Preview: A Fresh and Fun Nutcracker Is Coming to Hyde Park
I have always loved the Hyde Park neighborhood for its vivacity and artistic sensibilities. So I was really pumped about getting to preview the Hyde Park School of Dance (HPSD) […]
Kathy D. Hey writes creative non-fiction essays. A lifelong Chicagoan, she is enjoying life with her husband, daughter and three dogs in the wilds of Edgewater. When she isn’t at her computer, she is in her garden growing vegetables and herbs for kitchen witchery.
Review: Hot Handel Kicks Off the Holidays at the Auditorium Theatre
I heard that there was some Grinch behavior spreading around Chicago. Even I have mandated that my office shalt not play that one station that starts with the fa-la-la business […]
Dialogs: Patti Smith, a Woman of Depth, Artistry, and Love for Humanity, Lights up the Music Box
When I hear the name Patti Smith, so many images are conjured in my mind. The 1970s at Club 950, No Exit, and Neo were teeming with people sporting mohawks […]
Review: King Roger Makes a Spellbinding Premiere at Harris Theater
I was put under a spell on Friday. King Roger by the Chicago Opera Theater (COT) was the spellbinding work that eased my anxiety from sitting in a traffic snarl […]
Review: Le Comte Ory Is a Beautifully Staged and Magnificently Sung Romp by Lyric Opera
Rossini’s Le Comte Ory is my second French-language opera within a week. Verdi’s Don Carlos is also at the Lyric. Le Comte Ory is considerably more lighthearted and is in […]
Review: Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Gives Freud a Smackdown in This is Not a Pipe
The Surrealism movement started in the 1920s, perhaps in response to WWI but definitely in reaction to art and literature being restrained and stifled into categories. Artists of the time […]
Review: Timeline Theatre Company Gives New Life to Trouble in Mind, a Classic in Our Racist History
I always look forward to Timeline Theatre productions because the company provides the background and history of the play in a lobby display and in the playbill. Ron OJ Parson […]
Review: What Farce Is This? The Artistic Home Lands a Slam Dunk with Malapert Love
I do not amuse easily and when something is touted as farcical, I expect it to be on point. The Artistic Home presents a sidesplitting farce with playwright Siah Berlatsky’s […]
Review: Verdi’s Don Carlos Goes the Distance at Lyric Opera
The Lyric Opera in Chicago is at the forefront of opera productions on the world stage. It’s right up there with La Scala in Milan or the Met in New […]
Review: Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Brings a Divine Mix of the Spiritual and Sensual in Movement and a Hot Tribute to Quincy Jones
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater gave a powerful performance that elated the audience and took me on an emotional trip down memory lane. The performers were Deeply Rooted members and company […]
Review: Stage Left’s Man of the People Needs a Dose of Vigor and Chemistry
I was looking forward to Man of the People by Stage Left Theatre. Patent medicine and unbelievable ads in the back of my comic books were a particular fascination of […]
Review: Gift Theatre’s The Locusts Is a Haunting and Surreal Thriller Reflecting a Dark Reality
It is ironic how the stripping of women’s rights, banned books, and other atrocities live larger than life in Florida. The Sunshine State was the shiny tarpon leaping out of […]