Whether they paint, sculpt, dance, write, design or work in the musical sphere, artists are remembered either for their renown or for their impact. The Elmhurst Art Museum’s exhibition simply titled Sandra Jorgensen movingly commemorates both. An accomplished modernist artist who also led a distinguished academic career, Jorgensen’s name is frequently associated with a Chicago …
Artistic Legacy on Display at Elmhurst Art Museum Read More »
Spellbinding, thrilling, surprising and even incredible might all describe a first visit to Teatro Zinzanni. Equal parts circus and cabaret, a TZ experience can easily be considered a sustained three-hour spectacle tied together with a full course meal. With an ace comedic showman acting as master of ceremony, you’d think tossing a sterling diva of …
Looking back at someone’s lifetime achievements does much more than chronicle their mastery of craft. If done with the hope of exposing a glimpse of the person as a human being as well as an artist, a retrospective can disclose how talent, savvy and knowledge of self can propel a person into lasting fame. Andy …
The first moments of Parallel Lives, a new Deeply Rooted Dance Company work performed over the weekend on the Logan Center stage, singe like an electric charge. The music, composed by Evangelos Spanos, pushes and insists as does the solo dancer at the stage’s center. She’s focused, graceful, exact, urgent and transfixing. After helping to …
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Perennially Exciting Read More »
Sometimes that rare occasion arises when “first tastes” takes you both to the old and the new in short order. Late in November, we saw and tasted how three accomplished chefs at two restaurants harnessed their ambition, drive and skill to claim their places at the summit of Chicago’s restaurant hierarchy. Sarah Gruenberg’s Monteverde has …
And you thought you knew all there is to know about Christmas. Even if you do, you’ll still fall for Eleanor’s Very Merry Christmas Wish – the Musical. Enjoying its hard-won debut at the Greenhouse Theatre on Lincoln Ave. near DePaul, Eleanor’s more than anyone could ask from a Christmas story. A labor of love …
Eleanor’s Very Merry Christmas Wish – The Musical, Has it All Read More »
Showing up to the circus early is a little like doing the same thing at a big, elaborate wedding. You get to see what a place looks like before its overcome with pomp and spectacle. With Teatro Zinzanni, the elaborate single ring circus in permanent residence on top of the Cambria hotel high above the …
Upping its game to the point that now it’s almost posh, Halloween stopped being only about kids years ago. Which may have helped inspire the Oriental Institute’s classy and patently eclectic re-imagining of what a Halloween celebration could look and feel like. The brainchild of the Oriental Institute’s Young Professionals Board, who titled their foray …
Even with the staggering number of choices Chicagoans have to satisfy our cravings for music, theater, dance and the visual arts, the entertainment playing field can never get too crowded. Having only been open a year, the city may be just beginning to realize what an asset Wrightwood 659 has already become. The sedately serene …
Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater made a big splash at Dance for Life in August with its show of artistic flair and ravishing precision. That they would be occupying the Auditorium stage again this month with an extended suite of dances made their show Saturday night highly anticipated. Based on the what they presented over …