Entering its 26th year, Eclipse enjoys the distinction of being the only theatre in the Midwest to focus exclusively on the works of a single playwright every season. By choosing to mount contemporary adaptations of plays by William Inge, Eclipse will be reintroducing modern audiences to a writer considered to be “one of the …
Playwright William Inge Featured in Eclipse Theatre’s 2018 Season Read More »
Commemorating the birthdays of figures who helped shape the destiny of the nation is not something we do well. After naming buildings, byways and bridges for them, remembrance devolves into speech making and, in the case of Martin Luther King Jr., concerts. Both are acceptable, even laudatory and enjoyable. But they suffer from a predictable …
The Blues Ain’t a Color – MLK Tribute Speaks Frankly about Race Read More »
The Black Ensemble Theatre (BE) has a tradition of delivering solid theatre by telling compelling stories through song. In Sammy: A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr., song and dance act as ornamentation to a drama depicting exceptional innate talent and steely perseverance in the face of raw bigotry. Typical of a good BE show, a …
Black Ensemble Theatre Toasts Mr. Show Business: Sammy Davis, Jr. Read More »
Beer people understand. A taproom that consistently delivers on great tasting beer is a treasure. One that also serves up serious eats on the side is just about priceless. Chicago’s blessed with a few such haunts and Half Acre’s Taproom on Lincoln right now has to rank as one of the best. With its total …
Everyone possesses the capacity to imagine. Artists are blessed with the ability to use their imaginations to create. At the top of the stairs on the 4th floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art, a small exhibit is dedicated to the creativity and imagination of women artist who work in the medium of photography. For …
Woman with a Camera – Catch it While You Can at MCA Read More »
If you’re approaching or firmly entrenched in your teens; or just have an acute weakness for romance, you’ll probably dig Gladius James’ upcoming release Revelation. Although the promo cut, Too Bad, has something of the rouge injected into its soul as he taunts his girl about not following through on a date, the other tracks …
Snoh Aalegra may be an anomaly but she’s a terrific one. A young Swedish woman who can sing neo-soul with conviction and so much plush is a formidable force. Whether the song carries an austere melody or vibrates with moody electro funk, her voice adapts to the terrain and draws you in like a lure. …
Teaming up at Public House Theater to raise dollars for ACLU Illinois, ThirdCoastReview (3CR) and Kill Your Darlings (KYD) Live Lit hosted a kinetic benefit celebrating the first amendment by reading from formerly censored books. Dry and boring it was not. Orchestrated to coincide with an annual revel sponsored by the American Library Association to …
The world of performance is precarious, unpredictable and erratic. And it encompasses many more people than just those you see on the stage. If you work in that world as an actor, dancer, stagehand, or director; your next gig is never guaranteed and your livelihood rarely secure. Spurred by the 2015 death of local …
Third Annual Chicago Theater Bike Ride Remembers Its Own Read More »
Humankind has never lost the wish to understand and explore the unknown. Seared into our genetic code, curiosity has been the motivating force that stimulated the birth of civilizations. Strangely that curiosity does not always include a desire to understand and appreciate each other. Here we continue to see differences in ourselves as threats …
Chicago Theatre Marathon 2017: A Hero with Class Read More »