thehanslickgirls

July 24, 2017

Signifying Nothing: The First National Tour of “Something Rotten”

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or restaurants, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the Girls saw “Something Rotten!,” Broadway’s musical comedy about Shakespeare, kind of. Let’s hear what they had to say on their way back from the theater…

Right off the bat, Dania could tell that Gwen was going to hate this show.

Which was disappointing. By the time applause for the opening number, the comedic and quick-moving “Welcome To The Renaissance,” had faded away, Dania could sense most of Gwen’s criticisms. The show wasn’t taking itself seriously. The history was entirely inaccurate. The comedy wasn’t funny enough – Dania had been overwhelmingly enjoying the humor, but assumed that Gwen would probably dislike it. After all, this was a musical that took it upon itself to rhyme “genius,” describing Shakespeare, with “penis,” describing the put-upon protagonist Nick Bottom who hated the Bard. In fact, his rant regarding why Will gets to be “The Bard” rather than just “a bard” had mirrored a conversation Dania and Gwen had actually had once.

July 17, 2017

By A Thread: Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming”

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or restaurants, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the Girls saw “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Sony and Marvel’s sixth film featuring the web-slinging hero. Let’s hear what they had to say on their way back from the theater…

“Eh, not totally worth it to stay.”

“More like absolutely worth it to stay, Gwen,” Dania countered. “I am always down for more of that man on screen.”

“I’m just glad you were right about their being another post-credits scene, Dania,” Eleanor conceded, as the lights rose in the theater. Around them, the patient few who had stayed for the entire credits of the film were standing, shuffling their bags around, cleaning up popcorn, and murmuring their silent deliberations about the film’s quality.

July 9, 2017

The Rising Class: The Hanslick Girls on the Wirtz Center’s Fuente Ovejuna

—Originally published May 4, 2017—

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of Northwestern students who always go to see plays together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the Girls saw “Fuente Ovejuna,” Susan E. Bowen and Kori Alston’s new adaptation of Lope de Vega’s 17th century play. Let’s hear what they had to say on their way back from the theater…

“I don’t know who any of those actors were,” Eleanor said as she walked into the dark outside the Barber Theatre.

Gwen followed close behind, through the revolving door. “A lot of them are new,” Gwen said. “It’s an MFA thing, where the directors cast a lot of new performers in their shows. It happened with Agamemnon back in January, remember?”

“I suppose,” Eleanor said. “I mean, the lead guy, the evil one, he’s been in things before, right?”

“Gómez? Or the romantic interest for Laurencia?”

Author / thehanslickgirls