Like so many shows headed to Broadway, Chicago is the test market to work the kinks out.  Such is the case for The Devil Wears Prada the Musical now playing at the James M. Nederlander Theatre through August 21st.

The music by Elton John is great, and the choreography by James Alsop is exciting and clean. I had the opportunity to speak with James and asked her what her favorite number in the show is. She responded, “Oh my goodness. Well, it’s really difficult for me to pick out my favorite dance number in the show only because the entire story and the music and the show, they all touch on different types of music and different types of dances, which pulls out these different styles that are specific to just the song. So, they, each to me feel so right for each song that it’s really difficult for me to pick out one. If I had to, if I had to sell you on anything, I would just say the end of Act One is quite something. I’ll leave it at that.” I must agree with her, the end of Act One is pretty good.

The set design is great, and I must give an ovation to the smooth set changes. They become a character of the show.

 The book by Kate Wetherhead needs a little work in places in the second act. Conversations between Miranda and Andy are sometimes stiff.

Weak links for me were Michael Tacconi as boyfriend Nate Angstrom.  There was absolutely no connection with Andy as her boyfriend.  He is more in the ‘friend’ zone attitude. When they break up it’s like he is saying “Oh Well,” and when they come back together it’s more, “Sure, we can get back together…or not, I don’t care.”

The other disappointment was the fashion. With costume design by Academy Award-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips, I expected to leave the theater talking non-stop about the amazing fashions.  There were more creations in the audience that garnered being remembered than on the stage.  With one exception, the wardrobe for Emily (Megan Masako Haley) was different, eye-catching, and memorable. Unfortunately, most of the other costumes were just that, costumes. 

I love, love, loved the diversity in the cast and the amazing voices. Taylor Iman Jones who plays the lead Andy Sachs is funny, her voice is amazing, and she embodies the role.  Tony Award winner Beth Leavel as Miranda Priestly does not mimic Meryl Streep but makes the role her own and works it. She is amazing.  Another stand-out in the show is Megan Masako Haley as Emily Charlton.  She has the right amount of grit, and just enough condescending attitude to make the role believable.  Last but not least, I must mention Javier Munoz as Nigel Owens.  One of my favorite characters in the film became a favorite in the stage production as well.

With all that being said, the question is “Is The Devil Wears Prada the Musical worth seeing?”  Yes, it is. It’s a fun evening with surprises and energy. As I said, they are getting the kinks out before heading to Broadway.  I am sure it will be a major success but just needs a little work.

Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky! 

Dewatering is one of the most crucial steps in preconstruction. Removing groundwater from the worksite helps prevent damage to the surrounding environment, protects workers and gives you a stronger foundation to build on.

Given that this is such an important process, there’s a lot of room for error. Any mistakes can have costly consequences, so you’ll want to prevent them as much as possible. Here are five mistakes to avoid when dewatering a construction site.

1. Overlooking Permits and Regulations

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in dewatering is forgetting to check local regulations first. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires daily inspections and sampling to ensure operations meet general standards. If you don’t want to run into legal trouble, you should check these standards and ensure you follow them.

Remember that each state may have additional regulations you must abide by for legal dewatering. These can vary and may change over time, so always check before each job to ensure you follow the most recent and relevant rules. You may have to get some permits before starting, too.

2. Choosing the Wrong Dewatering Method

You can start the dewatering process once you have all the permits and regulatory checks in place. A common mistake to make here is choosing the wrong method. There are many ways to dewater your site, each with its own benefits and disadvantages, so you should ensure you select the best one for the job.

Sump pumps are the most common method for dewatering a worksite, but they’re not always the best. Deep well dewatering may be a better choice if you’re in a low-lying area with a lot of water that needs to move, despite the higher costs.

3. Leaving Collected Water Unprotected

Another dewatering mistake to avoid is not protecting the water you move away from the worksite. This may seem unnecessary initially, but consider that the water doesn’t disappear once it’s off-site. It has to go somewhere else, and leaving it unprotected means it could collect contaminants and endanger the environment or drinking water.

Similarly, it’s important to filter the surface water of sediment and other contaminants to minimize the environmental impact. UV light will kill bacteria and viruses, but you don’t necessarily have to go that far. A clean, intact dewatering bag will provide sufficient filtration.

