“To Master The Art” A Touching Look at Julia Child’s Epiphany
I have to admit, of the creative projects inspired by Julia Child, TO MASTER THE ART, currently playing at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) is among the best I’ve seen. The play recalls the adventure and romance of Julia and Paul Child’s journey of discovery to Paris during the 1950s. I’ve read stories about Julia’s “first time” she fell in love with food and about how she took cooking classes in Paris in the 50s and began work on her seminal book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” But this play – led by the spot-on performance of Karen Jane Woditsch as the lanky, somewhat awkward Pasadena native – is a remarkable accomplishment, capturing not only her mannerisms, but also the love story and formative years of our nation’s most endearing culinary icon. Julia isn’t the only star here; her husband, Paul (Craig Spidel) was, in essence, the reason she was even in France in the first place. The touching play captures their struggle to find themselves as Americans abroad during McCarthy’s Red Scare, while Paul worked for the U.S. government.
To add a bit of local flavor to the experience, a series of post-show Q&A discussions with some notable local chefs and restaurant professionals is now underway; these guests will share stories from their own experiences and how Julia Child inspired them in the food industry, following select Wednesday performances. Today, Chef John Asbaty of Panozzo’s Italian Market will be on hand; Chef Martial Noguier, Executive Chef and owner of Bistronomic appears on Oct. 9 and George and Christina Lemperis, Owner and Manager of The Palace Grill, will talk Oct. 16.
I had the good fortune to work with Julia twice, and met her as many times at the Beard Awards, as well as the Food Writer’s Symposium at the Greenbrier. She was a towering figure, yes, but she was also incredibly humble, always learning, and always note-taking, no matter where she was. I closed my eyes a few times during the play – just as I did when watching Meryl Streep give her knock-out performance in “Julie and Julia” – and was struck by how perfect the tone and pitch were. But more than that, this was just an enjoyable play, acted with care (and quite a bit of French). Food obsessives like myself who want to peel back the curtain on Child’s life before she made it big on TV will get a thrill out of learning how difficult her road truly was.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
The performance schedule for TO MASTER THE ART is as follows:
Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. (additional matinee performances on 9/25, 10/2, 10/9 and 10/16 at 2 p.m.)
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.
Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.
Sundays at 2 p.m. (additional performances on 9/15 and 9/22 at 6:30 p.m.)
Please note: Ticket prices and performance schedule are subject to change.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for TO MASTER THE ART at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place range from $25-$75. A select number of premium seats are also available for many performances. Tickets are available now for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710. Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Kiosk at Water Tower Place (845 N. Michigan Ave.), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
