A Quick Trip to the Windy City...

A week or so ago I used blogging as a way to decompress from the pressure of final papers, projects and performances. As I reported then, all my work was due then and not during exam week. Despite this, there are two exam periods I still had/ve to show up to. Annoyingly, one was Monday and the other is tomorrow. So in the interim, my wonderful boyfriend Loren and I took a road trip to Chicago for an eventful few days.

We drove in Monday night and awoke Tuesday morning to take to the streets. My brother, who has lived in Chicago for several years, is known for ‘walking his visitors to death’ and that’s exactly what we did. We ventured through Lakeview and Old Town, then to the shops of the Magnificent Mile.

Tuesday was especially exciting for me because I had contacted Act One Studio to sit in on one of there acting classes. This small advanced Scene Study class was taught by Steve Scott. Scott is a director/producer of Chicago’s prestigious Goodman Theatre and is also a professor at Roosevelt University. Scott and his actors, who ranged from a lawyer pursuing her hobby to an Equity actor, were very welcoming. Between Scott’s personality and understanding of the craft and Act One’s nice facilities I would defiantly further my acting study there if I ever relocated to Windy City. Tuesday night was concluded with open mic night at a piano bar!

Loren and I spent Wednesday afternoon at Shedd Aquarium in Museum Campus, next to Soldier Field. From there we enjoyed more of downtown, including the beautiful Marshall Field’s State Street Store, whose holiday windows were Fairy tale themed. Then we were off to my brother’s place of employment, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier. In the summer the Pier is packed with people, but I much preferred being the only two people walking the frosty promenade with holiday lights all around and snow gently falling upon us. Once inside we enjoyed a charming production of Much Ado about Nothing. [Below, Loren and I stand in front of the marine mammal pavilion, where the glass wall overlooks Lake Michigan.]

Having eaten at sushi place and Berghoff's (a famous German restaurant) we decided before leaving town today we had to have Chicago-style deep-dish from Gino's (the place where you can write on the walls). By the time we found an open location and ate the pizza, which takes 45 minutes to bake, we had missed our window of opportunity to visit the Museum of Science and Industry as originally planned. Sadly, it closes on 4 p.m. on weekdays.

Back in Ohio, where the weather seems to be much worse than what we experienced from Lake Michigan, Loren reports that he greatly enjoyed his first trip to Chi-town, especially “wondering around the aquarium with [me].” Having visited my brother there a half a dozen times, I enjoyed that which was new to me: observing the acting class. Though I highly doubt he reads this, much thanks to my brother for the theatre tickets and being a wonderful tour guide and host.