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Oslo paints a picture of the personal touch in international relations
The Tony-winning play gets a smart and timely local premiere from TimeLine. If A Walk in the Woods, Lee Blessing's 1988 play about the private talks between two diplomats—one Soviet, the other...
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Dim sum and win some at Lincoln Park's D Cuisine
Yum cha is fine at this rare tearoom outside of Chinatown, but it’s the Guangdong chef specials that are really worth investigating. Tuesday, October 1, marks the 70th anniversary of the People's...
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Antonio Sanchez composes jazz-rock anthems that celebrate immigrant journeys
The most immediately striking aspect of Antonio Sanchez’s music is its lush, cinematic feel, which the drummer also demonstrates in the percussion-only music he composed for the 2014 film Birdman. A...
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Keyboardist Sarah Davachi brings her church space-inspired compositions to...
Rockefeller Chapel has hosted some remarkable concerts in recent years. The organization Ambient Church, which presents atmospheric music in visually and sonically exalted spaces, chose the...
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Sequoyah Murray was born to make uncategorizable pop
Twenty-two-year-old Atlanta singer and multi-instrumentalist Sequoyah Murray grew up in a musical family, and you can tell. He makes music the way a dolphin swims—effortlessly, playfully, and with...
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Steve Hackett revisits Genesis’s Selling England by the Pound and decades of...
These days, record nerds seem keen to categorize the sounds of the past in newly minted genres such as “proto-metal,”“acid folk,” and “pastoral prog.” The terminally unhip Genesis—and especially their...
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Masked country crooner Orville Peck channels Wild West fantasy—and something...
The first thing to know about Orville Peck is that the Canadian country-pop crooner always wears a mask. Its top half is made of leather, and from the bottom hangs a row of long fringe, which he...
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Chicago’s Countess Williams summons the theatrical panache of classic blueswomen
Blues singer Jean Williams, known as the Countess, delivers her music with a theatrical panache that recalls the classic blueswomen of Bessie Smith’s era; skilled thespians as well as gifted...
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The ever-evolving Hecks become a prog-pop powerhouse on My Star
What a journey it’s been for the Hecks. When the Chicago group started out in 2012, they were a duo: guitarist Andy Mosiman and drummer Zach Hebert, who made a mind-bending racket out of minimalist,...
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Freak-folk superstar Joanna Newsom comes to Thalia Hall on her first tour in...
Ever since her 2004 debut, The Milk-Eyed Mender, singer, composer, and harpist Joanna Newsom has been one of those artists where you either get it or you don’t. Her eccentric, literary lyrics are...
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Lo-fi songwriter Tim Presley keeps exploring on White Fence’s new album
For about a decade, Tim Presley has worked to combine aspects of pop, punk, and lo-fi psychedelia under the name White Fence. On the recent I Have to Feed Larry’s Hawk (Drag City), the guitarist and...
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Latin-jazz percussionist Sammy Figueroa balances the sum of his influences on...
Veteran conguero Sammy Figueroa is steeped in the heritage of Latin music (he’s the son of 1940s Puerto Rican bolero singer Charlie Figueroa), but 50 percent of his sound is jazz. In that world, he’s...
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Lyric’s The Barber of Seville is jubilant, uproarious
The season opener is as much fun as you can have at the opera. Lyric Opera has married pitch-perfect casting to go-for-broke direction in its season opener, The Barber of Seville. Thanks to that, and...
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Chicago Humanities Festival wants you to feel powerful
This season’s lineup focuses on harnessing the strength within. Nothing says "power" quite like a trained flock of ravens. That's probably why the Chicago Humanities Festival used the birds to deliver...
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Theatre L'Acadie makes a promising debut with 70 Scenes of Halloween
Jeffrey M. Jones's 1990 play about the horrors of disintegrating relationships gets a rare revival with a brand-new company. For its inaugural production, directed by Emily Daigle, Theatre L'Acadie...
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The daughter of migrant workers finds courage and friendship in Luna
Filament Theatre's staging helps the audience feel right at home. Recommended for ages four through ten, Filament Theatre's production of this one-act by Ramón Esquivel creates a well-balanced...
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Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy shows the 1960s through the eyes of an...
Teatro Vista presents Evelina Fernández's play as part of the 2019 Destinos festival. Stretched tight between the residue of the saccharine sweetness of the American dream, the looming threat of...
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In dark days, you have to treasure Every Brilliant Thing
Windy City Playhouse's production is a poignant showcase for Rebecca Spence."#992: Knowing to jangle your keys while walking through the nature preserve so the otters will come out." That was my...
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Equus explores how media fantasies feed a young man's violence
A 46-year-old play contains contemporary resonance in AstonRep's staging. A haunted and haunting lead performance by the excellent Sean William Kelly drives AstonRep Theatre Company's solid and moving...
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Zia Anger relies on herself with My First Film
In what is actually the director’s second film, she delivers an interactive, self-reflective performance. Even if you don't recognize the name Zia Anger, you're probably familiar with her work. Over...
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