You oughta be here

You oughta be here

If you not here in Chicago with the ATCA conference, you’re missing a terrific time. Gorgeous weather, yes. Good food, sure. But what great theater Jonathan Abarbanel has lined up. Last night, a four hour and fifty minutes (including three intermissions) production of The Iceman Cometh at the Goodman. You forget O’Neill was writing for an audience with a different attention span, but, still, this is a finely-wrought production with an intentionally elegiac pace. The headline is Nathan Lane giving what is likely the performance of his career, a completely different take on Hickey ripped out of his guts. I’m still trying to figure out how heavily miked the stage was and how much was just good ‘ol acoustics and trained actors projecting. Crystalline sound up in the third row from the roof –- but it did not sound miked at all. Looking forward to seeing you all if you’re here. Looking forward to making you jealous otherwise. — Bill Hirschman