Big Warm Fuzzy Secret Heart: My Talk with Jonathan Coulton + Paul and Storm
It was a beautiful, if hot, summer day in Chicago. Pride Fest and Puerto Rico fest were in full swing and the Cubs were playing at home. And I was reveling in […]
Gypsy In Your Soul: An Interview with Jazz Musician Alfonso Ponticelli
Alfonso Ponticelli and his group Swing Gitan will bring out the gypsy in your soul with their interpretations of jazz standards in the gypsy jazz style made famous in the […]
Get Ready for Batsu! Where Improv Meets Pain
Batsu! Is the kind of gameshow where you might drink sake, you might sign a waiver if you are up for a little on-stage challenge and you might find yourself […]
Griffin’s Bat Boy A Bold, Bizarre Blast
The winner of the 2001 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical has, at long last, come to Chicago. Bat Boy: The Musical, in a triumphant Chicago premiere by Griffin Theatre […]
Company Transcends Its Era at Writers Theatre
It wasn’t immediately clear what to expect from Wednesday’s press opening of the 1970 Stephen Sondheim musical Company. On its first run, this musical was a smash hit, nominated for […]
The Neon Demon, Free State of Jones, The Fundamentals of Caring, Tickled, The Wailing, The Music of Strangers, Pervert Park
THE NEON DEMON Even when I don’t like his films (which is rare), I’m always glad writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn is out there in the world making movies. He’s something […]
Interview with the Artists: Lauren Edwards and Eric Watts
In their recent exhibition Fanfare for the Times at Heaven Gallery, the Chicago-based artists Lauren Edwards and Eric Watts combined photography, projection, sculpture, and installation into a mysterious collection of […]
The SpongeBob Musical Makes Joyous Chicago Splash
Some seem incredulous based on the piece of intellectual property that spawned this production; however, unlike a certain New York fiasco with a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” The SpongeBob Musical […]
James McCartney Let His Music Speak for Himself at Schubas
[soliloquy id=”5602″]All photos by Julian Ramirez James McCartney has a lot riding on him. You would too if your dad was Paul McCartney. Where most would coast on their family […]
The Unfortunates: A Woman’s Story of Poverty & Prostitution in Victorian London
The Unfortunates, staged by the new SoloChicago Theatre Company, is an excellent second outing from the company that produced the hit one-man show, Churchill, starring Ronald Keaton, in 2015. […]
Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 6/23-6/26
No use in hiding it folks, I’m not Zach. You’re stuck with me, Julian Ramirez. I’ll be taking over your Chicago Curated Weekend for a little while and hopefully continue […]
Aaron Siskind’s Photos: Defining Abstract Expressionism
[soliloquy id=”5562″] Aaron Siskind’s photographs are so painterly that you will at first mistake them for abstract expressionism. Of course, that’s what they are. The beautifully curated exhibit at […]