Duck for President Takes Chicago, Part 1: Joliet (but not really)

It's the big time!  You see, we'd passed by the glittering, seductive lights of Chicago four times so far, each time waving at the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center as we battled I-90 traffic.  But now we were had finally arrived, for a week.

We began with three days off in Joliet.  Which, despite some claims, is not Chicago.  It is about an hour and a half by train ride from Chi-town.  Matt missed this portion of the adventure, as he was headed back to Jersey to see a production of a show he co-wrote.  However, Team ECK was not about to let a 90 minute train ride stop us from experiencing all that the Windy City had to offer!  Courtney found a humanities festival that was hosting a discussion between the Artistic Director of Steppenwolf and a professor on "Actors and the Body," I located the half-price ticket booth, Kristen found a slew of vegan restaurants, and we were off!

Team ECK engages in my kind of travel: set up some guidepost, and then be ready to divert from the plan, if needed.  So, after our train ride into the city, we headed for the Hip Tix half-priced ticket booth, where we received an excellent recommendation for a sold-out performance of A Brief History of Helen of Troy, a show Courtney had read in a previous incarnation (and under a different name).  Hoofing it back to the library, and briefly diverted by the exceptional Chicago Cultural Center's free modern art exhibit, we slipped into a rather inspiring (if scattered) conversation about the actor's art form.  It was interesting to hear our craft referred to as a generative art form (after all, actors are responsible for developing characters and roles, we have helped playwrights generate scripts and actors have contributed many iconic theatrical moments to theatrical history), and wonderful to be told that "actors are very interesting people" by a Yale-trained Ph.D.  Filled with inspiration, we headed off for a vegan take on a Chicago favorite...

... and headed to the Steep Theater for a little more artistic filling.  A Brief History of Helen of Troy was as gritty and challenging as the gentlemen at Hip Tix had promised.  A teenage girl deals with the recent death of her mother, and all of the muck she must wade through during adolescence, by drawing parallels to the life of Helen of Troy.  It was their closing night, so the house was packed (not sure why they had tickets at the half-priced booth), and we all left a little shell-shocked.  It was nice to be reminded, when you're doing lighter, TYA fare, that more serious stuff is going on out there.

Chicago-via-Joliet day two brought the rest of the gang together.  First stop: The Bean:

 

Afterward, we split up, as David and I headed for the Field Museum of Natural History, Nic made his way to the Planetarium and the ladies did an America's Next Top Model-esqe photo shoot on the shores of Lake Michigan (Kristen has the evidence).  Dinner was the Chicago Diner, a vegan mecca that Kristen had researched, and it was as delicious as expected.  We rode the train back full, and thoroughly exhausted.

Afterward, we split up, as David and I headed for the Field Museum of Natural History, Nic made his way to the Planetarium and the ladies did an America's Next Top Model-esqe photo shoot on the shores of Lake Michigan (Kristen has the evidence).  Dinner was the Chicago Diner, a vegan mecca that Kristen had researched, and it was as delicious as expected.  We rode the train back full, and thoroughly exhausted.

Another day of rest, and it was showtime once again.  Our venue, the Rialto Square Theater, was clearly a popular Theatreworks touring spot, evidenced by the multitude of signatures adorning the old walls.  (I spent a good part of my half-hour photographing the autographs and sending them to friends who had been through before.)  It was odd to do the show again after three days off -- there is always a moment of "oh, right, THAT'S when that happens" that goes on once you've had a few days away from performances, but our mental catch-ups were barely discernible to the audience, and it was nice to get the show back in our bodies.  As the set headed back into the Sprinter, we left our mark as well.

Call tomorrow: 8am, Courtyard by Marriott, St Charles, IL.  Two more shows, and then we're in Chicago proper for a few more days of fun.

Kid Quote of the Day:  Promptly after I announced, "Babymouse: The Musical, by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm," a little boy shouted, "That's my name!"  I'm not sure what he was talking about.

Adult Quote of the Day:  Our cast seems to like fruit.  Earlier posts will attest to Matt's love of apples, but he's not alone.  Anyway, one venue had a spread set out for us one day.  Matt was the first to investigate.  As we trotted down the hall, we heard an exclamation: "Shiny fruit!"  Since then, all fruit's shine factor has been a major subject of discussion.