Review: A Revitalized BRONCHO Brings Natural Pleasure to Thalia Hall
It’s always a pleasant and refreshing surprise when a band or artist performs their album in its entirety from front to back; and last weekend’s BRONCHO show at Thalia Hall […]
Review: Overblown and Overly Clever, Patchwork, by Tom Comitta
General readers, beware! Tom Comitta’s new book Patchwork isn’t for you. Patchwork isn’t for someone who wants a novel that tells a story and has characters and settings and scenes. […]
Review: Midwest Author and Illustrator Take Children on Colorful Collage Food Journey in Our Food Grows
As my household library shifts from Brown Bear and Pig the Pug into Harry Potter, Unicorn Academy, and various heavy tomes about dinosaurs, there is one constant that remains, books […]
Review: On Lollapalooza Eve, Ratboys Make Noise for the Fans They Love
Aftershows are always the best. There’s just something in the air that makes everyone put on their Sunday best, at least mentally and emotionally, that is. Everyone is in better […]
Review: Music Theater Works’ Fiddler on the Roof Hits the Right Notes—If Not New Ones
Based on the city’s north side and staged at Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Music Theater Works regularly produces a slate of relatively traditional American musicals. Last […]
Review: Parade Is a Crowd-Pleasing Hit, But It’s Not for Everyone
The first national tour of the musical Parade arrived in Chicago this week with impressive credentials. Based on a true story set in Atlanta, it involves the 1913 rape and […]
Dispatch: Juicy Plays at Wisconsin’s American Players Theatre Are Ripe for the Picking
There’s no better time for Chicagoans to point their cars north towards Wisconsin than right now. Some people might head to campgrounds, others may find a secret fishing spot, and […]
Review: Weapons Turns Small-Town Horror Into a Gruesome, Genre-Bending Mystery
In 2022, for reasons that are still a mystery to some, writer/director Zach Cregger’s twisty, bizarre Barbarian became something of a hit among even non-horror enthusiasts, perhaps because it leaned […]
Review: Giancarlo Guerrero Conducts Joshua Bell and the Grant Park Orchestra Through an Outstanding Performance
With violin extraordinaire Joshua Bell headlining, the Grant Park Orchestra gave an outstanding performance at Jay Pritzker Pavillion on Wednesday evening. Giancarlo Guerrero conducted a program of works by 19th […]
Preview: Big, Bold, and Gloriously Analog—The 70MM Film Festival Returns to Music Box Theatre
One of the city’s most immersive film experiences is back in full force. The 70MM Film Festival at Chicago’s beloved Music Box Theatre runs August 8 through 21, offering two […]
Review: Freakier Friday Is a Sequel Nobody Asked For—and It Shows
In August of 2003, Lindsay Lohan was seventeen years old and at the nascent days of her teen stardom; she’d starred (twice, technically) in Disney’s 1998 remake of The Parent […]
Review: Sketch Mixes Magic, Grief, and Big Emotions in a Thoughtful Family Tale
The average moviegoer likely doesn’t pay much attention to which studio is behind releasing the movie they’re forking over their hard-earned money to see. Sure, there’s the Marvels and A24s […]