Sunday, March 28, 2010

On the boards

The Sweet Sixteen shook itself out this weekend and now we're down to the Last Quartet. Congratulations to former Glenbrook North High School standout Jon Scheyer, who led the Duke Blue Devils today to their umpteenth, and his first, Final Four. A deep, poised Baylor team gave his crew all they could handle before Duke ultimately remembered it was Duke.

On an almost personal note, Scheyer is my aunt's neighbor and a big name around here since his days as a local prep prodigy. I like the way he's capably represented the Chicago area, and Reform Judaism, with his expert marksmanship. The guy is a freakishly talented scorer who once poured in 21 points in 75 seconds during a high school tournament game.

This year's tournament has once again proven to be the greatest show on hardwood, putting the comparatively tiresome NBA to shame with entertaining thrillers aplenty, the drama of the single elimination bracket, and whatever innocence is left in big-time college sports.

The college hoopsters aren't the only ones working the boards these days. A Red Orchid Theatre, for example, has been running Mike Leigh's 1970s stage drama Abigail's Party. I covered it for Flavorpill Chicago here but you're too late to RSVP as Abigail's Party wrapped its monthlong run today.

However, you still have time to catch Trust at the Lookingglass Theatre, co-written and co-directed by one David Schwimmer. To his credit, he's currently working on more challenging material than the facile sitcom that made him a household name and relieved his eventual grandchildren from having to work. Trust runs through April 25; my Flavorpill preview is here.

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