Your Chicago Curated Weekend, 4/14-4/17
It’s hard to write this cheerfully on the morning after a crushing overtime loss for the Blackhawks. But looking ahead,…
Music
Heels Over Head—a Physical Variety Show & a Refreshing Spectacle
It was a night full of improv, clowning, circus, puppetry, satire, buffoonery and even a bit of burlesque at IO…
Your 3CR Guide for Record Store Day 2016 in Chicago
It’s that time of year, when the third Saturday of April rolls around and record shops prepare for long lines…
Howardian: Bedroom Music by a Garage Band
The veteran rocker Ian Vanek places a small drum kit at the front of the stage: bass drum, snare, ride…
Hot Dog Chicago: Ketchup, Maxwell Street, Yellow Signage and Democracy
Guest author Bill Savage teaches Chicago literature and history at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library of Chicago. His scholarship…
Hillary Still Wins New Hampshire in Victory Gardens’ Hillary and Clinton But Not Much Else
What if we lived in a world where presidential elections weren’t such shit shows? Hear me out. Imagine there were many…
CIMMfest 2016 Power Combo: Music and Movies About Music
CIMMfest 2016 (Chicago International Movies & Music Festival) runs April 13-17 at various venues. CIMMfest is a four-day showcase of…
Communion: Anything For You, Leaves Everything On Me
Communion‘s debut video for their latest cassette tape Anything 4 U is anything but saintly. It’s sinister and seductive. At best,…
The Joffrey Ballet Brings a New Take on The Nutcracker
Christopher Wheeldon A highly anticipated holiday tradition is getting a Chicago-style makeover this upcoming December. In 2015, the Joffrey Ballet…
A Number Really Does One on Us @ Royal George
On the surface, playwright Caryl Churchill has written a timely play about a controversial topic, cloning. But underneath that, there is…
Let The Funk Be With You: Songhoy Blues’ Story Unfolds Through Soul
Minutes before Songhoy Blues made their way center stage to appear before an eager, excited crowd, I saw them huddled together behind…
Mosque Alert Takes a Thoughtful Look at Prejudice in a Small Town
Mosque Alert is a new play that focuses on three families in Naperville as the city decides whether a mosque…
The Artemis Quartet Perseveres After Tragedy
The Berlin-based Artemis Quartet offered a program of sunshine and suspense to kick off its North American tour at the…
The Boss, Hardcore Henry, Miles Ahead, Demolition, Mr. Right, Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête)
THE BOSS Well, it’s better than Tammy. The last time comic dynamo Melissa McCarthy paired creatively with her husband, Ben…
Stage 773’s Artist’s Lab Offers Emerging Artists More than Just a Credit
Now in its third year (and shedding its previously cumbersome, albeit whimsical title, “Scribble Bibble”), Stage 773’s Artist’s Lab offers…
Asymptote Journal: A Five-Year Anniversary Celebration
Experimental Japanese translations. Interviews with National Book Award finalists. Mexican Twitter fiction. Ancient Babylonian texts and contemporary underground Uyghur poetry. These are…
Halcyon Theatre’s Penny Gods Fails to Cash In on Promise
Halcyon Theatre’s world premiere of Callie Kimball’s play, Dreams of the Penny Gods, begins with a promising image. Thirteen-year-old Bug…
Junior Boys at Metro Chicago: Program Me into Light
Two modest Canadian guys named Junior Boys filled Metro Chicago Wednesday night with syncopating synth pulses, and vocals that made…
The Charcuterie Chronicles: Fresh Polish Sausage
This is the first installment in an every-so-often series where I take on the challenges of charcuterie which, according to…
Presence: David Wallace Haskins at the Elmhurst Art Museum
While exploring Presence, David Wallace Haskins’ first museum exhibition, you might laugh at yourself one moment and experience a rush…
