Stacey Rose’s latest play, America v.2.1 hits you like a blow out of nowhere, leaves you disoriented and keeps you incredulous; especially through the entirety of its first segment. The play’s subtitle, The Sad Demise and Eventual Extinction of the American Negro, was probably intended as a warning for what you were about to drop …
Unthinkable Realities Imagined in Definition Theatre’s America v.2.1 Read More »
Using photography, videos, rare poster art, walls of album covers and music, Chicago’s South Asia Institute (SAI) has mounted an exquisite retrospective on one of the world’s great musicians. Ravi Shankar: Ragamala to Rockstar reminds us of the phenomenal achievements one person can realize through the arts. It also showcases the impact Indian classical music …
Dance has been bubbling back to the surface for a few months now but there was something about Giordano Dance Chicago’s (GDC) Illuminate performance October 22rd that had the whiff of a full resurgence. The show marked the opening of the company’s 2021 home season and seemed intent on showing the world what it had …
Illuminate a Glimpse into Giordano Dance Chicago’s Future? Read More »
The sensory impact of David Rice’s The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story, now extended to November 21st in Oak Park, may be it strongest asset. Performed by the Oak Park Festival Theater (OPFT), the play capitalizes on the suburb’s rich architectural heritage to transport audiences back in time and revive a forgotten …
Play Ingeniously Revisits Edgar Allan Poe and His Unsettling Fixation Read More »
Last Saturday night’s installment of the Third Logan Center Blues Fest came dabbed with surprises. Headlined by a legend, and opening with a rising star; the show was an amazing study in contrasts. And there was something about how the performances unfolded that exposed a seismic shift in what we call the blues. From most …
Glass Half-Full Second Night of Logan Center BluesFest Read More »
Windy City Playhouse, king of the immersive theater concept in Chicago, is back with a brand-new spin on how to insert audiences into a theatrical performance. With Recipe for Disaster, they’ve gone in a completely different direction and partnered with Chicago restaurant royalty to show how malleable and fun live theater can be. Rick Bayless, …
Windy City Playhouse’s Marriage of Farce and Food a Recipe for Success Read More »
A tad gaudy and slightly fantastical as they sit along suburban thoroughfares, their themes can run the gamut from the aquatic to the Jurassic. A part of the American fabric since the 1920s, miniature golf courses have been around almost a century and can still rightfully claim millions of fans for two reasons. Visiting them …
Miniature Golf Flexes its Superpowers at Elmhurst Art Museum Read More »
Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright, a new exhibit at Lincoln Park’s Wrightwood 659 gallery, makes the obscure sensational. By looking at the rise and premature fall of two buildings, each designed by architectural deity, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, we gain a newfound appreciation for design genius and see …
Gallery Looks Back at Paradise Before it Was Bulldozed Read More »
Since its inception 30 years ago, Dance for Life has always been, at its heart, a response of joy. Conceived by a single dancer as part of a strategy to help members of the dance community during the HIV/AIDS crisis three decades ago, Dance for Life has become the embodiment of a community coming together …
The amount of anticipation flowing through Briar St. Theater Wednesday night as a largely hyped audience filled their seats wasn’t expected. After 17 months, three eerily blue men dressed in black were about to retake the stage and prove “Blue is indeed Back”. This crowd was ready. Originating in New York in the 80’s before …