Thirty years ago, Jim Cartwright’s play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice made a big noise first on London’s West End and then on Broadway and at Steppenwolf Theatre. […]

It was a mad dash across Douglass Park on Sunday afternoon as the Riot Fest gates opened at 2 p.m. after a rain delay. Thursday fans sprinted to catch a […]

I have always said that there is no real American culture because we are a country of immigrants. The one thing that is a common denominator is the striving to […]

A little afternoon rain didn’t deter fans from flocking to Douglass Park on Saturday for the second day of Riot Fest. Half arrived for the nostalgic indie rock album plays […]

Hamilton has landed in Chicago and I was not prepared for the mania that was opening night. The line wound down State Street from the Nederlander on Randolph for people […]

Riot Fest 2023 kicked off with a day of sunshine and sing-alongs in Douglass Park on Friday. The festival has been delivering nostalgic punk and rock acts since 2005, and […]

It took me a few minutes to figure out what makes director Craig Gillespie’s (I, Tonya; Lars and the Real Girl) latest work, Dumb Money, different from the slew of […]

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Charlotte Reagan, Scrapper, a slight but moving slice-of-life set in urban London, is anchored by the central performance of Lola Campbell as Georgie, […]

Perhaps its biggest flaw is its overly cutesy tone, even when dealing with more serious subjects, but the romance Love at First Sight has the distinct advantage of having two […]

The great Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín (Neruda, The Club, Jackie, Spenser) has returned for his latest film to a subject and feeling he grew up with in his homeland: what […]

Birthday Candles is a new play now on stage at Northlight Theatre. It’s a poignant comedy/drama that will cure your emotional ills for an evening with its story of love, life […]

In her new book Love and Industry: A Midwestern Workbook Sonya Huber offers a collection of effective essays mostly about her Midwest identity. A longtime essayist and Fairfield University professor, […]