(no subject)
Several weeks ago, I posted about seeing a local theater company’s production of Altar Boyz, the boy-band/Christian-pop-music spoof. I noted that I liked the show itself, but felt that several of the cast members were weak vocally and in their dancing. I commented that I would enjoy seeing a true professional production of the show.
As luck would have it, shortly thereafter I saw a notice that a production of Altar Boyz was going to be opening in Chicago at the Drury Lane Theatre in Water Tower Place. I decided to make a quick trip up there to see this production. After teaching my calculus class on the morning of Saturday, September 29, I hit the rode for Chicago.
It was a beautiful weekend weather-wise, so the drive up was nice. The show turned out to be absolutely terrific. Every aspect of the production was professional and top notch. The theatre itself and the staging were excellent, and the performers were awesome. The five “Altar Boyz” had great voices, and their dancing was stellar. It made the entire experience much more enjoyable. I think I will be visiting Chicago again before the run of this production is over. I highly recommend it to anyone who lives in the area or is visiting Chicago. I was also able to sleep in on Sunday morning before heading back to Indy. That was an enjoyable indulgence in itself.
I had arrived in Chicago in the early afternoon, so I decided to visit memory lane. During all of the years that I was a priest, I spent a total of fifteen years in the Chicago area. Most of those were while I was stationed in the western suburbs. The Franciscans owned several hundred acres of land in the Oak Brook area. The property had originally been part of the estate of Francis Peabody, a Chicago coal magnate. When he died in the 1920’s, the land was donated to the Franciscans. They eventually built a high school seminary, a retreat house, and a school for brothers on the land. I spent quite a few years at both the seminary (St. Joseph’s) and the brother’s school (St. Paschal’s).
The Franciscan Province gradually closed all of those operations and moved out of the area. The end of the property on which the seminary stood was sold to developers, the seminary buildings were torn down, and the place is now dotted with million-dollar houses. The DuPage Conunty Forest Preserve District bought the remaining property. The retreat house is being used for offices and meetings, while St. Paschal’s sits empty. The land and lakes on the property has been allowed to return to nature, and is used as a park.
It has been quite a while since I had seen the area, so I decided to stop for a visit before heading to my hotel when I arrived in Chicago.
This first picture is part of the front of the retreat house. This section of the building was part of the original Peabody mansion.
On the grounds of the retreat house, the Franciscans had built this small chapel. It is an exact replica of the small chapel outside of Assisi where St. Francis began his religious order. (During earlier decades, Chicagoland teens used to sneak onto the property, since it was rumored that Peabody was buried in the Chapel with his body floating in formaldehyde.)
There is a plaque commemorating the original owner of the estate.
Since St. Paschal’s is not in use, the area encircling it has been allowed to grow wild. I had to crash my way through woods and briar bushes to get a look at it. Here is a wide view.
In this picture, if you look at the top floor and find the third set of windows from the right end, that was my room during the last five years I was a Franciscan priest. By that time, St. Paschal’s had been converted to use as an intermediate health care facility for the retired priests and brothers. I was residing there while taking graduate math classes at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Finally, here is an example of the homes that have been built on the site of the former high school seminary.
As luck would have it, shortly thereafter I saw a notice that a production of Altar Boyz was going to be opening in Chicago at the Drury Lane Theatre in Water Tower Place. I decided to make a quick trip up there to see this production. After teaching my calculus class on the morning of Saturday, September 29, I hit the rode for Chicago.
It was a beautiful weekend weather-wise, so the drive up was nice. The show turned out to be absolutely terrific. Every aspect of the production was professional and top notch. The theatre itself and the staging were excellent, and the performers were awesome. The five “Altar Boyz” had great voices, and their dancing was stellar. It made the entire experience much more enjoyable. I think I will be visiting Chicago again before the run of this production is over. I highly recommend it to anyone who lives in the area or is visiting Chicago. I was also able to sleep in on Sunday morning before heading back to Indy. That was an enjoyable indulgence in itself.
I had arrived in Chicago in the early afternoon, so I decided to visit memory lane. During all of the years that I was a priest, I spent a total of fifteen years in the Chicago area. Most of those were while I was stationed in the western suburbs. The Franciscans owned several hundred acres of land in the Oak Brook area. The property had originally been part of the estate of Francis Peabody, a Chicago coal magnate. When he died in the 1920’s, the land was donated to the Franciscans. They eventually built a high school seminary, a retreat house, and a school for brothers on the land. I spent quite a few years at both the seminary (St. Joseph’s) and the brother’s school (St. Paschal’s).
The Franciscan Province gradually closed all of those operations and moved out of the area. The end of the property on which the seminary stood was sold to developers, the seminary buildings were torn down, and the place is now dotted with million-dollar houses. The DuPage Conunty Forest Preserve District bought the remaining property. The retreat house is being used for offices and meetings, while St. Paschal’s sits empty. The land and lakes on the property has been allowed to return to nature, and is used as a park.
It has been quite a while since I had seen the area, so I decided to stop for a visit before heading to my hotel when I arrived in Chicago.
This first picture is part of the front of the retreat house. This section of the building was part of the original Peabody mansion.
On the grounds of the retreat house, the Franciscans had built this small chapel. It is an exact replica of the small chapel outside of Assisi where St. Francis began his religious order. (During earlier decades, Chicagoland teens used to sneak onto the property, since it was rumored that Peabody was buried in the Chapel with his body floating in formaldehyde.)
There is a plaque commemorating the original owner of the estate.
Since St. Paschal’s is not in use, the area encircling it has been allowed to grow wild. I had to crash my way through woods and briar bushes to get a look at it. Here is a wide view.
In this picture, if you look at the top floor and find the third set of windows from the right end, that was my room during the last five years I was a Franciscan priest. By that time, St. Paschal’s had been converted to use as an intermediate health care facility for the retired priests and brothers. I was residing there while taking graduate math classes at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Finally, here is an example of the homes that have been built on the site of the former high school seminary.