e. cummings' sentiment for this time of year, 

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful."

I'm going to go out and splash around!


Originally, I wanted April to be the month of feasting on the arts. I intended to see at least 20 concerts, plays, readings, art exhibits and performances.  Then, I planned for May to be all about travel and experiencing new cities and sites of natural beauty. But real life has mixed up my schedule, so I'm adapting my plan and mixing up the months. I'll be traveling and devouring every cultural event I can for the next two months - and reporting back on how all this stimuli affects me. And I've already begun.

Sex with Strangers is hot!
Image from ChicagoNow. com
Photo by Michael Brosilow

Wednesday night I saw Steppenwolf's "Sex with Strangers", a play by Laura Eason that is right up my alley. It's about sex and blogging and literature and aging and hot younger men and privacy and trying to be true to yourself while attracting an audience for your work in this digital age.


My friend Mary and I have season tickets to Steppenwolf and we like to see shows there on Wednesday evenings after dinner and a half-price bottle of wine (Wino Wednesdays!) at the hip Landmark Grill across the street. Since we enter the theatre a tad buzzed, our first criteria for any show is - does it keep us awake until intermission? Sex with Strangers passed that test and more.


I loved it! And I'm jealous. I wish I'd written this play Laura Eason, you brilliant bitch! And I completely envy actress Sally Murphy who plays Olivia and gets to explore these powerful, topical issues for two hours on stage with her smoking hot co-star, Stephen Louis Grush. I've always been turned off by tattoos, but Grush's portrayal of Ethan is making me rethink the appeal of a heavily inked torso. 


I guess feeling jealous, envious, and turned on are signs of being inspired, right? April is off to a good start. Now I've got to go pack my suitcase for the weekend, cos I'm heading to  Philadelphia.


Sex with Strangers runs at Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre through May 15th. Go see it! Here's the link for tickets: http://www.steppenwolf.org/boxoffice/productions/index.aspx?id=505

What I Watched this Weekend: Star Trek, The Tempest and Jon & Kate Plus 8

This Memorial Day weekend I had the chance to view a an eclectic assortment of shows - the Star Trek movie, The Tempest at Steppenwolf, and the Jon & Kate Plus 8 season premier. Here are my reviews of each.

Friday night: Star Trek - An intergalactic roller coaster ride chock full of hotties & humor
This action-packed romp through space and time is pure fun, fun, fun! The special effects were great and I appreciated the treasured Trekkie "beam me up" and "warp speed" references, but the best part was discovering each member of the Enterprise crew as his or her younger self. The new cast is outstanding - Chris Pine is perfect as a brash, charming, daredevil Kirk and young Spock is surprisingly studly. Even the tattooed goth bad-guys were kind of hot. And while whole planets end in destruction, the violence is secondary to the good-natured rollicking cheer of the film.

The only thing I could have done without was Leonard Nimoy's appearance, boy does he look old with his wrinkled pointy ears. And Winona Ryder is strangely cast as Spock's mother. But I'm nitpicking now - just go see it!

Sunday afternoon: The Tempest - Only dozed off once!
I treasure my Steppenwolf season tickets, but I wasn't dying to see this show. Shakespeare's archaic language, twisted story lines and longwinded speechifying often leave me snoozing in my seat. And I wasn't encouraged by the barren and gray Steppenwolf stage. "Where's the set?" I whispered to my friend Mary, stifling a yawn. Then - kaboom! I was in the midst of a hideous storm.

The opening shipwreck scene was brilliant - something right out of Cirque de Soleil - with sailors dangling precariously from swaying rope ladders above our heads. I sat on the edge of my seat, heart pounding. This was no boring musty classic here. Things proceeded at a relatively brisk pace. Led by Frank Galati as Prospero, the talented cast interpreted the cumbersome language in a way that I actually got what was going on. And with the political intrique, magic spirits, love-at-first-sight, and slavery-bondage themes, there was something for everybody. I admit I did nod off a bit in the first act. But overall, it was a provocotive and cool show.

Sunday evening: Jon & Kate Plus 8 Season Premier - Compellingly cringe-worthy
My sixth-grade daughter loves this show, but all those screaming little kids and sniping parents stress me out. Still, I couldn't resist watching the season five premier last night. The sextuplets were celebrating their 5th birthdays, but the real action was watching Jon and Kate deal with the tabloid reports that they've cheated on each other.

I have one word to sum up their interactions - awkward! Kate is so pissed she can't even bring herself to say her husband's name and Jon slumps around like a sulky teenager. Obviously the strain of living their lives and bringing up eight kids on TV has taken it's toll. But it's so bizarre that they would continue to play out their private difficulties in public. It made me sick, and I think the exploitative producers should be ashamed of themselves. Of course, last night's episode got probably got the shows highest ratings ever.

Okay, that's my round-up. What are you watching these days?