The 312 - March 2010

03/31/10

Good News for Jazz Fans: Ahmad Jamal and Brad Mehldau Coming to Town

On Tuesday, the city announced the lineup for this year's Made in Chicago jazz series at Millennium Park. Included on the impressive slate is an 80th birthday fete for the legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal...

Posted at 03:30 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/30/10

Tonight on TV: 'Future Food' Pits Molecular Chefs Against Eco Problems

We're not sure whose idea it was to fuse the molecular gastronomy crew at Moto, a noted restaurant in Chicago's West Loop, with a television series about saving the earth through better dining, but the result is Future Food, which premieres tonight...

Posted at 04:28 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (2)

03/29/10

Last-Minute Passover Dining Solutions: Five Ways to Avoid Cooking

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the myriad details of putting your seder table together, burned your brisket, or just don't want to cook this year, here are some places we like that you can turn to for help...

Posted at 07:14 AM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/26/10

Grown Person Finds Real Entertainment in 'Beauty and the Beast'

An avid theatre goer, Penny Pollack, Chicago magazine's dining editor, may have been the only person in the audience of Beauty and the Beast on Wednesday night who did not have a fresh memory of the 1991 Disney movie on which this touring musical production is based...

Posted at 01:04 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/25/10

Eighth Blackbird Presents Genre-Defying Head Scratcher at Harris

I'm a big fan of classical music's great and powerful dead guys (e.g., Mozart, Beethoven); but that's just it: they're dead. Giving feedback is kind of a challenge. So when eighth blackbird, the decorated contemporary-classical sextet, brings a freshly composed piece to Chicago...

Posted at 04:01 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/24/10

Overnight Trip to the 414: Five Great Things to Do in Milwaukee

Determined to get out of town for a night but at a loss when our plan A fell through, my husband and I were brainstorming over beers when inspiration struck, courtesy of a can of PBR: Milwaukee! It fit our criteria—less than two hours away and affordable...

Posted at 12:59 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (4)

03/23/10

No True History of the Zipper in the New Play at the Goodman

When you attend the theatre, little things can break the spell of the performance on stage. Maybe the person sitting next to you has an unsettling horse laugh. Or maybe some trivial detail of the performance causes your mind to wander...

Posted at 02:00 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/22/10

Nick Cave Previews the SAIC 2010 Fashion Show Over Fancy Lunch

Last week, I put on my go-to luncheon outfit and went to lunch at Terzo Piano with Nick Cave, the head of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Fashion Design Department, and Wellington "Duke" Reiter, the president of the school...

Posted at 11:20 AM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

03/19/10

Two-fer: Mitsuko Uchida Plays Mozart While Conducting the CSO!

Now that Daniel Barenboim is gone, CSO-goers have fewer chances to see conducting from the piano. Last night's all-Mozart concert, where Mitsuko Uchida conducted and soloed in piano concerti nos. 17 and 27, scratched that jack-of-all-trades itch...

Posted at 11:30 AM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/18/10

Johnny Weir Apparently Not Too Spangly for the Good People of Oak Lawn

Is he or isn't he too . . . ahem . . . spangly for a family show? That's the question once again glittering around two-time Olympic skater and three-time U.S. national champion Johnny Weir in the latest figure skating hissy fit over his masculinity or lack thereof...

Posted at 04:41 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/17/10

Allison Torem is the Reason to See Lookingglass's New Play, Trust

Whether you think Trust, a new play that opened Saturday at the Lookingglass Theatre, is a wallop-packing drama about cyberstalking or a made-for-television issues-movie poorly translated to the stage, Allison Torem is coming in for some universal praise...

Posted at 04:47 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/16/10

3-D Alice at the Showplace Icon in the South Loop: Worth 20 bucks plus food?

Luxury theatres sound fantastic in theory: ginger cocktails, bacon popcorn, plush seating, and, did we mention, bacon popcorn? But how often do you want to pay $17.50—or $20 if it’s in 3-D—for a movie?...

Posted at 02:48 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/15/10

City in Waiting

You wouldn’t expect Chicago to figure prominently in a book called Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. And indeed the book—the latest entry in the Oxford History of the United States—frequently looks eastward as Washington, Jefferson, et al. strive to form a cohesive nation under their new...

Posted at 02:16 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/12/10

Tale of Two Daleys

The longtime political reporter Ben Joravsky didn't think much of Evan Osnos's profile of Mayor Richard M. Daley in the March 8th issue of the venerable weekly as evidenced by this reaction piece, which posted yesterday at the Chicago Reader's website...

Posted at 12:02 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/11/10

Amanda Majeski Rocks the Lyric Opera

This past Tuesday, during the run of the Lyric Opera's production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, the Northwestern graduate and Gurnee native Amanda Majeski stepped into one of the leading roles as an understudy and wowed the crowd.

