This is a photo of the grave of Charles Baudelaire.
Those red smudges are—we can only surmise—from your own lipsticked lips, readers, as you try to manage your grief that Episode 9 of Baudelaire In A Box has come and gone. Well, you have moved our hearts. We are announcing an extension of 4 additional shows of Unquenched at Stage 773’s cabaret theater, Thursdays and Fridays 11/3 through 11/11.
The two Friday performances are late shows. May we recommend coming for the 7:30 early show latest presentation by our friends at BoyGirlBoyGirl ? Then, grab a drink at the bar while we set up the crankie, and join us for Unquenched at 10PM. Double Feature!
We’re grateful for the support of the Medill School of Journalism’s Social Justice News Nexus in helping to underwrite our Haunted House event this weekend. Given their interest in the project, it’s no surprise that they summarized the show better than we could ourselves! Read their excellent preview of A Memory Palace of Fearhere and be sure to click the link for tickets at the end. Memory Palace is a timed entry event—we will do our best to accommodate walk-ins, but your best chance at not having to wait for an open slot is to reserve your tour in advance. See you there!
The Chicago Readerhighlights the “lovely, sweet-minded kind of darkness” of Baudelaire In A Box, Episode 9:
“Between the black-and-white pictures and the musical influences ranging from country to klezmer, the overall tone here is moody; even Mickle Maher’s slangy, comic treatment of “L’Avertisseur” (about the nasty yellow snake living in every man’s heart) can’t quite shake off the darkness. But it’s a lovely, sweet-minded kind of darkness, well expressed by the onstage septet.” –Chicago Reader, recommended
Just four more shows before we pack up the scrolls and start work on the last batch. Got your tickets yet?
We had a chance to sit down with Tony Sarabia of WBEZ’s Morning Shift to discuss and perform excerpts from the upcoming episode of Baudelaire In A Box (opening next Wednesday at Links Hall)
Oobleck Regulars Chris Schoen and Mickle Maher spoke with Tony about the history of the show, and the creation process, punctuated by performances by two songs from the show by Emmy Bean, Annie Higgins, Troy Martin, and Dave Smith. The whole segment is archived on the Morning Shift website. Have a listen! Then come see the whole shebang, crankies and all, at Links Hall, October 5-16.
Our next episode of Baudelaire In A Box, “Unquenched,” features new compositions from TEN composers, with contributions by Oobleck Regulars Jeff Dorchen, Chris Schoen, and Mickle Maher (who has written translations being set to music by Ronnie Kuller and Mark Messing. The list of composers is rounded out by Reid Coker (The Judy Green, Billy Blake and The Vagabonds), David Costanza (Art of Flying), Annie Higgins (Weatherman, Singing In The Abbey), Angela James, Abraham Levitan (Baby Teeth, Shame That Tune, Nerds On Tour), and Joey Spilberg (LamalJamal, Schtedoidish).
Panoramic scrolls conceived, illustrated, and operated by, as always, Oobleck co-founder Dave Buchen.
The show hits Links Hall in October. Tickets available later this month.
The sneakily subterranean Chicago Arts Journal’s fall edition contains an excerpt from Feng-shui Love Spells by Jeff Dorchen, as well as an interview with our own Diana Slickman!
Closing night, September 27, 2015 at The Tank NYC.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the New York shows.
Thanks to Jessica Sherman-Prince for the photo.
After three acclaimed runs in Chicago, Theater Oobleck presents the New York City premiere of Mickle Maher’s THERE IS A HAPPINESSTHATMORNING IS at The Tank, as part of their annual Flint & Tinder theater series. Featuring the original cast (yay!) and carpet (shudder).
The show runs September 11–27. TICKETSARENOW ON SALE.
After an excellent first week of shows, Song About Himself is back this week for the final five performances of its run at Theater on the Lake. These are what may be your last few chances to see this show. Come join us, won’t you?
THEATER-GOERS: If you’re finding buying tickets for Song About Himself online a chore due to byzantine rigmarole, to avoid the hassle call: 312.742.7994
Leave a message and someone will get back to you within 24 hours to confirm.
Or just show up at Berger park! TOTL sets aside a certain number of seats for walk-ups every night.
Our final Sunday performance, April 26, of Song About Himself will be a benefit for Chicago-based Literacy Works.
Literacy Works’ mission is to strengthen adult literacy, parent education, and workforce development programs by developing and providing innovative training and knowledge-sharing opportunities for professionals and volunteers.
50% of what you pay for your ticket will go to this fine organization. Advance tickets are still available.
The Chicago Trib’s Nina Metz gives Song About Himself three stars, saying:
Ultimately Maher is digging his finger around in that gaping hole of what it means to connect with another person — the wistful, persistent desire for it, and the technology that we’ve come to rely on to make so much of it possible.
Borrowing equally from WWW and W.W.—as in Walt Whitman, whose Leaves of Grass plays into the virtual poetry—Maher crafts an engaging, resonant online ode.
Chicagoland’s ten-year-old theater-critic sensation (and actress in her own right) Ada Grey came to see Song About Himself and posted this thoughtful review.
Excerpt:
People who would like this show are people who like poetry, lengthy posts, and clarinets. I think people should definitely go see this show. It is eye-opening and it will blow your mind. And I actually think that while I was writing the review I understood it even better than when I was watching it. So, I think it would be good if when you got home you could write down some ideas that you had about the show and you can think about those ideas for a little while.
Full disclosure: Ada Grey’s dad, John Henry Roberts, is an Oobleck Irregular, having appeared in The Golden Election by Marilyn Quayle and her Sister and Theater Oobleck and our staged reading of The Forbidden Bestsellers of Pre-Revolutionary France.
While the piece pulls from Walt Whitman’s poetry, no knowledge of the source material is necessary to glean deep, impactful meaning from the show. It is a rich psychological and metaphysical landscape through which to travel, even for those not well-versed in “Leaves of Grass.”
The Chicago Reader’s Justin Hayford weighs in on Theater Oobleck’s new play:
In typical fashion, Maher creates a world of ridiculous, ominous inadequacy, given mesmerizing expression in this Theater Oobleck premiere…
Throughout, Maher borrows specific lines and images from Song of Myself—ironically, a work fundamentally about self-reliance—as well as Whitman’s thematic spirals, intoxicating rhythms, and circuitous plainspokenness, all rendered with great clarity and warmth by Oobleck’s cast: Guy Massey, Colm O’Reilly, and Diana Slickman, who, astonishingly, work without a director, as Oobleck has done for 26 years…
