Deceptively Simple

John Updike was born three years into one financial panic and died roughly one year (depending how historians end up demarcating our current debacle) into another one. In between, he lived through the defining moments of the American twentieth century, but it’s rare in his works, among those I’ve read, to find the Big Drama [...]

Drew McManus of Adapdistration awarded DecSimp a Premios Dardo Award – which Google Translator tells me means Award Dart Award – and I’d like to thank all the people who worked so hard and without whom I wouldn’t be standing here today. I won for being “the intersection of clever and hip,” and combine that [...]

I found this New Republic essay by art critic Jed Perl (New Art City and others) after writing the post below, and it’s nice to find yourself on the same page as someone like Perl without knowing it. Perl states that “[W]hat mattered in the early 1960s was not what JFK knew about Casals or [...]

Warning to all ye who enter the St. James Theatre: Thou shalt not take any photographs during the singing of Gypsy, or Patti LuPone will tear you up. Some shutterbug learned it the hard way (Rose’s Way?), and some audiobug was there to capture the sound of a LuPone tongue-lashing. Even at a distance, it’s [...]

As we close a ridiculously busy week, I can only note that everyone else is scrambling, too, audiences included. Tenor and blogger Nicholas Phan makes his Chicago recital debut tonight at the U. of C.’s Mandel Hall (someone plugged him in his Chicago operatic debut), and it’s only $10 and [UPDATE] the Chicago Brass Ensemble [...]