Preview: Sizzling and Mellow Are on the Menu for the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival
Photo Courtesy of DCASE
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: Booms Day Is Beautiful Chaos from Chicago Dance Crash
Controlled chaos is an oxymoron. The word chaos could be a synonym for anarchy meaning away from all of the “archs” that have defined how humankind lives. Monarchy, oligarchy, plutarchy, […]
Preview: Workshopped Play Rectitude Shows a Glimmer of Brilliance in Its Character Study of Two Catholics
In the talkback after watching a workshopped version of a new play titled Rectitude, I heard a term—cradle Catholic—that was new to me. It’s a person baptized as an infant into […]
Review: Straight Outta Harvey: Kellye Howard’s Crazy or Nah?! Is a Perfect Storm of in Your Face Grief and Comedy
There have been some really great one-woman performances and standup comics over the years. My favorite ones have told stories that are personal and off-kilter funny. Kellye Howard is yet […]
Review: Mercury Theater Presents a Fun Romp with Priscilla Queen of the Desert—The Musical
Boas! Feathers! Dance hits of the ’70s! The Mercury Theater’s production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert—the Musical had plenty of all three. There was a core fan base of […]
Review: Haven’s Get Out Alive Brings Depression Out of the Shadows With Soul, Gospel and Hip-Hop
I almost didn’t request a ticket to review this show when I saw that it is a play about depression and suicide. I didn’t know if it was going to […]
Review: Monet and the Impressionists Is Art for the Screen-Obsessed at Lighthouse ArtSpace
My mother took me to the Art Institute of Chicago when I was very young and let me pick out postcards of my favorite paintings. I chose mostly Impressionists such […]
Review: Violet Sky Theatre Makes a Sizzling Debut with Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke
Violet Sky Theatre is a new company in the Chicago cultural landscape and it was a delight to attend their production of Summer and Smoke, directed by Eden Blattner. I […]
Review: Writers Theatre Rocks With Pearl’s Rollin’ With the Blues: A Night with Felicia P. Fields
The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the blues, but Chicago is the proving ground. Just a jump north of Chicago the Writers Theatre closes out its 2021/22 season by […]
Review: Story Theatre is Fire Hot in Debut Production, Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes
Almost everything that is written about the times we live in uses words like troubled, divided, and unprecedented. Various adjectives used by the media are rehashed, and do not get […]
Review: 16th Street Theater’s The Billboard Gives Authenticity to the Subject of Abortion
It has been a minute since I have covered a play that hits home in as many ways as The Billboard, now being staged by 16th Street Theater at Northwestern […]
Dialogs: Haymarket Books Launches Maya Marshall’s All the Blood Involved in Love
Haymarket Books describes itself as a radical and independent publisher, and in light of current events, I am grateful that they are still in the game. They have a new […]