By Kate Andries
I know, I know. This post is not about music. Not this time around.
Something crazy is going on in the world of Chicago theater.
(If there’s something in the water, send some my way. I’ll drink it out of Lake Michigan if necessary.)
For the second year in a row, a play originating and written by people in Chicago has won the Pulitzer Prize. This years recipient, “Ruined” by Lynn Nottage follows in the footsteps of “August: Osage County” which went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play last year.
So. In a world where spending money on frivolous things like going to a play or enjoying the opera is frowned upon, what does this string of awards mean for the theatre world? What about Chicago?
Chris Jones, theater critic for the Chicago Tribune, recently blogged about the crisis in the world of the arts, especially in areas like Cleveland, Detroit and Madison, where it seems the recession has hit hardest. Theaters are closing down, opera companys are cutting out pieces or shutting down altogether. Things are bad. They’re bad for everyone.
However, as Jones discusses in his post, the arts are a way to get away from the outside world, to retreat into the imagination. Escapism at its finest. There is a strange connectiveness in the air as of late. We are all in this mess together. This feeling of oneness is exceedingly present in the audience of Chicago’s myriad of live entertainment.
So why not grab a friend, get your mitts on some student tickets (or pony up if you’re a real person) and go get some culture.
Everyone’s offering discount tickets nowadays. It is, afterall, the fashionable thing to do.
2 Comments
April 22, 2009 at 6:11 pm
“We’re all in this together…”
Isn’t that a song? I’m pretty sure. Maybe Deathcab? You tell me, you’re the music guru!
April 22, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I do believe you are quoting high school musical.
In which case, a little part of me just died. Of shame. For both of us.