Illinois news

• Finding his place

  09-02-2023 22:32 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Some 20 years ago, Chicago artist Samuel J. Lewis II discovered a vintage Black Americana marionette named Jambo the Jiver in his father-in-law’s attic. Built in 1948 by a company called TalenToon, along with other characters such as Pim-Bo the Clown, Toonga from the Congo, Kilroy the Cop, and MacAwful the Scot, the marionettes were […]
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• Publisher’s note

  09-02-2023 20:25 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In late August  2018, I was with my father at the hospital, where he was recovering from open-heart surgery, when I received a call from a representative of the Chicago News Guild asking if I’d like to buy the Chicago Reader from its parent newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times. The Guild represents the Reader’s editorial union, […]
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• Illinois State University to Open New College of Engineering with an Equity Focus

  09-02-2023 20:20
  
  Aondover Tarhule, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Illinois State University
  Goal to Increase Underrepresented and Underserved Students in the Engineering Field(January, 31, 2023) – First the promising news. A career in engineering can be like a golden ticket for alifetime of good pay, job satisfaction, employability and making a positive difference in the world. Thereare few careers that rank as high as engineering on all the quality-of-life measures.Now, the distressing ne
  
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• North Carolina’s Cor de Lux make something pretty out of pandemic anxiety on Media

  09-02-2023 19:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Formed in 2018 in Kill Devil Hills, a town in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Cor de Lux put out their debut album, Dream Life, in September 2020, six months after COVID hit the United States. The band’s four members had become closer during the pandemic, relying on one another for support and finding a much-needed […]
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• The beautiful business of show

  09-02-2023 18:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  First, some mathematical context: I’ve seen A Chorus Line at least 18 times since 1976, the year the first national tour rolled into Chicago. Prior to last week, I was certain the brilliant show about aspiring Broadway hoofers held no more surprises. How could it? I’ve known every word, lyric, cadence, and character in this […]
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• Little bird, big dreams

  09-02-2023 17:51 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In the musical stage adaptation of Mo Willems’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (book by Willems and Mr. Warburton, music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, and lyrics by Willems), a down-on-his-luck pigeon (Brade Bradshaw) is fed up with never getting to do anything fun. He’s an underdog who wants nothing more than to […]
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• A heartbreaking Lady Day

  09-02-2023 17:39 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Alexis J. Roston’s sixth go-round playing jazz legend Billie Holiday in the last year of her life is beautifully layered, heartbreaking, and still affirming of the great vocalist’s accomplishments, against a multitude of odds. After a decade on and off in the role, Roston is now a codirector in Mercury Theater’s production of the Lanie […]
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• When a chair is a springboard

  09-02-2023 17:20 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Appropriation, wordplay, riffs on news headlines, improv skits, and a grab bag of absurdist tropes get thrown in a hat to very uneven ends in Curious Theatre Branch’s set of four half-hour plays responding to Caryl Churchill’s This Is a Chair. This Is Not a ChurchillThrough 2/25: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California, […]
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• Boozy tiki drinks, Cantonese cuisine, and Elvis Live!

  09-02-2023 17:16 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The parking lot is full, illuminated by a fading yellow sign adorned with a tiki drink and a palm tree. Unassumingly tucked away in North Riverside, just west of Chicago, Chef Shangri-La is preparing for a lively night—not uncommon for the suburban mainstay. The entire restaurant is bustling, packed with families that fill the festively […]
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• Speaking purpose into artists’ lives

  09-02-2023 17:15 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Behind a great artist, there’s often a great manager. The average fan likely never thinks about the people who manage their favorite musicians, but they’re the ones typically handling the behind-the-scenes work on the business side of the entertainment industry. Whether they’re booking performances, negotiating contracts, or just acting as voices of reason for the […]
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• The one that got away

  09-02-2023 17:11 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Big Fish bombed on Broadway. Based on Tim Burton’s 2003 movie version of Daniel Wallace’s 1998 novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, the show, with a score by Andrew Lippa and a book by John August, opened on Broadway on October 6, 2013, and only ran 98 regular performances and earned for its […]
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• Homecoming

  09-02-2023 14:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Being in the spotlight isn’t something multidisciplinary artist Diana Solís ever sought, despite capturing influential socio-political movements through her camera for decades. But now, having just turned 67, and with the release of her new book of photography, Luz: Seeing the Space Between Us, the spotlight on her has never been brighter or so deserved. […]
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• Rochester rap phenom RXK Nephew headlines one of the winter’s best shows

  09-02-2023 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Rochester rapper RXK Nephew has built a career on songs that ask questions, but I have at least as many questions about his songs. Sometimes he’ll ignore the pulse of an instrumental track, and then the next minute he’ll surprise you by responding to every last one of its details—which has me wondering, “Why does […]
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