You’re imperfect. And that’s fine. So are we, and the people who make up the big, busy world of our area’s entertainment scene. Because the New Year is a time for fresh beginnings, this is the time. It isn’t about losing weight, or vowing to be a better person. That ship has already sailed, right? You can be chubby and cranky, but the question is, have you been to the theater lately? Have you checked out that band, just on a whim? And if you’re a venue, what have you done for us lately? Our entertainment critics have some ideas about what you could be doing. For sure. Theater critic Chris Jones gets things started.
Chris Jones theater resolutions:
*Get out and see more shows at Redtwist Theatre, Dog and Pony Theatre Company, Signal Ensemble Theatre and other worthy, newer little Chicago companies to which I don’t give the attention they frequently deserve.
*Go back and see more long-running shows and make sure nobody has messed them up.
*Better appreciate how much the artists of this city enhance my life.
*Broadway in Chicago should resolve to:
*Find a replacement for “Wicked.” Yes, it will involve some risks. Yes, the producers will be nervous. Yes, there will be naysayers. But it’s pivotal that Chicago has marquee attraction that people can plan to come and see many months from now. I nominate “Billy Elliot.” Quickly.
ll Chicago theaters should resolve to:
*Lower their prices. Times are tough. Plenty of theater offer special deals through grey channels (they don’t like to upset their full-price business) but very few have made it easy for people to catch a break at the regular old box-office, without digging for a promotion code.
*When in doubt, take out ten minutes from the running time.
*Produce more plays about life as it is actually lived. Right now.
*Be not afraid. Audiences respond to major projects with heft and ambition.
Fringe Chicago theaters and their on-line mouthpieces should resolve to:
*Quit stoking the jealousy of theaters, and individuals, that manage to achieve some success. Theaters compete with restaurants and lethargy, not other theaters. And pleasing an audience is to be praised, not attacked. There are many economic and artistic models in Chicago. That’s good. There are a lot of different audiences.
You should resolve to:
*Make theatergoing a weekly habit. I can point you to one good show per week, 52 weeks a year, guaranteed (usually, I can do even better than that). Your life will be enriched. You will have more to talk about. You can stop regreting not taking advantage of Chicago’s world-famous theater scene. You will be smarter, funnier, wiser, shrewder and thus a whole lot nicer to know.
———-
And we have a whole lot more resolutions, on page 5.
