Well, as I stated yesterday, I was a little nervous about all of the logistics for today, but it worked out great. I was on time to everything and didn't get too stressed out about the transportation. When I left the apartment this morning, I first had to go to a FedEx in order to print out my ticket for tonight. I don't know how I managed to forget to print that one out before I left, but I did. Thank goodness for FedEx print centers. And it wasn't too far out of my way either. From there, I headed over to the metro (or whatever they call the trains in this town). As I was walking there, I started to get nervous. It's just an uncommon experience for me. I bought a 3-day visitor pass yesterday on my way into the city, so I had that ready to go. As I got closer, I said to myself, "you rode the Sunday in Moscow. I'm sure you can handle Chicago." Truth.
So I handled it. Took the red line north to.......Wrigley field! I had a tour scheduled. Well, kind of. I bought my ticket for a Wrigley field tour about a month ago. And I don't know how it happened, but I somehow managed to buy the ticket for yesterday rather than today. Uh oh. I discovered this on Friday night when I went to print out the ticket. Well, I called the cubs office and left a couple of voicemails, but they were closed for the weekend and couldn't help me out until Monday morning, right when I was scheduled. Yikes. So I called again first thing Monday morning, and the girl said I could just bring my ticket to the tour I wanted and it should be fine. Then the 2 people that I had left voicemails for both called me back. Good customer service!!! (Even though I had already gotten it basically taken care of) So when I arrived there today, I talked to the guy at the desk and he said it should be fine. Even if the tour did sell out, I'm only one person and they could squeeze me in. But ultimately, when we went through the gate presenting out tickets, the guy didn't even look at the date/time. All that stress for nothing.
So, the tour. It's a really cool park. I can see why the fans love it. Very intimate with a TON of history. But not exactly what one might call "modern." Seeing as it was built in 1914, that's pretty understandable. So we started in the regular stands, then moved out to the bleachers, passing the one and only batting cage, then up to the visitors' clubhouse, the press box, the Cubs' clubhouse, and ending in the Cubs' dugout and the field. All in all, lots of interesting stuff. I took a sociology class in college. There's basically one thing I remember from this class - not the various theories of sociology, not any famous sociologists, not anything else, except for this concept of the world being divided between backstage and onstage. Maybe it's my theatre background that draws me to it, but I find it fascinating. For instance, in a restaurant, the dining room is onstage, and the kitchen is backstage. A service elevator is backstage, whereas a hallway where guests walk on a regular basis is onstage. There is some crossover, but I find myself to this day identifying areas as onstage and backstage. One thing that fascinates me about this is the idea that as one moves up in society, they go from backstage areas, to onstage areas, and at the upper end, back to backstage areas. Think about presidents or celebrities - they are constantly being moved through back hallways, alleys, service entrances. So interesting to me. Anyway, the point of this is that, maybe it was partly because it was an off day, but I think it's more of a sign of when the park was built, that the areas that in most other ballparks or similar buildings that would be onstage areas, in Wrigley field are backstage areas. The concourses, the entrances, etc. - it all has a backstage feel. And the player areas are so closely integrated wit the public areas. The players may have a separate entrance from the public, but they have to cross the main concourse in order to get to their clubhouse. It's definitely a limited stadium, but it was really cool to be in the same room that at one time or another, all of the baseball greats have been in, where they've all gotten ready for games, celebrated wins, and mourned defeats. Just really cool.
Ok, so now that I've written a book about the first 3 hours of my day.... After the ballpark tour, I hopped back on the train (had to transfer this time - oh no! Can I do it? Turns out, yes, I am totally capable of transferring trains), and headed out to oak park for the frank Lloyd wright home and studio tour. Arrived at 1:07 for a 1:20 tour reservation. Planning success! We went through his whole house and then his studio. He designed the house and then lived there for 20 years with his family. He had 6 kids, but by the time the house was built, the oldest 2 boys were basically out of the house, so the house has essentially 3 bedrooms - the master bed room, the boys' bedroom, and the girls' bedroom. The boys' and girls' bedrooms are right next to each other and separated by a wall that doesn't go all the way up to the high arched ceiling. Our tour guide told us that the kids used to have pillow fights over the wall. Too funny. I honestly don't know a ton about Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture, but residential architecture is something that I'd love to learn more about. Architecture, in general, is cool, but, as with history, I'm specifically interested in more modern architecture - 1900 and forward. The house also has this giant playroom that even includes a seating gallery for when the kids put on plays. I wish I had time to take the audio tour of the neighborhood, which includes a number of FLW-designed homes, but I had another appointment to make.
