It’s time for the younger Democratic party leaders to step up. But who are they?on November 20, 2020 at 12:00 pm

I’ve Got The Hippy Shakes

It’s time for the younger Democratic party leaders to step up. But who are they?

It’s time for the younger Democratic party leaders to step up. But who are they?on November 20, 2020 at 12:00 pm Read More »

‘Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square’: The singer’s positively angelic in cozy Netflix musicalon November 20, 2020 at 10:00 am

We are a nation divided on so many fronts but I believe there are certain things upon which we can all agree, to wit:

Dolly Parton is a national treasure.

Who’s with me? Show of hands, please!

Ah. That’s what I thought. National. Treasure.

Netflix is churning out Christmas movies in volumes to rival those sheets of cookies your mom used to make that were shaped like trees and covered in red and green sprinkles, with the latest being “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” with Dolly Parton not only playing a guardian angel but contributing 14 original songs, each one sweeter and more melodic and, yes, cornier than the one before. This is an unabashedly sentimental, family-friendly mashup of “A Christmas Carol” with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” sure to leave you smiling and maybe even a little teary-eyed. From the opening graphics that look like something out of the 1960s through the happily-ever-after ending, “Christmas on the Square” wants nothing more than to make you feel cozy, safe and warm.

Netflix presents a film directed by Debbie Allen and written by Maria Schlatter. No MPAA rating. Running time: 98 minutes. Now showing on Netflix.

Not a bad recipe for these troubled times.

Based on the play “Christmas on the Square,” the movie retains a deliberately stagey persona, with most of the story taking place in an old-fashioned town square, where everybody knows your name and there’s magic in the air because after all, it’s Christmas time! (The square in “Jingle Jangle” was more cinematically rich and fantastical, but this looks like a fun place to hang out as well.) In the opening number, we see Parton as someone who appears to be homeless, holding a cardboard box that says simply: “CHANGE.” (Hmmm, perhaps there’s a double meaning in store for us.) She sings:

Christmas is a time for caring, being at your best

Christmas is a time for sharing, knowing you’ve been blessed

Christmas is a time for giving, love is made of this

Cause that’s what Christmas is

That’s about as deep as the lyrics go, folks. When it comes to musicals set in the buildup to Christmas, this ain’t “Rent.”

In a rousing medley to kick off the story, we meet some of the friendlier friendly faces of the town of Fullerville, many of whom have small businesses in the town square. Right there in front of the general store and resale shop, say hello to Treat Williams’ Carl — and while Treat Williams is best known for playing cops and heavies, let’s not forget how great he was in the 1979 musical classic, “Hair,” and he sounds wonderful here. Carl’s neighbors in the square include Jenifer Lewis’ Margeline, a feisty spirit who runs Le Beauty Shop, and Pastor Christian Hathaway (Josh Segarra) and his wife Jenna (Mary Lane Haskell), who have a small shop featuring clothes and toys for infants and toddlers and have been trying to have a baby of their own for some time now. We’ll also soon meet Matthew Johnson’s Mack, a single father who runs the town bar, the Lamplighter Inn, and Mack’s adorable daughter Violet (Selah Kimbro Jones).

Everyone has their troubles and regrets, yet they’re all grateful to be living in a town such as Fullerville — but that’s about to change, if Christine Baranski’s Regina Fuller has her way. Regina left Fullerville as a young woman and never looked back as she made her fortune in the big city, but now that her father (who was essentially the town founder) has passed away and left her the deeds to the town properties, Regina wants to buy up every last business in the square, demolish them and build some sort of soulless mega-mall. Boooooooo! Hissssssss!

Back home and ready to demolish the business district, Regina (Christine Baranski) reconnects with shopkeeper Carl (Treat Williams).

Jeanine Mason sparkles as Regina’s assistant, Felicity, who is in reality an angel-in-training a la Clarence Odbody in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Although everyone can see Felicity, only Regina can see Dolly Parton’s Angel, who, like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, has made it her mission to show Regina the errors of her ways and melt her frozen heart. Why, there might even be a chance for Regina to revisit the romance she once shared with Carl, who has carried a torch for her all these years.

“Christmas on the Square” pulls out all the stops, from Christian and Jenna pledging their love for one another even if they never are gifted with a child, to the Tiny Tim-like Violet hospitalized with a life-threatening injury, to some expertly executed group song-and-dance numbers (thanks to the legendary Debbie Allen, who directs and choreographs) to the most welcome spectacle of a glowing, glimmering Dolly Parton watching over the town and its good people.

