Belle Of The Bawd

Owen Kalt is the lyricist of a new musical in Chicago, "Belle Barth: If I embarrass You, Tell Your Friends."  He talks with The Chicago Girl about the show, the inspiration, Ms. Belle Barth, and a practical joke that made him question the show's composer.  

CG: Tell me about the musical.

OK: I had never heard of Belle Barth before playwright Joanne Koch asked me to work on this project.  Belle was a famous standup comic in the 1950s and 60s--famous for her bawdy jokes. Our show tells her story with music, humor, and even some poignancy.

CG: What do you like best about the show?

OK: One thing that appealed to me about the project is that Belle was a rebel.  Very few women were breaking social codes by telling dirty jokes in public at the time.  Belle paved the way for performers like Bette Midler, Margaret Cho, Sarah Silverman, and Lisa Lampanelli.  In fact, Bette Midler likes to quote her.  If someone heckles her during a concert, Midler likes to respond, "As Belle Barth used to say, 'Shut your hole, honey.  Mine's making money!"

CG: Who should see the show?

OK: Our show is packed to the gills with laugh-out-loud dirty jokes.  It's a great show to see on a date because even people who don't ordinarily enjoy musical theater will have a great time being bombarded by raunchy jokes.

CG: Tell me about your process.

OK: This was my third time working with composed Ilya Levinson, who was raised in Russia.  Ilya likes for me to write the lyrics first, and then he creates a melody.  He played a good prank on me while we were writing this show.  I gave him the lyrics to a song called "Dirty Little Secrets."  A few days later, he told me he had written the melody, and then he sang my lyrics to the tune of "Some Enchanted Evening."  I was stunned and tried to tell him that his melody wasn't original--that it was from South Pacific.  He started laughing and I realized it was a gag.

 

For more information: Theo Ubique Theatre Co.

See, Explore, Eat

See I'm looking forward to seeing Slumdog Millionaire tonight.  I've heard good things, so I'll let you know what my thoughts are.

Explore Obama-mania has made Hyde Park the place to be.  I still haven't explored the neighborhood.  I'm wondering, where are your favorite digs?

Eat I'm embarrassed to say that I devoured this apple cake like a ravenous dog.  It's incredibly easy to make. I recommend following the reviewers' instructions on how to spice it up.  I doctored the recipe by adding nutmeg and cloves to the crust mix. Then topping it off with a cinnamon-sugar oat mix. Just try to eat it like a lady.  Mmm Swedish Apple Pie...

Nore-bang For Your Buck

I had the pleasure of nore-banging at my cousin's birthday party.  It's not what you think. Well, you decide. Norebang is a Korean style karaoke where you rent out a private room for your party. Our norebang spot was at Lincoln Karaoke in Lincoln Square.  And it was a trip. 

Entering Lincoln Karaoke, I wondered if I had mistakenly dropped by somebody's apartment. Walking further in, I saw a bar, doors marked with numbers, and heard "If You Wanna Be My Lover" as someone walked out one of the doors.

I found out that we were in door #9. The party guests were singing along with karaoke on a flat screen TV with a video behind it of some city scene.  It wasn't long before the party-goers flipped the background on the karaoke screen to a porn background to shock the newcomers. They succeeded. The owner had earlier asked if everyone was 19 and turned on the background. Let's just say that Lincoln Karaoke put the bang in norebang.

Lincoln Karaoke

Consumers Riding Out The Recession In Style

The recession has hit and I've seen a slew of articles about fashion on a budget.  But have you cut back on the amount of money you spend on shopping?  

If you're already a consumer of designer goods, have you paused purchasing luxury items?  If search habits are any indicator, if you were into high-end goods before, odds are, you're still seeking out your beloved Burberry and going after the latest Gucci. 

Using Google Trends, I analyzed searches for various designers, including Marc Jacobs, 7 Jeans, Coach, and Manolo Blahnik.  I also compared a few stores that sell cheaper budget clothing like Forever 21 and Old Navy with retailers like Neiman Marcus and Saks. 

In general, the trend was that search volume for all of these retailers remained about the same. The only store that showed steady an upward trend was Forever 21.  I would imagine that H&M would be about the same if you could shop online in the U.S.  The Forever 21 trend is to buy more clothes for less money, even though the quality of the clothes are inferior.  Still, Forever 21 is still outpaced by GAP brand.  

So while recession fear is out there, it seems that consumers are still riding out the recession in style.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=forever+21

November Is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

I'm going to try to start keeping up the blog again.

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month and I'm working on getting the word out about an event that PanCan and the Young Professionals of Chicago are putting to benefit pancreatic cancer research.  You get to network and get two free drinks, all while contributing to research for a type of cancer that is grossly underfunded.

Here are all the details:

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network presents The Metropolitan Club Event:

Join us to learn about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the efforts that are being made to help fightthe 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.

 

The Sears Tower - 67th  Floor 233 S. Wacker

$25 inclusive in advance, $35 at the door

2 complimentary drinks and hors d'oeuvres

RSPV to Jessica Otis: jotis@pancanvolunteer.org