Two interesting newsbits:
Uptown Theater: The Chicago Sun-Times real estate columnist David Roeder reports today on action taken at last week's Community Development Commission meeting to help rescue Chicago's historic Uptown Theater, the 4,500 seat movie palace that has been closed for a quarter century. The Commission passed a resolution authorizing the city to "forcibly acquire" the property. What would happen after that remains anyone's guess.
So Far, but So Close: Tad Friend in this week's New Yorker confirms what many had long suspected - the Goodman Theater skull long claimed to be that of the insanely great - and greatly insane - Chicago improvisational legend Del Close is not. Apparently, people willing to remove a head from its body are hard to come by in our politically correct age, and so, after his death in 1999, Close - head and all - was cremated instead of honoring his last wish to keep his place in the theater by playing Yorick in Hamlet, among other, similarly corporeally-challenged roles. Tad Friend's tale of longtime collaborator Charna Halpern's quest to find a another cranium to stand in as Close's ceremonial self is less a story about the uncovering of a hoax than of a quirky, loving odyssey that ultimately became a fitting tribute to Close's legacy and spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment