Monday, March 25, 2019

Sunday in Chicago: Blueberry pancakes accidentally spiced with hot sauce. A walk through a foggy glass city. An invisible neighbor practicing the tuba. Teeny-tiny dioramas of the ancient Egyptian embalming process. The best banh mi sandwich I've ever eaten. An addled man urinating against a giant mural of Frieda Kahlo. An elegant glossy theater containing a play about angry drunken steelworkers. Spatters of cold rain. A family at midnight in a dive bar, drinking surprisingly good beer and shouting happily at each other over a dreadful jukebox soundtrack of death metal.

Monday in Chicago: Me getting up too early because I have to work. Wishing for more coffee. Listening to traffic and trains. Watching the clouds scud over the churches. Blue sky.

4 comments:

David X. Novak said...

I can't speak for Nottage as a playwright, but Ron OJ Parson is one of the city's absolute best directors, so I trust the production was good.

Goodman isn't a favorite venue of mine, but we have a plethora of good spaces. Steppenwolf has a great bar if you happen to get there. There's not enough time to eat or theater your way through this city, but I am curious where you got the banh mi - quality at our favorite place took a dive and we haven't had one in a while.

Blue skies make a difference.

Dawn Potter said...

The place is called Simply It, and I think it's in Lincoln Park. Unfortunately it seems to be for sale, so who know how long it will be an option.

David X. Novak said...

Thank you. We'll try to check it out when we're in the area.

David X. Novak said...

Initially I hadn't intended to see the play, but did last night. While I enjoyed it, and find it memorable, I was overall disappointed:
http://www.davidxnovak.org/news/sweat-by-lynn-nottage-at-the-goodman

(Getting to the banh mi might be more difficult...)