Ho ho hooray.

‘Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square’: The singer’s positively angelic in cozy Netflix musicalon November 20, 2020 at 10:00 am Read More »

Roster decisions for Rule 5 Draft deadline due todayon November 20, 2020 at 11:05 am

Cubs Den

Roster decisions for Rule 5 Draft deadline due today

Roster decisions for Rule 5 Draft deadline due todayon November 20, 2020 at 11:05 am Read More »

With no games of its own this fall, EIU staff relishes Northwestern successon November 20, 2020 at 11:30 am

Prairie State Pigskin

With no games of its own this fall, EIU staff relishes Northwestern success

With no games of its own this fall, EIU staff relishes Northwestern successon November 20, 2020 at 11:30 am Read More »

DePaul cancels first three games of basketball season after positive coronavirus testson November 19, 2020 at 10:16 pm

DePaul has canceled the first three games of its men’s basketball season and paused all team activities after members of the program tested positive for the coronavirus. The university did not identify the people who tested positive.

“We have been able to sustain a level of productivity while facing the COVID-19 pandemic during the preseason, but unfortunately as positive cases have been increasing all around us, we now have to deal with it directly in our program,” coach Dave Leitao said in a statement. “We’ll return to the practice floor and competition after we complete all mandated protocols and procedures.”

The Blue Demons were to open the season on Nov. 25 against Chicago State. The Nov. 28 game against Alcorn State and the Northern Illinois game on Dec. 3 have also been canceled. The season is now set to begin Dec. 6 against Iowa State.

“Flexibility and patience will continue to be paramount this season as we navigate these unique times,” athletic director DeWayne Peevy said.

DePaul cancels first three games of basketball season after positive coronavirus testson November 19, 2020 at 10:16 pm Read More »

Thanks and givingon November 19, 2020 at 8:45 pm

This unholy year is winding down (or so we’re told), and as we veer between images of poop emojis and dumpster fires to do it visual justice, it’s hard to remember that there are in fact things for which to be grateful. For me, that gratitude comes in the form of recognizing how many theater, dance, and performance companies have continued to create in the digital world–one that wasn’t a familiar home for many of them before COVID-19.

In the early days of the shutdown, companies turned to their vaults to put something, anything, online (usually free) for audiences stuck at home. Not all of it was of high technical quality–many companies, pre-COVID, weren’t thinking of performance videos as anything other than a training tool for understudies, a supplement to grant applications, or an in-house historical artifact.

But these offerings were still a way to catch up with shows I’d missed in the past, and for that I’m grateful, even if I do see the point of those who mourn the absence of audience and live-ness in these not-quite-theater events.

In some cases, it was a chance to watch different productions of shows I’d seen live several times, such as Chicago playwright Mickle Maher’s There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, originally produced with Theater Oobleck and then at Houston’s Catastrophic Theatre. It’s still available via the latter’s YouTube channel, and it’s still one of my very favorite plays. I can’t think of a better one to celebrate the fleeting nature of life and the stubborn persistence of love (along with the enraging perfidy of bureaucratic institutions) as this year winds down.

Albany Park Theater Project’s Feast is a show I’d kicked myself for missing live during its several incarnations, but thanks to APTP putting up a video (beautifully directed by Daniel Andries and Anne Northrup) of the show’s 2015 Goodman run, I can finally stop kicking. A show about food, community, family, and the essential workers who keep all of that running for us is a perfect choice for Thanksgiving viewing. (Unless you’re saddled with xenophobic relatives for the holiday, in which case consider it part of the deprogramming process for them.) You can watch Feast for free, but it’s also available for sale as a DVD. Purchasing it might be a nice way to show appreciation for a company that’s been building the next generation of theatermakers and truth tellers for 13 years.

As the shutdown continued, more and more companies began creating original content, to the point where, just as with live shows, it’s impossible for me to keep up with it all. (And yeah, I’m not gonna lie–I’ve been doing some bingeing on television goodies I’d missed the first time around. I just finished Succession, which one of my editors had been pestering me about for a year. I now imagine 45 and his minions engaged in a ferocious game of “Boar on the Floor” as this nightmare administration winds down.)

That content has sometimes taken the form of real-time dramas streamed live, as with Invictus Theatre’s recent ‘Night, Mother. Some companies leaned into the Zoom format to make you feel as if you’re in the middle of the action, as with Interrobang’s The Spin, a play about a queasy-making political damage control session, which closes this weekend. Lifeline Theatre found a way to make Jane Austen relevant for the era of social distancing with their online version of Pride and Prejudice, which is getting an encore presentation through November 29.

