Unless you’re English, just the term “choir of man” may sound a little perplexing. More than likely, your mind will race to spiritual or religious connotations rather than beer. But in the land of monarchs and cricket, there’s a tradition of men coming together to sing in choirs at their local pubs. That history became …
What does it mean to be extraordinary? After meeting Bill Wilson, a New York stockbroker in the late 1920s, neither he nor the life he leads rings as remarkable. That’s also true for Dr. Bob Smith, a career surgeon in Akron, Ohio during the same period. They’re both men pushing through life with a particularly …
Bill W. and Dr. Bob Chronicles the Birth of a Pivotal Movement Read More »
In 2006, right after seeing John Kolvenbach’s Love Song in London, Marti Lyons immediately bought the script in the theater’s lobby. Monday, after experiencing Remy Bumppo’s production of Mr. Kolvenbach’s beautifully expansive take on love at Theater Wit, we can understand why. This time around though, as Love Song’s Artistic Director, Lyons used the opportunity …
Remy Bumppo’s Love Song Takes a Fresh Look at What Makes the World Go ‘Round Read More »
Cirque du Soleil’s recent visit to the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates proves the entertainment colossus hasn’t the slightest interest in resting on its many well-deserved laurels. Quite to the contrary, Cirque du Soleil’s CRYSTAL seems to be forging new paths in the organization’s pursuit of delivering sumptuous world class spectacle grounded in compelling theater …
CRYSTAL Moves Cirque du Soleil’s Excellence to the Ice Read More »
We’re probably not the only country where aging is seen as an ominous specter, something to be dreaded and even feared because of its proximity to consummate demise. Such perceptions may not be naïve, but they certainly are narrow and overlook our capacity to experience life’s fullness and wonder throughout all of its stages. Playwright …
WIPEOUT Proves the Compatibility of Fierceness and Aging Read More »
The act of living means that the present takes up most of our mental space. Pursuing careers, raising families and keeping up with the day to day doesn’t leave a lot of opportunity to look back and give adequate measure to what was. Black Ensemble Theater’s (BE) 2024 season opener, The Time Machine: A Tribute …
Some say that in any family with two or more children, each child has a different set of parents. The relationship one child has with either of them is never exactly the same as it is for another brother or sister. The ramifications of those relationships and the way they’re entangled with history, race, legacy …
Stories that crouch down and sniff out the human element behind some of our most contentious issues always seem to bring the most satisfaction. That’s certainly true of The Smuggler, Jackalope Theatre Company’s tiny new powerhouse of a play about what it takes to corner the American Dream. As we learn while listening to Tim …
Small But Mighty, The Smuggler Showcases Theater at its Best Read More »
Many would hardly consider a highly acclaimed ballet company to be a leader in dance innovation. The popular mind tends to lock ballet into an art form of the past. Joffrey Ballet’s Studies In Blue, a trio of wonderfully conceived works now in performance at the Lyric, shatters such outdated notions. Inviting three exceptionally gifted …
Joffrey’s Studies In Blue Traffics in Total Perfection Read More »
Art can make you greedy. That reminder came while walking through Faith Ringgold: American People, an outstanding exhibition now in its closing weeks at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Dynamic, bold and unflinching; much of it is an unabashed declaration of personal and collective racial truth. An artist of many dimensions, Ringgold’s creative voice can …
Faith Ringgold Retrospective at MCA: The Convergence of Good Trouble and Great Art Read More »