A Quick Trip To Chicago

The PopCulteer
July 10, 2026

So, I was out of town last weekend, missing most of the Fourth of July festivities, but I had a good reason.

Mel Larch, my beautiful wife, wanted to see a play at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, and it closes this coming Sunday.  I didn’t realize that it was already running when I found out last month that it was happening NOW, so I told Mel to see if she could get tickets for the weekend of July 4th, because it was the only weekend we had free before Catch As Catch Can closed.

Amtrak terlet selfie, taken at hour 15 of the trip out.

So we hopped on the heat-hampered and delayed Amtrak Cardinal to spend 76 hours in Chicago, where we saw an amazing play, did a little bit of shopping, rode on the L like it was an amusement park ride, and then got to head home on the Cardinal, which was differently-impaired this time. I don’t know what happened, but when we pulled into Charleston, the entire Amtrak train, engine and all, was being pulled by a CSX engine.  We got in four hours late…and it was no big deal. We still had loads of fun.

Since we’re hitting the road again Friday to go to Krugerfest in Wheeling, I’m just going to write a quick review of the play (which is nearly sold out for it’s last three performances, but you can try to get a ticket if you’re in Chicago), and share some photos from the trip.

Catch As Catch Can Is Stunning!

One of the fun things I do when Mel has a play that she really, really wants to see, is to keep myself in the dark about it. I knew nothing about this play going in. I didn’t know if it was a comedy or drama, or what it was about, or even the author’s name. All I knew is that it starred Gary Cole (Office Space, The Brady Bunch Movie, dozens of incredible voices for animation), Tim Hopper (Chicago Fire, Utopia) and Audrey Francis (Empire, ER). All three are Steppenwolf Ensemble members with extensive stage careers, and all three turn in amazing performances in Catch As Catch Can.

Mia Chung is the playwright, and while I didn’t know her work before seeing this play,  after seeing it I will never forget it. She has crafted one of the most brilliantly-structured, mainstream-seeming, works of experimental theatre that I’ve ever witnessed.  It requires a cast of world-class players, each of whom take on two roles, switching back-and-forth often…at one point every few seconds within a long, hectic scene. There are no major costume changes, only the use of a few props. The rest is done by the actor’s mastery of the body language, gestures of voices of each character.

The play begins as a light family comedy, filled with the funny tensions over the holiday season that has been fertile ground for many a comic masterpiece.  Then it suddenly all breaks down. Everything falls apart. Mental illness rips off its mask as one character makes several attempts at suicide. Another has a soul-searing panic attack on stage. What seemed as light, goofy banter turns out to have serious racist and misogynistic roots. The families are put through the ringer and lives are changed forever.

It has the emotional impact of a Loony Tunes cartoon where, halfway through, the TNT starts exploding realistically.

Catch As Catch Can ultimately deals with family dynamics, elder care, mental health issues and stigmas, trauma, “white lies” and self-preservation.

It might be the most provocative play I’ve seen since Downstate, which was also at Steppenwolf.

Each actor plays a parent and a child of the opposite gender. Cole and Hopper begin as the matriarchs of two middle-class families who are gossipping and preparing for a big family gathering. Francis plays the grumpy husband of Cole’s character. Hopper plays a widow.  In the second scene, Cole and Hopper each play the male offspring of their previous characters, as Francis plays the daughter of her previous character. The kids are all dealing with various types of pre-middle age issues.

Having kept myself completely in the dark about the play, I was disoriented at first, but it only took a few moments for the actors to win me over. Then it made perfect sense.

The next scene where the three actors manage to juggle six characters interacting in quick sucession was an acting tour-de-force. Several times the audience couldn’t help but applaud a seamless transition. It was virtuostic.

Also virtuostic is the work of the director, Amy Morton (one of Mel’s acting heroes and also a fantastic director), who brought together this cast with this script and led them to the mind-blowing performances that the play required.

I feel privileged to have seen it.

Meanwhile, Also In The City of Wind

One of the other fun things about this trip was that Mel and I were interviewed by Emilee Tullar for Steppenwolf’s donor newsletter. Longtime readers of PopCult might remember that, about eleven years and eleven months ago, Mel and I snuck off to Chicago and got married…onstage at Steppenwolf, no less.  It’s a very special place for us, and it’s always great to go back. Thanks to Emilee for asking us to talk about how cool it was to get married at Steppenwolf.

When we do go back to Chicago, we love to get into some of the cool things that we can’t do back home, but with just a couple of days to play with, we only indulged in a few Windy City activities….

You know it’s going to be a fun trip when you arrive in Chicago’s Union Terminal, take a wrong turn, and find a row of vending machines filled with Barbies, Hot Wheels and other toys.

Continuing the toy trend, we made our way to Pop Mart, where we did not submit to the clarion call of the Labubu.

Instead, Mel picked up a couple of Bikini Bottom Buddies, while I picked up a little plastic Skull Panda.

The line to get in to the JellyCat boutique was too long, so we went back the next day, right when they opened.

The 2D Chicago Experience was back, this time with Capabaras. I’ll probably run a photo essay in PopCult later.

We were sorely tempted by the chocolate bear at Royce, but all they had left was Dubai-style, and it still looks like it’s filled with boogers to me, so we passed.

Apparently the name “Meh Coffee” was already taken.

We did finally stop by this place, and it was well worth the visit.

I mean, I’m not Vegan or lactose-intolerant, but this was as good as Custard Stand soft-serve.

We leave you with a shot from the Brown Line on the L. I’m probably going to have to base a painting on this one.

That is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for fresh content and all our regular features every day, even when your humble blogger is on the road for several consecutive weekends.