4. Not Monitoring for Erosion

Make sure you check for any signs of erosion as you pump water off-site. Human activity already increases soil erosion up to 1,000 times its natural rate, and dewatering can easily contribute to that if you’re not careful.

Regulations require you to check the work site at least daily anyway, so while you’re there, look around for signs of erosion. Stop the operation if you see large clumps of soil coming undone or the nearby ground falling away. Catching and responding to this as soon as possible helps minimize the damage.

5. Improperly Discharging Water

It’s essential to think carefully about where you discharge the water you move from the construction site. You can send it into natural bodies like lakes and rivers with a permit, but remember that some states have turbidity limits that require this water to be clean enough before disposal.

Filtering and cleaning water before discharging as much as possible is a good practice to minimize environmental risks regardless of location. You should also choose a discharge site with minimal erosion risks and a lack of sensitive wildlife. Picking a nearby area can also help lower costs and transportation emissions.

Dewater Your Site Safely and Effectively

Dewatering a construction site is fairly straightforward on the surface, but there’s a lot to consider when running these operations. Ensuring you work as safely and effectively as possible is crucial to avoiding environmental damage and related penalties.

These five mistakes aren’t the only ones you could make but are some of the most important to avoid. Preventing these errors enables you to dewater your site with little concern.

The Man, The Comedian, The Legend. George Wallace is back together with his friends, the fabulous Myra J., and the hilarious J. Anthony Brown for Two Nights Only! at Riddles Comedy Club In Chicago on August 19th & 20th.  

I first met and worked with George and Myra J. back in my WGCI days. I met J. Anthony Brown later.  All three continuously keep me in stitches.

Recently, I spoke with George, and as you will see the man cracks jokes even when he is serious. I reminded George of when he went to Brazil with us when Banks and Company broadcasted from the beaches of Rio.  We all took the tour of Christ the Redeemer Statue.  George gave his take on the experience. “The Redeemer, yeah. I loved that, and I took a photo with my arms out, stretched across exactly like the Christ Redeemer. It’s the most awesome sight I’ve ever seen in my life, and to this day I love traveling. I was up there with Christ, that’s how high… This is 12 times higher than the Empire State Building above sea level in Brazil, and I was with Christ. Five hours later, I was back down on the beach with those little pretty girls taking my credit card. Have you ever seen those Brazilian girls? I was pretty bad back then.”

I asked George about his upcoming Comedy Royal Triple Threat show coming up and off he went.

 “I’m coming to Chicago, Friday and Saturday, August 19th and 20th. Not only me, but it’s also going to be the old Tom Joyner Morning Show. Myra J and J. Anthony Black. Is that his last name?”

I responded, “No, it’s Brown, baby. J. Anthony Brown.”

George went on to say, “Well he’s Black today. We’re going to have some fun, and we hope we get to talk about each other’s mothers. We don’t do that, and people get angry with us. Can you believe that? “You don’t want to talk about each other’s mom?” I said, “We have new things, we moved on, and I just can’t talk about his mom anymore, even though I’m already Christmas shopping for her. I want to stop it because I can’t continue to do it. People go crazy, and people say they don’t get out of the car when we used to do Tom Joyner. They’d say, “We have to wait till y’all finished.” But we’re coming to Chicago, Myra J, myself, J Anthony Brown, and we’re going to be in Islip. Over there where all the dead people are. Islip? Islip? Alsip.”

We laughed the entire time. Most of the conversations I can’t put in writing. You will get the chance to laugh till your sides hurt on Friday and Saturday, August 19th and 20th. Showtimes are 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM. You can go to riddlescomedyclub.com. It’s in Alsip on West 111th Street.

Of course, George had to have the last word. “Thank you. And all the church people come out because I’ll be talking about the preachers and all of the church people. Church people like to laugh too, believe it or not. Church people love to laugh. I’m George Wallace, I love you, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.”

Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky!!!

Like so many shows headed to Broadway, Chicago is the test market to work the kinks out.  Such is the case for The Devil Wears Prada the Musical now playing at the James M. Nederlander Theatre through August 21st.

The music by Elton John is great, and the choreography by James Alsop is exciting and clean. I had the opportunity to speak with James and asked her what her favorite number in the show is. She responded, “Oh my goodness. Well, it’s really difficult for me to pick out my favorite dance number in the show only because the entire story and the music and the show, they all touch on different types of music and different types of dances, which pulls out these different styles that are specific to just the song. So, they, each to me feel so right for each song that it’s really difficult for me to pick out one. If I had to, if I had to sell you on anything, I would just say the end of Act One is quite something. I’ll leave it at that.” I must agree with her, the end of Act One is pretty good.

