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 […]
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.
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 […]
Review: A Shadow Bright and Burning by Black Button Eyes Productions Has Some Bright Spots in a Sorcery Story Rehash
I once attended a church that used the Harry Potter stories as a means of telling the hero’s journey in spiritual terms. The minister once came out dressed as a […]
Review: Rachel Bloom Does a Song and Dance with Death, Let Me Do My Show
When bad things like a pandemic cause me to despair, I try to find a logical explanation, remember that heroes appear in unusual situations, and know there is a deeper […]
Review: Dance for Life Fills the Auditorium Theatre with Exuberance, Love and Life
Summer weekends are always an adventure in Chicago. Last weekend was the Air and Water Show, Bud Billiken Parade, White Sox vs the Cubs, and several neighborhood festivals. The best […]
Review: 44: The Obama Musical Is unOfficial and unSanctioned but Hilarious and Spot-on Musical Satire
I love a good satire. I am a devotee of both Mad Magazine and National Lampoon. Both were lightning in a bottle explaining social and political issues as I saw […]
Review: Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre Empowers Ntozake Shange’s 1976 MasterWork
I was 16 when For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf premiered on Broadway in 1976 and started making waves in the Black community. I […]
Review: Theatre L’Acadie’s The Swan Is a Surreal Concoction of Magical Realism and Mythology
Theatre L’Acadie describes The Swan as a psychosexual fever dream. It is that, but there is more simmering beneath the murky surface. Playwright Elizabeth Egloff’s play takes place in Nebraska […]
Review: Purple Onyx Productions Celebrates Prince’s Purple Rain at Funky 40
Next week is the 40th anniversary of the date that Prince’s album, Purple Rain, hit the airwaves; the film appeared in movie theaters a month later. I did not have […]
Review: Black Ensemble Theater Gives the People What They Want in The Salon
Black Ensemble Theater (BET) has been a mainstay of Black theater for almost 50 years. That takes grit which is a step above determination. It takes vision, talent, and fearlessness—the […]