Poem for Today: Freedom
It happened in Ferris Bueller’s hometown In the Mayberry of the Midwest I first heard about it while listening to WXRT When Terri Hemmert played “All You Need Is Love” […]
Review: In Thor: Love and Thunder, a Hero’s Promising Journey Gets Lost in a Filmmaker’s Muddled Vision
I won’t waste your time comparing Thor: Ragnarok to the latest tale of the God of Thunder, Thor: Love and Thunder, because to do so would be to imply that […]
Review: A Farce Lacking Humor, 18 1/2 is a Missed Opportunity for a Tense, Gripping Political Thriller
Sometimes a really great idea for a film can be hampered severely or even undone completely in its execution. The new indie feature 18 1/2 is hardly the first film […]
Preview: A Choose Your Own Adventure Guide to Fan Expo Chicago 2022
What you once knew as Wizard World is now under the banner of Fan Expo, and this year’s first major Chicago area convention kicks off in just one day! Fan […]
Preview: Music Institute of Chicago to Host 34th Duo Piano Festival
The 34th installment of the Music Institute of Chicago’s Duo Piano Festival will take place in person at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston. Starting this Friday evening, July 8, and […]
Review: Photo Exhibit Captures the Magic of the Blues at the Swedish American Museum
The latest exhibition at the Swedish American Museum, Great Feelings and Meetings, pays tribute to American blues music by showcasing the work of photographer Hans Ekestang who has been documenting […]
Review: Choir Boy at Steppenwolf Is a Splendid Spectacle With a Flawed Script
It’s not easy growing up as a gay Black boy. Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play Choir Boy is the story of Pharus, a high school senior at the Charles R. Drew Prep School […]
Review: It Came from Outer Space Is an Irreverent Good Time at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
From its home base at the far end of Navy Pier, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater routinely presents some of the best independent live theater in the city. In between innovative […]
Review: Stirring Vocals and Rhetorical Fireworks at Grant Park Celebration
One of the principles we celebrate on Independence Day is freedom of speech. And some of the principals participating in the Grant Park Music Festival‘s Independence Day Salute Saturday exercised […]
Review: Writers Theatre Rocks With Pearl’s Rollin’ With the Blues: A Night with Felicia P. Fields
The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the blues, but Chicago is the proving ground. Just a jump north of Chicago the Writers Theatre closes out its 2021/22 season by […]
Review: Story Theatre is Fire Hot in Debut Production, Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes
Almost everything that is written about the times we live in uses words like troubled, divided, and unprecedented. Various adjectives used by the media are rehashed, and do not get […]
Review: Two Exhibits Feature Work of Ukrainian Modernist Michel Andreenko
The work of Michel Andreenko, a Ukrainian émigré modernist painter and stage designer, is featured in two exhibits at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. The main exhibit in the West Gallery—Michel […]