The set design is great, and I must give an ovation to the smooth set changes. They become a character of the show.

 The book by Kate Wetherhead needs a little work in places in the second act. Conversations between Miranda and Andy are sometimes stiff.

Weak links for me were Michael Tacconi as boyfriend Nate Angstrom.  There was absolutely no connection with Andy as her boyfriend.  He is more in the ‘friend’ zone attitude. When they break up it’s like he is saying “Oh Well,” and when they come back together it’s more, “Sure, we can get back together…or not, I don’t care.”

The other disappointment was the fashion. With costume design by Academy Award-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips, I expected to leave the theater talking non-stop about the amazing fashions.  There were more creations in the audience that garnered being remembered than on the stage.  With one exception, the wardrobe for Emily (Megan Masako Haley) was different, eye-catching, and memorable. Unfortunately, most of the other costumes were just that, costumes. 

I love, love, loved the diversity in the cast and the amazing voices. Taylor Iman Jones who plays the lead Andy Sachs is funny, her voice is amazing, and she embodies the role.  Tony Award winner Beth Leavel as Miranda Priestly does not mimic Meryl Streep but makes the role her own and works it. She is amazing.  Another stand-out in the show is Megan Masako Haley as Emily Charlton.  She has the right amount of grit, and just enough condescending attitude to make the role believable.  Last but not least, I must mention Javier Munoz as Nigel Owens.  One of my favorite characters in the film became a favorite in the stage production as well.

With all that being said, the question is “Is The Devil Wears Prada the Musical worth seeing?”  Yes, it is. It’s a fun evening with surprises and energy. As I said, they are getting the kinks out before heading to Broadway.  I am sure it will be a major success but just needs a little work.

Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky! 

Dewatering is one of the most crucial steps in preconstruction. Removing groundwater from the worksite helps prevent damage to the surrounding environment, protects workers and gives you a stronger foundation to build on.

Given that this is such an important process, there’s a lot of room for error. Any mistakes can have costly consequences, so you’ll want to prevent them as much as possible. Here are five mistakes to avoid when dewatering a construction site.

1. Overlooking Permits and Regulations

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in dewatering is forgetting to check local regulations first. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires daily inspections and sampling to ensure operations meet general standards. If you don’t want to run into legal trouble, you should check these standards and ensure you follow them.

Remember that each state may have additional regulations you must abide by for legal dewatering. These can vary and may change over time, so always check before each job to ensure you follow the most recent and relevant rules. You may have to get some permits before starting, too.

2. Choosing the Wrong Dewatering Method

You can start the dewatering process once you have all the permits and regulatory checks in place. A common mistake to make here is choosing the wrong method. There are many ways to dewater your site, each with its own benefits and disadvantages, so you should ensure you select the best one for the job.

Sump pumps are the most common method for dewatering a worksite, but they’re not always the best. Deep well dewatering may be a better choice if you’re in a low-lying area with a lot of water that needs to move, despite the higher costs.

3. Leaving Collected Water Unprotected

Another dewatering mistake to avoid is not protecting the water you move away from the worksite. This may seem unnecessary initially, but consider that the water doesn’t disappear once it’s off-site. It has to go somewhere else, and leaving it unprotected means it could collect contaminants and endanger the environment or drinking water.

Similarly, it’s important to filter the surface water of sediment and other contaminants to minimize the environmental impact. UV light will kill bacteria and viruses, but you don’t necessarily have to go that far. A clean, intact dewatering bag will provide sufficient filtration.

4. Not Monitoring for Erosion

Make sure you check for any signs of erosion as you pump water off-site. Human activity already increases soil erosion up to 1,000 times its natural rate, and dewatering can easily contribute to that if you’re not careful.

Regulations require you to check the work site at least daily anyway, so while you’re there, look around for signs of erosion. Stop the operation if you see large clumps of soil coming undone or the nearby ground falling away. Catching and responding to this as soon as possible helps minimize the damage.

5. Improperly Discharging Water

It’s essential to think carefully about where you discharge the water you move from the construction site. You can send it into natural bodies like lakes and rivers with a permit, but remember that some states have turbidity limits that require this water to be clean enough before disposal.

