Viva La Hypocrites Revolucion!

The Pirates of Penzance is not exactly my cup of tea. The Hypocrites have mounted their version of the show at The Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., in Chicago, IL. The old adage is, "You can lead a horse to water, but..." I was lead to this particular pond because of the presence of seasoned, sketch comedy artist, Becky Poole being in the cast. She alone is always worth the price of admission. Ms. Poole acted, sang, and played the accordion and musical saw in addition to flexing her ever ready comedic muscles. Her entertainment arsenal never ceases to amaze me.

However; I not only drank in The Hypocrites' original, lively presentation of Pirates but sat, walked and moved around the beautiful world Sean Graney and his talented cohorts have created. In what I can only describe as a theatrical breath of fresh sea air, Graney's staging and directing were a wonder to experience. Many of the actors also sang and played musical instruments. The toy xylophone was a nice touch. They ran around half clothed which added to the youthful, exuberant, fun, hypocrisy of it all. Some might say this was a bit of a sacreligious interpretation of Pirates, while others might think that this is exactly what theater needs to stay alive and thrive right about now.

Step right up, folks! Check out the kind of show you're gonna be shelling out $80 a seat for in NYC in the future... www.the-hypocrites.com/

The Social Catfish Annoyance Network

The Annoyance Theatre Chicago, IL

I've been on hiatus. I'm still on hiatus from... I'm in Chicago now. I don't know this city, yet, but I'm learning it. People are often puzzled by my ignorance of so many things here. They look at me and ask, "But aren't you from here?" "Yes," I reply. (For the record, I am Korean American, born and raised in The Midwest.) But I left to go to college and graduate school and I know CA and NY much better than here. I'm on a break of sorts but I find myself still having this urge to type, to participate. I'll be honest. I started this blog in addition to the electronic newsletter I used to churn out as an advertising tool for the shows I was in. Now, I write about things I love, things I'm interested in because it's fun. Anyone who has a mind to click on my URL and see what's spewing from my head is welcome to do so. I'm out in Cyberspace and the store is open 24/7. Amazing. You can hear some of my music if you click...
http://www.myspace.com/florenceyoomusic (Old habits die hard.)

I saw the movie, Catfish and I was skeptical about liking it. The hype was huge surrounding this film. I knew it was a pseudo-documentary about Facebook and a relationship formed online. I liked it quite a lot. I just did not like the shaky handheld camerawork, but only because it made me seasick. http://www.iamrogue.com/catfish

I saw the play, The Nairobi Project http://thenairobiproject.com at The Annoyance Theatre by Steve Gadlin, er, uhm... and Victor Gido. Gadlin, in a clever use of recycling of sorts, responded to a spam email message from Mr. Guido who offered to write a play for pay. Gadlin took him up on the offer and what Gadlin did with the play is what we are subjected, I mean, treated to. Matthew Ulrich portrays Victor Guido with much aplomb - though I'm not quite sure the reasoning for the Muppets Swedish Chef accent, but it was definitely funny. In fact, the strong cast made the whole show very amusing. Mr. Gadlin turned a spam email message into art. How great is that?

I saw the movie, The Social Network. It was a slick and entertaining tale in the capable hands of Aaron Sorkin. http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/

I still like real life best. But the lines do seem to be blurring... When in Rome...