September 16, 2008: Chicago

Two days later, we are still in Chicago, but at least we have found some sunshine. I got up at the crack of dawn this morning for an early call, and had the treat of seeing the sunrise and beautiful glimmery reflections in the bay. We are still docked on the wall in Monroe Bay, waiting for the water to go down in the Illinois River. It is sad to see the impact of the water on the homes and neighborhoods downstream from Chicago. The Illinois River crested at 17 feet over normal and the loopers who are already in the river system are recommending caution.

Tom got in a 21 mile bike ride today, and I took my calls on the upper deck overlooking a hundred sailboats glistening in the sun. It was a good day.

Tonight we decided to take advantage of the culture of the city and bought tickets for a play at the Shakespeare Theater on the Navy Pier. We rode our bikes over again and had dinner at the Riva restaurant overlooking the water so we could watch the tour boats and the tall sailing ship come and go from the dock.

We saw Amadeus, a dramatic play about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life in Vienna and the complex journey of his competitor, Antonio Salieri. The performance was provided by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater which is a non-profit organization which advances broad programming including major Shakespeare productions, acclaimed international presentations and contributions to public learning thought the local schools and universities. Amadeus was written by Peter Shaffer in 1979 and won the Golden Globe award for best screen play in 1984 for the movie version. The play was produced in their 500 seat theater in the round and gave the flavor of the Globe Theater in London, but was much dressier and more comfortable. Certainly more comfortable since the play we saw in London, we had standing tickets in yard. The acting was superb, the costumes wonderful and the stage setting and changes effective. The play piqued our interest in re-studying the life of Mozart. We remember some of the history from our visit to his home in Salzburg, Austria several years ago. Certainly he was portrayed as the musical genius that he was, but in a surprisingly boisterous and silly personality. Now we will have to do more research.