Filtering and cleaning water before discharging as much as possible is a good practice to minimize environmental risks regardless of location. You should also choose a discharge site with minimal erosion risks and a lack of sensitive wildlife. Picking a nearby area can also help lower costs and transportation emissions.

Dewater Your Site Safely and Effectively

Dewatering a construction site is fairly straightforward on the surface, but there’s a lot to consider when running these operations. Ensuring you work as safely and effectively as possible is crucial to avoiding environmental damage and related penalties.

These five mistakes aren’t the only ones you could make but are some of the most important to avoid. Preventing these errors enables you to dewater your site with little concern.

The Man, The Comedian, The Legend. George Wallace is back together with his friends, the fabulous Myra J., and the hilarious J. Anthony Brown for Two Nights Only! at Riddles Comedy Club In Chicago on August 19th & 20th.  

I first met and worked with George and Myra J. back in my WGCI days. I met J. Anthony Brown later.  All three continuously keep me in stitches.

Recently, I spoke with George, and as you will see the man cracks jokes even when he is serious. I reminded George of when he went to Brazil with us when Banks and Company broadcasted from the beaches of Rio.  We all took the tour of Christ the Redeemer Statue.  George gave his take on the experience. “The Redeemer, yeah. I loved that, and I took a photo with my arms out, stretched across exactly like the Christ Redeemer. It’s the most awesome sight I’ve ever seen in my life, and to this day I love traveling. I was up there with Christ, that’s how high… This is 12 times higher than the Empire State Building above sea level in Brazil, and I was with Christ. Five hours later, I was back down on the beach with those little pretty girls taking my credit card. Have you ever seen those Brazilian girls? I was pretty bad back then.”

I asked George about his upcoming Comedy Royal Triple Threat show coming up and off he went.

 “I’m coming to Chicago, Friday and Saturday, August 19th and 20th. Not only me, but it’s also going to be the old Tom Joyner Morning Show. Myra J and J. Anthony Black. Is that his last name?”

I responded, “No, it’s Brown, baby. J. Anthony Brown.”

George went on to say, “Well he’s Black today. We’re going to have some fun, and we hope we get to talk about each other’s mothers. We don’t do that, and people get angry with us. Can you believe that? “You don’t want to talk about each other’s mom?” I said, “We have new things, we moved on, and I just can’t talk about his mom anymore, even though I’m already Christmas shopping for her. I want to stop it because I can’t continue to do it. People go crazy, and people say they don’t get out of the car when we used to do Tom Joyner. They’d say, “We have to wait till y’all finished.” But we’re coming to Chicago, Myra J, myself, J Anthony Brown, and we’re going to be in Islip. Over there where all the dead people are. Islip? Islip? Alsip.”

We laughed the entire time. Most of the conversations I can’t put in writing. You will get the chance to laugh till your sides hurt on Friday and Saturday, August 19th and 20th. Showtimes are 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM. You can go to riddlescomedyclub.com. It’s in Alsip on West 111th Street.

Of course, George had to have the last word. “Thank you. And all the church people come out because I’ll be talking about the preachers and all of the church people. Church people like to laugh too, believe it or not. Church people love to laugh. I’m George Wallace, I love you, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.”

Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky!!!

Like so many shows headed to Broadway, Chicago is the test market to work the kinks out.  Such is the case for The Devil Wears Prada the Musical now playing at the James M. Nederlander Theatre through August 21st.

The music by Elton John is great, and the choreography by James Alsop is exciting and clean. I had the opportunity to speak with James and asked her what her favorite number in the show is. She responded, “Oh my goodness. Well, it’s really difficult for me to pick out my favorite dance number in the show only because the entire story and the music and the show, they all touch on different types of music and different types of dances, which pulls out these different styles that are specific to just the song. So, they, each to me feel so right for each song that it’s really difficult for me to pick out one. If I had to, if I had to sell you on anything, I would just say the end of Act One is quite something. I’ll leave it at that.” I must agree with her, the end of Act One is pretty good.

The set design is great, and I must give an ovation to the smooth set changes. They become a character of the show.

 The book by Kate Wetherhead needs a little work in places in the second act. Conversations between Miranda and Andy are sometimes stiff.

Weak links for me were Michael Tacconi as boyfriend Nate Angstrom.  There was absolutely no connection with Andy as her boyfriend.  He is more in the ‘friend’ zone attitude. When they break up it’s like he is saying “Oh Well,” and when they come back together it’s more, “Sure, we can get back together…or not, I don’t care.”

