Review: Samia and Raffaella Make Thalia Hall Feel Like Summer
Sometimes you just need the right show to pick up your spirits. Last week Samia and Raffaella made their way to Chicago for two nights of fantastic performances that not […]
Review: Dial H for Hilarity at Annoyance Theatre’s Hitch*Cocktails
While Hitch*Cocktails has been a staple of the Annoyance Theatre’s lineup for over a decade, the team behind Chicago’s most frighteningly funny drinking game is raising the stakes with the […]
Dispatch: The Mississippi Delta, Juke Joints, Tributes, and a Prodigy at Millennium Park—It’s Day 3 of the Blues Festival
Chicago Blues Festival #41 is shaping up to be one of the best I’ve seen in years. The day three lineup was mainly out of the Mississippi Delta. The park […]
Review: This Is Life: Rediscovered Short Fiction, by Frank London Brown
We mostly remember movements through supernaturally charismatic entities who said the right thing at the right time, sparking action, winning souls, and rewriting history. In reality, every movement is made […]
Dispatch: Neighbors from the North, Guitars,and Memories of Street Corner Concerts in Day 2 of Blues Festival
Day two of the Chicago Blues Festival was a trip down memory lane—the days of big production concerts, tailored clothes, and memories of summers in Louisiana. The mainstage performers on […]
Review: Wes Anderson Returns to the Familiar While Keeping It Fun, Thoughtful in The Phoenician Scheme
By this point, if you don’t know at least a bit of what to expect—the color schemes, the deadpan dialogue, the kooky costumes and haircuts—when going into a Wes Anderson […]
Review: Nova Linea Inaugural Season Closes With Buoyant and Original Compositions
June 4 marked the close of Nova Linea Musica’s inaugural season with a flourish of whimsy and music that, for me, evokes stories and visions of Chicago. NLM is the […]
Dispatch: An Old School Icon and a Contemporary Blues Master Kick Off Chicago Blues Festival at Ramova Theatre
June 5 at the Ramova was my opening day to summer in Chicago. The Chicago Blues Festival has kicked off, and what a blast it was. The last time I […]
Review: A Stephen King Adaptation, The Life of Chuck Explores Life, Family and the Joy of Dancing in Three Chapters
Life is not remembered in a straight, unbroken line; we remember moments: the best and the worst can be recalled vividly in most cases, but our brain holds onto what […]
Review: In Expanding the John Wick Franchise, Ana de Armas Stars in Ballerina, an Actioner Familiar in Tone and Cast
Unofficially subtitled “From the world of John Wick”—in case you couldn’t tell from the copious amount of violence, stunts, and eastern European mythology—Ballerina technically takes place between John Wick: Chapter […]
Review: Strong Performances Elevate Matt & Ben at Jarvis Square Theater
Though their earliest acting credits date back to the 1980s, it’s hard to argue that 1997 wasn’t the true launch of Matt Damon’s and Ben Affleck’s careers. Both featured in […]
Review: She Who Dared by Chicago Opera Theater Tells the Story Behind a Movement From Spark to Flame
I asked one of my Gen Z friends if they knew about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Their quizzical expression hit me like a lead weight. The history of the Civil […]