Lauren Garcia
Actors of Theatre at the Center’s Odd Couple Try to Redefine “Space Oddity”
Before there was a film rendition, a sitcom, an animated sitcom featuring a cat and a dog, a revival sitcom featuring the 1980s, and finally yet another sitcom featuring Chandler […]
The Chicago Cookbook Review: Beign-YAY Edition
Hello. My name is Lauren Elyse, and I cook for fun. And now I write a series about Chicagoans who write books about cooking for fun. Every season, I will […]
A Tree Falls in About Face’s The Secretaries, & Everyone Hears It
There are few things in life that I am comfortable in saying make complete sense: the science behind the salty-sweetness of a chocolate-covered pretzel, the inevitable success of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s […]
This Ain’t No Disco. This Ain’t No Country Club Either. This Is a New Series on Chicago Cookbooks.
Hello. My name is Lauren Elyse, and I cook for fun. And now I write about Chicagoans who write books about cooking for fun. Confused? Follow me. Let me take […]
Hillary Still Wins New Hampshire in Victory Gardens’ Hillary and Clinton But Not Much Else
What if we lived in a world where presidential elections weren’t such shit shows? Hear me out. Imagine there were many worlds very different from our own – even civil, perhaps […]
Cole Theatre’s The Bachelors Would Be Better Off Remaining Single
We are at an ideal time to be making a social commentary on the male perspective. That’s right – the male perspective, the very perspective that has idealized femininity since […]
Sideshow’s Mai Dang Lao Struggles to Serve a Happy Meal
There’s a special form of resentment I and the rest of working class America feel about restaurant jobs. Yeah, you know exactly what I’m talking about: coming home from work […]
Kokandy’s “Heathers: The Musical” Is Your New Best Friend and Worst Enemy
Look: No one wants to be the person who says that Heathers: The Musical works. You shouldn’t be able to take a cult classic movie, throw in a few snappy […]
Broadway in Chicago’s If/Then Is a Type-A Musical Wonderland
There are many reasons why one would want to root for Broadway in Chicago’s If/Then. For one, it’s not a riff on, say, a ’90s Disney film or Andrew Lloyd […]
Tympanic’s “Blueberry Toast” Finds Itself Having To Scrape Off Its Burnt Edges
If you had a sinking suspicion that, hey, maybe Tympanic Theatre Company’s Blueberry Toast is not about fruity breads and Eggo waffles and a celebration of domestic bliss over an […]
Porchlight’s “Far From Heaven” Takes Their Musical Theater Fare Shaken, Not Stoic
How do you take a cloyingly overused plot line and make it feel less decayed, more relevant, and, above all, interesting? That’s what Porchlight Music Theatre’s Far From Heaven attempts […]
The Greenhouse Theater Center’s Jacob Harvey on Embracing the Individual
One may allegedly be the loneliest number, but at the Greenhouse Theater Center, Artistic Director Jacob Harvey would like to argue that it also makes for one hell of a fine show. […]