So back on the train back towards downtown. You know what's annoying? When an address of 233 N Michigan is actually on the cross street (not Michigan) and not even on the 200 block. The entrance was around the corner on the 300 block of Michigan. What??!???!?! So yeah, glad I had extra time blocked into my travel plans, cause it definitely took me about 20 minutes to find.....the salon! That's right. I got my hair done. Finally. Seeing as it's been about 8 weeks since I got it done last back in Austin, I was getting antsy about it. My original thought was to get it colored while I was in Seattle, and then again in New York or Philly. But I only had one day in Seattle, and I didn't want to spend any of that getting my hair done. So since I had 2 full days here in Chicago, I figured it was a good opportunity to do it. Now, I am VERY picky about getting my hair done. My hair dresser in Austin has been the only one to do anything to it for the past 11 years. I trust her implicitly. I don't even bother to know what I want when I go see her. Sometimes I'll say, "let's go sassy this time" or "something kinda sleek and funky," but usually I sit down and say, "do whatever." And she always comes through. So before I left, she decided the easiest thing to do would be to take my hair back to all one color (it had previously been 3 different colors), and give me the recipe for what to do. Then I could just find a salon that had that particular brand and show them the card, and all would be good. Good plan, right? So I searched for a salon with this brand, contacted them to confirm that they had it, and made the appointment. And then when I showed up, I showed the stylist the card, and he says, "well, we don't have this exact brand." What?!??! But he assured me that he knew the brand and understood the whole recipe and could make the same color with the stuff he had. And he did! My hair looks great again! Woo hoo!
Ok, (why is it that my paragraphs always start with "Anyway," "So," or "Ok"? apparently they are my transitional words) after my hair got done being prettified, I came back to the apartment, changed my clothes and walked over to dinner at Grillroom Chophouse & Wine Bar. Dude, the tuna special??? So good - with these corn and chipotle mashed potatoes. YUMMY! From there, it was right across the street to Book of Mormon(!!!!!!!!). I have been waiting SO long to see this show I was so so so excited to see it. I wanted to see it last year in New York, or even this year in New York, but it's still next to impossible to get a decently priced ticket there. So I knew that a resident cast was going to be here in Chicago while I was here (they opened around February, and are leaving at the beginning of October to go on tour), and tickets weren't too crazy expensive - I got mine for $105. The show was at Bank of America Theater, which is larger than most Broadway houses, but not as massively expansive as Bass Concert Hall in Austin. A good size for a show like this. Now, I have the soundtrack of the show memorized, so I knew what to expect going in (which also meant that I occasionally laughed at jokes just before they happened because I was actually laughing at the set up), but that didn't diminish my experience of it at all. I actually enjoyed wondering how the audience would react to specific moments. So how was the show? In one word, flawless. Well, I actually have 2 minor quibbles - one of the spot lights shook when the iris was really small, and I could tell when people or sets were moving behind some of the drops because those people/sets were too close to the drop and it would subsequently wave. But seriously, have you read my reviews of the other shows I've seen? If those are my ONLY 2 issues with the show, it's damn near perfection. The book - perfection. Music and lyrics - perfection. Set design - BRILLIANT. Costume design - perfection. Costume change execution - perfection (why yes, I did applaud loudly for an on-stage quick change). Casting - perfection. Choreography - perfection. Lighting - AMAZING (god knows I rarely say that). Orchestration and music direction - perfection. Seriously, this show was brilliant. So funny, so honest, such heart. So glad I finally got to see it.
On the walk home from the theatre (just over half a mile, not too crazy in my heels), Random Dude #1 walking past me on the street told me, "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank you!" I replied (yes, I do talk to strangers when it's not sketchy/weird, which this wasn't).
Then, Random Dude #2 (who was coming out of a bar/restaurant with Random Dude #3) said, "I love your dress!"
"Why thank you. I made it!"
"What? No way!" Random Dude #2 and Random Dude #3 were amazed. "What do you do? You must be in design of some sort."
"I write software. And I stage manage." which precipitated a discussion about if I had any upcoming shows and then about how I'm just visiting town and then they thought that I must be from New York, cause I'm super stylish. Anyway, it was just a really fun little conversation. I love this particular dress. I call it my "confidence dress." I made it for an audition that I did a few months ago. Since I made it, I made it to fit me, so it's super flattering. Plus, just the fact that I made it makes me feel good in it. I love it. I'm hoping to take some fashion design classes when I get home. I'm pretty good at making a garment out of a pattern, but I have ideas for stuff I'd like to make, and I want to learn how to take something from an idea to a pattern or dress form or whatever - I don't even know what the process is - so that I can make stuff that I've imagined in my head. Once again, so many projects, so little time. :-)
One more day in Chicago. Can't wait to tell you about my plans for tomorrow night - another something I've been looking forward to for a while.
