Live on Stage in Chicago
Chicago always offers an abundance of top-notch live performances. Here’s what we experienced this month.
Grant Park Music Festival
Inclement weather didn’t prevent us from enjoying a bunch of terrific (and free) classical music concerts in Millennium Park. Read about them HERE.
Brokeback Mountain
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of Brokeback Mountain was impressive. There was a live country western band onstage, and the set had real sagebrush and a working campfire. The play retained much of the dialogue from the film (“I wish I knew how to quit you”). The two lead actors had good chemistry and did an excellent job conveying the joy and heartbreak of their love affair. Seeing this play prompted me to read the compelling short story that inspired it. Wow.
Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
We used to listen to this NPR comedy-news-quiz show years ago, when we were driving our kids to their activities on Saturday mornings. Now that our kids are grown and we’re car-free, we don’t listen any longer, but we remember it well. It was fun to see it live in the historic Studebaker Theater as part of the “studio audience.” Peter Sagal had a lot of energy for someone who’s been hosting this show since 1998. The panelists were clever and funny, especially Joyelle Nicole Johnson. The laconic guest was Stephen Malkmus of the 90s indie rock band Pavement. Topics included the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, FIFA World Cup hydration breaks, and the Hot Podium Guy at 10 Downing Street. You can listen to the show that aired HERE.
Ed Sheeran
Both Steve and I had seen Soldier Field from a distance during architecture tours. We finally visited the iconic stadium for the first time to see Ed Sheeran in concert. Built in 1924, Soldier Field is the oldest stadium in the NFL and MLS. A friend described it as a space ship landing on an ancient Greek temple. We had nosebleed seats, and the chilly winds from Lake Michigan made us glad we were there for a June concert and not a November football game.
Myles Smyth opened and was excellent. Ed Sheeran was amazing! This was his Loop Tour, and he performed solo, with just his electric-acoustic guitar and looping station. That’s a pretty small act for such a huge venue, so they compensated with a huge video screen and plenty of pyrotechnics. I loved the cool bridge that extended to connect the large and small stages. A small band joined him for 15-20 minutes, but otherwise Sheeran kept the crowd in thrall by himself for nearly THREE HOURS. Toward the end of the concert, behind the stage, in the distance, we could see the weekly fireworks show at Navy Pier. It was a spectacular show.
