Review: Panchiko at House of Blues; Over 20 Years in the Making
Imagine, if you will, that you’re a teacher in your early to mid 30s in the small British town of Sherwood, Nottingham. While not particularly luxurious or grandly remarkable, your […]
Review: Metro Barely Contains the Raucous Sounds of Ultra Q, Cloud Nothings and Wavves
It was a sea of tie-dye and top hats on Clark Street Friday night as Deadheads poured into Wrigley Field for Dead & Company’s farewell tour. Across the street at […]
Review: Eva Longoria’s Flamin’ Hot Glosses Over the Spicy Story of Creating a New Snack Sensation
Once again, Hollywood has given us the origin story of a pop culture sensation that somehow managed to shift the way consumers and corporations looked at the world. In most […]
Review: In Its Final Season, Ted Lasso Gets a Messy but Moving Send-off for One of the Nicest Shows on TV
Contrary to the dark and depressing content of the other shows I’m currently writing about (Barry and Succession), I do, in fact, like to have fun and feel good. There’s […]
Review: Grippo Stage Company’s Shaw vs. Tunney Tells the Story of a Curious Friendship Based on Love—of Books and Boxing
Fine acting can sometimes save a mediocre script. But pair fine acting with a fascinating story such as the curious friendship between two champions—and you might have theater magic. The […]
Feature: Afrofuturism and Black Excellence at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture
Chicago offers a variety of events to commemorate Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when America “officially freed” enslaved people. For an even deeper dive into the vast nation-building contributions of […]
Review: Jess Williamson Offers Up a Dazzling Country Spectacle at Judson & Moore
What was supposed to be a small, intimate country show under the heavenly starry lights of the Hideout turned into an electric, whiskey-drinking Thursday evening at Judson & Moore Distillery […]
Review: Men’s Fashion, Gay History and a Party-Like Atmosphere at All Man: The International Male Story
From directors Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed, the documentary All Man: The International Male Story tells the decades-long, trend-setting story of a male-centric clothing catalog that turned into one […]
Poem: Taylor Knows
June Sawyers wrote this poem—as a way to record her experience—on a walk over to Soldier Field this weekend during the Taylor Swift The Eras Tour. Taylor knowsyour secretsyour vulnerabilitiesyour […]
Review: Timeline Theatre Stages What the Constitution Means to Me With Stories of Legal Drama and Personal Pain
Heidi is 15 years old and loves the Constitution. She also is obsessed with witches and the Salem witch trials—and Patrick Swayze. Just a normal kid. The year is 1989 […]
Review: Comic Book Characters Spring to Life in SuperYou at Milwaukee’s Skylight Theatre
Just in time for Pride Month, Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theatre presents the world premiere of an uplifting rock musical, SuperYou. This high-wattage (literally) show is a rare chance for Milwaukee […]
Review: Sam Shepard, an Unreliable Narrator of His Own Life, Gets a New Biography by Robert Greenfield
It’s appropriate that True West: Sam Shepard’s Life, Work and Times by Robert Greenfield ends with the 2019 Broadway staging of True West, Shepard’s iconic play about the American West, manhood and brotherhood. […]