Review: Blue Eyed Soul Sung by Brown Eyed People Revs Up the Soul at Black Ensemble Theater
There is not a lot of certainty in today’s world. The world may seem on 33 and 1/3 and you’re on 33. There is one thing that I can count […]
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: Beethoven’s Fidelio Is an Abstraction of Love, Freedom, and the Cost of Tyranny at Lyric Opera
The Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its 50th season with Beethoven’s Fidelio, an opera not often staged in the repertoire of great opera houses. Perhaps it is the political tone […]
Review: D-Composed with Davóne Tines Premiere ROBESOИ: An Electro-Gospel Acid Trip
Paul Robeson was a polymath—lawyer, athlete, and megawatt stage presence with a resonant baritone known the world over. Like many Black American pioneers, Robeson’s recognition came after he died. D-Composed […]
Review: The Destinations Are the Path in the 2024 Go To New Play Fest at Theater Wit
Flash theater is the theme of the 2024 Go To New Play Fest. Flash theater contains a plot, climax, and denouement similar to flash fiction but the impact is more […]
Review: PARA.MAR Dance Theatre Gives Life to Loss and Passion in Anthology
Choreographer Stephanie Martinez founded PARA.MAR Dance Theatre in 2020 as an antidote to the pandemic’s despair, loss, and isolation. Anthology is a curated selection of six dances by Martinez and […]
Review: East Texas Hot Links Is a Harrowing Tale of Jim Crow and Survival at Court Theatre
Playwright Eugene Lee’s East Texas Hot Links takes place in 1955 in the piney woods of East Texas. It was the year that Emmett Till was murdered and the Klan […]
Review: Verdi’s Rigoletto Triumphs as the Season Opener for the Lyric Opera of Chicago
There has been a lot of discourse on the survival of opera companies in America. Even the revered Met has met criticisms for everything from the artistic direction and performance […]
Review: Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago Tells the Story of Chicago in the ’60s and ’70s
If you lived in Chicago during the Richard M. Daley years, you lived in what I call, the real Chicago. We were a bare-knuckled city where people were born with […]
Review: Lex the Movie Expands as Within a Shadow by Red Theater
I saw myself as a character on the stage at the Den Theatre. It was weird and exhilarating to see the everyday struggles of a young Black woman making her […]
Dispatch: The 2024 Chicago Jazz Festival Brings Spirituality and Dancing to the Party
The 2024 Chicago Jazz Festival ended on Sunday and was a great success. The weather cooperated beautifully with a hint of cooler days ahead. The Pritzker Pavilion stage had a […]
Dispatch: A Glorious Day for Jazz on Saturday in Millennium Park.
Chicago is so rich with talent and artistry that performers from every genre gravitate here, especially in blues and jazz. A kernel of each was brought here from the South […]
Dispatch: Chicago Jazz Festival Brings the Hot and Cool to Millennium Park
This year’s Chicago Jazz Festival brings a cornucopia of talent to our fabulous city. This year, the variety of artists and styles of jazz promise something for everyone from fledgling […]