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Alex Grelle is the new David Bowie
The transformative performer channels the legendary artist for the completely original, electric Floor Show. When Blackstar came out in January 2016, I got my hopes up. Maybe, just maybe, this new...
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Kill Move Paradise imagines an afterlife for victims of police killings
James Ijames puts the audience on trial in this TimeLine production. Of all the inescapable truths that James Ijames bombards his audience with in Kill Move Paradise, the biggest one is found in the...
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The mix master
Nigerian-born, London-based fashion designer Duro Olowu curates one of the MCA’s largest shows ever filled with local treasures. Museums can often feel like a cold, overly formal place. On one hand,...
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The Ghost in Gadsden's Garden is a delightful environmental fable
Actors Gymnasium combines circus arts and a poignant story of aging in their annual winter show. Actors Gymnasium primarily functions as a training school in the circus arts, but they put on a...
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Last Night In Karaoke Town is a raucous Rust Belt showdown
A Cleveland bar faces gentrification in Factory's latest. I guess a bad play could be written about the hostile overthrow of a Cleveland Heights karaoke bar at the hands of a hard-cider magnate named...
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The Layover is a total masterpiece
Leslye Headland's drama reignites the dead nerve endings of romance."I would let [insert name here] ruin my life" is a phrase that anyone who's radiated their eyes with thirsty comments online over...
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Mlima's Tale traces the illegal ivory trade
The tragedy of a single elephant's death has universal implications in Griffin's production. This Lynn Nottage drama is pure kinetic energy, exploring the illicit ivory trade through the haunting...
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Rabbit Summer addresses complex subjects with a sure hand
The cast in Redtwist's drama about a police shooting makes the heavy lifting look easy. Ruby (Brooke Reams) and Wilson (Kevin Tre'Von Patterson) seem to have a picture-book marriage. While their...
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Smart Museum’s take on ‘Allure of Matter’ spends time on the details
An exhibition in two parts—Part II: The Smart Museum of Art There are certain very specific types of art I cling to, like Eva Hesse’s fiberglass and latex work and Lynda Benglis’s wax sculptures....
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Plano provides a loopy look at three sisters
Authentic dialogue grounds First Floor Theater's dark comedy. As one of three sisters, I feel uniquely qualified to review the chaotic choreography of dialogue that constitutes Plano, First Floor...
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Indie-rock sidemen Jim Becker and Joe Adamik partner up in Lanzón
Jim Becker and Joe Adamik are resolute sidemen and longtime fixtures of Chicago’s live-music scene. The former often plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo in rootsy settings, both straight and twisted,...
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Two dangerously catchy local pop legends, Green and the Joy Poppers,...
When I contacted Jeff Lescher of legendary mod/glam/punk/power-pop band Green to find out what his set would be like for this special gig, he responded quickly and kindly, but added, “One ‘angle’ that...
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Roberto Fonseca blends the sounds of past and present into dynamic Afro-Cuban...
I had a chance to see Roberto Fonseca play at the 2015 Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco, in a duo collaboration with Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. In his thrilling, visceral...
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LA fusion group and Anderson .Paak collaborators the Free Nationals step out...
Best known as Anderson .Paak’s backing band, the Free Nationals are masters of fusion, with the ability to blend various strains of pop music past and present into mellifluous tracks that dependably...
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Celebrated guitarist Jeff Parker builds electrifying jazz songs out of...
Chicago music remains interesting and vital partly because of how local subcultures overlap and intersect. The city has plenty of tight communities of musicians focused on specific sounds, but the...
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Baltimore indie group Lower Dens use synths to navigate a complex world on...
Lower Dens emerged out of Baltimore’s fertile underground music scene in 2010, and they’ve since built a catalog of immersive, slow-boiling indie rock elevated by Jana Hunter’s inviting, resonant...
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Paloma Mami is reggaeton’s newest and youngest star
Paloma Rocío Castillo Astorga, better known as Paloma Mami, was only 18 when she released her debut single, 2018’s “Not Steady.” Lugubrious and resoundingly confident, the song made clear she wasn’t...
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Best Coast deliver a clear, optimistic vision of rock ’n’ roll on Always...
California duo Best Coast are a long way away from the bite-size stoner love songs and sun-drenched slacker tales of their 2010 debut album, Crazy for You. On their brand-new fourth LP, Always...
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Bob Weir shines in his stripped-down trio the Wolf Bros
Every member of the Grateful Dead played a vital role in the band: Jerry Garcia was the spaced-out leader, Mickey Hart was the shamanic spiritual guide, and Phil Lesh was the giant brain. Rhythm...
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Submarine kangaroos and space pirate birthday parties
An afternoon with Poems While You Wait It's balmy in the Children's Garden of the Garfield Park Conservatory, a welcome respite from the blustery chill of winter. It's Sweet Saturday, so visitors can...
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