Howardian: Bedroom Music by a Garage Band
The veteran rocker Ian Vanek places a small drum kit at the front of the stage: bass drum, snare, ride cymbal, floor tom, and another tom. Though a minimal kit, […]
Hot Dog Chicago: Ketchup, Maxwell Street, Yellow Signage and Democracy
Guest author Bill Savage teaches Chicago literature and history at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library of Chicago. His scholarship and research focus on Nelson Algren, but also extend to […]
Hillary Still Wins New Hampshire in Victory Gardens’ Hillary and Clinton But Not Much Else
What if we lived in a world where presidential elections weren’t such shit shows? Hear me out. Imagine there were many worlds very different from our own – even civil, perhaps […]
CIMMfest 2016 Power Combo: Music and Movies About Music
CIMMfest 2016 (Chicago International Movies & Music Festival) runs April 13-17 at various venues. CIMMfest is a four-day showcase of music-related films, concerts, VJ/DJ sets, Q&As, live score performances, industry […]
Communion: Anything For You, Leaves Everything On Me
Communion‘s debut video for their latest cassette tape Anything 4 U is anything but saintly. It’s sinister and seductive. At best, the almost two minute video for the song “Head Held […]
The Joffrey Ballet Brings a New Take on The Nutcracker
Christopher Wheeldon A highly anticipated holiday tradition is getting a Chicago-style makeover this upcoming December. In 2015, the Joffrey Ballet announced the close of a 28-year run of Robert Joffrey’s The […]
A Number Really Does One on Us @ Royal George
On the surface, playwright Caryl Churchill has written a timely play about a controversial topic, cloning. But underneath that, there is a deep dive into more timeless concerns, such as what […]
Let The Funk Be With You: Songhoy Blues’ Story Unfolds Through Soul
Minutes before Songhoy Blues made their way center stage to appear before an eager, excited crowd, I saw them huddled together behind a pair of windows placed above Martyrs’ kitchen doors. From […]
Mosque Alert Takes a Thoughtful Look at Prejudice in a Small Town
Mosque Alert is a new play that focuses on three families in Naperville as the city decides whether a mosque may be built downtown on the site of a landmark. […]
The Artemis Quartet Perseveres After Tragedy
The Berlin-based Artemis Quartet offered a program of sunshine and suspense to kick off its North American tour at the University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall on Friday. Following the tragic […]
The Boss, Hardcore Henry, Miles Ahead, Demolition, Mr. Right, Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête)
THE BOSS Well, it’s better than Tammy. The last time comic dynamo Melissa McCarthy paired creatively with her husband, Ben Falcone, the results were the disastrous, richly unfunny work that […]
Stage 773’s Artist’s Lab Offers Emerging Artists More than Just a Credit
Now in its third year (and shedding its previously cumbersome, albeit whimsical title, “Scribble Bibble”), Stage 773’s Artist’s Lab offers emerging artists the opportunity to grow, connect, and collaborate in […]