6 Local Musicians You Should Listen to Now

Looking for some new artists to spice up your playlist? There’s a lot of musical talent to be found in our own backyard. These up-and-coming stars are all in the early stages of promising musical careers, and they all hail from Sweet Home (suburbs of) Chicago. Check them out now before they hit it big! […]

Generation Gap Drives the Drama in Steppenwolf's "Grand Concourse"

Young people can be so puzzling to older generations. Countless articles have asked, “What’s up with millennials, anyway?” And several recent plays at Steppenwolf Theatre, including “The Night Alive” and “Airline Highway,” zeroed in on this struggle for comprehension across the generational divide. In each of these plays, the story is propelled by the arrival […]

Q Brothers Teach Kids to Rap at Lollapalooza

What do Shakespeare and rap have in common? A lot more than you might initially think—at least according to the Q Brothers. GQ and JQ, a pair of clever, creative Chicago brothers, have traveled the world writing, directing and performing witty, entertaining shows. From musical hip-hop “add-RAP-tations” of Shakespearean plays to freestyle kiddie concerts about […]

Lookingglass Theatre’s “Moby Dick” is a Surreal, Imaginative Odyssey

It’s an epic adventure that takes place on the vast, merciless sea. It’s a tale about camaraderie, sacrifice, danger and the deepest, darkest revenge. It’s “Moby Dick.” The famous “Great American Novel,” written by Herman Melville in 1851, has been adapted into a thrilling theatrical production at Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre. Directed by David Catlin, “Moby […]

Grateful Dead Reunion Weekend: Shakedown Street Meets State Street

They’ve traded their tie-dyes for lab coats, and instead of peddling grilled cheese sandwiches on Shakedown Street, they’re selling computer software. But Deadheads of a certain age from all over the country will descend upon Chicago July 3–6 for three nights of sold-out Grateful Dead shows at Soldier Field. So what’s a Dead fan to […]

Past Battles With Future in Goodman Theatre’s “stop. reset.”

The future, or at least the kind of future we have imagined with artificial intelligence, holograms, time and space travel, and microchips inserted into our brains, seems very far away. And no matter how we envision that future in movies like “I, Robot,” “Gattaca,” and “Transcendence,” there are deep-rooted problems with morality, humanity and the […]