Author: Becky Sarwate

2016′s Emotional Ride Far from Over

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“During the 10th inning of Game 7, the tears continued flowing but they became those of disbelief and possibility. That 17-minute rain delay no longer a trial, but suddenly and apparently the emotional reset button the team and its fans needed. And when a smiling Kris Bryant threw that final out to Anthony Rizzo, before falling to the ground, the weeping of Cubs Nation, and this fan, took a different form. The best kind of shocking blow had been delivered. 108 years, goats, black cats, controversial foul balls, errors in the field, bad trades, Tribune Company mismanagement. None of it mattered anymore. We could drop the heavy load and pick up the lighter, more joyous “burden” of winners. All together.

Though there are so many more who could not make the journey, and legions who sacrificed personal inclination to adult responsibility, five million pilgrims converged upon downtown Chicago to celebrate a miracle on Friday morning. The last great sports epic had written itself a happy ending and we were all invited. The city, the team, and millions of exuberant sojourners had about 36 hours to execute the seventh largest gathering in human history. But we did it. Because they did it.”

Read the full post at Wrigleyville Nation.

Fun Home

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“Fun Home,” the 2015 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical, kicks off a limited Broadway in Chicago engagement this week, and in so many ways, it smashes the musical theater mold. The morning after, I’m still trying to synthesize it all. As Martha Stewart is famous for saying, “That’s a good thing.”

For starters, the work is an adaptation of Allison Bechdel’s 2006 best-selling graphic memoir of the same name. Visuals are therefore a huge feature of the print work as well as the complex stage iteration. Dialogue and song are just two-thirds of the equation more profoundly than the typical Broadway production. Bechdel’s drawings are brought to life in a very conscious way that invites the audience to assume the role of voyeur. It’s an intimate experience that immediately creates a bond between the artist, source material and audience.

We’ve all consumed variations of the tried and true coming of age story, but in this regard, “Fun Home” is also quite different. We very much take the journey with Bechdel, as she views herself and her small-town Pennsylvania family through the eyes of memory at three different life stages: as an idealistic child who worships her creative, but distant father, a college freshman dealing with all the complexity of coming out of the closet in the late 20th Century, and a 40-something adult woman with a hindsight perspective.

Except it’s very clear that mature Allison still wrestles with demons and questions from the past. She presents no omniscient authority. Everything is up for examination and discussion. Considering the work’s genesis as a graphic novel and its tangled subject matter, it would have been easy for the musical component of the stage version to feel forced or arbitrarily shoe-horned. However like Bechdel’s haunting, beautiful drawings, Jeanine Tesori’s score is both gentle and thoughtful, while packing serious emotional punches. And catchy too.

A personal favorite is “Come to the Fun Home,” a peppy, dancey number performed by the young Bechdel children, Rachel and her two little brothers, John and Christian. The song is part of a make-believe commercial devised by the kids to promote the funeral parlor their father operates when he’s not teaching high school English, restoring antique homes and grappling with his own closeted homosexuality. Exuberant and lively, it still cannot escape the observer that the number occurs in a place of constant, revolving death. Alessandra Baldacchino, who plays the part of young Allison, is a real talent. Beautiful singing voice, genuine dramatic gifts.

In fact without exception, the cast of Broadway in Chicago’s “Fun Home” is well chosen. With quality dialogue and song handed to them, the performers embrace tragicomedy without stereotype. My companion for the evening was particularly impressed with Kate Shindle, who portrays adult Allison with the deft complexity required of serving as the dramatic fulcrum on top of which the narrative finds balance.

When the work won the Tony for Best Score in 2015, another mold was broken. Book author Lisa Kron and Tesori made history as the first female writing team to take home the trophy. That’s fitting because while “Fun Home” contains male characters — Allison’s father Bruce (the terrific Robert Petkoff) and his revolving cast of furtive lovers — this is a decidedly female story. Bechdel matriarch Helen (the diminutive but powerful Susan Moniz) is a complex portrait of devotion and conflict, a gifted artist in her own right who grapples with a lifetime of betrayal and secrets. And Allison’s first lover Joan (Karen Eilbacher) is the confident, empowering ideal of an LGBTQ community gaining 20th Century strength.

