Nancy Bishop is a Chicago native, who writes about things she loves, like theater, film, books, music, art and design. Nancy is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a 2014 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can read her personal writing on pop culture at nancybishopsjournal.com, and follow her on Twitter @nsbishop. Nancy is editor and publisher and Stages editor of Third Coast Review.
“What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows….” “The Shadow” was a midcentury radio mystery that sometimes kept a little girl from sleeping. My mother finally tried to stop […]
Missed Connections, Jon Tai’s magic and mystery show, is a cozy hour of entertainment laced with his stories of, yes, actual missed connections. Tai and his co-creator, Alex Gruhin, offer a Zoom […]
An homage to Lou Rawls and to the St. Louis poet who became a Brit. February is the cruelest month. Where did T.S. Eliot get that April business? February is […]
Post-truth is pre-fascism, and Trump has been our post-truth president. Historian Timothy Snyder characterizes our past president and describes his followers vividly in his essay, “The American Abyss: Trump, the Mob and […]
Eight years ago, I wrote a post about Richard Blanco’s poem, “One Today,” presented by the poet at Barack Obama’s second inaugural. I was so moved by Amanda Gorman’s poem for Joe […]
As part of their WorldStage series, Chicago Shakespeare is offering a visit with illusionist and mentalist Scott Silven from his childhood home in rural Scotland—or as he says, “in the heart of […]
I like cooking big family dinners or special dinners for company. Some of my favorite entrées are country captain, a chicken curry dish; vegetable lasagna starring lots of spinach; or boeuf en […]
There’s no need to say how devastating 2020 has been for live theater and all forms of live entertainment. Millions of careers, lives and families have been turned upside down by the […]
This week I had a chance to revisit the most spectacular theater experience I’ve ever had. It took place on a weekend in February 2007. Over the course of two days, I […]
Hit ‘em on the Blackside Congo Square Theatre Company’s new sketch comedy show Free on demand December 19 through March 2021 No subject is off-limits in Congo Square Theatre Company’s new sketch […]
Robert O’Hara’s funny, snarky familyish drama Barbecue was staged by Strawdog Theatre in 2017 in Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre. It’s set in a public park where four siblings, led by one determined sister, […]
Virtual theater has come in many forms during the last eight pandemic months. Our most recent theater review was actor/clown Bill Irwin’s new version of his bravura performance of On Beckett adapted […]