So back on the train back towards downtown. You know what's annoying? When an address of 233 N Michigan is actually on the cross street (not Michigan) and not even on the 200 block. The entrance was around the corner on the 300 block of Michigan. What??!???!?! So yeah, glad I had extra time blocked into my travel plans, cause it definitely took me about 20 minutes to find.....the salon! That's right. I got my hair done. Finally. Seeing as it's been about 8 weeks since I got it done last back in Austin, I was getting antsy about it. My original thought was to get it colored while I was in Seattle, and then again in New York or Philly. But I only had one day in Seattle, and I didn't want to spend any of that getting my hair done. So since I had 2 full days here in Chicago, I figured it was a good opportunity to do it. Now, I am VERY picky about getting my hair done. My hair dresser in Austin has been the only one to do anything to it for the past 11 years. I trust her implicitly. I don't even bother to know what I want when I go see her. Sometimes I'll say, "let's go sassy this time" or "something kinda sleek and funky," but usually I sit down and say, "do whatever." And she always comes through. So before I left, she decided the easiest thing to do would be to take my hair back to all one color (it had previously been 3 different colors), and give me the recipe for what to do. Then I could just find a salon that had that particular brand and show them the card, and all would be good. Good plan, right? So I searched for a salon with this brand, contacted them to confirm that they had it, and made the appointment. And then when I showed up, I showed the stylist the card, and he says, "well, we don't have this exact brand." What?!??! But he assured me that he knew the brand and understood the whole recipe and could make the same color with the stuff he had. And he did! My hair looks great again! Woo hoo!
Ok, (why is it that my paragraphs always start with "Anyway," "So," or "Ok"? apparently they are my transitional words) after my hair got done being prettified, I came back to the apartment, changed my clothes and walked over to dinner at Grillroom Chophouse & Wine Bar. Dude, the tuna special??? So good - with these corn and chipotle mashed potatoes. YUMMY! From there, it was right across the street to Book of Mormon(!!!!!!!!). I have been waiting SO long to see this show I was so so so excited to see it. I wanted to see it last year in New York, or even this year in New York, but it's still next to impossible to get a decently priced ticket there. So I knew that a resident cast was going to be here in Chicago while I was here (they opened around February, and are leaving at the beginning of October to go on tour), and tickets weren't too crazy expensive - I got mine for $105. The show was at Bank of America Theater, which is larger than most Broadway houses, but not as massively expansive as Bass Concert Hall in Austin. A good size for a show like this. Now, I have the soundtrack of the show memorized, so I knew what to expect going in (which also meant that I occasionally laughed at jokes just before they happened because I was actually laughing at the set up), but that didn't diminish my experience of it at all. I actually enjoyed wondering how the audience would react to specific moments. So how was the show? In one word, flawless. Well, I actually have 2 minor quibbles - one of the spot lights shook when the iris was really small, and I could tell when people or sets were moving behind some of the drops because those people/sets were too close to the drop and it would subsequently wave. But seriously, have you read my reviews of the other shows I've seen? If those are my ONLY 2 issues with the show, it's damn near perfection. The book - perfection. Music and lyrics - perfection. Set design - BRILLIANT. Costume design - perfection. Costume change execution - perfection (why yes, I did applaud loudly for an on-stage quick change). Casting - perfection. Choreography - perfection. Lighting - AMAZING (god knows I rarely say that). Orchestration and music direction - perfection. Seriously, this show was brilliant. So funny, so honest, such heart. So glad I finally got to see it.
On the walk home from the theatre (just over half a mile, not too crazy in my heels), Random Dude #1 walking past me on the street told me, "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank you!" I replied (yes, I do talk to strangers when it's not sketchy/weird, which this wasn't).
Then, Random Dude #2 (who was coming out of a bar/restaurant with Random Dude #3) said, "I love your dress!"
"Why thank you. I made it!"
"What? No way!" Random Dude #2 and Random Dude #3 were amazed. "What do you do? You must be in design of some sort."
"I write software. And I stage manage." which precipitated a discussion about if I had any upcoming shows and then about how I'm just visiting town and then they thought that I must be from New York, cause I'm super stylish. Anyway, it was just a really fun little conversation. I love this particular dress. I call it my "confidence dress." I made it for an audition that I did a few months ago. Since I made it, I made it to fit me, so it's super flattering. Plus, just the fact that I made it makes me feel good in it. I love it. I'm hoping to take some fashion design classes when I get home. I'm pretty good at making a garment out of a pattern, but I have ideas for stuff I'd like to make, and I want to learn how to take something from an idea to a pattern or dress form or whatever - I don't even know what the process is - so that I can make stuff that I've imagined in my head. Once again, so many projects, so little time. :-)
One more day in Chicago. Can't wait to tell you about my plans for tomorrow night - another something I've been looking forward to for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment