TRIBUNE ARCHITECTURE CRITIC BLAIR KAMIN
THE COMMUTE WITH A VIEW
The rest of the world speaks of winter and summer, spring and fall, but for those of us who enjoy the pleasures of the Wendella RiverBus passenger ferry there are but two seasons: Boat Time and Non-Boat Time.
Non-Boat Time typically means taking the CTA’s Lower Wacker Drive express buses between North Michigan Avenue and the train stations on downtown’s western edge-a fast, efficient but visually undernourished trip.
On the other hand, Boat Time, which lasts from April to November, is a feast of the senses and a balm for the harried soul. As the river bus glides along the Chicago River, we “boat people” take in broad expanses of sky, the sound of seagulls and dazzling views of such skyscrapers as the Wrigley Building and 333 W. Wacker Dr.
While others claw their way to work amid honking horns and noxious fumes, we sail without interruption-except for that silly LaSalle Street stop, where hardly a soul ever gets on.
How many other commutes are so alluring that people say it’s the best part of their day?
Boat Time isn’t Venice by the lake. But it’s close.
TRIBUNE ARTS CRITIC CHRIS JONES
ROAD TRIP!
There’s a little patch of southeastern Wisconsin-the area around Spring Green, Dodgeville and Mineral Point-that delivers an uncommonly eclectic collection of summer pleasures. I’ve never found any other spot that can so deliciously indulge my love of the arts as well as my ongoing need for kitsch and trash.
You justify your trip by saying you want to visit the excellent American Players Theatre in Spring Green. This year’s early-summer slate includes “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” “Tartuffe” and “Candida” (608-588-2361; Americanplayers.org). Chicago actors and directors abound. Or you can claim an ongoing scholarly interest in the Frank Lloyd Wright estate, Taliesin (877-588-7900), a peaceful place to think and read.
But the two real reasons to head to this surprisingly racy part of Wisconsin are rather different. First, you can stay in a themed motel-Dodgeville’s gloriously decadent Don Q Inn (800-666-7848), wherein the rooms are named after such sensual-if safe-fantasies as “Arabian Nights” (“relax like a sheik in a tented room”), “The Cave” (“a prehistoric setting”) and “Jungle Safari” (“escape into a custom-made thatched jungle hut”).
And second, you can munch on the deliciously authentic Cornish pasties-meat and vegetables encased in pastry-for sale in Mineral Point, a fascinating town settled by Cornish miners. My favorites are found at the Red Rooster CafZ, 158 High St. (608-987-9936).
And then if the Spring Green arts festival gets boring-it’s nice for a while, but only for a while-it’s a short hike to the Ho Chunk Casino, the water parks and other fabulous frivolities of the Wisconsin Dells.
That’s what is so great about this verdant patch of the Midwest! They understand we’re all creatures of complex desires.
TRIBUNE THEATER CRITIC MICHAEL PHILLIPS
FEEL THE HEAT
If you’ve ever watched a play within the confines of the brick building of Theater on the Lake, you probably know it can get pretty sticky in there, depending on the heat and the sweat index. Some productions respond better to these conditions than others. This summer’s lineup offers a particularly apt selection for an August night: The 1949 Sidney Kingsley police procedural “Detective Story,” set in a crowded, chaotic Manhattan precinct wherein losers and tough guys trade insults such as: “Take a couple of drop-dead pills and get lost!” As the cops put the heat on various lowlife punks, you can feel the heat right along with them. This Strawdog Theatre Company production, originally mounted in 2003, returns for 7:30 p.m. performances Aug. 10-13 and a 6:30 p.m. curtain Aug. 14. If you’re parking a car, try Cannon Drive or the Lincoln Park Zoo Lot. If you’re packing heat, you’re under arrest.
TRIBUNE ARTS CRITIC SID SMITH
GO FOR BAROQUE
OK, it’s indoors, and it could just as easily be scheduled in the dead of winter. But this summer’s most anticipated dance event will be the long overdue Chicago premiere of Mark Morris’ “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato,” his 1988 signature work ingeniously blending Handel’s music and contemporary life. The Mark Morris Dance Group will perform the piece, accompanied by Music of the Baroque, at a special Ravinia Festival presentation Aug. 26 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance downtown. The iconoclastic choreographer by no means appeals to every taste, but “L’Allegro,” a full-length work with more than two dozen dancers, has been called the one Morris creation adored by everybody. Late summer’s a fine time to spend an evening inside, watching exhilarating art and pondering the more sobering months ahead. Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Dr., in Chicago’s Millennium Park. 847-266-5100.
TRIBUNE MUSIC CRITIC JOHN VON RHEIN
A LOVELY LINEUP
If you have yet to discover the delights of music under the stars at Chicago’s magnificent new Millennium Park, what are you waiting for? The Grant Park Music Festival is celebrating its first full season at the acoustically and visually stunning Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and the concert lineup is tempting indeed. For opening night on June 15, Carlos Kalmar will conduct Mendelssohn’s incidental music to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with an actor reading from the Bard’s great comedy. The Grant Park Orchestra will be in residence through the festival finale on Aug. 20. Concerts are free, except in reserved seating areas. So bring some wine and cheese, a picnic blanket or lawn chairs and enjoy! The pavilion is on Michigan Avenue, between Randolph and Monroe Streets. 312-742-4763.
TRIBUNE ARTS CRITIC HOWARD REICH
BEDAZZLING JAZZ
What could be more rejuvenating than world-class jazz musicians performing for free on a summer’s night, the city’s skyline as a backdrop?
That scenario will unfold throughout the summer at the Pritzker Pavilion. A new performance series- “Made in Chicago: A Jazz Celebration”-will spotlight exceptional Chicago artists in collaboration with visiting virtuosos.
The music begins at 6:30 p.m. for each concert: trumpeter Jon Faddis leads the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, July 14; singer Kurt Elling with Jon Hendricks, Mark Murphy and Sheila Jordan, July 21; the 911 Mambo Orchestra, July 28; cornetist Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, Aug. 11; Franz Jackson, Maurice Brown and others, Aug. 25; Orbert Davis’ Chicago Jazz Philharmonic playing Stravinsky with members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Aug. 29. 312-742-1168.
TRIBUNE ART CRITIC ALAN ARTNER
IN ALL THEIR GLORY
The simplest summer pleasure I can think of is to head down to Millennium Park to see the finished sculptures by Anish Kapoor and Jaume Plensa. Last year, when the park opened, neither piece was complete. By May, Jaume Plensa’s “Crown Fountain,” which is the entire plaza and not just the towers and reflecting pool, had in place the wooden benches that were the final elements; Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate” still was enclosed in a tent while workers ground and polished it into a seamless surface. The unveiling had not been scheduled by press time.
I’d also take a bike ride through a park looking for public sculpture of past centuries. Among my favorites is the life-size bison in Humboldt Park by Edward Kemeys, the first great American animal sculptor. He also created the lions in front of the Art Institute of Chicago.
TRIBUNE RESTAURANT CRITIC PHIL VETTEL
STARLIGHT DINING
To me, summer means outdoor dining. Dining al fresco is a pleasure made all the more precious by nature’s stubborn refusal to grant Chicagoans very many warm, dry and merely moderately breezy days. When the opportunity arises, locals are quick to pounce.
Among my favorite outdoor haunts is Bistro Banlieue, which is tucked into the Yorktown Shopping Center in Lombard. Despite the quirky location, the restaurant’s outdoor patio is a thing of beauty, outfitted with handsome furniture and gas heaters (because one never knows). Owner Steve Byrne does an outstanding job of transferring the niceties of indoor dining to the outdoors; the fact that this is one of the best bistros in the area is icing on the cake.
Other spots: Athena, in the middle of Halsted Street’s Greektown corridor, where the outdoor patio (if you can get a table) allows diners to enjoy grilled lamb and taramosalata with a view of Sears Tower; Coco Pazzo Cafe in Streeterville, without a doubt the finest restaurant ever tucked into a Red Roof Inn; and Blandino’s Sorrisso, a straightforward Italian whose patio abuts the Chicago River and offers one of the most romantic city views in town.