The shutdown hasn’t stopped brand-new companies like Token Theatre and Perceptions Theatre from producing online and telling stories from marginalized communities. The latter’s digital play, Black Magic, is still available. The lack of historical support for BIPOC voices in American theater came into sharp focus with the very welcome arrival of We See You White American Theater (We See You W.A.T.) and their collectively created BIPOC demands for ways that American theater can decolonize and dismantle white supremacy.

In the local dance and performance realm, the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago just wrapped up its fall Dance Buffet digital series. And though live performances are still on hold, Links Hall is continuing its Co-MISSION residencies to support new work; in fact, they’ve expanded from four to six artists. In addition to rehearsal space and other in-kind contributions to developing new work, the residencies come with monthly stipends for the artists. Which seems like the sort of thing that, say, our government should be providing for struggling citizens in a pandemic-caused economic freefall.

So while I remain anxious about the state of the live arts this Thanksgiving, I’m also thankful for everyone who found a way to keep going. If you want to help the artists keep going, here are a few local funds to consider: the Chicago Theatre Workers Relief Fund, the Dancers’ Fund, Season of Concern, the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund, and the Chicago Artists Relief Fund.

And of course, donating to your favorite companies or buying swag from their online stores is also a welcome way to say “thanks for keeping the light on.” v

Thanks and givingon November 19, 2020 at 8:45 pm Read More »

IHSA delays winter sports decision again, will hold another meeting Dec. 2on November 19, 2020 at 8:49 pm

The Illinois High School Association has kicked the can down the road again.

The organization’s board didn’t take any meaningful action at its meeting on Thursday. Instead they confirmed the news released earlier this week that winter sports are on hold and said they would meet again on Dec. 2 to discuss where things stand.

In the meantime, all conditioning and open gyms are on pause and only outdoor workouts in groups of 10 or fewer are allowed.

“Taking into account the current state mitigations, the board believes that early to mid-December will be the most reasonable target to review the status of winter IHSA sports and activities,” IHSA Executive director Craig Anderson said. “The board is sensitive to the scheduling difficulties these delays create for athletic directors and coaches. However, our experiences this summer and fall lead us to believe that setting arbitrary start dates hinders the process even more. We realize it may seem redundant, but we have to preach patience as we await more data and direction from the state. Despite the obstacles this unprecedented school year has presented, the board’s vision to provide participation opportunities in all IHSA sports has not wavered.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health put basketball and other high and medium risk winter sports on hold in late October and said they wouldn’t be played until spring.

“We aren’t saying these sports won’t be played,” Pritzker said in October. “We are delaying the play of these sports. We are saying do training, do conditioning. Even the high-risk sports there are things they can do. It’s not like we are shutting the sports down. But these are all being moved into the spring with the hope that we will be seeing vaccines and treatments that will be effective.”

The IHSA attempted to plow forward and play basketball as scheduled but insurance companies wouldn’t insure the schools, forcing superintendents and school boards to opt out of the IHSA’s season.

IHSA delays winter sports decision again, will hold another meeting Dec. 2on November 19, 2020 at 8:49 pm Read More »

Nearly a century ago, Dave Tough helped define Chicago jazz drummingon November 19, 2020 at 4:20 pm

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

Dave Tough looked like a gaunt but elegant character in a classic film noir, and his life took some dark, dramatic turns as well. A poet and intellectual, Tough was also one of the original bohemian musicians, and while following his own unique muse he helped pioneer the hard-driving Chicago style of jazz drumming.

Tough was born to Scottish parents in Oak Park on April 26, 1907, and his interest in drumming took root at an early age. He was enamored with New Orleans drummer Baby Dodds, who’d become a fixture in Chicago in the 1920s and recorded here with Louis Armstrong’s famous Hot Five and Hot Seven bands–Dodds was one of the most important jazz drummers of the pre-big-band era, and one of the first to be captured improvising on wax.

While attending Oak Park High School, Tough made friends with saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Bud Freeman, who was part of Chicago’s famous Austin High School Gang. The gang got together as jazz-besotted kids, ages 14 to 17, at Austin High School in 1922: Freeman (C-melody tenor saxophone), Jim Lanigan (piano, sousaphone), Jimmy McPartland (cornet), Dick McPartland (banjo, guitar), and Frank Teschemacher (alto sax, clarinet).