The musical, with raw, poetic language, sexual situations and honest engagement with death, is decidedly adult. Even then it may present a challenge to sensitive audiences. “My Fair Lady” this is not. As I said, multiple Broadway stereotypes are tested and shattered. But wow. It’s worth it. Fresh, haunting and full of sensory experience, “Fun Home” is one to see.

“Fun Home” runs through Nov. 13 at the Oriental Theatre, 24 W Randolph Street, Chicago, IL. For information or tickets, call 800-775-2000 or visit the Broadway in Chicago website.

CNN’s Donna Brazile Latest Victim in 2016’s Misogynistic Media Wars

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“Today we learned that CNN severed ties with longtime contributor and interim DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile. What has this to do with Comey and the FBI’s scramble to define the cork he popped out of the dangerous innuendo bottle? Quite a bit actually, especially if you’re chafed by double standards tinged with corruption and a healthy dose of misogyny.

CNN spokeswoman Lauren Pratapas was quoted as saying, “We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about [Brazile’s] interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor.” Those playing the media cynicism home game might wonder how it is that Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s former Campaign Manager and ongoing talking point parrot, retains his association with the network. He draws a salary from CNN while remaining an “informal, unpaid” advisor to the Trump campaign. No visible discomfort from the house that Ted Turner built.”

Read the full post at Contemptor.

Missing in Action: The Week’s Overlooked News Stories

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The Cubbies are coming, tra-la, tra-la! All of Chicago and Cubs Nation has shut down for Games 4, 5 and 6 of the World Series. The excitement is palpable, as is the anticipation for the November 8 conclusion of this horrendously long and agonizing presidential election. In celebration of competition everywhere, let’s look at some fun, uplifting sports stories that may have escaped your notice this week.

Olympic swimmer may have fan to thank for saving his life

“If you see something, say something” has become one of the hottest phrases of the 21st Century. It’s often dropped with regard to counter terrorism activity, but in this case the principle was exercised by a fan who noticed a suspicious mole on the chest of an Olympic swimmer. Australian Mack Horton took to social media to give a shout out to the person who contacted team doctors about the mole after seeing the athlete compete in Rio. The results of the biopsy have not been released, but this could have been life-saving outreach from a Good Samaritan.

More evidence that 2016 could be the year of the woman 

So far, 2016 has seen a tremendous public rise in demand for “equal pay for equal work.” The first female nominee for President of the United States by a major political party is poised to take the White House, and the aforementioned Summer Olympics were dominated by American women. In the sports arena, yet another glass ceiling has been shattered, this time by a surf board. For the first time in the history, women are participating in the invitation-only Titans of Mavericks competition. Hang 10 ladies!

Long suffering Cubs fan has more than one dream come true 

It’s no secret that the blood in my veins runs die-hard Cubby blue. Watching the Lovable Losers was a huge part of my childhood, and as an adult the long-term, championship-less suffering has become more acute. A running joke grew into a painful yearning for something completely out of my control. Now here we are in 2016 and the Cubs have made it to the World Series for the first time since 1945. I’m 38 and can only imagine the agony of my elders, who waited even longer for a dream come true.  This story about a 97 year-old World War II vet, lifelong Cubs fan and the generosity of a stranger will warm your heart. This kind soul is fulfilling the wishes of folks like my grandmother and great-grandmother, who didn’t love long enough to see this day, but are with all of us in spirit.

Tim Kaine: Feminism Has a Southern, White Male Face

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“It’s now abundantly clear that I and others who placed Kaine in the category of benign, unthreatening or more of the same had it all wrong. Because although the Senator poses no menace in the traditional, physical or emotionally aggressive sense, he is nonetheless kind of revolutionary. And a real thorn in the side of the Trump/Pence ticket.

The country has gotten to know Tim Kaine better over the last few months. Though the sole VP debate remains a shrill blight on the candidate’s otherwise appealing canvas (in interruptus style, if not policy and factual substance), liberals and moderates mostly like what they see. His approval rating is above 50 percent in his home state, notable in a land that leans red (as of the 2014 midterm elections). Nationally, there’s a little something for every voter demographic: devout Christian faith and missionary work, fluent Spanish-language skills that connect directly with 52.6 million native and second-language speakers (a population larger than Spain) and a stable legislative record largely devoid of flip flops. There’s also – pleasant surprise of all surprises for this pundit – a strong, defiant feminist streak.”

Read the full post at Contemptor.