Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Pier One
Last night I took my mother to Navy Pier. Before you condemn me too fiercely for that statement, let me clarify that we had tickets to the Shakespeare Theater. But of course we made time to have some $15 hot dogs in the food court beforehand. The Ferris wheel has been dismantled so they can build a slightly larger Ferris wheel, however, so it was out of the question. Which is too bad, because I've had some truly excellent panic attacks there.
The Pier is undergoing a bit of a renovation which, judging by the results so far, is designed to make it look like an Urban Outfitters that just happens to be filled with screaming children demanding novelty license plates. Everything is very grey and industrial-looking, in stark contrast to the rows of bright orange garage doors that used to populate the place. And it appears that most of the trinket shops you couldn't believe anyone every actually patronized have now been downgraded to pushcarts outside the IMAX theater. Which is good, because waiting in line for a movie isn't nearly irritating enough as things stand.
The show itself was quite good. It was a translation/adaptation of a French play from slightly after the era of Moliere. And therefore slightly before the era of Dane Cook. It was all in verse, which I find enjoyable; it's really a shame they didn't do more episodes of Murphy Brown that way. And the acting was great -- one of the leads used to play Rachel's boss at Bloomingdale's on Friends! If that doesn't just say it all, then I really don't know what can.
Last night I took my mother to Navy Pier. Before you condemn me too fiercely for that statement, let me clarify that we had tickets to the Shakespeare Theater. But of course we made time to have some $15 hot dogs in the food court beforehand. The Ferris wheel has been dismantled so they can build a slightly larger Ferris wheel, however, so it was out of the question. Which is too bad, because I've had some truly excellent panic attacks there.
The Pier is undergoing a bit of a renovation which, judging by the results so far, is designed to make it look like an Urban Outfitters that just happens to be filled with screaming children demanding novelty license plates. Everything is very grey and industrial-looking, in stark contrast to the rows of bright orange garage doors that used to populate the place. And it appears that most of the trinket shops you couldn't believe anyone every actually patronized have now been downgraded to pushcarts outside the IMAX theater. Which is good, because waiting in line for a movie isn't nearly irritating enough as things stand.
The show itself was quite good. It was a translation/adaptation of a French play from slightly after the era of Moliere. And therefore slightly before the era of Dane Cook. It was all in verse, which I find enjoyable; it's really a shame they didn't do more episodes of Murphy Brown that way. And the acting was great -- one of the leads used to play Rachel's boss at Bloomingdale's on Friends! If that doesn't just say it all, then I really don't know what can.
