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 […]
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: 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 […]
Review: Pride Arts’ Tommy on Top Has the Recipe for Farce—But It’s Slightly Undercooked
I am a big fan of British comedy and in particular, one master of the genre—John Cleese in Fawlty Towers. That show is an example of farce, done brilliantly. Basil […]
Review: Kokandy Productions Presents Scandalous Teens and Schemes in Cruel Intentions: the ’90s Musical
What says snobby teens with step-sibling issues and boy band music cruising the airwaves better than the movie Cruel Intentions? It was a movie made for the’90s. It was a […]
Review: Chicago Philharmonic Revives the Roar of Marvel’s Black Panther for Juneteenth
The Chicago Theatre started out as a movie palace that could hold more than 3000 viewers for the silent films that were all the rage. It was normal for a […]
Review: Ensemble Español Brings Andalusian Rhythm and Soul with Flamenco Passion
Review of a flamenco performance based in Spanish history.
Review: Giordano Dance Chicago—Exuberant, Urban and Avant Garde
When I think of modern or jazz-inspired dance, a few people come to mind. Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, and Katherine Dunham. Giordano Dance Chicago has established itself in my Hall […]