Within a few years the band was frequently playing at the Lewis Institute, where Tough was taking language and literature classes, and he would often join in on drums. (The Lewis Institute no longer exists, having merged in 1940 with the Armour Institute of Technology to form IIT.) The Austin High Gang performed under several names as their personnel evolved, including the Blue Friars and Husk O’Hare’s Wolverines (the latter with Tough as a regular member). In 1927, jazz guitarist Eddie Condon led the group for two sessions as “McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans.” Those recordings helped make the young players famous, but the newly married Tough had already left to play in Europe, replaced by Gene Krupa.

Tough had become a full-time professional musician in 1925, the year he turned 18, and he worked with the likes of pianist “Jumbo Jack” Gardner, singer and saxophonist Art Kassel, and violinist Sig Meyer. He split his time between the U.S. and Europe in the late 1920s, often traveling with clarinetist Danny Polo. He played in Nice, Ostend, Berlin, and Paris with guitarist George Carhart and clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow. Lore has it that the Prince of Wales (who briefly reigned as Edward VIII in 1936) sat in on Tough’s drums at a gig.

Tough returned to the U.S. in 1929, playing with prominent big-band leaders such as Benny Goodman and Red Nichols and often recording with them in New York. After a break due to illness in ’32–probably the first time his drinking really laid him low–Tough returned to the game in ’35, moving to New York to drum for massively popular big-band star Tommy Dorsey as well as Red Norvo and Bunny Berigan. In 1936 he and his wife divorced, and he wouldn’t remarry till the mid-’40s.

Tough also kept playing Dixieland, and after leaving Dorsey’s band in 1938 he began what would become a pattern of jumping capriciously from one job to the next–including gigs with the likes of Jack Teagarden, Eddie Condon, and Joe Marsala.

Early in World War II, Tough became part of the swing orchestra led by clarinetist Artie Shaw, and after joining the navy in 1942 he played in Shaw’s naval band. He had epilepsy and was eventually discharged on medical grounds–in part because the disorder wasn’t well understood at the time, often mistaken for an emotional or mental problem.

Though slight of frame, Tough was a powerful player. A perfectionist who hated to take solos, he was known to gripe about the insipid, overly commercial music many bands had to play to survive. He had the skill and musicality to work with the biggest names of the era, but he was frequently dissatisfied and remained restless.

Tough did perhaps his most revered work with Woody Herman’s big band in 1945. Herman had gotten on board with the emerging bebop style and played an important role in popularizing it. Tough admired pioneering bebop drummer Max Roach, but he wasn’t a big fan of the style–he thought of himself as much more of a Dixieland drummer. His hard-swinging playing shepherded the high-energy stampede of Herman’s Herd, and it made him a star–but he saw jazz changing out from under him.

While Tough tried to develop a second vocation as a writer, his already serious drinking problem got worse. In November 1947 he played with cornetist Muggsy Spanier at the opening night of Chicago’s original Blue Note club at 56 W. Madison, but he was already in decline. “By the New Year’s Eve performance at the end of Muggsy’s engagement,” wrote Dan Caine in a 1989 Reader story, “it was clear that Tough, debilitated by booze, was at the end of his career.”

While out for a walk on leave from a veteran’s hospital in Newark, New Jersey, on December 9, 1948, Tough fell during an epileptic seizure, struck his head on the snowy sidewalk, and died. His body laid unclaimed in the morgue for three days.

Though Tough only made it to age 41, his legend lives on. Countless recordings spotlighting his mad drum skills are still in circulation on LPs by Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, and others. Drum nerds continue to study his groundbreaking playing, and I found a lengthy online testimonial by UK drummer Bob Henrit, most famous for his work in Argent and the Kinks, that discusses minutiae such as Tough’s technique of sawing pieces out of his cymbals. “He cut chunks out of them to broaden their sound and removed strategic rivets to shorten it,” Henrit wrote in 2014. “He was famous for his ‘blurred’ ride figures where the sounds of strokes seemed to run into one another; this may well have come from his choice of heavy sticks with a round bead.”

Henrit also quotes several jazz titans praising Tough, including Dizzy Gillespie, who had this to say about his unflashy but not-just-timekeeping swing: “Dave never got in the way; he didn’t overplay. What we need today are a few more Dave Toughs.” v

The radio version of the Secret History of Chicago Music airs on Outside the Loop on WGN Radio 720 AM, Saturdays at 6 AM with host Mike Stephen. Past shows are archived here.

Nearly a century ago, Dave Tough helped define Chicago jazz drummingon November 19, 2020 at 4:20 pm Read More »