Review: Beyond Genre, Kishi Bashi Soars with the Chicago Philharmonic
Kishi Bashi is a well-known artist in the Indie music sphere. Based in Athens Georgia, where other Indie luminaries such as the B52s and REM launched their careers, his blend […]
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: American Ballet Theatre Serves Up a Legacy of Longing and Nostalgia at the Auditorium Theatre
The American Ballet Theatre is a venerable institution also known as America’s National Ballet Company. Their stop through Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre proves that it is a title well-earned […]
Review: Jagged Little Pill Is a Visceral and Beautiful Look at the Myth of Suburban Perfection
I remember Alanis Morrisette back in the mid-’90s on MTV. Her album Jagged Little Pill was ubiquitous on the radio and on a continuous loop in my daughter’s bedroom. The […]
Review: Redtwist’s Babel Explores the Pursuit of Human Perfection
Survival of the fittest means that a species that adapts to its environment will be the best suited to reproduce—aka Darwinism. Playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger’s Babel presents a dystopian view of […]
Review: Lush Contemporary Music Blends With Metaphysics and Science in The Life and Death of Alan Turing by Chicago Opera Theater
.Composer Justine Chen and librettist David Simpatico have worked for over a decade to bring The Life and Death[s] of Alan Turing to the opera stage. It was commissioned in […]
Review: A High Energy and Ebullient Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
I grew up watching shows like Ed Sullivan and American Bandstand. The most memorable act was the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. The Ikettes formed a backdrop to the long-legged […]
Review: Chicago Philharmonic Delivers the Romanticism of Larsen, Mahler, and Schumann
The Chicago Philharmonic is known as “the People’s Orchestra.” They have regaled audiences with a variety of classical, jazz, gospel contemporary, and the music of young composers from their Donna […]
Review: Witnessing the Swan Song of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
Quite a few people say they love the music of Billie Holiday, having heard only God Bless the Child or—the song controversial in its time—Strange Fruit. Those songs cannot come […]
Review: Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel Is a Feast for the Senses at Lyric Opera
What do you get when you mix Englebert Humperdinck, a visual homage to German expressionism, Weimar decadence, and gorgeous singing? The answer is Hansel and Gretel at the Lyric Opera. […]
Review: Chicago Philharmonic Shows Off Bountiful Talent in Tan Dun’s Concertos
The Chicago Philharmonic mirrored the kaleidoscope of Chicago diversity of their performance of several works, including two concertos by composer Tan Dun and one by The Chicago Phil’s composer in […]
Review: It’s a Theo Ubique Cabaret Hootenanny with The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Theo Ubique’s Evanston home is a great place to stage The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The show is skillfully directed by Landree Fleming with music direction by Isabella Sherwood, […]
Preview: Mary—A Holiday Dansical by Erin Barnett and Black Girls Dance Ensemble
The story goes that almost anybody Black from the South Side of Chicago either went to Mayfair Academy or knew someone who went there. The academy closed in 2021 after […]