Third Coast Creatives

 Although The Blues Brothers movie was released over 38 years ago, it has remained a cult classic throughout the world.  In an online poll conducted by The State Journal-Register, Illinois Bicentennial Committee, and Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum as part of the Illinois Bicentennial celebration, voters chose The Blues Brothers  as the top movie in Illinois history.  Despite opening to mixed reviews, the film has grossed over $115 million worldwide.  Here are some fun facts about this cult classic. ·          The original draft of the screenplay written by Dan Aykroyd was 324 pages, which was three times longer than the standard screenplay.   To soften the impact, Aykroyd made a joke of the thick script and had it bound with the cover of the Los Angles Yellow Pages directory when he turned it into producer Robert K. Weiss.   Director John Landis was given the task of editing the script into a usable screenplay, which took him about two weeks. ·          Several (13)

Mercury Theater Chicago’s revival of their homegrown production of Avenue Q has extended performances for the second time due to popular demand, now playing through December 30, 2018.   A racy cross between South Park and Sesame Street, Avenue Q is a modern musical focusing on a group of unique 20-somethings making their way through the “Big City”, seeking their purpose in life.   This clever 2003 Broadway hit by songwriters Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez and playwright Jeff Whitty, transfers well in a breezy, intimate staging by director L. Walter Stearns at Mercury Theater Chicago. The show is the story of Princeton, a 23-year old college grad with no job, no girlfriend, and no sense of purpose.   After moving to Avenue Q, a fictional slum on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Princeton meets plucky but lonely Katie Monster, a kindergarten teaching assistant with dreams of opening a school for monsters like herself or “people of fur” in her words.   Princeton’s other neighbors include fa