Posted at 03:22 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

	03/31/10 Good News for Jazz Fans: Ahmad Jamal and Brad Mehldau Coming to Town On Tuesday, the city announced the lineup for this year's Made in Chicago jazz series at Millennium Park. Included on the impressive slate is an 80th birthday fete for the legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal... Posted at 03:30 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/30/10 Tonight on TV: 'Future Food' Pits Molecular Chefs Against Eco Problems We're not sure whose idea it was to fuse the molecular gastronomy crew at Moto, a noted restaurant in Chicago's West Loop, with a television series about saving the earth through better dining, but the result is Future Food, which premieres tonight... Posted at 04:28 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (2)
	03/29/10 Last-Minute Passover Dining Solutions: Five Ways to Avoid Cooking If you are feeling overwhelmed by the myriad details of putting your seder table together, burned your brisket, or just don't want to cook this year, here are some places we like that you can turn to for help... Posted at 07:14 AM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/26/10 Grown Person Finds Real Entertainment in 'Beauty and the Beast' An avid theatre goer, Penny Pollack, Chicago magazine's dining editor, may have been the only person in the audience of Beauty and the Beast on Wednesday night who did not have a fresh memory of the 1991 Disney movie on which this touring musical production is based... Posted at 01:04 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/25/10 Eighth Blackbird Presents Genre-Defying Head Scratcher at Harris I'm a big fan of classical music's great and powerful dead guys (e.g., Mozart, Beethoven); but that's just it: they're dead. Giving feedback is kind of a challenge. So when eighth blackbird, the decorated contemporary-classical sextet, brings a freshly composed piece to Chicago... Posted at 04:01 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/24/10 Overnight Trip to the 414: Five Great Things to Do in Milwaukee Determined to get out of town for a night but at a loss when our plan A fell through, my husband and I were brainstorming over beers when inspiration struck, courtesy of a can of PBR: Milwaukee! It fit our criteria—less than two hours away and affordable... Posted at 12:59 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (4)
	03/23/10 No True History of the Zipper in the New Play at the Goodman When you attend the theatre, little things can break the spell of the performance on stage. Maybe the person sitting next to you has an unsettling horse laugh. Or maybe some trivial detail of the performance causes your mind to wander... Posted at 02:00 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/22/10 Nick Cave Previews the SAIC 2010 Fashion Show Over Fancy Lunch Last week, I put on my go-to luncheon outfit and went to lunch at Terzo Piano with Nick Cave, the head of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Fashion Design Department, and Wellington "Duke" Reiter, the president of the school... Posted at 11:20 AM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	03/19/10 Two-fer: Mitsuko Uchida Plays Mozart While Conducting the CSO! Now that Daniel Barenboim is gone, CSO-goers have fewer chances to see conducting from the piano. Last night's all-Mozart concert, where Mitsuko Uchida conducted and soloed in piano concerti nos. 17 and 27, scratched that jack-of-all-trades itch... Posted at 11:30 AM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/18/10 Johnny Weir Apparently Not Too Spangly for the Good People of Oak Lawn Is he or isn't he too . . . ahem . . . spangly for a family show? That's the question once again glittering around two-time Olympic skater and three-time U.S. national champion Johnny Weir in the latest figure skating hissy fit over his masculinity or lack thereof... Posted at 04:41 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/17/10 Allison Torem is the Reason to See Lookingglass's New Play, Trust Whether you think Trust, a new play that opened Saturday at the Lookingglass Theatre, is a wallop-packing drama about cyberstalking or a made-for-television issues-movie poorly translated to the stage, Allison Torem is coming in for some universal praise... Posted at 04:47 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/16/10 3-D Alice at the Showplace Icon in the South Loop: Worth 20 bucks plus food? Luxury theatres sound fantastic in theory: ginger cocktails, bacon popcorn, plush seating, and, did we mention, bacon popcorn? But how often do you want to pay $17.50—or $20 if it’s in 3-D—for a movie?... Posted at 02:48 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/15/10 City in Waiting You wouldn’t expect Chicago to figure prominently in a book called Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. And indeed the book—the latest entry in the Oxford History of the United States—frequently looks eastward as Washington, Jefferson, et al. strive to form a cohesive nation under their new... Posted at 02:16 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/12/10 Tale of Two Daleys The longtime political reporter Ben Joravsky didn't think much of Evan Osnos's profile of Mayor Richard M. Daley in the March 8th issue of the venerable weekly as evidenced by this reaction piece, which posted yesterday at the Chicago Reader's website... Posted at 12:02 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	03/11/10 Amanda Majeski Rocks the Lyric Opera This past Tuesday, during the run of the Lyric Opera's production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, the Northwestern graduate and Gurnee native Amanda Majeski stepped into one of the leading roles as an understudy and wowed the crowd. Posted at 03:22 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)

March 2010