The other disappointment was the fashion. With costume design by Academy Award-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips, I expected to leave the theater talking non-stop about the amazing fashions.  There were more creations in the audience that garnered being remembered than on the stage.  With one exception, the wardrobe for Emily (Megan Masako Haley) was different, eye-catching, and memorable. Unfortunately, most of the other costumes were just that, costumes. 

I love, love, loved the diversity in the cast and the amazing voices. Taylor Iman Jones who plays the lead Andy Sachs is funny, her voice is amazing, and she embodies the role.  Tony Award winner Beth Leavel as Miranda Priestly does not mimic Meryl Streep but makes the role her own and works it. She is amazing.  Another stand-out in the show is Megan Masako Haley as Emily Charlton.  She has the right amount of grit, and just enough condescending attitude to make the role believable.  Last but not least, I must mention Javier Munoz as Nigel Owens.  One of my favorite characters in the film became a favorite in the stage production as well.

With all that being said, the question is “Is The Devil Wears Prada the Musical worth seeing?”  Yes, it is. It’s a fun evening with surprises and energy. As I said, they are getting the kinks out before heading to Broadway.  I am sure it will be a major success but just needs a little work.

Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky! 

Dewatering is one of the most crucial steps in preconstruction. Removing groundwater from the worksite helps prevent damage to the surrounding environment, protects workers and gives you a stronger foundation to build on.

Given that this is such an important process, there’s a lot of room for error. Any mistakes can have costly consequences, so you’ll want to prevent them as much as possible. Here are five mistakes to avoid when dewatering a construction site.

1. Overlooking Permits and Regulations

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in dewatering is forgetting to check local regulations first. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires daily inspections and sampling to ensure operations meet general standards. If you don’t want to run into legal trouble, you should check these standards and ensure you follow them.

Remember that each state may have additional regulations you must abide by for legal dewatering. These can vary and may change over time, so always check before each job to ensure you follow the most recent and relevant rules. You may have to get some permits before starting, too.

2. Choosing the Wrong Dewatering Method

You can start the dewatering process once you have all the permits and regulatory checks in place. A common mistake to make here is choosing the wrong method. There are many ways to dewater your site, each with its own benefits and disadvantages, so you should ensure you select the best one for the job.

Sump pumps are the most common method for dewatering a worksite, but they’re not always the best. Deep well dewatering may be a better choice if you’re in a low-lying area with a lot of water that needs to move, despite the higher costs.

3. Leaving Collected Water Unprotected

Another dewatering mistake to avoid is not protecting the water you move away from the worksite. This may seem unnecessary initially, but consider that the water doesn’t disappear once it’s off-site. It has to go somewhere else, and leaving it unprotected means it could collect contaminants and endanger the environment or drinking water.

Similarly, it’s important to filter the surface water of sediment and other contaminants to minimize the environmental impact. UV light will kill bacteria and viruses, but you don’t necessarily have to go that far. A clean, intact dewatering bag will provide sufficient filtration.

4. Not Monitoring for Erosion

Make sure you check for any signs of erosion as you pump water off-site. Human activity already increases soil erosion up to 1,000 times its natural rate, and dewatering can easily contribute to that if you’re not careful.

Regulations require you to check the work site at least daily anyway, so while you’re there, look around for signs of erosion. Stop the operation if you see large clumps of soil coming undone or the nearby ground falling away. Catching and responding to this as soon as possible helps minimize the damage.

5. Improperly Discharging Water

It’s essential to think carefully about where you discharge the water you move from the construction site. You can send it into natural bodies like lakes and rivers with a permit, but remember that some states have turbidity limits that require this water to be clean enough before disposal.

Filtering and cleaning water before discharging as much as possible is a good practice to minimize environmental risks regardless of location. You should also choose a discharge site with minimal erosion risks and a lack of sensitive wildlife. Picking a nearby area can also help lower costs and transportation emissions.

Dewater Your Site Safely and Effectively

Dewatering a construction site is fairly straightforward on the surface, but there’s a lot to consider when running these operations. Ensuring you work as safely and effectively as possible is crucial to avoiding environmental damage and related penalties.

These five mistakes aren’t the only ones you could make but are some of the most important to avoid. Preventing these errors enables you to dewater your site with little concern.